Do NOT Hire a Real Estate Agent Without Asking These 5 Questions

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If you’re planning to sell a home in Huntington Beach, Orange County, or anywhere in Southern California, the single most important decision you will make is which real estate agent you hire. Your choice of agent impacts your pricing strategy, how quickly your home sells, how much equity you keep, and how stressful (or smooth) the experience becomes.

Most sellers don’t realize this, but hiring the wrong real estate agent can cost them tens of thousands of dollars in lost equity, months of wasted time, and a level of frustration that could have been completely avoided. And the number one reason this happens? Sellers don’t ask the questions that actually matter when they interview agents.

In this guide, you’ll learn the five critical questions you must ask before you hire any real estate agent—whether you’re interviewing someone locally in Huntington Beach, elsewhere in Orange County, or anywhere across the country. These questions will help you separate marketing hype from true expertise and ensure you hire an agent who can actually protect your equity and guide you through a successful sale.

Before we dive in, there’s one principle that has guided me throughout my career: “Proof over promise.”

Anyone can promise they’re the best. Anyone can say they’ll get you top dollar. But a professional real estate agent should be able to prove it with their process, their strategy, their track record, and their communication.

Watch: 5 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Real Estate Agent

Prefer to watch instead of read? Here’s the full video where I walk through these five questions in detail:

If you’re already interviewing agents or you’re not sure who to trust, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I’d love the opportunity to help you directly, and if you’re not in my immediate market, I can connect you with a vetted professional who works the same way I do.

👉 Contact me here to get started

Question 1: “How Will You Price My Home?”

In nearly every listing consultation I have in Huntington Beach or anywhere in Orange County, pricing comes up first—and that makes sense. Your pricing strategy is the single biggest financial decision you’ll make in the entire process. It affects:

How quickly your home sells
How many qualified buyers see it
How many offers you receive
How much money you walk away with at closing

The problem is that most sellers start with the wrong number. They look at:

What a neighbor’s home sold for a few months ago
What a friend heard someone down the street got
A generic Zestimate or online valuation
An agent who tells them the absolute highest number with zero proof

None of that is a real pricing strategy.

Beware of Agents Who “Buy the Listing”

In competitive markets like Huntington Beach and other parts of Orange County, some real estate agents will tell you exactly what you want to hear just to win the listing. I call this “buying the listing,” and it happens a lot.

Here’s how it usually plays out:

The agent quotes a price noticeably higher than other agents, with no solid data to back it up.
You’re excited about that number, so you sign the listing agreement.
The home hits the market and sits—because it’s overpriced.
After a few weeks, they start suggesting price reductions.
Your home slowly loses momentum and becomes “stale” in the eyes of buyers.
You end up selling for less than you could have if the home had been priced correctly from day one.

This approach doesn’t protect you. It protects the agent’s need to get the listing.

What a True Pricing Strategy Looks Like

A professional real estate agent should be able to walk you through—step by step—how they arrived at the recommended price. That includes more than just comparable sales. It should include:

How your home compares to current competition, not just past sales
How buyers behave in your specific price range
Current supply and demand in your neighborhood and surrounding areas
Recent trends in Huntington Beach and Orange County(days on market, list-to-sale ratios, etc.)
How often their listings sell within the projected price range

Pricing isn’t about picking a number. It’s about positioning your property so that it stands out versus the competition and attracts strong, serious buyers quickly.

And again, this is where “proof over promise” matters. The right real estate agent should be able to show you their pricing accuracy over time—not just cherry-picked success stories from an unusually hot market.

Local Insight: Pricing in Huntington Beach and Orange County

In coastal and high-demand areas like Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and surrounding Orange County markets, two homes that look similar on paper can have very different values based on:

School district and zoning
Proximity to the beach, shops, and freeways
Neighborhood desirability (Downtown HB, South HB, Seacliff, Huntington Harbour, etc.)
Recent upgrades and overall presentation
Where they fall relative to key price brackets buyers search in

A knowledgeable, local real estate agent should be able to clearly explain how all these pieces affect your pricing strategy.

If they can’t? That’s a red flag.

Question 2: “What Is Your Plan to Prepare My Home for the Market?”

This is one of the most revealing questions you can ask. It separates real estate agents who operate with a proven system from those who simply want to get your home on the MLS as fast as possible.

The goal of preparation is simple: Preparation creates demand, and demand creates price.

Preparation Is Not About Massive Renovations

A lot of sellers hear “prep” and think they need to start tearing out kitchens and bathrooms. In most cases, that’s not necessary. What we’re really talking about is:

Deep, detailed cleaning
Touch-up paint and small cosmetic fixes
Updated or brighter lighting
Minor repairs that signal good maintenance
Curb appeal upgrades (landscaping, entry, front door)
Decluttering and depersonalizing
Strategic staging to highlight space and flow

These are relatively small investments that can dramatically improve the way your home shows, photographs, and feels to buyers—especially in image-driven markets like Huntington Beach and the broader Orange County coastal communities.

