Questions to Ask a Realtor — and How We Answer Them
Every agent tells you to interview them. Search the phrase and you get page after page listing the questions you should ask — written, almost always, by someone who is not the person you would be asking, and containing, almost always, not one answer.
This page is the other half of that. It carries the questions, and it carries how we answer them, in writing, on our own site, where you can hold us to it. Use the checklists here on any agent you meet, including us. If our answers don't stand up next to someone else's, that is useful information and you should act on it.
How we run a buyer file
Firstly what we do is our team prepares a home buying package that's custom to the client. Whether it's a first-time home buyer, experienced, or an investor — we cater the package to them.
We meet and go through the package from start to finish. This includes a full market report, what's happening in the market, what our honest opinion is, going through the documentation that will later be signed, the timeline of purchasing, our professional standard towards our clients, what submitting an offer all the way to receiving the keys looks like, the next steps, and creation of a group chat to communicate.
We always want our clients to be fully informed, to feel confident when searching for a home in any market. We equip our clients with all of the tools, information and statistics, and empower them to make a great decision.
How we run a listing file
Firstly we prepare an in-depth analysis on the market, carefully preparing comparable properties and adjusting based on differences to get an accurate pricing strategy. We then go over this and compare against different segments of the market, current season, buying motivators, and preparation of an "improvement and preparation checklist" based on their unique property. Once we have everything put together — like the buyer presentation and meeting — we sit down and explain very carefully the entirety of the package. The sellers always leave the meeting feeling clear, empowered and excited to list with us. Pricing is always talked about at this meeting, plus any recent changes to documentation, paperwork, and so on. We walk through end to end of the process so that they know at every given moment what we are doing and when to expect the next stage to commence.
Our team admin is heavily involved here, to prepare and get third-party referrals into the property to get measurements, photography, videography, staging, and the rest of it. After the full preparation of the property is complete, plus the online assets, Jason — our team lead — reviews the listing carefully and gives the green light.
We are always very strategic with listing: seeing what properties are selling quickest, and the strategies to empower our clients should they have that opportunity with their property. Whether it's strategically pricing lower to entice multiple offers, staging a vacant property, virtual staging, social media reels and videography, and so on.
We always give our best to every client, whether it's a small condo or a luxury estate.
Communication is paramount with our team. We ensure to provide updates, reports and regular phone calls to make sure we're all on the same page.
The questions we wish every client asked
These are the questions we wish every client asked us. Not the ones that usually come up — the ones that rarely do, and should. Bring any of them to a first meeting, with us or with anyone else you are interviewing:
- I'm approved for x. For my current situation and short-term goals, is the property budget I'm trying to go for overreaching?
- What segment of the market right now has the best opportunities for investments?
- When am I at risk during the buying or selling process, and how can we mitigate risk and exposure?
- How do you handle situations that you haven't handled before?
- Are you connected with professionals that support your industry, like lawyers, mortgage brokers and surveyors?
- What's your approach to a situation where I'm emotionally attached to a property that's not good for me?
- What value is there to have you as a realtor versus other agents?
- Why should I choose you over an agent with more years in the industry?
- How are you advancing your knowledge in the real estate market?
- What aspect of real estate do you love that made you continue your career as a realtor?
We would rather be asked all ten than none of them, and we will answer any of them in person. Ask the same list of whoever else you are considering, and notice which ones get a specific answer and which ones get a speech.
How we talk about fees
We use the "7% on the first $100,000 and 3% on the remaining balance of the purchase price, plus GST" standard. Although commissions cannot be "standardized", we use this as a framing. It is ours, not a rate anybody is obliged to charge and not a market figure — what any brokerage charges is a term of the written agreement you sign with them, and that is as true of ours as of anyone's.
The other half of how we talk about fees is what we will take on. We always make sure the property we are selling has the highest chance of selling before we take on the listing. We don't over-price properties just to get the listing, as it wastes not only our client's time, but our team's time as well.
Where these answers come from
Anyone can write a page like this one. What decides whether it is worth reading is whether the answers are accountable to something. Two things hold them up. The first is the work: every answer in the sections above is Jason's own account of how we run files, not a template. He has been a realtor for nine years and has personally sold over 200 properties — his numbers, and the files those answers come from. Nothing here publishes until he has been through the wording line by line.
The second is what other people say, which we do not get to write. Our reviews live on the team page rather than being excerpted here, because two or three quotes we picked ourselves are a weaker signal than the whole set read in one place: meet the team and read the reviews. Read those next to the answers above and see whether the two descriptions of us match.
Questions people ask
Common questions, answered straight
What is the hardest month to sell a house?
The hardest month to sell a house would definitely be mid-December to mid-January. It's very cold here in Calgary, the city often slows down during this period because of the holidays, and it picks up early spring — February and March.
That is our own experience of running listings through the calendar rather than a statistic, and any given year can behave differently.
What is a red flag in real estate?
There are several, and they are different kinds of thing. These are ours, formed on our own files.
Foreclosures and bank repossessions. These are always made out to be "great deals" by the media, and in my opinion they only are if the buyer is a very experienced investor or a contractor of some sort. Otherwise they are always more of a headache than the internet makes it sound.
