Choosing an Agent

What Are the Best Questions to Ask at a Real Estate Consultation?

Mike Roland

Oct 19, 2026 • 25 min read

What Are the Best Questions to Ask at a Real Estate Consultation?

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Short answer: The best questions to ask at a real estate consultation are the ones that reveal three things: how much this agent actually closes in your part of Las Vegas, who on their team will be doing the day-to-day work for you, and exactly what it will cost and how that cost gets paid. Ask "How many homes did you close in the last 12 months, and how many were within a few miles of mine?", "Who will I be talking to on a Tuesday afternoon when something goes sideways?", and "Walk me through every dollar I will pay you and when." If an agent gives you clear, specific answers to those three, the rest of the meeting is about fit.

I have sat across the table from thousands of Las Vegas buyers and sellers at this exact meeting. Most of them show up with one or two questions and leave having asked none of them, because the agent ran the conversation and they were too polite to interrupt. That is backwards. The consultation is your interview, not the agent's pitch. This guide gives you the questions I would want a friend to ask me, organized by what you are trying to find out, with notes on what a good answer sounds like in the Las Vegas Valley specifically.

A real estate consultation should run 45 to 75 minutes, cost you nothing, and obligate you to nothing. If someone slides a listing agreement or a buyer agreement across the table in the first ten minutes, slow down.
The single most useful number to ask for is closed transactions in the last 12 months. Not "years in the business," not "volume," not awards. Closings.
In a team model (which is how most high-production Las Vegas agents work now), ask who your actual point of contact will be and whether that person is a licensed agent or an unlicensed assistant.
Since the 2024 commission rule changes, every buyer in Nevada signs a written agreement before touring homes. Ask to see it, ask what it says you will pay, and ask what happens if the seller covers it.
Expect the agent to ask you questions too. If they do not ask about your timeline, your financing, and your must-haves, they are not planning your move, they are selling a service.

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What actually happens at a real estate consultation in Las Vegas?

A consultation is a first meeting between you and an agent (or a team) where you figure out whether you want to work together. For a seller it usually happens at your house so the agent can see the property. For a buyer it happens at the agent's office, over coffee, or on a video call if you are relocating from out of state. Either way, nothing is signed at a good consultation unless you want it signed. You are gathering information.

Here is what a well-run consultation looks like from our side. The first 10 to 15 minutes are about you: why you are moving, when you need to be moved, what the money looks like, what you have tried already. Then the agent lays out how they work, what the process looks like start to finish, and what it costs. Then there is a conversation about the market, where the agent should bring real data, not vibes. Then you ask your questions. Then you go home and think about it.

Notice what is not on that list: a hard close. Nevada does require written agreements before an agent does meaningful work on your behalf, and we will get to those documents below, but the consultation is where you decide whether to sign them, not where you get pressured into it. I have written separately about how many agents you should interview before choosing one, and the honest answer is two or three. The questions below are what you bring to each of those meetings so you can compare apples to apples.

What questions should I ask about the agent's experience and track record?

This is where most people ask the wrong question. "How long have you been in real estate?" sounds reasonable, but it tells you almost nothing. There are 20-year agents in Las Vegas who close four homes a year and three-year agents who close forty. Years measure age. Closings measure skill. Ask these instead.

How many homes did you personally close in the last 12 months? This is the number. In the Las Vegas Valley, a full-time agent working their business seriously should be closing somewhere in the range of 12 to 25 sides a year on their own. Team leaders and high-production agents close far more because they have support staff. A number under six means you are talking to a part-timer, and that is fine for some situations but you deserve to know it. If the agent hedges or says "a lot," ask again. A real producer knows their number cold.

How many of those were within a few miles of my home (or my target area)? Las Vegas is not one market. Summerlin in the west, Henderson in the southeast, North Las Vegas, Spring Valley, the southwest around Mountains Edge and Southern Highlands: each has its own price behavior, its own HOA patterns, its own buyer pool. An agent who closed 30 homes in Henderson and none west of the 215 may not know that your Summerlin village has a sub-association fee or that a particular builder's 2006 product has a known stucco issue. Local reps matter. I covered this in more depth in what to know before hiring a Las Vegas real estate agent.

