How do I compare Realtors before I sign with one?
Ask every agent the same questions, write the answers down in the same places, and read them side by side. That is the whole method. Here is the list, one topic at a time, and a place to keep the answers.
Who they are
The card needs a name. The rest of this group is the shape of their business: how long, how many, and where.
What's your name and brokerage?
Which brokerage are you with?
How long have you been selling homes?
How many homes did you sell in the last twelve months, and how many were the listing side?
Which homes have you sold near mine in the last year?
The card needs a name. Everything else can wait. Bring these to each meeting. An agent who welcomes them is telling you something too.
Part 1 of 5
How do I compare Realtors before I sign with one?
Meet two or three listing agents. Ask each one what they would list your home at and why, what they charge on the listing side, whether they suggest offering anything to the buyer's agent, how they will market the home, how they will keep you updated, and how long the agreement runs and what it costs to leave it.
Write every answer in the same spot for each agent. The differences will be obvious once they sit next to each other. Nobody can compute the right agent for you from those numbers, and this page does not try.
Part 2 of 5
The questions to ask every Realtor
The same questions the panel above has room for, and why each matters. Beside each, what your agents have said so far.
Who they are
The card needs a name. Everything else can wait.
The brokerage holds the listing agreement, not the agent.
Years alone say little, but they are worth having next to the sales count.
A busy agent is not the same as a busy listing agent.
Addresses you can look up. It tells you whether they know your street or your county.
The price
Two numbers, not one. The gap between them is their honest read of the market.
A price with comps behind it is a price. A price without them is a pitch.
You want to hear their plan now, not after three quiet weeks.
The money
Since 2024 the listing side and the buyer's side are separate numbers. Ask for each.
It is your money and your call. It is no longer set by the listing.
Small fees add up, and they belong in the same column as the big one.
How they'll market it
Photos are what most buyers see first. Ask whether a professional takes them.
Not every home needs it. Knowing whether it is on offer is the point.
Some agents lean on them, some skip them. Either can work, and you should know which you are getting.
Ask for the list. A plan you can read is different from a promise.
Working together
Weekly call, text after each showing, or an email on Fridays. Pick the one you can live with.
A big team can be great. Just know who is picking up the phone.
Nobody knows. An honest range beats a confident number.
The agreement
Six months is common. Ninety days is also common. Ask.
The answer to this question is the one people wish they had asked.
Part 3 of 5
Side by side
Once there is a name on a card, every answer reads across here. Nothing on it says who to pick.
Part 4 of 5
What changed about commissions
Since the 2024 settlement, the fee you pay your listing agent and anything offered to the buyer's agent are two separate numbers, and the second one is your decision. Ask for each on its own. An agent who quotes one total is folding a choice of yours into their fee.
The same list works in reverse: it is what you would be doing yourself. The guides cover each piece, and the calculator shows what a listing fee changes.
Part 5 of 5 · where to read next
Questions people ask about agents
How many agents should I meet?
Most sellers meet two or three. Enough that the answers to the same questions can be read against each other, not so many that the meetings blur. The cards hold up to eight.
What does a listing agent charge?
A percent of the price or a flat amount, set in the listing agreement. Commonly 2.5% to 3% on the listing side. Since 2024 anything offered to the buyer's agent is a separate decision, and yours.
Can I cancel a listing agreement?
It depends on the agreement. Some let you cancel with notice, some charge a fee, some run their term. It is the question people wish they had asked before signing, which is why it is on the card.
Does Keighbor recommend an agent?
No. We don't score agents, rank them, or take a referral fee from any of them. The comparison lays the answers out and stays quiet; the decision is yours.
Who we are, so this reads right
Keighbor is not a real estate brokerage and does not represent you. Nobody here is your agent. We don't negotiate, set your price, recommend a course of action, or take a commission. We provide software that helps you organize your side of the sale. We don't score agents, rank them, or take a referral fee from any of them. The cards above are yours, and nothing on them goes anywhere unless you save them to your own room. Keighbor is a software company, not a law firm, brokerage, or tax adviser. This is general information, not legal, tax, financial, or real estate advice about your sale. Your situation may differ. Before acting on a contract, disclosure, title, tax, or pricing question, ask an appropriately licensed professional in your state.
Written and researched by Keighbor Research · how we research and check what we publish
One piece of your sale. Here is where all the pieces live.
Don't lose the work you just did.
Save your Realtor comparison to your Keighbor room and keep it with the rest of your home sale: the steps, the papers, the dates, and the people. The agent you pick can join the room later, and they never see the cards.