How to Choose the Best Listing Agent for You

When you’re selling your home, your real estate agent should be in your corner: helping you move the property quickly and for the best possible price. 

You should feel supported by this professional—not like you’d have been better off if you’d taken the for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) route. The agent should give off confidence and motivation, not just because they want to earn their commission, but because they’re genuinely excited about your property and interested in helping you. 

Navigating service providers and finding the right match is always a challenge, and the stakes are high when selecting the realtor to take your home sale process from start to finish. But with the following tips, you can choose the best listing agent for you and enjoy a smooth ride to a lucrative close.  

Ask for recommendations 

There’s nothing quite like a word-of-mouth referral from someone you trust. Ask around in your circles for agent recommendations and talk to referrers candidly about their experience. Be sure to compare your sale to theirs. If your friend worked with an excellent agent on a project very different from yours (think: you’re selling a 3-bedroom home in the suburbs and your friend had a studio apartment in the city), this is a factor you’ll want to keep top-of-mind when you talk to the agent to determine whether they’re the right match. 

Determine your needs

After asking for referrals, it’s time to do your own research and flesh out your list of potentials. To find good matches, start by triaging your needs. Maybe this is your first home sale and it’s essential that you team up with a realtor who’ll do some handholding. Or perhaps one of the following concerns is paramount for you. 

Earning top dollar

Who wouldn’t want to earn the most possible for their home? While all good agents should focus on this factor, some go above and beyond. Look for realtors that recommend renovations; help make repairs, inspections, and appraisals more agile by providing solid referrals; and expertly market homes—pushing past typical tactics and using eye-grabbing content on social media, like video or drone footage. 

You’ll also want to work with a realist: an agent who studies the housing market and knows what you can reasonably expect to sell your home for as-is or with the renovations you plan to make. This way, you value your house correctly and don’t scare off potential buyers with a suspiciously low or shockingly high sale price. 

Delegating

Home sellers have a lot on their plate, like looking for a new home and packing up, cleaning, and decluttering the one they’re trying to sell. If you’re in this position, you don’t also want to take on work your realtor should be doing, like complex paperwork that, when executed incorrectly, can lead to legal trouble. You also don’t want to be fielding calls and emails from interested buyers.

Look for an agent who will take over communication with buyers, feel out qualified potentials, and lead the charge on paperwork—working out details like contingencies, involving you when necessary. It’s also wise to work with someone who can negotiate on your behalf so that you don’t make an emotional decision to sell your house before it's time or for too little.

Getting a fair commission rate

You likely hope to make an excellent profit on your home sale. So, be sure to figure in a prospective agent’s cut. Realtor’s commissions are often split 50/50 between the buyer and seller, so you can expect to pay half the rate. That is, if the agent takes 6 percent, you’ll probably pay 3. 

Perform a cost versus value analysis before selecting an agent. If you can spend less on commissions by working with someone just as reliable as another who charges more, then you’re getting more for your money by working with the less expensive realtor. 

Read reviews 

Before even picking up the phone and scheduling interviews with agents of interest, read reviews. Sites like RateMyAgent; consumer protection ones, like the Better Business Bureau or Angi (formerly Angie’s List); or listing sites, like Zillow; are great resources. 

Ask the right questions 

Interview candidates with a focus on gauging their experience level and interest. The following questions can help you glean the right information and land the best real estate agent for you.  

• What licenses do you have? An agent should have an active license, and as a bonus, certifications from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). You can double-check licenses by looking them up in your state’s realtor database.  

• What’s your experience level? A new agent might work hard for you—hungry to make a sale. And an experienced real estate professional should be able to describe recent successes and have a high sell-through rate (STR). Just because they’ve been in the game for longer doesn’t make them a better option than someone efficient but less experienced if they haven’t made a sale in some time. 

• How would you price my home? A realtor won’t be able to provide an exact answer, but the response should be within reason and your target range. As you talk to different agents, you’ll get a better idea of who’s coming in high or low based on the average you hear across interviews. 

• What marketing strategies do you use? Listen for a creative marketing plan that goes beyond professional photos. An agent should also be promoting your listing on platforms outside of the multiple listing service (MLS) and their website, innovating with social media and networking.

• What makes you different? Have the realtor wax poetic on how they stand out from their peers. If their know-how doesn’t align with what you're looking for, that doesn’t make them a bad agent—it just makes them not the right one for you. 

• What’s your commission? If you have multiple solid options, be wary of a commission that’s out of range. A commission over the typical 5 to 6 percent could be a red flag if other top-notch agents in your area all charge a similar, lower rate.

Check whether your agent will help with renovations

Aside from handling paperwork, running open houses, and negotiating with buyers, a great real estate agent should be able to advise you on renovations that will make your home more attractive to buyers. An even better agent will help you secure financing for those upgrades. 

The best listing agent for you is a Titus-affiliated one, seeing as these realtors can give you access to exclusive renovation financing options. Titus’s zero-interest closing lines of credit (CLoCs) can help you get your property market-ready—and you pay nothing upfront or out of pocket. Learn how it works here.