InterviewYourAgent by The Cyr Team: What to Search Before You Hire a Real Estate Agent
A free consumer tool built from 17+ years of working with buyers and sellers across southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. Most people hire the first agent they talk to. These AI search prompts help you find and evaluate the right one for your situation. We do not see your searches. Nothing here is designed to steer you toward any agent, including us.
If you want to see what maximum effort actually looks like from a listing agent — not described, but demonstrated with real examples at every stage — The Work We Do shows the full process before you talk to anyone.
What questions should I ask a real estate agent before hiring them?
The right questions depend on your situation — but a few apply to every interview regardless of whether you are buying or selling.
Ask any agent how many transactions they have closed in your specific school district or neighborhood in the last 12 months — not their total career volume, and not their team's numbers. District-level depth is what determines whether their pricing judgment applies to your home. An agent with 200 transactions spread across five counties may have less relevant data than one with 40 transactions in your specific market.
Ask what their list-to-sale price ratio has been on their last 20 listings in your area. This single number tells you more than any marketing claim — it shows whether their pricing strategy produces results or whether their sellers routinely accept less than asking. Anything below 97% in a normal market warrants a direct question about why.
Ask whether they practice dual agency — representing both the buyer and seller in the same transaction. An agent who says yes can never fully advocate for you. An agent who says no, and explains why, has already told you something meaningful about how they work.
Ask what they would tell you if they believed your pricing expectations were unrealistic. A good agent pushes back with data. An agent trying to win the listing tells you what you want to hear. The willingness to deliver uncomfortable information before the relationship starts is the clearest signal of how they will behave when it matters.
The guides below provide situation-specific questions for buyers and sellers — first-time buyers, estate sales, divorce, relocation, downsizing, and more. Each set is built around questions that expose meaningful differences between agents rather than questions that produce rehearsed answers.
Before You Start — How to Evaluate Any Agent
Before you pick a scenario and generate questions, these eight guides explain the framework behind the evaluation — what to measure, what to ignore, and how to use AI to compare what you hear.
Want to see what an agent who passes this evaluation actually delivers? The Work We Do shows the full process — buyer personas, offer comparison, TC system — with real examples at every stage.
Want to understand the philosophy behind how we work? Our Approach shows why trust is the only leverage that matters — and what it looks like when it's working.
What is your situation?
Each guide includes prompts to find agents, evaluate them, and make your decision.
First-Time Buyer
Never bought a home before
Get questions →Relocation Buyer
Moving to an unfamiliar area
Get questions →New Construction
Buying from a builder
Get questions →Military / PCS
Relocating to a new duty station
Get questions →55+ Communities
Active adult or age-restricted
Get questions →Luxury / High-End
Buying or selling luxury property
Get questions →Already sent questions to agents? View your responses →
Listen: Shark or Sherpa? How to Hire the Right Agent
Two hosts unpack the most overlooked decision in real estate — why the right fit matters more than five stars. The shark vs. sherpa framework, AI prompts that read review language, red flags that should end the meeting, and 60 questions across 10 scenarios that separate specialists from generalists.