How Bad Preparation Loses You Money

I’ve seen it again and again: an agent walks through and says, “It looks great. Let’s get it listed.” No prep plan, no staging guidance, no strategy. Many times they do this because they:

Don’t have a preparation system
Don’t want to delay the listing
Don’t understand what buyers focus on

The end result? The home feels a little dark, a little cluttered, a little tired—and buyers move on to the next one.

What a Great Preparation Plan Looks Like

An experienced real estate agent will walk you through a clear, prioritized plan. They’ll show you:

Which rooms and areas matter most to buyers
Which projects are worth doing—and which ones are not
How to make your home feel brighter, bigger, and more inviting
How to highlight your home’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses

In my own business, I’ve taken multiple expired listings in Huntington Beach and Orange County where the seller didn’t change anything major. We:

Cleaned thoroughly
Decluttered and rearranged furniture
Updated or added lighting
Staged key areas for better flow

Showings didn’t just increase—they often doubled or even quadrupled. The only thing that changed was the preparation and presentation. The prior real estate agent had simply failed to guide the seller.

Remember: buyers buy emotionally and justify logically. Preparation is what activates that emotional response the moment they walk through the door.

If you’re looking at your home right now and thinking, “I don’t even know where to start,” you’re not alone. That’s exactly what a professional real estate agent should help you with.

👉 Reach out here and I’ll help you prioritize your pre-listing preparation

Question 3: “How Will You Generate Demand for My Home?”

If pricing and preparation are the foundation, demand generation is the engine that drives your sale. This is one of the most important questions you can ask a real estate agent, especially in competitive markets like Huntington Beach and Orange County.

Many sellers assume that marketing is:

Putting a sign in the yard
Taking a few photos
Posting the listing online
Holding an occasional open house

That’s not strategic marketing. That’s autopilot.

What Real Marketing Looks Like

Real marketing is about creating demand and getting as many qualified buyers through your door as possible—especially during the first week your home is on the market. That early window is when you have the most leverage, and leverage is what drives both higher prices and stronger terms.

A strong demand-generation plan from a real estate agent should cover:

1. Pre-Launch Strategy

Teasing the property to a buyer and agent network
Promoting upcoming availability on social media
Reaching out to active buyers already in their database
Preparing marketing materials before the listing even goes live

2. High-Quality Digital Presentation

Professional photography, not cell phone pictures
Video tours and property walkthroughs
Floorplans and 3D tours where appropriate
Compelling property descriptions that highlight lifestyle and location

This is especially important in markets like Huntington Beach where buyers may be relocating from outside Orange County and are relying heavily on online impressions.

3. Strategic Launch Timing

Choosing the right day to go live on the MLS
Coordinating showings to concentrate early activity
Structuring open houses to maximize serious traffic

4. Aggressive Buyer Follow-Up

Following up with every buyer’s agent who shows your home
Gathering feedback and spotting patterns quickly
Re-engaging interested buyers who may be on the fence

5. Adjustment Strategy

A good real estate agent should also have a plan for what happens if:

Activity is lower than expected
Feedback is consistently pointing to the same issue
The market shifts during the listing period

In other words, you should hear a real strategy—not buzzwords like “We’ll get lots of exposure” or “We’ll blast it everywhere.” Ask for specifics.

If the agent you’re interviewing can’t clearly explain how they create demand for your home, they probably don’t have a real marketing plan.

Question 4: “What Does Communication Look Like Once My Home Is Listed?”

You can have the best pricing strategy and the strongest marketing plan in the world, but if your real estate agent can’t communicate, the experience is still going to feel stressful and frustrating.

In my experience, the number one reason sellers get upset with their real estate agent is not price, preparation, or even negotiation. It’s communication.

Why Communication Matters So Much

Most agents are extremely responsive before you sign the listing agreement. They call back quickly, answer every question, and make you feel like you are their top priority.

But once the home is on the market and things aren’t going perfectly, some agents start to go quiet—especially when it’s time to have harder conversations about feedback, price, or strategy changes.

Sellers can handle tough news. What they can’t handle is silence.

What to Ask About Communication

When you ask a real estate agent about communication, don’t accept “I’ll keep you updated” as an answer. Everyone says that. Instead, ask:

How often will I hear from you once my home is on the market?
What does a typical update look like?(Market feedback, showing traffic, online views, etc.)
Do you primarily call, text, or email?
How quickly do you respond to messages?
Do you have specific times when you’re unavailable?
What happens if there’s no activity or very little feedback?
How do you guide me through inspections, appraisal, and escrow?