What was your average list-to-sale price ratio on your last ten listings? For sellers, this is the question that separates agents who price correctly from agents who tell you what you want to hear and then chase the market down with price cuts. In a balanced Las Vegas market, a good listing agent closes within a couple of percent of their final list price. If an agent cannot produce this number, ask how many of their last ten listings had at least one price reduction.

What is your average days on market compared to the area average? Same idea. If the broader valley is sitting at 35 to 50 days and this agent's listings average 20, that tells you something real about their pricing and marketing. If theirs average 70, it tells you something else. I wrote a full explainer on what days on market actually means in Las Vegas if you want the background before the meeting.

Can I see reviews, and can I talk to two past clients? Any agent with a real track record will say yes without blinking. We point people to our 800+ five-star reviews because they are easier to verify than anything I could say in a meeting. But reading reviews is not the same as a five-minute phone call with someone who sold a house with this agent last spring. Ask for the call.

Are you a full-time agent? Simple, direct, and surprisingly rarely asked. A part-time agent may be a lovely person, but real estate in Las Vegas moves fast. Offers come in at 9 PM. Inspections get scheduled with 24 hours notice. Lenders need a document by noon. You want someone whose only job is this.

Who will I actually be working with? Questions about how the team works

Most high-production agents in Las Vegas work in a team model now, and that includes us. The Roland Team has dedicated buyer specialists and dedicated seller specialists, plus transaction coordination and marketing staff behind them. A team can serve you much better than a solo agent, because nobody is trying to be the photographer, the negotiator, the showing agent, and the paperwork person all at once. But a team can also be a place where you get handed to someone you have never met. These questions sort out which kind of team you are looking at.

Who will be my primary point of contact, and are they licensed? You should walk out of the consultation knowing the name of the person you will text when something comes up. If the answer is "me, and I will loop in my team as needed," great. If the answer is "my assistant will handle most of it," ask whether that assistant is a licensed agent in Nevada. Unlicensed assistants can do a lot of administrative work, but they cannot negotiate on your behalf or give you advice on contract terms.

Will you be the one showing me homes (or hosting my listing)? On the buyer side, a team may have showing agents who open doors while a lead agent handles strategy and negotiation. That can work very well. But you should know it going in. On the seller side, ask who runs the open houses and who fields the calls from other agents about your property.

What happens if you are unavailable? Good teams have a real answer: a named backup who already knows your file. Solo agents sometimes have a buddy arrangement, which is fine as long as it is explicit. "I am never unavailable" is not an answer, it is a warning sign.

How many clients are you actively working with right now? There is no perfect number, but there is a sanity check. A solo agent juggling 25 active buyers is going to miss things. A team with a buyer specialist carrying 8 to 12 active buyers and a transaction coordinator behind them is in a much better position. We explain how we structure this on our Why The Roland Team page, and I would encourage you to ask any team you interview the same questions you would ask us.

What does your brokerage provide that helps me? The brokerage is the company the agent hangs their license with. Ours is LPT Realty. The honest answer to this question is usually "compliance, transaction oversight, and some marketing tools," which is fine. What you are listening for is whether the agent understands the difference between what the brokerage does and what the team does, because you are hiring the team.

What questions should buyers ask at a real estate consultation?

If you are buying, the consultation is where the agent should be mapping out a plan for you, not just promising to send listings. Listings are free. Anyone can send you listings. Here is what to ask.

What is your process from today to keys in hand? You want to hear a sequence: get pre-approved (or verify proof of funds if you are paying cash), define the search, tour, write, negotiate, open escrow, inspect, appraise, clear conditions, close. In Nevada, a standard financed purchase from accepted offer to closing runs about 30 to 45 days. If the agent cannot walk you through the sequence without notes, keep interviewing.

Which lenders do you work with, and why? A good buyer's agent has two or three lenders they trust because those lenders close on time and communicate. They should also be fine with you using your own lender. What you do not want is an agent who insists on one lender or who seems vague about why they recommend anyone.

