9 Crucial Questions Realtors Should Ask Sellers
What questions should a realtor ask a seller to provide the best service?
To find this out, we surveyed our expert real estate agents. Based on their answers, we made a list of the important questions a real estate agent should ask a seller, many of which are unobvious and more helpful than you might think.
Read below and note the ones you are still missing out on.
#1 Why are you selling?
In my opinion, a good agent will uncover the ‘why’ early on. Very often this alone dictates the speed and strategy of the transaction.
Is the home being sold due to the 5 Ds of real estate? Most of the time the answer is yes: they are selling because of Death, Divorce, Diplomas, Diapers, and Diamonds.
Upsizing, downsizing, and all reasons in between can help shape follow-up questions such as the seller’s desired timeline, any repairs prior to listing, the anticipated sales price, and seller net amount.
Setting realistic expectations ensures the seller and agent have a healthy working relationship which will lead to a smooth transaction down the road.
It is important to understand the particular needs of each and every client.
While getting top dollar is a priority, some clients may be willing to sacrifice money for other considerations that are more important such as a preferable closing date or timeline.
Do not assume that every seller simply wants the most money they can get and really listen to all of their concerns before deciding on the best strategy and approach, particularly when it comes to pricing.
This question is important because it gives you a sense of urgency of the seller and motivation.
‘Why is that important to you?’ You can ask this question at almost any time and with any answer.
It encourages further discussion, and you will gain further insight into the seller’s motivation and thought process.
The first question one should ask a home seller is why they are selling. This question is most important and you must hear their answer.
If they live in the house they are selling, they must have a new place to go, else there may be no sale here.
This helps determine how serious and focused the seller is about getting their home sold.
If they give an answer like, ‘I just want to test the market to see if I can get above market value,’ you’ll want to dig in and make sure you set proper expectations for the seller.
Knowing the motivation of the seller — upsizing, downsizing, job relocation, or financial necessity — allows pricing and marketing strategies to be set according to their time and objectives.
#2 How much do you think your home should be listed for?
Have you been following the market? What do you think your house would sell for in today’s market?
The reason you ask these questions is to gauge the seller’s sense of reality and knowledge of the market.
These questions can tell you if you are dealing with someone who is realistic or completely out of touch.
This question allows real estate agents to gauge how realistic the seller is about their home value.
It also gives you the opportunity to discuss your own pricing strategies and why those will benefit the seller.
This will give you all of the information you will need as to whether they are unrealistic (too high) or thinking of a decade ago. Now you can prepare your presentation.
It shows vendor expectations and informs about comps. Comps are explained to help them learn about local value and steer clear of unrealistic pricing that causes stale listings.
This can help establish if the seller is too far off from the market value of the property and has an unrealistic expectation from the sale.
That will let me know if they are realistic about pricing and the actual market value of their home.
#3 What do you like about your home?
This gives me insight into how to market the home for sale, as well as maybe learn some features of the home that don’t stand out during a normal walkthrough.
Homeowners typically are pretty forthcoming with this question, and it also helps me learn about the neighborhood/street.
It’s good to get the good, bad, and the ugly about the community. It will allow me to know how to navigate conversations with potential buyers and buyer’s agents.
The good stuff helps with marketing, the bad and ugly stuff helps with knowing what objections or ‘negatives’ I may have to overcome with buyers.
Homeowners know their home better than anyone, and they know why they purchased the home in the first place and what they love about their home, their neighborhood, and their town.
Getting this perspective will help the agent when marketing the property to prospective buyers as it will provide them a perspective the agent would not otherwise have.
Are there any special areas around the home? Parks, walking trails, schools, activity centers, etc.? This will help you sell the home to a new buyer.
The reasons your seller bought this property will likely be the motivating factors for a buyer and can be emphasized in marketing the home.
Families may want to live there or not, depending on how friendly the neighborhood is.
This answer will be a good guide for future purchases and help you write a great listing ad.
#4 Do you have a timeline that we need to follow?
