What Questions Should You Ask Before Hiring a Real Estate Agent in Western New York?

Most articles on this topic tell you to ask about transaction volume, years of experience, and how many homes the agent has sold in your zip code. Those questions aren't useless, but they miss what actually matters. High volume doesn't guarantee strong communication. Years of experience doesn't predict whether someone will tell you the truth when the truth is inconvenient. And a list of closed sales says nothing about how an agent thinks about your specific situation.

The questions that actually tell you whether an agent is a good fit are about something different: their process, their honesty, and whether they're thinking about your full picture — not just the transaction in front of them.

Here are the ones worth asking before you sign anything.

1. What do you want to know about my situation before you make any recommendations?

This is the most telling question on the list, and you can ask it in the first five minutes. A good agent doesn't start with a price and work backward. They start with questions: What are you trying to accomplish? What does your timeline actually look like? Are you buying next, and if so, how do those two moves interact? What would make this whole thing feel not worth it?

An agent who jumps straight to action — pricing, listing, showing schedules — before they understand what you're actually trying to do is working from a script, not from your situation. That matters more in a market like Western New York, where selling and buying at the same time is the norm and the coordination between those two moves is where things go wrong.

Strong answer: They slow down, ask real questions, and treat your goals as the starting point — not the listing price.

Red flag: Immediate recommendations before they've heard enough to know whether those recommendations make sense for you.

2. What would you tell me if my price expectations were off?

This is a trust question dressed up as a pricing question. The honest answer reveals whether you're dealing with someone who will protect your interests or someone who will tell you what you want to hear to win the listing.

There's a well-known pattern in real estate where an agent recommends a high listing price to get the contract, then suggests reductions after the home sits. It costs sellers real money — not just in a lower eventual sale price, but in extended carrying costs, reduced buyer urgency, and the stigma that comes with a price drop. A good agent would rather lose a listing than set you up for that.

How they answer this question tells you which kind of agent you're sitting across from.

Strong answer: Direct, specific, and calm — they explain how pricing decisions are made, what happens to homes that are priced over market, and that they'd rather have an honest conversation upfront than a painful one three weeks in.

Red flag: Vague reassurances that they'll "work together to find the right number" without any acknowledgment that sometimes the right number is lower than what you hoped.

Watch: How Digital Marketing Helps Sell Homes in Western New York

3. Walk me through what the first week on market actually looks like.

The first week a home is listed is the highest-traffic window you'll have. Buyers who've been waiting for something like your home will come quickly — or they won't come at all. What the agent does before that window opens, and how they manage it once it does, has more impact on your outcome than almost anything that happens afterward.

Ask for specifics: How are photos handled? What's the launch timing strategy? How are showings scheduled and managed? How will they communicate feedback to you during that first week?

Strong answer: A clear, concrete plan — professional photography, a controlled launch, a specific showing approach, and a communication rhythm they can describe.

Red flag: Generic language about "maximum exposure" and "our network" with no actual plan for what happens in the first seven days.

4. If I'm also buying my next home, how do you approach both sides of that move?

Selling and buying at the same time is one of the most common situations in Western New York — and one of the most under-planned. Most agents are comfortable on one side of that equation. Fewer have a clear process for helping clients think through the coordination: whether to sell first or buy first, what a contingency makes sense in, how to bridge the gap if the timing doesn't line up cleanly.

If this applies to your situation, ask the question directly. The answer tells you whether you're working with someone who will help you build one clear transition plan, or someone who will handle one transaction at a time and leave the coordination to you.

Strong answer: A real framework — they ask about your next home goals before recommending a sequence, and they can describe more than one way to structure the move depending on your equity, timeline, and risk tolerance.

Red flag: A quick pivot to "let's get your home sold first and then we'll figure out the next step" — which is a plan, technically, but not a strategy.

For a deeper look at how to think through this decision, see Should I Sell First or Buy First in Western New York?

5. How will you communicate with me, and how often?

There's no single right answer here — the right answer is one that matches what you actually need. Some people want daily updates. Others want to hear only when something requires a decision. What matters is that the agent has a clear standard, can describe it, and that it's compatible with how you communicate.

An agent who says "I'll reach out whenever there's something to share" is describing a reactive communication style. That can mean you go a week without hearing anything during an active showing period, not because nothing is happening, but because they've defined "something to share" differently than you would.

Strong answer: A specific cadence and channel they default to, with flexibility to adjust based on your preference.

Red flag: A vague answer, or one that puts the communication burden back on you ("just reach out anytime").

6. Can you connect me with a past client I can speak with directly?

Online reviews are useful, but a direct conversation with a past client tells you things a five-star rating doesn't. Specifically: how did the agent handle a difficult situation? What happened when something went sideways? Were they available when it mattered, or hard to reach once the paperwork was signed?

Any agent worth hiring should be able to produce a reference without hesitation. If they can't — or if every reference they offer is a quick written testimonial rather than a real person you can call — that's worth paying attention to.

7. Walk me through how you approach pricing — before you show me a number.

Ask them to explain their methodology before they present any specific figure. The quality of the explanation tells you more than the number itself.

A data-driven pricing conversation covers recent comparable sales, how your home's condition and features compare to what sold, current inventory and buyer demand, and how buyers in your price range typically behave in this market. It should also include an honest assessment of what happens to homes that are priced too high — not as a scare tactic, but as context for why pricing accurately matters.

An agent who leads with a high number and backs into justifications for it is doing the opposite of this. That approach protects their ability to win the listing. It doesn't protect your outcome.

Strong answer: A clear walkthrough of how they think about price — what data they use, how they weigh condition and competition, and what they'd tell you if your expectations didn't match the market.

Red flag: A price before a process. Or a process that's really just a comparison to what your neighbor got without any deeper analysis.

Watch: Why Hire a Realtor to Sell Your Home in Western New York?

What You're Really Looking For

Across all of these questions, you're trying to find out the same thing: is this an agent who will work in your interest, or one who will tell you what's easiest to hear?

The agent who gives you a high listing price to win your business, disappears once you're under contract, can't explain their marketing plan, and has no process for helping you think through your next move — that agent is common. The one who slows down, asks the right questions, tells you the truth, and treats your full situation as the problem they're trying to solve — that one is worth finding.

Commission is part of the conversation too, and it's fair to ask about it. But an agent who charges slightly more and sells your home for 3 to 4 percent above what you'd have gotten otherwise has done you a meaningful financial favor. The rate matters less than what you actually walk away with.

If you'd like to have this kind of conversation with me — where we actually work through your situation before talking about next steps — that's what the Start With Strategy consultation is built for. You can book one at merrittkreutzer.com/startwithstrategy. No obligation, no pitch — just a real conversation about what you're working with.