How do you handle multiple-offer situations? Even in a balanced market, well-priced homes in places like Summerlin, Green Valley, and the newer parts of the southwest still draw competing offers. Ask how the agent structures an offer to win without overpaying: escalation clauses, appraisal gap language, inspection timing, closing date flexibility. The answer should be specific. I go deeper on this in how agents help with negotiations.

What do you look for at a showing that I might miss? This is a great question because it reveals whether the agent actually knows houses. In Las Vegas, a good answer includes things like the age of the HVAC (our summers eat air conditioners), evidence of roof repairs, pool equipment condition, whether the water heater is tankless or a tank nearing end of life, and the HOA's financial health. If the answer is "I just make sure it has good flow," that is not enough.

Will you show me homes listed by your own team? This is a conflict-of-interest question, and a professional will not be offended by it. The honest answer is "yes, if they fit your criteria, and I will disclose it and explain how representation works in that case." Nevada has specific disclosure rules for this situation and the agent should know them.

How do you handle new construction? A big share of Las Vegas purchases are new builds, and the builder's on-site sales staff represent the builder, not you. Ask whether the agent will accompany you to the sales office on your first visit (this matters, because many builders will not pay your agent if you registered without them), whether they know the current incentives at the major builders, and how they handle the builder's contract, which is not the standard Nevada purchase agreement. Our Las Vegas New Construction Guide covers what to expect, and it is worth reading before you meet any agent if new construction is on your list.

What are the first-time buyer programs in Nevada right now, and do you know how to use them? If this is your first home, ask. Nevada has state-level down payment assistance programs, and there are federal options like FHA and VA. An agent does not need to be a loan officer, but they should know these programs exist, roughly who qualifies, and which lenders actually process them well. I wrote about this in can a real estate agent help me buy my first home.

What questions should sellers ask at a real estate consultation?

If you are selling, the agent is coming to your home and the stakes are higher, because the price they recommend and the marketing they run will decide how much money you walk away with. Here is what I would ask.

What price would you list my home at, and show me exactly how you got there? You want to see the comparable sales: addresses, sale dates, square footage, condition, and the adjustments the agent made to get from those comps to your number. A real pricing analysis for a Las Vegas home uses closed sales from the last 90 days or so, within a tight radius, in the same product type. If the agent just quotes a number with no comps, or if their number is suspiciously higher than everyone else's, be careful. Overpricing to win the listing is the oldest trick in this business, and it costs the seller money every time. I covered the related question of online estimates in should I trust online real estate estimates.

What would you do to this house before listing it, and what would you not bother with? A seasoned listing agent walks through your home and tells you which $300 fixes matter and which $15,000 renovation will not return its cost. In our market, fresh neutral paint, new carpet in bedrooms, and a cleaned-up front yard almost always pay. A kitchen remodel right before listing almost never does. Listen for specificity.

What exactly is in your marketing plan? "I will put it on the MLS and Zillow" is the floor, not a plan. Ask about professional photography (and whether they pay for it or you do), video, drone shots if your lot or view warrants it, social media reach, email to their buyer database, open house strategy, and how they follow up with agents who show the property. I broke down what good marketing looks like in how do real estate agents market homes.

How long is the listing agreement, and what happens if I want out? Standard Nevada listing agreements run six months, though some agents ask for a year. Ask whether there is a cancellation clause and what it costs to use it. An agent who is confident in their work does not need to lock you in for twelve months.

How will you handle showings and feedback? You want to know the logistics: lockbox or appointment-only, how much notice you get, whether you need to leave, and whether the agent will actually report back on what showing agents said. Feedback is how you learn, in the first two weeks, whether your price is right.

What is your plan if the home does not sell in the first 30 days? This one surprises agents. It should not. A listing that sits in Las Vegas usually has a price problem or a presentation problem, and a good agent has a plan for both. If the answer is "we will drop the price," ask by how much and when, because an agent who planned to price-cut from the start may have priced it wrong on purpose. For more pre-listing questions, see what should I ask before listing my house.

