Questions to Ask Your Realtor When Selling: 25 Questions for the Listing, Offer and Closing Stages (2026)

Updated October 2026. The questions to ask your realtor after you’ve hired them: at listing launch, during showings, when offers arrive, under contract and before closing. Rules dated and sourced below.

Hiring the agent is only the first set of questions. Once you’ve signed, ask at five stages: before the listing goes live, during showings, when offers come in, under contract, and before closing. There are 25 questions below. As of October 2026, homes sold in a median 33 days (NAR, September 2026), so most of these come up within a few weeks.

Jump to: 🏠 Listing launch · 📸 Showings · 💲 Offers · 🤝 Under contract · ⏱️ Closing · ❓ FAQ

If you’re still choosing an agent, start with our guide on how to choose a realtor, which covers interview questions and red flags. This page picks up after you’ve signed, when the questions get practical.

What should you ask your realtor before the listing goes live?

This stage sets up everything else. Good agents welcome these questions.

1. Which three or four sales support our list price, and why those?
2. What price would make you worried, and what would make you excited?
3. Which photos lead the listing, and who’s taking them?
4. What goes in the description, and can I read it before it’s published?
5. Will the listing go public right away, or are you suggesting delayed marketing? What would I give up?

The last one is newer. Since NAR’s March 25, 2025 policy, a seller can choose to delay public marketing or keep a listing office-exclusive, with signed consent. Ask why, and what it costs in reach. Our guide to private and delayed listings explains the trade-off.

A free home value estimate gives you your own number to compare with the agent’s.

What should you ask during showings?

6. How will I get feedback after each showing, and how soon?
7. How many showings would you expect in week one at this price?
8. What’s our plan if we get no offers in the first two weeks?
9. Are buyers’ agents asking about compensation? What are you telling them?
10. Do you recommend an open house, and who will host it?

Question 8 is the one people skip. Agree on a checkpoint date and what you’ll change if nothing happens: price, photos, or terms. In September 2026 the national supply was 4.8 months, up from 4.5 a year earlier (NAR), so buyers have time to wait for a price cut. A plan made early is calmer than one made in week five.

Question 9 matters because of the 2024 rules. Offers of buyer-agent pay can’t appear on the MLS, and your agent needs your written approval, with the amount, before making one (NAR).

What should you ask when offers come in?

11. Can you show me my net on each offer, side by side?
12. How strong is each buyer’s financing, and have you talked to their lender?
13. Which contingencies does each offer have, and how long are they?
14. Is any buyer asking me to pay their agent or give credits? How much in dollars?
15. What would you counter, and what’s the risk if we do?

The highest price isn’t always the best offer. A lower cash offer with a short inspection period may net you more than a higher one with an appraisal gap and a 45-day close. Ask for the net in dollars, after every fee and credit.

When a buyer asks for agent pay or credits, it’s your call. Commissions are not set by law or NAR rules and are fully negotiable. Sellers choose whether to offer any buyer-agent compensation, and since August 17, 2024 such offers can’t be shown on the MLS. Our guide to how realtor commissions affect your costs runs the numbers.

What should you ask once you’re under contract?

16. Which deadlines can cost me money if we miss them? Put them on a calendar for me.
17. When is the inspection, and how should I answer repair requests?
18. If the appraisal comes in low, what are my options?
19. Who are the title or escrow company and the buyer’s lender, and how do I reach them?
20. What do I need to disclose, and is anything on my form now out of date?

Repair requests are where deals wobble. Ask whether a credit, a price cut or doing the work is better in your case. Credits count against the buyer’s lender limits, so the lender may have a say. Buyers get a copy of the appraisal before closing under federal rules the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes; ask your agent to request it if the value comes in low.

What should you ask before closing?

21. When will I see the settlement statement, and can we review it together?
22. Which payments come out of my proceeds, and is each one in writing?
23. What do I bring to closing, and can I sign remotely?
24. What happens to utilities, keys, garage remotes and the HOA?
25. Is there anything I’ll need for taxes next year?

Ask for the settlement statement a few days early and check each line. If you agreed to pay a buyer’s agent, the written agreement should be with the title company. For taxes, most sellers of a main home can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 if married filing jointly; IRS Publication 523 on the IRS website has the rules.

In Florida and Texas, Beycome Title can handle the closing and in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

What if you’d rather ask these questions without a full-service agent?

You can. Every question above works whether you have a full-service agent, a discount agent or no agent at all. A good full-service agent answers most of them before you ask, and that’s worth paying for if you want it.

If you’d rather keep more control and pay a set fee, Beycome’s Concierge package is $1,399. A dedicated expert works with you 7 days a week, whenever you need it, through all five stages, and every decision stays yours. Or list with a flat fee MLS package from $99 and use our guide to selling your own home. For more on working with an agent, see selling a home with a realtor, step by step. NAR’s consumer guides on the National Association of Realtors site explain the 2024 rules in their own words.

Questions sellers ask about working with a realtor