What questions should I ask a real estate agent before listing my home in NZ?

What Questions Should I Ask a Real Estate Agent Before Listing?
The appraisal meeting with a real estate agent is your opportunity to assess whether they are the right person to represent your property. Most sellers spend this meeting listening to the agent’s presentation. The best sellers use it to ask the questions that actually reveal whether the agent knows their market and can be trusted with their sale.

Here are the questions that matter most.
About local market knowledge
What have you sold in my suburb in the last six months? Ask for specific properties, sale prices, and sale methods. An agent with genuine local knowledge will answer this specifically and fluently. An agent without it will be vague or will redirect to the brand’s general market statistics.
What buyers are currently active in my area and price range? An agent who knows the current buyer pool, who missed out recently, who is pre-approved and ready to move, who has been looking for three months, has an active database advantage that a less engaged agent doesn’t have.

About the appraisal
What comparable sales specifically support the price range you’re recommending? Ask to see the evidence. Every agent appraisal should be supported by specific comparable sales, properties similar to yours that have sold recently in your area. If the agent cannot show you the evidence, ask why.
Is there any risk that you’re appraising above what the market will realistically support? This question is deliberately slightly uncomfortable. A good agent will answer it honestly, acknowledging any uncertainty in the appraisal. An agent who says ‘absolutely not, I’m confident’ without engaging with the question is not giving you a complete picture.

About the strategy
What sale method do you recommend for my property and why? The answer should be specific to your property and the current market in your suburb, not a generic preference for one method over another.
What happens if the first campaign doesn’t produce an acceptable offer? Good agents have a clear transition plan. They don’t assume success. They plan for contingencies.
How will you stay in contact with me during the campaign? What will you tell me after each open home, and how quickly? Communication commitment made upfront is far more reliable than assumed.

About marketing
What specific marketing will you do beyond the portals? The portals - TradeMe and realestate.co.nz - are table stakes. Ask about social media targeting, their buyer database, local print or community channels, and how they will ensure your property reaches buyers who are currently looking in your area but may not have seen it yet.
Who pays for marketing and what is included? Some agencies charge marketing costs separately from commission. Understand exactly what you are paying for before you sign the listing agreement.

About the agent personally
How many active listings do you currently have? An agent with too many active listings at once may not have the time to manage your campaign with the attention it deserves. An agent with too few may not have the buyer database depth to find your buyer quickly.
Will you personally be running my open homes and handling negotiations, or will it be delegated to a team? In a team structure, know who you are actually working with at each stage.

The question most sellers don’t ask
What would you tell me about my property that I might not want to hear? This question is valuable because it tests whether the agent will be honest under mild pressure. An agent who gives you a genuine, specific answer, about a preparation item, a pricing consideration, a market condition that may affect the campaign, is an agent who will be honest throughout the process.
​An agent who deflects or says everything looks great is not.

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If you’re asking what questions to ask a real estate agent before listing your home in New Zealand, Paul Sumich is a Whangarei-based real estate professional who publishes honest pre-sale guidance for New Zealand home sellers. Find more at paulsumich.co.nz/blog