What should I ask about commissions, fees, and what it will actually cost?

This part makes people uncomfortable, so they skip it, and then they are surprised at the closing table. Do not skip it. Every dollar should be explained at the consultation.

What is your commission, and is it negotiable? Commissions in Nevada are not set by law and never have been. They are negotiated between you and the agent. Since the 2024 industry rule changes, the old assumption that a seller automatically pays both sides has been replaced by a world where every side is a separate conversation. A listing agent should tell you their fee for the listing side and then explain how buyer-agent compensation is handled on your sale. I have written about this from several angles: how much commission agents take in Nevada and whether you can negotiate it.

For buyers: what does your buyer agreement say I owe you, and what happens if the seller pays it? In Nevada today, you will sign a written buyer representation agreement before touring homes with an agent. That agreement states a compensation amount. Ask the agent to walk you through it line by line. Ask whether the amount can be paid by the seller (it usually can, through negotiation in your offer), what happens if the seller offers less than the agreement states, and what happens if you buy new construction where the builder pays. These are fair, normal questions and a good agent has a clean answer to each one.

Are there any fees beyond the commission? Some brokerages charge a transaction fee, an administrative fee, or a compliance fee on top of the commission, often a few hundred dollars. It is not a scandal, but it should be disclosed at the consultation, not discovered on the settlement statement. Ask directly. I covered the full picture in how much will my real estate agent cost me.

What other closing costs should I expect in Nevada? This is not strictly about the agent, but a good agent will answer it anyway. Sellers in Clark County typically pay the real property transfer tax (currently $5.10 per $1,000 of sale price), their share of title and escrow fees, any HOA transfer and resale package fees, and often some portion of the buyer's costs if negotiated. Buyers pay lender fees, their share of title and escrow, prepaid taxes and insurance, and inspection and appraisal costs. On a home near the valley's median of roughly $450,000, a seller should plan for several thousand dollars in costs beyond commission, and the agent should be able to show you a net sheet with an estimate. I laid out the seller side in how much does it cost to list a home in Las Vegas.

What do you pay for, and what do I pay for? Photography, staging consultation, signs, lockbox, marketing: who covers it? At our team, the listing-side marketing is on us. Some agents bill it back. Neither is wrong, but it should be stated.

What should I ask about the Las Vegas market right now?

An agent who cannot talk about the current market in specifics is not paying attention. You do not need to be an expert to test this. Ask these and listen for numbers, ranges, and neighborhood-level detail rather than generalities.

What is the median price in the valley right now, and what is it in my area? The valley-wide median for a single-family home has been hovering in the mid-$400,000s. But Summerlin and Henderson's premium villages sit well above that, while parts of North Las Vegas and the east side sit below. If the agent only knows the valley number, they are reading headlines. If they can tell you what three-bedroom homes in your specific subdivision have closed for lately, they are working the market. I keep a running post on the average home price in Las Vegas right now.

How many months of inventory are we at, and what does that mean for me? Months of inventory is the number of active listings divided by the monthly sales pace. Below about four months favors sellers. Above six favors buyers. In between is balanced. The agent should know roughly where we are and be able to say what that means for your strategy: whether a seller should expect to negotiate concessions, whether a buyer can ask for repairs, how aggressive to be on price.

What is happening with interest rates, and how are buyers responding? The agent is not a lender and should not pretend to be, but they should know what buyers are experiencing: whether rate buydowns are common, whether sellers are offering credits toward closing costs, and how that affects what a listing needs to do to compete.

What is the new-construction situation doing to resale? This is a Las Vegas-specific question and a sharp one. Builders in the southwest, North Las Vegas, and Henderson's newer master plans compete directly with resale sellers, and they do it with incentives a private seller cannot match. A good agent can tell you which builders are discounting, what that means if you are selling a five-year-old home nearby, and how to position against it.

What is one thing most people get wrong about the Las Vegas market right now? Open-ended on purpose. The quality of this answer tells you how much the agent actually thinks about the market versus how much they repeat what they heard at the office.

