Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Real Estate Broker
For a newly licensed real estate agent choosing a sponsoring broker, or an experienced one thinking of moving a license, who wants to interview the broker and not only be interviewed. The list follows the order the meeting tends to go best in: the broker and the support behind you, training, leads and marketing, then splits and fees once you know what they buy, the office and its teams, and last the terms for leaving and what to read before you sign. Each question has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like, and because fees, contracts and licensing rules differ by state, country and company, the notes say where to ask how it works locally.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The broker
What does the brokerage do for an agent in the first year that the agent could not do alone?
Why ask it
Start here, because every fee you hear about later is the price of this answer. A strong reply is concrete: contracts checked before they go out, a named mentor, a room to meet clients in. If it comes back as the logo and 'our culture', ask about the last time the office got a new agent out of trouble.
Which broker would be responsible for my license, and is that the person I would call with a question?
Why ask it
In a large firm the broker of record and the manager you deal with can be two different people. Get the name of whoever answers the phone and find out how many agents share them. What a broker must supervise differs by state and country, so ask what the rule is where you are.
If I am writing an offer after hours and get stuck on a clause, who picks up?
Why ask it
Offers get written in the evening and on weekends, which is exactly when a new agent needs help. You want a person and a usual response time. A ticket system or 'post it in the group chat' means other agents will be your broker in practice.
Will someone look over my first contracts before they go out, and for how long does that continue?
Why ask it
Review before sending protects you and your client; review after closing only tidies the file. If the checking stops after a set number of deals, ask whether you can still request it when a sale is unusual, such as an estate or a tenant in place.
Do you list and sell property yourself, and what happens when you and I are after the same client?
Why ask it
A broker who still sells knows this month's market, and also has less time and a business of their own to feed. The reassuring answer is a rule, such as office leads never going into the broker's own pipeline. Where there is no rule, ask what happened the last time an agent and the broker met the same seller.
Is there a transaction coordinator or office staff to handle the paperwork once a contract is signed, and what would I pay for that?
Why ask it
Between a signed contract and closing there are deadlines, documents and a compliance file, and a new agent can lose whole days to them. Some offices include a coordinator, some charge per file, and some leave it all to you. If it is yours to do, find out who checks that the file is complete and what happens when something is missing.
What kind of agent tends to struggle here?
Why ask it
Every broker can describe who thrives, and that description is a pitch. Asking who struggles gets you the things the office does not provide, whether that is structure, leads or company. Hold your own habits up against the list honestly.
If a client files a complaint about one of my deals, who stands next to me?
Why ask it
Listen for a process: who takes the call, who talks to the insurer, whether the office has an attorney it turns to. 'That never happens here' means nobody has planned for the day it does. Leave the cost of the insurance for a separate question so the money does not crowd out the answer about support.
Training
If I started on Monday, what would I be doing each day of my first two weeks?
Why ask it
A real program has a calendar: classes on set days, a mentor meeting, practice on the local contract forms. 'You shadow people and jump in' can work in a small office with a generous broker, so ask who exactly you would shadow and whether they have agreed to it.
Who would mentor me, what do they get out of it, and what does it cost me?
Why ask it
Mentors are commonly paid with a share of your first few commissions, which is reasonable if they show up. Three details decide whether it is fair to you: how many deals the share applies to, what the mentor has to do to earn it, and what happens if the two of you do not get along.
Can I go along on a listing appointment and a buyer consultation before I run my own?
Why ask it
Watching one live teaches more than a class about it. A yes with an agent's name attached is what you are hoping for. If experienced agents here will not let a newcomer sit in, you have learned how people in the office treat each other.
What does the training cost, and which parts are required?
Why ask it
Some firms include it, some charge for a launch course, and some point agents to outside coaching that is billed separately. Put the required parts into your first-year budget. For anything optional, find out how many of last year's new agents bought it and whether they would again.
How long do your new agents usually take to reach a first closing, and how many leave before they get there?
