9 Questions to Ask When Recruiting a Potential Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents play a critical role in the growth of a brokerage. As such, you need to have an extra-thorough hiring process in place. You need to make sure that every candidate can add value to your team and can work together with you to achieve your goals.

There are two ways you can approach recruitment: you can either recruit real estate agents yourself or course it through an employment agency like Broker kit and other similarly trustworthy options. Whichever method you choose, it’s best to prepare a set of questions to help guide you through the interview. It’s the best way to get to know a potential recruit and gauge their skills. After all, you won’t really know how well a real estate agent will perform until they’re already out there and working.

That said, below is a list of questions you might want to ask when interviewing a real estate agent and why you should ask them. You may have asked some of these before, while some could be new takes on common questions or follow-ups for a more in-depth understanding of the agent’s skills.

How Long Have You Been in the Business?

Real estate agents need to take certain courses and examinations to acquire a license. Still, completing these requirements isn’t entirely indicative of one’s skills. Obviously, the longer the agent has been in the business, the more they will know. If this is the case, ask what courses or seminars they have attended. This will show their willingness to further expand their knowledge. If the agent is new, ask if they have had mentors.

How Will You Attract New Clients?

Attracting new clients is the main reason you’re recruiting more and new real estate agents to join your team. It’s only fair to know how they will accomplish this goal. This question will help you gauge their creativity. You can also use follow-up questions, such as “What do you think are the most effective advertising or marketing techniques?” You may ask them to relate their experiences on why they think it’s the best. Another approach is to already present a platform, such as content marketing or social media ads. Then, ask the candidate how they will use these platforms for promoting a property.

What Kinds of Properties Have You Had Experience in Selling or Leasing?

A real estate agent’s answer to this question will show their flexibility. It’s not bad to “specialize” in selling houses, obviously. However, it’s a good indication if an agent has experience in dealing with various kinds of properties. It means they’re constantly pushing themselves to learn, and are ready to take on any kind of challenge.

How Will You Sell a Property in an Unfamiliar or Less Appealing Neighborhood?

You can use this as a follow-up question to the previous one. This is another good gauge of a candidate’s creativity, not to mention their ability to think quickly. It’s easy to sell something familiar or beautiful, after all.

What Are the Tools You Use for Your Craft?

This question will help you determine how the candidate manages their time. How do they keep track of their appointments? Do they use a traditional calendar or an app on their smartphone? How do they manage their schedule if they have pressing concerns from clients who are from different areas? Do they track their own performance? How do they gauge for themselves if they have done a good job? Asking these questions will give you a clearer picture of how organized the applicant is.

Have You Used Video or Given Virtual Tours?

Let’s face it: not everyone has the time to do on-site tours to inspect properties. This is especially true if the client still hasn’t made up their mind. The distance can also sometimes be an issue. As such, videos and virtual tours have become valuable tools in showcasing properties. Knowing how to use these digital methods is a valuable skill for a real estate agent.

Describe the Most Challenging Situation You’ve Had So Far and How You Dealt With it.

Again, this is another question that will highlight a candidate’s creativity. This also showcases how a real estate agent will potentially deal with difficult clients because there WILL be difficult clients.

What Would You Consider as the Biggest Sale You’ve Ever Made?

Most likely, the answer to this question will be about how much the sale cost. Pay attention to how they answer. Do they focus solely on the monetary value? Or do they also share other things they’ve gained from the “biggest” sale of their career? Did they learn any lessons from it? How did their experiences with this sale affect the way they dealt with future transactions?

How Do You Stay Up to Date with the Latest Industry Trends?

This question will show how proactive the candidate is, as well as how willing they are to learn. The real estate industry, much like any other, undergoes many changes. A real estate agent should keep abreast of the latest trends and best practices to remain competitive.

Hopefully, these questions can help you find the best real estate agents for your company. Good luck with finding the best new recruits!

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