What Should You Research About an Agent Before Hiring?

Three-quarters of buyers (76%) look for information to evaluate an agent before hiring, and in Zillow’s survey work on the question the most common sources after referrals were online reviews (27%), the agent’s or broker’s website (26%), past sales history (23%), and evidence of market knowledge (21%). (Zillow, How Home Buyers Evaluate Agents for Trustworthiness) Those are reasonable places to start, but they are the sources the agent controls or curates. The research that actually protects you takes about an hour and uses records the agent does not control. Here is the full checklist, in the order I would do it.

The one-hour background check

Step one: confirm the license, and read what it says

Every Mississippi licensee appears on the Real Estate Commission’s public lookup, which shows license type (salesperson, broker, broker associate), status, the responsible broker, and original issue date. (MREC Find Licensee) Three things to note. First, “salesperson” and “broker” are different licenses; a broker has at least 12 months of active experience, 120 hours of additional coursework, and a second exam. (Miss. Code § 73-35-7) Second, the issue date tells you tenure, which matters because the median agent with two years or less closed two transactions in 2025, against ten for those with six or more years. (NAR 2026 Member Profile) Third, the broker’s name is who you will escalate to if things go wrong (post #25 in this series), so look that person up too.

Step two: check for discipline

The Commission publishes disciplinary actions. (MREC Disciplinary Actions) Grounds for discipline in Mississippi include “making any substantial misrepresentation,” “acting for more than one (1) party in a transaction … without the knowledge of all parties,” and failing to account for client funds. (Miss. Code § 73-35-21) A single old education-related order is not disqualifying; a pattern, or anything involving money or misrepresentation, is. If the agent is a REALTOR® or REALTIST®, ethics discipline through the local association is generally not public, so ask the agent directly whether they have ever been the subject of an ethics complaint and what happened.

Step three: get the sales history, and read it the right way

Zillow found that 23% of buyers research an agent’s past sales, which is low given how much it tells you. (Zillow) Ask for the last twelve months of closings: address, side (listing or buyer), list price, sale price, days on market. What to compute:

• Count in your county and price range. Ten closings in Madison County at $400,000 tell you little about a $180,000 sale in Hinds County.
• List-to-sale ratio against original list, not final list; the national median is 98.5% of final list after 19.8% of listings took at least one cut, so the final-list number hides mispricing. (Redfin)
• Expired or withdrawn listings. Agents rarely volunteer these. Ask, and compare to the local norm.
• Both sides or one. Some agents are strong listing agents and weak buyer’s agents or the reverse; the Atlanta Fed research found that agents who got high prices for sellers “did not also secure low purchase prices when representing the buyer.” (UF Warrington on Cunningham, Gerardi and Shen)

Post #16 in this series goes deeper on verifying experience.

Step four: read reviews for patterns, not stars

Reviews are useful and manipulable. Since October 2024, federal rules prohibit “fake or false consumer reviews,” buying positive or negative reviews, and insiders posting reviews without disclosing their relationship, with civil penalties for knowing violations. (FTC, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule) The rule reduces the worst abuse but does not make every five-star profile honest. Read reviews the way you would read references:

• Look for specifics. “She told us the roof needed work before we offered” is a review; “Great experience!!!” is not.
• Look at dates. Twenty reviews in one month and none since is a campaign.
• Read the negative ones and the agent’s reply. A defensive or absent reply tells you how complaints are handled.
• Check more than one platform. An agent with 60 reviews on one portal and none anywhere else has been directing happy clients to a single place, which is fine, but means you are seeing a curated set.

Step five: court records

Most people skip this and it takes ten minutes. County chancery and circuit court dockets are public, and federal cases are on PACER. You are looking for suits in which the agent or brokerage was a party in a dispute with a client: earnest money, misrepresentation, commission disputes. One suit in a long career is noise; a lawsuit is not proof of wrongdoing. Several, or any involving client money, deserve a direct question.

Step six: the brokerage

In Mississippi the principal broker is “the sole recipient of compensation” and is responsible for the agents licensed under them. (MREC Rule 3.1(E)(1)) Your contract is with the brokerage, not the agent. Look up the broker’s license and discipline too, and find out how large the office is. A large office means backup coverage; a small one means the broker is close to your file. Neither is better, but you should know which you are getting. Brand name is a weak signal; sellers ranked “well-known brokerage brand” at 49%, near the bottom of what matters to them. (Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2026, Sellers)

Step seven: conflicts of interest

Ask three questions and expect plain answers: Do you or your brokerage have an ownership interest in any lender, title company, or inspection firm you recommend? Do you receive anything of value for referrals? Will you represent the other side in my transaction? Federal law requires an affiliated business arrangement disclosure when a referral goes to a company the agent has a financial interest in (CFPB, Regulation X § 1024.15), and Mississippi law requires all parties’ knowledge for dual compensation or dual representation. (Miss. Code § 73-35-21(1)(e)) An agent who answers quickly and completely passes. One who says “don’t worry about that” does not.

Step eight: references, done properly

Ask for the three most recent clients, not three favorites. Recent is the point: an agent can produce three happy clients from any decade. Call them and ask what went wrong, because something always does, and how the agent handled it. Ask whether the agent’s pricing advice held up, how fast they responded, and whether the client has spoken to them since closing. Among buyers, 91% say they would use their agent again or recommend them, so a lukewarm reference is itself informative. (NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers)

What you do not need to research

Designations, beyond knowing what they required (post #21). Social media following, which measures marketing effort rather than client outcomes. Awards from the brokerage itself, which are typically volume-based and internal. And the agent’s own website testimonials, which are, by definition, selected.

Frequently asked questions