Why ask it
Use the first figure to work out how many months of living costs you need saved before you start. If the broker answers only with the fastest case, ask about the agent who joined just before that one. Not knowing at all suggests nobody is watching how the newcomers are doing.
Could I sit in on a class or the weekly meeting before I decide?
Why ask it
Twenty minutes in the room shows whether the training is contracts and pricing or mostly cheering. Count how many agents turn up and whether anyone asks a real question. A broker who hesitates to let you watch may know what you would see.
After the first year, what training is there, and does the office help with the continuing education my license needs?
Why ask it
In many places a license is renewed only after set coursework, and the hours and topics are decided by whoever regulates agents there. An office that hosts those classes or pays for them saves you money and evenings. Beyond the requirement, listen for something an agent in year three would still turn up for, such as a contract update or a pricing workshop.
What do you offer an agent who already closes deals and does not need the basics?
Why ask it
This one is for the agent thinking of switching. Useful answers are things that save time or win listings: a transaction coordinator, a marketing budget, a better split tier. If everything on offer is aimed at beginners, you would be paying for a program you will never use.
Leads and marketing
Does the brokerage hand out leads, or am I expected to find all of my own business?
Why ask it
A firm that supplies leads usually keeps more of each deal, and one that supplies none ought to cost you less. Trouble starts when the pitch promises leads and the detail turns out to be the occasional call nobody else wanted. The number a new agent received last month settles which it is.
How do you decide who gets a company lead: a rotation, whoever answers first, or your pick?
Why ask it
A rotation is kind to new agents, first-to-respond rewards whoever is free that minute, and broker's choice depends on being liked. The part that matters to you is where a brand-new agent sits in that system on day one and what would move them up.
What do I give up on a sale that started as a company lead?
Why ask it
Expect a referral fee or a lower split on these, and ask whether it comes off before or after your normal split. Have them run one example through so you can see the final amount. A lead that costs half the commission can still be worth taking when you have no clients of your own.
How does a new agent with no listings get in front of buyers here?
Why ask it
The usual routes are open houses at other agents' listings, phone or front-desk duty, and overflow from busy agents. Find out which of those exist in this office and who arranges them. Then check who keeps a buyer you meet at somebody else's listing.
Which software comes with my fees: a CRM, a website, contract forms, e-signatures?
Why ask it
Write the list down and price whatever is missing, since anything not included becomes your own monthly bill. Then find out how many agents actually log in to the CRM. A tool nobody opens is not a benefit.
When I take a listing, what marketing does the brokerage pay for and what comes out of my pocket?
Why ask it
Photos, signs, a lockbox and advertising all cost money before a listing earns any. Who pays for which should be a quick, clear answer. If it is all on you, ask what experienced agents here spend per listing so the figure does not come as a shock.
What are the rules on my own branding: my name, my logo, my social accounts and my own website?
Why ask it
Franchises and large firms often have brand standards, and advertising rules for license holders vary by place, so ask what has to appear on everything you publish. The practical test is whether a client will remember you or the sign, and one look at a current agent's yard sign and website will show you.
Does the company's name bring in business in this town, and how could I check that?
Why ask it
A brand earns its fee where sellers call the name they see on the most signs. The figure to get is the share of the office's listings that came from people contacting the company and not a particular agent. If the broker cannot say, plan as though every client will have to come from your own effort.
Splits and fees
What is the commission split for someone at my stage, and how does it change as I close more?
Why ask it
The headline percentage means little alone. You need the tiers, the volume that moves you up, and whether you start again at the bottom each year. Then ask which tier most agents in their second year here are on, since that is where you are headed.
Is there a cap on what I pay the brokerage each year, and what still gets charged after I hit it?
Why ask it
A cap matters most to an agent who closes many deals; a beginner may not reach it for some time. Ask whether the cap year starts on your join date or on a fixed date, and go through the fees one by one to see which keep running past it.
Is there a franchise or royalty fee, and is it taken before or after my split?
Why ask it
Where an office belongs to a franchise, a percentage often goes to the national brand off the top. Before or after the split changes what you keep, so ask for the order of deductions in writing. An independent brokerage will not have this line and may charge something else in its place.
