Answers by Robert Sanchez

If you’re already asking these questions, you’re ahead of most sellers. A lot of people focus on marketing and recent sales, which are important—but the real difference between agents usually comes down to how they plan to create demand and manage the process once you’re on the market. A few questions I’d definitely add: What are you doing beyond the MLS to actually bring buyers? Every agent will list your home. Not every agent has a plan to actively go after buyers or tap into different buyer pools. How are you going to position my home against similar listings? Two similar homes can get very different results depending on pricing, presentation, and how they’re introduced to the market. What happens if we don’t get strong activity in the first couple of weeks? You want someone who already has a plan—not someone figuring it out as they go. Where are your buyers typically coming from? Some agents rely mostly on local traffic. Others consistently bring in buyers from outside areas, which can make a big difference. Can you walk me through a recent listing step by step? This usually tells you more than anything else—how they think, how they adjust, and how hands-on they are. What I’ve seen over the years is that the listings that perform the best are the ones that are positioned with a clear strategy from day one—not just put on the market and left to wait. If an agent can walk you through that plan in a way that makes sense and back it up with real examples, you’re likely in good hands.