It goes without saying that buying and selling a home is one of the biggest investments most of us will ever make. When it comes time to consider selling your house, you should ask the right questions to help ensure your listing agent is going to do a good job of selling your home. So let’s talk about the best questions to ask a listing agent when selling a house.
Let’s take a closer look at this. Specifically, there’s 20 really smart questions to ask a listing agent. Asking them will ensure selling your home. Okay, so let’s lead in with the first question.
The first question that you want to ask a listing agent is: “What’s the best price we can get from our house, given its location and condition of the property?”
And follow up to ask why. It’s really important to note that when a listing agent comes to your property, they’re making an effort. They should come prepared with a comparative market analysis. As well, a marketing plan of action. They should know how they’re going to get your home on the market and get it sold. They should outline the home selling process steps with you. Make sure that you’re 100% comfortable with their process. When it pertains to the specific question, you want to be leery of the agents that are going to come in and overshoot the market. Especially if it’s different from any other comparative market analysis that you’ve had done. An agent that comes in at an inflated price is trying to woo you. In fact, most homes that aren’t priced right are going to sell for less than they could have sold for. Had they simply priced the home to the market value at the time, it would be fine.
The second question is, “How long do you think it will take to sell my house?”
This is obviously an important question. You want to know what the average days on market are. Not 
only in your area but also in your subdivision and for your specific price range and type of home. So, you want to go in from the zip code, into the neighborhood, into your specific size property. Understand what the market’s doing on a larger scale. This way, you can realistically embrace what the average days on market are.
The third question you want to ask is, “Looking at my home, what impediments do you see in selling my property? Are there any improvements that you think that can be done to help us move it and sell it more quickly?”
You always want the agent to be completely honest with you. If you should repaint something, you should repaint something. Cosmetic issues are the easiest ones to address. If your home is cluttered, you want them to be honest with you. They should tell you you need to declutter the home. We need to make sure that we do everything right for your home to get it on the market. If you’re home doesn’t look livable, no one will be able to imagine themselves in it. Or worse, they’ll see it as a fixer upper and not want to give you a good price. This is important in our 20 questions to ask a listing agent!
The fourth question is something people don’t think to ask…
You really want to know whether this agent is a full-time or part time agent. Simply put, make sure that you’re working with a full-time agent. You’ll find them much more professional and much more accessible at all times. Part time agents usually have other jobs or side projects. So, they may not be able to put in the time you want them to.
The fifth question is, “How long have you been selling real estate?”
More specifically, ask about how many closings they’ve had. Working in real estate is all about closings. Unlike other careers, years of experience don’t mean as much as the number of closings they’ve dealt with. Yes, market knowledge is important and ever changing but when an agent closes a deal… Well, that means they’ve successfully completed a job. Think about it. If someone says they’re an actor, you ask what they’ve been in. If they say, “Well, I go on a lot of interviews but I haven’t gotten a job yet.” And if they’ve been doing that for five years, they’re not really an actor. You’d probably think to yourself that they need to reconsider their career! Working with a newer agent is okay but make sure you get something out of the deal. You’re technically helping them so ask for them to take a lower commission or something. Selling a house is not easy but closing deals is a big part of it!
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