What to Ask a Real Estate Sales Agent Before Hiring

When choosing an estate agent, many sellers base their decision on one or two things: who gives them the highest valuation or who charges the lowest commission.

Neither necessarily tells you who is going to do the best job.

The agent needs to understand your area, know how your property compares to competing stock, price it realistically, market it properly and give you honest advice throughout the process.

Before signing a mandate, these are five questions worth asking.

What am I getting for the commission you charge?

Commission will form part of the decision, but choosing an agent purely because they charge the lowest commission can be a mistake.

We regularly see sellers expecting the same level of service from an agent charging a heavily discounted commission as they would from an agent charging closer to the industry standard and putting in the work to justify it.

That does not mean a higher commission automatically guarantees a better agent. The agent should be able to explain what you are getting for the commission they charge.

Consider what is actually included in their service. Professional photography, video, paid featured listings, social media marketing, buyer follow-up, viewings, regular seller feedback and negotiation all require time, resources and, in many cases, additional marketing spend.

An agent should be comfortable explaining exactly what they intend to do for your property and how their commission supports that service.

A lower commission does not necessarily represent better value if the service and marketing behind it are also reduced.

How well do you know my area, and how are you going to make my property stand out?

An agent working regularly in a particular suburb or complex should understand what comparable properties are selling for, what they are renting for, how long they remain on the market and what your property will be competing against when it launches.

They should also be able to identify the features that make your property different and understand how to use those features to position it.

In areas with a lot of competing stock, this matters. In the greater Randburg area, for example, a buyer may have hundreds of properties to choose from within a particular property category. Simply uploading another listing and waiting for an enquiry is not much of a marketing strategy.

Ask the agent to explain how they intend to market your particular property over and above listing it on the major portals.

This might include professional photography and HD video tours, paid or featured portal listings, social media exposure and marketing to an existing database of buyers. It could include show days where appropriate, but an agent should also be able to explain their view on show days in an increasingly digital property market rather than treating them as an automatic part of every campaign.

They should also know whether they or another agent within their company is already dealing with buyers looking for a property with similar specifications.

The marketing plan needs to suit the property and the buyer it is likely to attract.

A two-bedroom apartment in Ferndale is not being marketed to exactly the same buyer as an apartment in Sandton CBD. A freestanding family home attracts a different audience from a bachelor flat.

Understanding those differences affects everything from how the property is described and photographed to where it is marketed and which selling features are emphasised.

How did you arrive at the recommended asking price?

An agent should be able to support a valuation with more than an opinion.

Ask to see a comprehensive comparative market analysis. This should include similarly specified properties in the area, current competing listings and, importantly, properties that have actually sold.

This helps establish what buyers have recently been prepared to pay and a realistic price range for the property.

An experienced area agent should also understand the price points buyers are responding to, the competition your property will face and where the market starts resisting a particular asking price.

There can be a considerable difference between what sellers hope to achieve, what properties are advertised for and what buyers are ultimately prepared to pay. In the Randburg and Sandton markets, for example, we have seen Property24 area statistics reflect gaps of more than R200,000 between asking and achieved selling prices.

That does not mean every seller needs to accept a lower price. It means the original pricing strategy needs to be based on evidence.

There is also a risk in appointing the agent who gives the highest valuation simply because their number sounds the most attractive.

When there is a large amount of stock competing for a limited pool of qualified buyers, an overpriced property can struggle to generate meaningful interest. The agent should be able to explain that risk honestly rather than suggesting an unrealistic price simply to secure the mandate.

How will you keep me informed once my property is on the market?

Good communication should continue after the property has been listed.

Agree upfront on how frequently you can expect feedback. For many sellers, a weekly update gives them a good understanding of how their property is performing without requiring constant contact.

That feedback should contain more than a general comment that the market is "quiet".

Property listing systems and portals provide agents with useful performance information, including listing views and enquiries. That data can be considered alongside feedback from buyers who have physically viewed the property.

What buyers say at viewings can also identify recurring issues.

Prospective buyers might consistently like the property but feel it is priced too high compared with similar homes in the complex. They might love the house but comment that a garden neglected during winter makes the property feel like it requires more work than competing homes.

The agent can use this feedback together with the listing statistics to advise the seller on what, if anything, needs to change.

If online interest is strong but viewings are not converting into offers, buyer feedback may explain why. If both enquiries and viewing activity are low, the pricing or marketing strategy may need to be reconsidered.

That does not mean reducing the asking price every time a buyer raises an objection. There are circumstances where the right advice may be to hold the price and wait for the right buyer. The important thing is that the recommendation is based on information rather than guesswork.

The agent should communicate offers to the seller as soon as possible, regardless of whether he believes the seller is likely to accept them.

Comprehensive, regular and honest feedback helps maintain the relationship and assures the seller that the agent is actively managing the mandate and has their best interests at heart.

What experience do you have selling properties like mine in this area?

The number of years someone has worked in real estate does not tell you everything you need to know.

Find out how long the agent has worked in your particular area and what success they have had selling or renting properties there.

An experienced area agent should understand what makes a suburb, estate or complex attractive, what buyers tend to respond to and where properties in that market can be more difficult to sell.

Previous client reviews are worth checking too.

Many of our clients check an agent's Google reviews before deciding to appoint them. Reviews can tell you a great deal about how responsive the agent is, whether they communicate properly, their work ethic, their integrity and whether previous clients felt they were prepared to go the extra mile.

Ask about the agent's buyer network as well.

At Etchells & Young, for example, our agents maintain an internal buyer list. When an agent adds a buyer and their property requirements, other agents within the company can identify potential matches and request to contact that buyer when they list something suitable.

That gives a new listing potential exposure beyond the contacts of one individual agent.

Be slightly cautious about judging an agent purely on how close previous sales were to asking price.

An impressive-looking percentage means very little without knowing whether those properties were realistically priced to begin with. A property listed too high and eventually sold after a substantial reduction tells a different story from one positioned correctly for the market from the outset.

The agent you appoint should be able to explain their strategy

Selling a property is not simply a matter of uploading photographs to a property portal and waiting for a buyer. 

The agent you appoint should understand your local market, justify their pricing recommendation with evidence, explain how they intend to position and market your property and keep you properly informed once it is listed.

A seller should be able to understand exactly what the agent is going to do, why they are recommending a particular strategy and what they will do if the market does not respond as expected.

You want an agent who is prepared to tell you what you need to know, not simply what you want to hear - and who has the experience, market knowledge and service to back that advice up.