Is there a desk fee or other monthly charge, and what would I owe in a month with no closings?
Why ask it
Desk fees, technology fees and office charges come due in your leanest months, which for a new agent are the first ones. Add them up for a year and set the total beside your savings. A high split with heavy monthly fees tends to suit an established agent better than a beginner.
What is charged on each transaction, and can any of it be passed to the client?
Why ask it
Look for a flat transaction fee, a file or compliance fee, and a coordinator's charge. Some offices add an administrative fee to the client's side of the closing. Ask whether that is permitted where you work, and decide whether you would be comfortable explaining it to a buyer.
What does errors and omissions coverage cost me here: a yearly charge, a per-deal charge, or both?
Why ask it
Get the premium and the deductible as two separate numbers, and find out who pays the deductible when a claim names you. What the policy leaves out matters as much, for instance a sale of your own property. Policies differ, so ask to see the summary page.
What will I have paid out before my first commission arrives?
Why ask it
The brokerage's own startup charge is only part of it. Association dues, listing service fees, lockbox access, cards and signs may all land in the first weeks, and who bills for each differs by area. A written list with amounts is a fair thing to request.
Which pay plan do most of your first-year agents choose, and when do they usually change?
Why ask it
Many firms offer a lower split with few fees alongside a higher split with a monthly charge. The broker's recommendation shows whether they are thinking about your first year or their own. Check when you may switch plans and whether switching costs anything.
Can we run one typical sale through on paper, from the gross commission down to what I deposit?
Why ask it
This may be the most useful five minutes of the meeting. Every fee mentioned in passing has to appear as a line, and any that went unmentioned shows up too. Take the sheet home and repeat it at each brokerage you visit so you are comparing like with like.
After a sale closes, how many days until the money is in my account?
Why ask it
Some offices pay at the closing table or the next day, others on a weekly run, and you can plan around any of them once you know which. A vague answer deserves a second question, because a new agent's first check usually has bills waiting for it.
Do you pay agents in revenue share, stock or bonuses for bringing in other agents, and how does it work?
Why ask it
Some companies reward agents for recruiting, and the terms differ a great deal from one to the next. For a newcomer it is a sideline at best, since the first job is learning to sell houses. If the conversation keeps returning to it, steer back to training and see how much there is to say.
Can the split or the fees change after I sign, and how much notice would I get?
Why ask it
In many agreements the fee schedule can be changed with notice, so the details that count are how long the notice is and when the schedule last moved. Hearing about the last increase without having to dig for it is a reason to trust the next answer.
Is any of this negotiable, now or once I have a track record?
Why ask it
A new agent has little leverage on the split and more on small things: a waived startup fee, a few months without the desk charge, a longer run with a mentor. An agent arriving with steady business can ask for more. Whatever is agreed belongs in the contract, not in a handshake.
Culture and teams
How many agents work out of this office, and how many are in on an ordinary Tuesday?
Why ask it
The first number is the size of the place; the second is who you would learn from. A beginner picks up a great deal by overhearing calls and asking the person at the next desk. If the office is mostly empty, or the brokerage has no office at all, ask where that informal help comes from: a chat group, a weekly call, a mentor's phone.
What sort of property and price range does most of this office sell?
Why ask it
You pick up the business your colleagues do. An office built on luxury listings, rentals, new construction or land will train and feed you toward that, so check it against the clients you expect to have. The neighborhoods the office is strongest in matter for the same reason.
How many agents joined in the past year, and how many left?
Why ask it
Some turnover is normal, since not every new license holder stays in the business. What matters is the broker's account of it: retired, joined a team, went to a competitor for a better split. Blaming every departure on the agent is the worrying version.
Are there production minimums, required meetings or office shifts?
Why ask it
A weekly meeting and a target can be the structure a new agent needs, and a shift on the front desk can bring a first client. What matters is what happens to someone who misses them, and whether the rule is applied evenly or only to agents the office wants gone.
Do you take part-time agents, and is anything different for them?