What should I ask about communication and the day-to-day process?

The number one complaint about real estate agents, in every survey I have ever seen, is communication. Not competence, not price, not negotiation. Communication. So ask about it directly.

How will you communicate with me, and how often? Text, call, email, a client portal? Weekly check-in or only when something happens? There is no single right answer, but there is a right answer for you, and you should hear it before you sign.

What is your typical response time? A real answer sounds like "within a couple of hours during the day, and I will acknowledge anything urgent in the evening." A non-answer sounds like "I am always available."

How will I know what is happening with my transaction? On the seller side, that means showing feedback and a weekly activity summary. On the buyer side, it means knowing where you are in the inspection and loan timeline. A team with a transaction coordinator usually does this best because somebody's whole job is keeping the file moving.

Who handles the paperwork, and how do I sign? Everything in Nevada real estate can be signed electronically now. Ask what platform they use and whether you will get copies of everything you sign. You should.

What does the week before closing look like? This is a good test of whether the agent thinks about the end of the process, not just the beginning. The right answer covers the final walkthrough, the closing disclosure review, wiring instructions and wire fraud precautions (a real risk in Las Vegas, and your agent should warn you never to wire funds based on emailed instructions without calling the title company to confirm), key transfer, and utility transfers.

What extra questions should relocation, military, and new-construction buyers ask?

A large share of the people we work with are moving here from somewhere else, often California, Arizona, Utah, or the Pacific Northwest, or are stationed at Nellis or Creech. Those situations add a few questions.

If I am relocating from out of state: how will you help me buy a home I have not seen in person? You want to hear about video walkthroughs that are live and unedited, detailed photo sets of things buyers care about (not just the pretty angles), a willingness to drive the neighborhood at different times of day, and a plan for the inspection period if you cannot be here. We do this constantly and wrote about the process in how to work with a real estate agent long distance.

Can you explain how Nevada differs from where I am coming from? Nevada has no state income tax, property taxes are low by national standards and capped on annual increases for primary residences, HOAs are extremely common across the valley, and most homes in the newer master plans carry special improvement district (SID) or local improvement district (LID) assessments on top of taxes and dues. A relocation-savvy agent will bring these up before you ask.

If I am military: do you understand VA loans and PCS timelines? VA loans have specific appraisal requirements and property condition standards, and a listing agent who does not understand them can tank your offer by steering the seller away from it. A buyer's agent who does military relocation regularly knows which lenders close VA loans smoothly, how to write a competitive VA offer, and how to work around a PCS date. Ask for examples.

If I am buying new construction: which builders have you closed with, and what did you learn? Every major Las Vegas builder has its own contract, its own incentive structure, its own quirks around option pricing and lot premiums. An agent who has closed with several of them can tell you which ones negotiate on closing costs, which ones never move on base price, and which design centers are where buyers blow their budgets. The New Construction Guide covers the fundamentals, and I name the builders I would actually build with right now in this video.

If I am buying an investment property: do you work with investors, and how do you analyze a deal? You want to hear cap rate, cash-on-cash, realistic rent estimates from actual comparable rentals, and an honest take on Las Vegas short-term rental rules, which are restrictive in most of the valley. An agent who only knows how to help owner-occupants is not the right fit here.

If I am 55 or older and looking at age-restricted communities: which ones do you know well? Sun City Summerlin, Sun City Anthem, Del Webb at Lake Las Vegas, Trilogy, and the Heritage communities each have different HOA structures, amenity fees, and resale dynamics. Ask which ones the agent has actually closed in.

What should the agent be asking me?

A consultation is a two-way interview, and one of the best signs of a good agent is the quality of the questions they ask you. If they do not ask about any of the following, they are not planning your move. They are selling a service.