Tenant-occupied properties. These always need a much more careful set of eyes, to see how the property was taken care of. Landlords are notoriously lazy, and there are always items within the home that are way past their lifespan — extensive wear on the property from regular use, plus a lot of smaller issues from tenants not taking care of it the way an owner would.
The agent. Always ensure that they are not showing you a mask. In our experience most agents do only a handful of transactions in a year; many of them have second jobs and do not prioritize real estate. That is a huge red flag, and it is the same one you would apply to looking for a specialist in anything — how much repetition has that individual actually gone through? Choosing a good agent over a bad one could mean tens of thousands of dollars, issues with contracts, legal issues.
The deal itself. We are very alert and heightened during conditions. Small mistakes, and issues with non-sharpness, always lead to problems that could cost clients tens of thousands. We always take special care and attention here to ensure we're delivering our best.
What is the most asked question in real estate?
"Is it a good time to buy?" That is the one, more than anything else.
It is also the question a page cannot answer in the abstract, because the honest answer turns on your own financing, your timeline and what is actually available when you ask it. The checklists further down are built to start that conversation with whoever you put it to.
How do I interview a realtor?
Quite simply, reach out and state that you're looking for a realtor to represent you in a sale or purchase, and that the interview is to determine if it's a good fit. Then:
- Are they full time or part time?
- Do they have a second job?
- How many properties have they sold?
- What does it look like when working together?
- What's the strategy towards the transaction?
Not a question, but the thing to watch for: signs that the agent is only there for a commission and not for the client's best interests.
What questions should I ask a realtor when buying?
Put these to anyone you are considering — us included:
- Who will actually be at my showings and writing my offers? Get the name of the person you will be dealing with day to day, not just the name on the sign.
- What is in the written agreement between us, how long does it run, and how do I end it if this isn't working? Ask to read it before you are asked to sign it.
- How are you paid on my purchase, and is there any situation where I would owe you money directly? You want that answered in writing rather than verbally.
- What happens if you are representing the seller of a house I want to buy? Ask what changes about the advice you can give me, and what my options are at that point.
- Walk me through what happens between an accepted offer and possession day. Someone who can narrate that from memory has done it recently and done it often.
- What would make you tell me not to buy a house? The answer tells you whether you are hiring an advisor or a door-opener.
- Who else do I need — lender, lawyer, inspector — and by when? Ask about the timing of each, not just who they would recommend.
Ask every agent the same list and write the answers down. The comparison is the point.
What questions should I ask a realtor when selling?
Same rule — ask every agent you interview, us included:
- How did you arrive at that price, and what would you have said if I had asked for a higher one? Ask to see the comparable sales the number came from.
- What exactly happens in the first week after we list? Photography, measurements, copy, where it gets syndicated, how showings are booked — ask who does each piece and when.
- What is your plan if we get no offers in the first stretch on market? A price-drop schedule is not a plan. Ask what else changes.
- What is in the listing agreement — term, fee, how I get out of it, and what happens if a buyer you introduced comes back after it expires?
- How and when will you tell me things I do not want to hear? Ask about showing feedback specifically: what I get, in what form, how often.
- What happens if a buyer you are also working with wants my house? Ask what that looks like in practice and what my choices are.
- What should I spend money on before listing, and what should I not? The second half of that answer is the more revealing one.
What questions should I ask a realtor when renting?
Renting is a different transaction. Our team helps our clients understand how rentals work here in Calgary, and prepares them with our own personal landlord experiences. We currently have partners in the property management space, should prospects inquire about rental properties for tenancy.
Whoever you end up dealing with, these are the questions worth putting to them:
- Who pays you on this, me or the owner? Ask before you view anything.
- Is this a fixed-term lease or a periodic one, and what does ending it early actually require?
- What is the security deposit, and what are the rules on getting it back? Ask about the move-in and move-out inspection reports specifically.
- What is included in the rent and what is billed separately? Utilities, parking, storage, and condo fees where they apply.
- If this is a condo, what do the building's own rules say about pets, smoking, subletting and short-term rentals — and does that bind me regardless of what my lease says?
- Who do I call when something breaks, and what is the process for repairs?
- Is the owner planning to sell or to move back in? Ask it directly — it is the question that decides whether this is somewhere you can settle.
If you are renting while you decide whether to buy, say so up front. It changes which of these matter most, and it changes the timing questions worth asking.
What questions should I ask when interviewing a realtor?
Whatever else you ask, an interview only tells you something if the answers come back specific and comparable. Three moves do that:
- Ask process questions, not opinion questions. "How do you run a buyer file, start to finish?" is answerable in a way that "are you a good negotiator?" is not. Our own answers to that question — buyer side and seller side — are the first two sections of this page.
- Ask everyone the same questions, and write the answers down. The three checklists above are built for exactly that: one for buying, one for selling, one for renting.
- Ask what they would want you to ask. The section on this page called "the questions we wish every client asked" is our list — ten of them, published so you can put them to us or to anyone else.
Then check what you have been told against something the agent does not control. For us that is the reviews on our team page — read them next to what is written here and see whether the two match.
Ready to put this into action?