What Questions Should I Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Agent?

An agent interview should take 30 minutes and leave you with specific, checkable answers. Most interviews instead turn into a tour of the agent’s personality, which is pleasant and tells you almost nothing. Below are twelve questions, drawn from the National Association of REALTORS®’ own consumer guidance and Mississippi’s licensing rules, with a note on what a good answer sounds like and what a bad one sounds like. Ask all twelve. Write the answers down.

Why the questions matter

Eighty percent of sellers contacted only one agent before choosing; another 12% contacted two. (HomeSaleMath, citing NAR’s 2025 Profile) Among buyers, 75% interviewed one. (NAR 2025 Generational Trends Report, Exhibit 4-8) When you are only talking to one person, the questions you ask are the entire vetting process. They have to work hard.

The twelve questions

1. Who will you represent?

Mississippi requires the agent to disclose this at the first meeting on the “Working With a Real Estate Broker” form, and to “allow a party the right to choose or refuse among the various agency relationships.” (MREC) NAR’s version of the question is “Will you represent me exclusively?” with the explanation that an agent representing a client acts “as a fiduciary, bound by law to work in the client’s best interest.” (NAR) A good answer names the relationship and hands you the form. A bad answer is “don’t worry about that.”

2. How long, and is it full-time?

NAR’s handout leads with this question, noting that “experience is no guarantee of quality. But, as in all professions, expertise is gained on the job.” (NAR) For 73% of REALTORS® real estate was their sole occupation; 27% earned income elsewhere, and sales agents worked a median of 30 hours a week. (NAR 2026 Member Profile; Long Island Board of REALTORS® copy) Part-time is not disqualifying, but you should know whether your agent can take a call at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.

3. How many closings, and where?

Years tell you when someone got licensed; closings tell you what they have been doing since. The median REALTOR® closed nine transaction sides in 2025. (NAR 2026 Member Profile) Ask for addresses, not a number. An agent whose last ten sales were in your area and price range has current comps in their head.

4. Salesperson or broker?

In Mississippi a salesperson works under a principal broker who is legally responsible for the file, the advertising, and the trust account. If you are hiring a salesperson, you are also hiring their broker; ask who that is and how involved they will be. If you are hiring a broker directly, the chain of accountability is one person long.

5. How are you paid?

NAR’s own guidance: “Compensation is negotiable, and you should talk to your agent in detail about how that compensation is defined.” (NAR) For buyers, compensation “can take many forms, such as a flat fee, a percentage of the purchase price, or an hourly fee,” and you can ask the seller to pay it as part of the offer. (NAR Consumer Guide) A good answer is a number and a structure. A bad answer is “that’s standard.”

6. What is in the agreement, and how do I get out?

Ask to see the actual form before you sign it. The term, the exclusivity, the fee, and the cancellation clause are all negotiable. NAR tells buyers: “Talk with your prospective agent about how long you would like to work together and ensure you feel comfortable with that arrangement.” (NAR Consumer Guide) Sixty-day terms with a written cancellation right are reasonable to ask for.

7 and 8. Pricing and negotiating track record

For sellers: ask what their last five listings were listed at and sold for, and how many days each took. For buyers: NAR suggests asking “What’s the typical variation between your buyer clients’ initial offers and final sales price?” as “one indication of the agent’s pricing and negotiating skills.” (NAR) Vague answers here are the most common failure in an interview. Good agents know these numbers.

9. Communication

Responsiveness is one of the three qualities buyers were most often “very satisfied” with, at 89%, tied with process knowledge and honesty. (NAR 2025 Generational Trends Report) NAR’s handout says “the best answer here is a question”: a good agent asks how you prefer to communicate before telling you how they work. (NAR)

10. Financial ties to vendors

Federal law “prohibits brokerages from receiving referral fees from settlement service providers (such as lenders and title companies),” though affiliated business arrangements are permitted with disclosure. (NAR) The underlying statute, RESPA Section 8, states that “no person shall give and no person shall accept any fee, kickback or other thing of value” for referring settlement business. (CFPB, 12 CFR § 1024.14) Ask the question directly. The answer should be “no” or a written disclosure.

11. The hardest deal last year

This is the question nobody expects. An agent who has closed real transactions has a story about an appraisal that came in low, a seller who would not make repairs, a lender who missed a deadline. Listen for how they solved it and whether they take responsibility. An agent with no story has not done many deals.

12. Three most recent clients

NAR’s handout is specific: “Could you please give me the contact information of your three most recent clients?” and ask them “if they would use the agent again in the future.” (NAR) Most recent, so the agent cannot curate. Then actually call.

Two questions to skip

“Are you a REALTOR®?” NAR lists this first in its consumer guide. (NAR Consumer Guide) It tells you the agent pays dues to a trade association and has agreed to its code of ethics. It does not tell you about the agent’s license status, which is what the state regulates, and it excludes licensees who belong to other professional associations. I am a REALTIST®, a member of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the oldest minority trade association in American real estate, and I hold the same state license as any REALTOR®. Ask about the license and the track record; the trade association is secondary.

“What’s your commission?” as the opening question. Commission was the most important factor for only 4% of sellers. (CardCloser, citing NAR 2025 Profile) Ask it, but ask it fifth, after you know what you are buying.

My answers

I am the broker, so there is no supervising broker above me. Licensed since 2020; 387 closed transactions, 63 in the past year, concentrated in Rankin, Madison, and Hinds counties and on the Gulf Coast. My fee is written on page one of the agreement. I have no ownership or referral arrangement with any lender, title company, or inspector. And I will give you my three most recent clients’ numbers at the interview.

Frequently asked questions