Great real estate agents communicate proactively, not just when you reach out. They set expectations upfront so you’re never left wondering what’s going on with your sale.

Setting Expectations Upfront

For example, I let my clients know that when I get home in the evening, my phone goes on silent so I can be present with my family. But if something urgent comes up, I will see it and I will respond.

The key is that clients know this ahead of time. They’re never guessing, “If I call tonight, will I hear back?” We’ve already discussed it.

Ask the agent how they handle stressful periods in a transaction. Do they stay calm, level-headed, and solution-oriented? Or do they simply react when things happen?

If they can’t explain how they communicate during the tougher parts of the process, that’s usually your answer.

Question 5: “What Is Your Negotiation Strategy?”

If I surveyed my past clients in Huntington Beach and Orange County and asked them what they valued most, I’d hope they would say communication first—but negotiation would be a close second.

Negotiation is where your real estate agent either protects and grows your equity or gives it away.

How Most Agents Approach Negotiation

The reality is that many agents don’t truly negotiate. Instead, they:

Simply pass messages back and forth between parties
Take negotiation personally and get emotional
Fold early because they don’t want to risk losing the deal
Make assumptions about what their clients will or won’t accept—without asking

I’ve seen agents tell me not to bother submitting certain terms or offers because they assumed their seller wouldn’t consider them—before they even talked to the seller. That’s not negotiation. That’s emotion and fear running the show.

What Real Negotiation Looks Like

A skilled real estate agent understands:

Leverage: Who has more options and how to shift that in your favor
Timing: When to move quickly and when to slow things down
Psychology: How buyers and other agents think and react
Structure: How to use terms, contingencies, and timelines to your advantage
Repairs & Credits: How to navigate inspection results without blowing up the deal
Appraisals: How to handle low appraisals in a way that still protects your bottom line

One of my favorite questions to ask sellers after a successful closing is, “How did you feel the process went?” When they say, “It was easy, I don’t think anything went wrong,” that’s actually the best compliment—because it means I handled all of the difficult negotiation and drama behind the scenes so they never had to feel it.

When you interview a real estate agent, don’t just ask if they’re a good negotiator. Anyone can say “I’m a strong negotiator.” Ask for:

Recent examples of tough negotiations they’ve navigated
How they handle multiple-offer situations
What they do when buyers push hard on repairs
How they approach low appraisals or last-minute lender issues

You’re looking for proof over promise —real stories, real strategies, and real results.

Why These 5 Questions Matter So Much in Huntington Beach and Orange County

The real estate market in Huntington Beach and the greater Orange County area is unique. Prices are high, buyer expectations are high, and the stakes are high. At the same time, the barrier to entry for becoming a real estate agent is extremely low.

That combination creates a wide range of experience levels and skill sets in the industry. Some agents mean well but don’t have enough experience. Others get emotional and create conflict where none is needed. Some simply talk a big game without being able to back it up.

These five questions help you cut through the noise and see clearly who you’re dealing with. By asking:

How will you price my home?
What is your plan to prepare my home for the market?
How will you generate demand for my home?
What does communication look like once my home is listed?
What is your negotiation strategy?

You’ll quickly know whether the real estate agent sitting across from you is truly capable of protecting your equity and guiding you through a smooth, successful sale.

Remember: the goal is not to find the agent who talks the biggest game—it’s to find the agent who can prove how they work and how they’ve helped others.

Thinking About Selling in Huntington Beach or Orange County?

If you’re planning to sell your home in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, or anywhere else in Orange County, choosing the right real estate agent is critical. You deserve someone who:

Understands local pricing and market trends
Provides a clear preparation and marketing plan
Communicates consistently and proactively
Negotiates strategically to protect your equity

I’ve helped sellers across Orange County navigate everything from straightforward sales to complex, high-stakes transactions. And if you’re outside the area, I have a national network of top-tier real estate agents I know personally—professionals who hold themselves to the same standards of communication, preparation, and negotiation.

You do not have to figure this out alone.

👉 Click here to contact me and start the conversation

Whether you’re selling in six weeks or six months, we can put a plan together now so you’re fully prepared when the time comes.

Next Step: Preparing Your Home Before You List

If you’re considering repairs or upgrades before listing your home, your next best step is to learn which improvements actually matter to buyers—and which ones don’t.

The right real estate agent will help you avoid over-improving, under-preparing, or putting money into projects that won’t deliver a real return for you.

And if you’d like personalized guidance for your home in Huntington Beach or anywhere in Orange County, I’m here to help.

👉 Reach out here and let’s build your selling strategy together

Always remember: proof over promise. Anybody can talk. Very few can truly show you.

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