Why ask it
If you are keeping another job, say so now. Some brokers welcome it, some charge more or limit leads, and some decline. If the answer is yes, the next thing to settle is who covers a showing while you are at your other work.
If I joined a team here, what would the team take on top of what the brokerage takes?
Why ask it
A team usually takes its own split on top of the brokerage's, and in return may supply leads and daily coaching. The broker can tell you how many teams work out of the office and whether new agents who join one tend to stay. Then put the same money questions to the team leader directly.
How do you handle it when two of your agents claim the same client?
Why ask it
It comes up in most offices sooner or later, and the answer shows whether there is a written policy or only the broker's mood that day. How the last one was settled tells you more than the policy itself. If the bigger producer tends to win, remember that for a while the smaller one would be you.
Which two agents here should I talk to before I decide, and may I choose a third myself?
Why ask it
The broker will pick happy ones, which is why you ask to choose one too. Ask each what they wish they had known before joining and what they pay the brokerage in a typical month. If the broker would prefer you spoke to nobody, weigh that heavily.
Leaving and signing
If I move my license, what happens to the listings I have at that point?
Why ask it
In many places the listing agreement is between the seller and the brokerage, so the broker may decide whether a listing goes with you. What this office has done in the past counts for more than what it says it would do, and most of all if it is written into the agreement. One arrangement to ask about is a release in exchange for a referral fee back to the old office.
What am I paid on deals that are under contract on the day I leave?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is your normal split, paid when the sale closes. Some agreements cut the split on pending deals or charge a fee to finish the file. Get the number of the clause that covers it and read that clause at home.
Who owns the contacts I add to your CRM, and can I export them the day I give notice?
Why ask it
Friends, family and past clients are the main thing an agent builds over a career. Ideally the contacts you brought and earned are yours, with an export button to prove it. Leads the company paid for are a separate matter, and a firm may treat those as its own.
Is there anything in the agreement about clients or agents I may not contact after I go?
Why ask it
Non-solicitation and non-compete terms turn up in some independent contractor agreements, and whether they hold depends on where you are. Do not rely on the broker's reading of the clause, or on this page. If it is in there, have a local attorney look at it before you sign.
How much notice do I have to give, and are there charges on the way out?
Why ask it
Look for exit fees, repayment of training or startup costs, and unpaid desk fees falling due at once. A clean exit is short notice and no bill. How a license transfer works depends on where you are, so find out the steps and how quickly this office does its part.
If we spoke again in a year and I had left, what would the likely reason be?
Why ask it
Brokers who answer this well name the office's real weak point, perhaps few leads or an awkward location, and that is the thing to weigh against everything else you heard. A broker who cannot imagine a reason has not been listening to the agents who went.
If I switch to you, how do my current listings and pending sales come over, and who does the paperwork?
Why ask it
Two sides are involved: your present broker has to release things and the new one has to take them in. A brokerage that often brings in experienced agents will have a checklist and a person for it. Budget for the changeover month too, when signs, cards and listing records all need redoing.
Would I be an independent contractor or an employee here, and what does that leave me to arrange for myself?
Why ask it
Many agents work as independent contractors, which tends to mean no tax withheld and no health insurance or paid leave through the office, but the arrangement depends on the country and the firm. Get the list of what falls to you and price it before you compare splits. How much to set aside for tax is a question for an accountant, not for the broker.
May I take the agreement, the policy manual and the fee schedule home before I answer?
Why ask it
Whatever was said in the meeting counts only if it is in those documents. Handing them over gladly is a sign the broker expects them to match the pitch. Pressure to sign the same day, or an offer that expires tonight, is a reason to slow down.
How to interview a broker before you hang your license
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you meet
See at least three brokerages of different kinds
A franchise office, a local independent and a low-fee or online-first firm charge and support agents in different ways. Hearing all three is what gives each answer a meaning: you cannot tell whether a split is generous or a training program thin until you have something to set it beside. Book the meetings close together so the details are still fresh when you compare.
