What Questions Should I Ask a Real Estate Agent Before Hiring?

By the Three Keys Team  |  Pennsylvania · Delaware

Most people spend less time interviewing a real estate agent than they spend comparing appliance reviews. That's understandable — agents come recommended by someone you trust, they're friendly, and pushing back on them feels awkward in person. But the agent you hire controls how your home gets priced, how your offer competes, and ultimately how much money you walk away with. In markets like the Main Line, West Chester, and Wilmington, the difference between a well-run transaction and a poorly managed one can be real money.

Before you sign anything, here are the questions worth asking out loud.

1. Are You a Full-Time Agent?

Ask this one even though it feels obvious.

Part-time agents aren't automatically a bad choice, but real estate is a business where timing matters. Offers expire. Inspection deadlines get missed. A lender calls at 4:45pm needing a document before the close of business. If your agent is at another job when any of that happens, you're exposed.

Along the Main Line and in communities like Wayne, Berwyn, and West Chester, homes in the $400,000–$700,000 range regularly attract multiple offers within the first weekend. An agent who can't respond that same afternoon may cost you a house you were qualified to buy. The same holds in Northern Delaware — a full-time agent working Hockessin or Greenville daily will know about a new listing before it shows up on Zillow. That kind of awareness is hard to replicate on a part-time schedule.

A full-time agent brings daily market awareness that a part-time schedule simply can't match.

2. How Many Transactions Did You Close Last Year, and Where?

"How much experience do you have?" is the question most people ask. It's too easy to answer well without saying much.

The version that actually tells you something: how many deals did you close in the past 12 months, and in which specific areas? An agent with 20 years of experience elsewhere in the Philadelphia metro is not the same as an agent who closed 25 deals last year across Chadds Ford, Glen Mills, Garnet Valley, and Hockessin. Those markets have different buyer profiles, different price dynamics, and different negotiating norms. Local transaction volume is the clearest signal that an agent actually knows the territory they're asking you to trust them with.

Ask for the number. A well-working agent will tell you directly.

3. What Is Your List-Price-to-Sale-Price Ratio?

For sellers, this is one of the most revealing metrics you can request. It measures how close the final sale price runs to the original listing price — and it tells you two things at once: how accurately the agent prices homes, and how well they negotiate once an offer is on the table.

An agent with a consistently high ratio (97% or above, ideally near 100% in a competitive market) is pricing homes correctly and generating strong offers. An agent whose numbers trend low may be overpricing to win the listing, then chasing the market down with reductions. Overpriced homes sit. Homes that sit start to carry a stigma — buyers wonder what's wrong, and offers come in lower than they would have if the home had been priced right from day one.

In Pennsylvania communities like Media, Wallingford, and Haverford — and in Delaware markets like Greenville and Newark — inventory stays relatively tight. Accurate pricing is the difference between a smooth 30-day sale and a 90-day grind.

Buyers can ask a version of this too: how often do your buyers pay over asking, and by how much? That tells you whether the agent has a real strategy for competing or just submits offers.

How an agent prices your home from day one has a direct impact on what you ultimately walk away with.

4. How Do You Communicate, and How Often?

This question sounds like a soft one. It isn't.

The most consistent source of real estate frustration — from buyers and sellers alike — is not bad markets or difficult negotiations. It's agents who go quiet. Sellers who don't know what showings generated feedback. Buyers who find out a deadline passed because nobody followed up with the lender.

Ask specifically:

• Do you prefer calls, texts, or email?
• What's your typical response time?
• How often will you check in proactively, even when nothing new has happened?
• If you're unavailable, who on your team covers for you?

An agent who gives clear, direct answers to all of this has thought about how they serve clients. One who responds with vague reassurances ("don't worry, I'm very responsive") probably hasn't.

5. Will I Work With You Directly, or With Your Team?

Real estate teams are common and they're not a problem in themselves. A well-organized team can deliver faster responses, more coverage, and better-specialized roles for listing work versus buyer representation.

The issue is when clients think they're hiring one agent and end up working primarily with someone else. It happens more than it should. The experienced agent closes the listing appointment, and then a newer team member takes over day-to-day communication and showings.

Ask directly: Who will be showing properties with me? Who handles offers and counteroffers? Who do I call if something comes up mid-transaction? If the answer is "we share responsibilities," push for specifics. You're entitled to know exactly who is accountable for your transaction before you sign a representation agreement.

Before signing a representation agreement, know exactly who will be accountable for your transaction.

6. What Is Your Marketing Strategy for My Home?

Generic answers here are a yellow flag. "We list on MLS and promote on social media" is not a marketing strategy — it's what every agent does at minimum.

In markets like West Chester, Ardmore, and the surrounding Main Line communities — and across Northern Delaware — homes can sell in days when marketed well. The difference between a standard listing and a well-executed launch shows up in both sale price and days on market. A serious plan should include professional photography, a video walkthrough or 3D tour, a strategy for the first 7–14 days when buyer interest peaks, and targeted digital advertising beyond just posting to an agent's Instagram.

Ask what they did for their last three listings. Look at the photos. Read the listing descriptions. If the photos are dim, the copy is generic, and the home sat for 60 days, you have your answer.

Professional photography is the baseline. A real marketing plan goes well beyond it.

7. What Is Your Negotiation Approach?

Negotiation is where good agents earn their commission, and where average agents quietly cost their clients money.

For buyers: ask how the agent positions offers when there's competition. Do they use escalation clauses? How do they structure contingencies to be competitive without being reckless? What non-price terms have they used to get a deal accepted when they weren't the highest offer?

For sellers: ask how they handle low offers, inspection requests, and appraisal gaps. "We just counter back" tells you nothing. An agent who can walk you through their specific approach to anchoring, timing, and leverage is telling you something real about how they work.

In competitive pockets like Haverford, Devon, and Chadds Ford in Pennsylvania — and in Hockessin and Wilmington in Delaware — buyers regularly face multiple-offer situations. Your agent's approach to that moment is not a secondary concern.

8. Can You Share References From Clients in a Similar Situation?

Online reviews help, but they're easy to cherry-pick. The most useful reference is someone who sold a home in your price range and neighborhood, or bought in the same market you're targeting, in the last 12 months.

Ask for two or three names and actually call them. Ask: Did the agent communicate well throughout the process? Were there any surprises, and how did they handle them? Would you hire them again?

Most agents will provide references. The substance of those conversations will tell you more than any profile page.

9. What Do You See as the Biggest Challenge in My Situation?

This is the question most buyers and sellers skip, and it's one of the most useful.

A thoughtful agent should name at least one real challenge: the timeline is tight, the price point you're targeting in West Chester has gotten more competitive, the home's condition will require some pricing strategy, the neighborhood has had slow comps recently. Something concrete and honest.

If an agent says everything looks great and they don't see any real obstacles, push a little. Either the situation is genuinely straightforward, or they're telling you what you want to hear. You'll find out which during the transaction. Better to find out now.

The right agent gives you honest answers — even when those answers are uncomfortable.

10. Why Should I Choose You Over Another Agent?

Let them answer this in their own words, without prompting.

You're not looking for a pitch. You're looking for specificity. Any agent can say they're experienced, local, and client-focused. The ones worth hiring can tell you exactly what they do differently — a specific marketing system, a documented track record in your target neighborhood, a network of relationships that surfaces off-market opportunities, negotiation results they can back up with actual numbers.

Vague answers tell you something. Specific answers tell you more.

The Three Keys Team  ·  Crown Homes Real Estate  ·  26 S. Church St Suite B, West Chester, PA 19382  ·  683 Yorklyn Rd #C, Hockessin, DE 19707