What questions should I ask a realtor before hiring one?

Ask the questions that are inconvenient to answer. Most buyers and sellers interview agents by asking how long they have been doing this and how many homes they sold last year, and neither answer predicts how your transaction goes. The useful questions are the ones that make an agent either demonstrate something or admit something.

Here is the list I would use. It includes the three I would least enjoy being asked, which is how you know they are the right ones.

The three that actually separate people

“What is wrong with my plan?”

This is the single best question in the set. You are testing whether someone will disagree with you before they have your business. An agent who finds no problem with your timeline, your price expectation and your financing is either not paying attention or is managing you toward a signature.

Sometimes the honest answer is that you should not buy yet. If you are at the top of your approval with nothing left over, the right advice is to rent another six months and build a cushion, and that advice costs the agent a commission. You want to know in advance whether you are talking to someone who will give it.

“Can I see the comparable sales behind that number?”

Any price opinion should come with its evidence. Ask which comps were used, and then ask why those and not others, because comp selection is where a flattering number comes from. A seller who hears a high number with no comps attached is being recruited, not advised.

Nobody requires an agent to show you that work. I show it because a number you cannot check is just an assertion, and because the conversation about which comps are fair is the actual pricing conversation.

“Who answers the phone on a Saturday?”

You are finding out whether you get the person you are interviewing or someone you have not met. Both arrangements can work. Being surprised by it in week three does not.

The ones about your specific situation

“Have you done this exact kind of transaction recently?” Not transactions in general. New construction, a sale with a rent-back, a relocation from out of state, an estate sale, a short timeline tied to a job start. Each has its own failure modes.

“What is the hardest part of my situation, and what do you do about it?” You are listening for a plan rather than reassurance.

“How do you handle it when I need to sell and buy at once?” The most common hard problem in the two markets I work. The answer should involve sequencing and contingencies, not optimism. How to sell without being stranded covers how that gets structured.

“What would make you tell me to walk away from a house?” An agent with no answer has never done it. The inspection is where this usually gets decided, and whether you have to fix everything on the inspection report is the negotiation they would be handling for you.

The ones about process and money

“How is your compensation structured, and is it negotiable?” It is negotiable, and since the practice changes that took effect in August 2024, every written buyer agreement and listing agreement has to carry a conspicuous disclosure saying compensation is fully negotiable and not set by law (National Association of Realtors). Ask the question plainly and expect a plain answer. Most of those questions get asked at one meeting, and what happens at a listing appointment covers how it actually runs.

“What does the buyer agreement commit me to, and for how long?” Since August 2024, agents working with buyers are required to have a written agreement in place before touring a home. Read it. Ask about the term, the scope and how it ends.

“What happens if I want out?” Ask before you sign, not after. An agent comfortable with the question is usually the one you keep.

“What do you actually do to market my house?” For a seller this is the whole job. You want specifics: how the price is set, what the photography and video plan is, who the listing is put in front of, and what gets reported back to you and how often. “We will list it everywhere” is not a plan.

“What is the worst feedback you have had from a client?” The answer tells you whether you are talking to someone who reflects on their work.

“Walk me through how you would structure my offer.” For a buyer this is the clearest window into how someone thinks. How to make a competitive offer in Utah covers the levers, and you want to hear an agent weigh them against each other rather than reach straight for price.

What I would not bother asking

A few questions that feel rigorous and tell you almost nothing.

Question	Why it does not help
How many homes did you sell last year?	Measures busyness, not availability or fit
Are you full time?	Nearly everyone says yes
What awards have you won?	Most are brokerage-internal or paid for
Do you know this neighborhood?	Everyone says yes. Ask something only a local could answer
What is the market doing?	You will get a confident answer regardless

Replace the last one with something checkable. Ask what the market is doing for your price band in your specific town, and ask how they know.

Use these on me

I am Kelsey Earl, a Realtor with Keller Williams South Valley. I work Herriman, South Jordan, Daybreak, Riverton, Bluffdale, Draper and Sandy in the south Salt Lake Valley, and St. George, Washington City, Hurricane, Ivins and Santa Clara in Washington County. The move between those two markets is a large part of what I do, which is the main reason people come to me rather than a general reason.

The things I would point at if you ran this list on me: the numbers come with comps attached, I answer questions in public every weekday rather than only in private, and I will tell you not to move when that is the answer. The last one is not a slogan. It is the conversation I have most often with people who are stretching.

What I am not is a fit for everyone. If you want an agent who agrees with your price, I am going to be irritating.

What to do next

Pick your three most specific worries and ask two or three agents about one of them each. Notice who engages with the worry and who redirects to their track record.

If you are selling and want a defensible number rather than a flattering one, the EPIC Report gives you three prices with the comps behind each and the short list of what would move them.

And if you want to use the list above on me, that is a fifteen-minute call and no pitch.

Note: General information about hiring and working with a real estate agent, not legal advice. Agreement terms and compensation vary and are negotiable — read the actual documents you are asked to sign and speak to a Utah real estate attorney about any specific situation.