What Questions Should You Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Agent?”

Most people hire the first real estate agent they talk to. They get a referral from a friend, have one conversation, and sign. No comparison. No evaluation. No sense of whether this agent is actually right for their specific situation. That's a problem — because the skills needed to help a first-time buyer are completely different from the skills needed to handle a divorce sale or coordinate a sell-and-buy transaction. We built a free tool to fix this.

Why did we build a tool that helps people interview our competitors?

After 16 years and nearly 400 transactions, we've seen what happens when someone hires the wrong agent for their situation:

• The first-time buyer who got an impatient agent and felt rushed into a bad decision
• The divorce sale that went sideways because the agent couldn't stay neutral between two parties
• The estate sale where nobody coordinated the cleanout, repairs, and listing timeline
• The relocation buyer who got an agent unfamiliar with the neighborhoods they were considering

These aren't bad agents. They're just wrong for those situations. So we built Interview Your Agent — a free tool with AI search prompts for 10 different buying and selling scenarios. You copy the prompts, paste them into ChatGPT or Google, and run the searches yourself. We never see your results.

What scenarios does the tool cover?

For buyers:

• First-time buyer — questions about patience, guidance, and navigating your first purchase
• Relocation buyer — questions about remote showings, neighborhood expertise, and long-distance coordination
• New construction — questions about builder contracts, upgrades, and protecting your interests
• Military PCS — questions about VA loans, military timelines, and urgent relocations
• 55+ communities — questions about active adult communities, HOA rules, and lifestyle fit
• Luxury / high-end — questions about track record, sophisticated marketing, and discretion

For sellers:

• Selling without buying — questions about timeline flexibility, pricing strategy, and life transitions
• Sell and buy — questions about contingent offers, timing, and coordinating two transactions
• Estate / inherited property — questions about probate, remote management, and vendor coordination
• Divorce sale — questions about working with two parties, court deadlines, and sensitive communication

How does Interview Your Agent work?

Each scenario page gives you three types of prompts: 1. Find agents — Search prompts to locate agents who specialize in your situation, customized for your location. 2. Evaluate agents — Questions to ask during interviews, plus red flags to watch for. 3. Make your decision — Prompts to paste your interview notes into ChatGPT and get help comparing your options. You enter your city or ZIP code, copy the prompts, and run them wherever you prefer — ChatGPT, Claude, Google, or any other search tool.

What questions should you ask a real estate agent before hiring them?

The specific questions depend on your situation, but here's a universal framework: Experience questions:

• How many transactions like mine have you handled in the past year?
• What's different about working with someone in my situation?
• Can you give me an example of a similar transaction that went well? One that was challenging?

Process questions:

• How will you communicate with me — and how often?
• What's your approach to [pricing strategy / negotiations / timeline management]?
• What happens if [common challenge for your situation] occurs?

Red flag questions:

• What would make you turn down a client like me?
• What's the biggest mistake you've made with a client in my situation?
• Why should I hire you instead of one of your competitors?

The right agent will answer these directly, with specifics. The wrong agent will give you generalities or get defensive.

Why would an agent build this tool?

Because we'd rather compete on competence than confusion. If you're in our service area — Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, or New Castle County DE — and you use this tool, you might end up hiring us. Or you might hire someone else who's a better fit. Either way, you'll make a better decision than you would have otherwise. The agents who should be worried about a tool like this are the ones who can't answer these questions.

Try Interview Your Agent →

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