What Questions Should I Ask a Realtor Before Hiring?

The questions you ask a realtor before hiring one come down to four things: experience, local knowledge, strategy, and communication. Almost anyone can get a license, but very few agents in Virginia Beach have the track record and market command to protect your money. Here are the questions I would ask any real estate agent Virginia Beach sellers and buyers should put to the test before signing anything, and what strong answers actually sound like.

Start With Experience and Volume

Ask how long they have been licensed and how many transactions they closed in the last 12 months, not over a career. A full-time agent who closes deals every month is in a different league than someone selling a handful of homes a year. Ask how many of those sales were in the neighborhoods you are considering. An agent who knows Great Neck, Kempsville, and the neighborhoods around Naval Air Station Oceana can tell you which streets get multiple offers and which ones sit.

Then ask for a recent example: a listing that sold above the competition and why, or a buyer who beat other offers and how the offer was structured. You want specifics, not slogans. In my case, I have been doing this since 2002 with more than 1,000 closed transactions, and I can talk through the last half dozen deals without pulling up a file. A vague answer is the first red flag.

Test Their Knowledge of Your Market

The Virginia Beach real estate market is not one market. The Oceanfront, the resort corridor, and new construction in Pungo behave differently, and the same is true across Chesapeake, Norfolk, and the rest of Hampton Roads. Ask what is happening with homes for sale Hampton Roads buyers should expect right now: are days on market shrinking or growing, are sellers negotiating, are buyers competing. Ask about flood zones and what they mean for insurance, and ask which school zones feed the schools you care about.

You can read about the bigger picture in our guides and resources hub, but the agent you hire should be able to answer from their own experience on the ground, not by reading the same articles.

Ask About Strategy, Not Just Price

If you are selling, ask exactly how the home will be priced, marketed, and shown. A real answer covers photography, staging advice, the listing launch, open houses, and how offers will be negotiated. If you are buying a home in Virginia Beach, ask how they plan to win in a competitive situation: how they position a pre-approval, how fast they can write an offer, and how they handle an appraisal gap. Notice whether they talk about risk or just about finding you a house.

We go deeper on all of this in how to choose the right real estate agent in Virginia Beach if you want the full checklist.

How Do They Communicate, and What Does It Cost?

Ask how you will hear updates and how often. In a fast market, a day matters, and you want an agent who returns calls the same day. Ask how long the representation agreement runs and what happens if you are not happy. Ask how they get paid and confirm that buyer representation in this market is typically paid from the seller's side of the transaction, which is how the commission is normally structured in Hampton Roads.

Trust the Fit

Hiring an agent is a partnership that can run for months, so fit matters as much as the numbers. You want someone direct, who tells you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear, and who treats your money like their own. My background as a Marine Corps Veteran and a hometown guy who grew up in this business shapes how I operate, and you can read more about that on the about page. If you want an honest read on the market and how I would handle your situation, ask me anything on this list.