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How to Interview and Hire the Right REALTOR®

How to Interview and Hire the Right REALTOR®

How to Interview and Hire the Right REALTOR®

© Marcio Eugenio ID 6914900 | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Real Estate is typically one’s largest investment in life. Whether buying or selling, choosing the right Real Estate Agent can make all the difference. Personality, education, experience and history of success should all be taken into account when selecting a REALTOR® to work with.

In this article, we will share with you a sample interview that you can use to interview your REALTOR® candidates. We provide downloadable templates you can use during the interview to fill out. One template is specific to Sellers of Real Estate and one is for Buyers; so that you can ask the questions relevant to your needs.

Find out the Personality of the Candidate

Remember that a person is defined by his/her character and therefore it is important as an investor you go for the best person who possesses the best character traits.

1. Tell me about yourself

This is a question that any interviewer will begin with. The following are suggested qualities to look for in a Real Estate Agent.

  • Honest person
  • Professionalism
  • Integrity
  • Negotiation skills (key in sales)
  • Communication skills
  • Reasoning ability
  • Responsibility qualities
  • Any other desirable qualities

If you find an interesting quality you might want to hear where this individual applied it in life. So you may ask

2. Tell me more about your…… (The quality) here you are looking for a real-life situation where the person was honest, professional, etc.

Find out The Education Level of Your Potential REALTOR® & Licensing Requirements

Remember that education is important in any industry since it prepares students with many important skills that help them perform better in their career. Although REALTORS®  do not require a post secondary education, we believe it to be valuable. PrimoAgents either have a degree or 25 years of experience.  Here are some of the questions you might ask regarding education and licensing.

1. What is Your Highest Education Achievement?

Some of the highest qualifications might be PhD, Masters, or Bachelors Degree/Diploma. Remember to ask the degree, school and if desired you can ask to view their certificate. Some degrees fit even better with the field of Real Estate than others; such as ones in Urban Planning, Economics, or Business.

2. Continuing Education

Many REALTORS® are required to do continuing education courses to keep their license active and you can ask about this.  You can also ask what other ways the REALTOR® is keeping themselves current with industry knowledge and/or developing their skills.

2. Check For a Valid License & .

It is important to find out if the person has a valid license and most States and Provinces have free, public online searches where you can check they have a valid license. Recent fines or convictions are often listed here as well. We recommend checking the website of the brokerage as well. This part you could do prior to the interview so that you don’t seem untrusting of the REALTOR®.

Experience in Real Estate

It is always important to go for REALTORS® with experience, but be careful not to ignore newer Real Estate Agents that are eager to prove their skills. We suggest a minimum of 5 years of experience and a minimum of 100 deals; we screen PrimoAgents for this minimum level of experience. A lot of newer Real Estate Agents partner themselves with more experienced ones so that they can serve their clients well. You can ask the real estate agent candidates the following;

1. Tell me about your experience in real estate

Here you want to find out the number of years he/she has worked in real estate and also the number of clients or number of deals they have had in their career.

2. Tell me about some of the success stories in your career

A promising REALTOR® should have a history of success where he/she has closed some deals in the recent past. What strategies have they used in a multiple offer situation?

Tell me about the market

What type of market are we in, a Buyers’ market or a Sellers’ market? Please explain how this will impact me as a Buyer or Seller.

References

It is good to ask for candidates for references because you can always call them to find out about their experience with the candidate.

Below we list questions specific to Sellers and then to Buyers as well as provide downloadable templates to use during the interview.

Additional Questions for Sellers to Ask. 

Real Estate Agents usually have a Sellers package where they will share answers to many of the questions below. Use the following questions as a checklist and ask anything that might be missed. Read more about Sellers Packages.

  • How available are you to work on selling my home?
    • How many other houses do you have listed?
    • How many open houses will you or a colleague host and what types of open houses? (There are open houses for other REALTORS® and ones for the general public.)
  • What methods would you use to advertise my listing?
    • Listen for modern sales and marketing approaches like Social media marketing in addition to more traditional forms. We screen PrimoAgents for their use of social media as we feel it is an important part of a solid marketing plan. During the interview you could open up the social media pages of the REALTOR®.
  • What paid advertising is included?
  • Why would you choose that approach in advertising for my property?
  • What open houses for the public or for other Real Estate Agents will you or a colleague be hosting?
  • Will you pay for professional photos to be taken?
  • What pricing strategy would you use in the listing of my property?
    • What price would you list at? Is that a price to encourage multiple offers (a below market price)? Is this a price that I should expect to get? How long would we wait before doing a price reduction?

Free Download of our interview template here: Sample Interview for Sellers.

Additional Questions for Buyers to Ask

For Buyers, the Real Estate Agent will likely present you with a Buyers package. Read more about Buyers Packages

  • How available are you?
    • How many other buyers are you working with?
    • What hours / days of the week do you work?
    • How many houses do you have listed?
    • Are you partnered with anyone?
    • How available are you to take me out to see houses?
    • How many houses do you expect us to look at?
  • In what ways will you be looking for my ideal property?
    • Will I be getting emails automatically sent to me based on my criteria?
    • Do you reach out to others in your industry to help find me a home?
    • Would you be willing to door knock in my desired neighbourhood to inquire about unlisted homes that fit my criteria? (If applicable)

Free Download of our interview template here: Realtor interview for buyers.

Closing the Session

Ask the candidate if they have anything else to add. Thank the candidate for answering all your questions. Let them know when they can expect to hear back from you.

We screen Real Estate Agents for education, experience, and social media use before accepting them to the PrimoAgents network. This helps you narrow your search for a good Real Estate Agent, you can search now by clicking here. If you don’t find someone in your area, send a quick email to Julie@primoagents.com with your contact information and area, and we will find someone that is educated, experienced and reputable to work with – at no cost to you.

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