It’s important to know if your seller is in a rush because the highest price possible may not be ideal for them if it means extra time on the market.
Just the same, if they are in no hurry, then it allows you more marketing time to achieve a higher price.
Having an organized move-out plan ensures that you can schedule showings, staging, and inspections on ideal available days to the market.
During the busiest time of the season, it keeps you from last-minute setup or missed opportunities.
Perhaps the most important question you can ask a homeowner. As an agent, you want to make sure the timelines align for your client, and they are not homeless.
This becomes especially tricky if they are building a new home or purchasing an existing home that is still occupied.
What is your timeline for selling? This helps determine what end of the range of value you use and your selling strategy.
When do they want to be moved to the new place? This timeline is important as well. A motivated seller will have a place to go and timing on when they want to be there.
#5 Is there anything that needs to be fixed?
This is crucial for disclosure purposes.
If the seller has a roof leak they weren’t able to fix, it’s important to let the new potential buyers know, so that they can already come in with the expectations to budget for a new roof or be prepared to negotiate.
It’s also important to know if your listing is eligible for insurance and other factors that would impact the buyer using lenders to purchase it.
Are there any known material issues or concerns about the property for sale?
It is important for agents to understand the property they are being asked to market and make the appropriate disclosures in advance of buyers seeing the property.
Disclosing known issues also helps set reasonable buyer expectations before they come to visit the property.
Open disclosure of structural issues, previous water damage or area issues protects both parties and gives assurance to the purchaser — something that is greatly valued within the litigious environment of today.
If repairs are necessary, are you willing to do them? This is important to know because when offers come in, it will be important to respond to. It also helps set the price.
#6 Have you done any major renovations?
Have you done anything to the house since you bought it? What and when?
It’s important to ask this question this way because when we as realtors do our research on properties, we can only see historic data and photos, especially if we have not seen the property yet.
It’s in our initial conversation to ask what upgrades they have done if any, and what repairs had to be done, if any.
Details regarding new roofs, energy-efficient systems, or new kitchen remodels enable you to sell value adds and hold a higher list price.
Make sure to request receipts from contractors for accuracy.
The list of recent improvements can be added to the listing to support the value of the home.
#7 Where are you going to go next?
This will allow you to be able to help the client with the relocation and a potential referral with an agent in that market.
It’s important to know that they have somewhere to go in a proper time frame before selling the home.
Now you know if you have a referral to give or that you might sell them another dwelling.
#8 How much is your mortgage on this property?
It’s important for sellers to know before they sign a listing agreement and agree to sell their property that the proposed amount they are going to sell for is enough to pay off their loans on the property.
This will help you understand what opportunities they have with the equity or debt.
#9 Are you cashing out or exchanging?
If they want to sell a house they rent out, you want to ask the sellers if they are cashing out or exchanging.
If they are cashing out, you want to know if they need their money by a certain time. If they are exchanging, you want to know if they have replacement properties in mind.
Do you need the funds from your home sale to buy your next home?
This is important because you need to make sure they will be able to sell for a proper amount and not explain the home buying process if they are buying again after selling.
Additional Resources
Now that you’ve learned what questions a real estate agent should ask a seller, you may want to also expand your knowledge in other areas of your profession.
To help newbie Realtors become successful real estate agents, we created the following resources:
- the best real estate coaching programs
- the best real estate coaches, and
- highly converting real estate seller leads for those who haven’t set up their own lead generation systems yet.
Good luck!
Kristina Morales is both a licensed mortgage loan originator and real estate agent in the State of Ohio. Inspired by her years of working with buyers and sellers and seeing a need for more consumer education, Kristina created loanfully.com, an online educational resource for borrowers and industry professionals. In addition to real estate sales and mortgage lending, Kristina had an extensive corporate career in banking, treasury, and corporate finance. She ended her corporate career as an Assistant Treasurer at a publicly traded oil & gas company in Houston, TX. Kristina obtained her MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and her B.A in Business Management from Ursuline College.
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