Why are you moving, and what happens if you do not? Motivation shapes strategy. A seller relocating for a job that starts in 60 days needs a different plan than a seller testing the market.
What is your timeline? Not "when would you like to move" but "when do you need to be moved, and what breaks if you are late?"
Have you talked to a lender, and do you know what you are approved for? For buyers, this is the first real question. For sellers who are also buying, the agent should ask how the two transactions need to line up.
What have you already done? Toured homes? Talked to other agents? Gotten an online estimate? Tried to sell before? The answers tell the agent where your expectations are coming from.
What are your three must-haves and your three deal-breakers? For buyers, this focuses the search. For sellers, it reveals what the next home needs to be.
Who else is involved in this decision? A spouse, a parent helping with the down payment, a business partner. The agent needs to know who has to be in the room.
What worries you most about this process? This is the question that separates agents who care about the outcome from agents who care about the transaction.

I wrote a companion piece from the other side of the table, what questions do real estate agents ask buyers, if you want to prepare your own answers in advance.

What are the red flags in how an agent answers?

Sometimes the problem is not what the agent says but how. Here is what I would watch for, and I say this as someone who has interviewed a lot of agents to join our team and seen every version of it.

Vague numbers. "A lot of homes." "Tons of experience." "Great results." If every answer is an adjective and never a number, the numbers are probably not good.

A price that is way above everyone else's. If three agents say your home is worth $465,000 to $480,000 and one says $525,000, the fourth agent is not smarter. They are buying the listing, and you will pay for it in price cuts and extra days on market.

Pressure to sign today. "This offer is only good if you sign now." "I have another seller who wants this time slot." A professional with a real business does not need to pressure you. They have other clients.

Trash-talking other agents. Confident agents explain what they do. Insecure agents explain what everyone else does wrong.

Not asking you anything. If the whole meeting is a presentation and you never got asked about your situation, the agent is running a script, not building a plan.

Dodging the commission conversation. "We will figure that out later" is not acceptable. The fee should be stated clearly, in writing, at the consultation.

No team or backup, but a promise of 24/7 availability. One person cannot be everywhere. Either they have support or they will miss something.

I go through more of these in what are red flags when choosing a real estate agent, and the whole Choosing an Agent series is built around helping you make this decision well.

How should I prepare for a real estate consultation?

Showing up prepared makes the meeting more useful and signals to the agent that you are serious, which gets you a more serious conversation. It takes about 30 minutes.

Write down your timeline. When do you want to be moved, when do you need to be moved, and what is driving the difference.
Know your money. Buyers: talk to a lender first, or at least know your credit range, savings, and monthly comfort zone. Sellers: know your mortgage balance and whether you have any liens, solar leases, or HOA issues that will show up on title.
Pull your own comps. Spend 15 minutes on Zillow or Redfin looking at what has sold near you recently. Not so you can argue with the agent, but so you can tell whether their analysis makes sense.
Bring your documents, sellers. HOA information, any permits for work you have done, the age of the roof and HVAC, warranties, and your most recent property tax bill.
Pick your top five questions from this guide. You will not get through all of them. Pick the five that matter most to your situation and make sure those get asked.
Decide in advance that you will not sign anything at the first meeting. You can always sign tomorrow. Giving yourself that rule removes the pressure and lets you actually listen.

If you want a shorter, more general list for the ongoing relationship after you have hired someone, I keep that in what questions should I ask my real estate agent.

The bottom line

The best questions to ask at a real estate consultation are the ones that get you numbers instead of adjectives, names instead of promises, and a written explanation of costs instead of "we will sort it out later." Ask how many homes the agent closed in the last year and where. Ask who your actual point of contact will be. Ask what you will pay and how. Ask for the comps behind the price. Ask what happens when things go wrong. Then compare the answers across two or three agents and pick the one whose plan you understood and whose numbers held up.

We are happy to be one of those interviews. The Roland Team is a top 1% producing team in the Las Vegas Valley with more than 1,100 homes sold, dedicated buyer and seller specialists, and a process we are glad to put under a microscope. You would be working with a team that has closed 1,000+ homes and ranks #6 in Nevada by units sold (RealTrends Verified), and we would rather earn your business by answering hard questions well than by talking you out of asking them.

If you are thinking about buying or selling anywhere in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, or Summerlin, reach out and schedule a consultation. Bring this list. We will bring the data.

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