Work out your own first year before you go
Before anyone quotes you a split, write down how many months you can live without a commission, whether you will be full time, and where your first clients are likely to come from. An agent with savings and a wide circle can favor a high split. One starting from nothing usually needs the support more than the percentage, and should put the questions under The broker and Training at the top of the list.
Ask for the fee schedule ahead of time
Many brokers will email the commission plans and the fee schedule if you ask when booking the meeting. Reading them the night before means the hour goes on what they leave unclear, and you arrive with the questions under Splits and fees already narrowed to the ones that apply. If a broker will not send anything until you are in the room, make a note of that.
Look the office up
Find the office's current listings and see what price range and neighborhoods they sit in. Where the licensing authority publishes records, check the broker's license and any discipline on it; ask the regulator or your course provider where that lookup lives for your area. Ten minutes of this turns general questions into pointed ones.
In the meeting
Let the pitch finish, then ask
Many brokers open with a presentation. Let it run and tick off what it answers. What the pitch leaves out is often more telling than what it covers: an hour on technology and nothing on who reviews your contracts points you straight to the questions under The broker.
Support before money
The list puts splits and fees fourth for a reason. Asked first, the money questions turn the meeting into a price comparison before you know what is being sold. Asked after support, training and leads, they become a check on whether the price is fair for what you just heard.
Get every number as an example
Percentages and fee names are easy to nod along to and hard to compare afterward. Each time a figure comes up, ask what it does to one sale at the office's usual price. The question about running a typical sale through on paper does this for the whole plan at once, so do not leave without it.
If you are switching, decide what to share
An agent with closed sales has more to bargain with, and a broker will ask what you did last year. Bring the figures you are happy to give, and be careful what you say about your present office: local real estate is a small world. Lead with the questions on what the office offers a producing agent, on bringing listings and pending sales across, and on what in the offer is negotiable.
Talk to agents without the broker in the room
Ask to meet one agent in their first year and one who has stayed a long time, and pick a third yourself from the office roster. Put two or three of the same questions to them: how fast the broker answers, what they pay in a normal month, where their first clients came from. Agreement between their answers and the broker's is the best evidence you will get.
Comparing the offers
Put every brokerage on one sheet
Pick a realistic first year, for instance a handful of sales at the local typical price, and work out for each brokerage what you would keep after the split, the cap, monthly charges, per-sale fees and startup costs. Then do it again for a stronger year. The order of the brokerages often changes between the two, which tells you which one fits you now and which might fit later.
Match the plan to your stage
A large share of no sales is nothing. For a beginner, the broker who answers the phone and the mentor who reads the first contracts can be worth more than several points of split. For an agent with repeat clients and a system, the same support may be something they pay for and never use. Be honest about which of those you are this year.
Read the agreement against your notes
Go through the agreement and the policy manual with your meeting notes beside them. Anything promised aloud and missing from the paper should be added or treated as not promised. If a clause on leaving, on clients or on repayment is unclear, ask a local real estate attorney what it means where you are before you sign.
Find someone who left
Current agents chose to stay, so their view leans one way. An agent who moved on within the past year or two can tell you how the exit went: whether listings were released, whether pending sales were paid as agreed, how long the paperwork took. One such conversation tests the exit terms under Leaving and signing.
Mistakes to avoid
Choosing on the split alone
The split is the easiest number to compare and the one new agents fix on. It leaves out monthly charges, per-sale fees, the cost of leads and the value of help. Decide on what you would keep and what you would get, never on the headline percentage.
Taking recruitment for interest in you
Many brokerages recruit all year, and being wanted feels good after months of coursework. Being wanted is not the same as being supported. The test is what the broker can tell you about the last three new agents: who mentors them, how they are doing, what went wrong for one of them.
Signing in the room
There is rarely a real deadline on joining a brokerage. Take the documents home, sleep on it and finish your other meetings. A broker confident in the offer will not mind waiting a week.
Skipping the exit terms because you have only just arrived
It feels awkward to ask about leaving before you have started, so many agents never do. Agents do change brokerages, some of them more than once, and the terms are set on the day you sign. Saying 'I ask every broker this' is all the cover you need.