Section 01
How to run the interview
Book the same length of time with each candidate, ask the questions in the same order, and take notes in the moment rather than afterwards. Recollection favours whoever spoke last and most warmly.
Resist the urge to fill silences. The most informative part of a real-estate interview is what a candidate volunteers when a question has been answered and nobody has moved on.
Section 02
Group one: this property and its market
Which properties would you treat as the competing set for this one, and why those? What would you expect the first two weeks of exposure to tell us? Which attribute of this property will be hardest to convey in photographs? What objection do you expect from a serious buyer, and how would you answer it?
A strong answer names a specific competing set and explains the boundary of it, admits an attribute that will be difficult, and treats early market response as information rather than as a threat to the plan. A warning sign is a fluent description of the neighbourhood with no reference to this property, or a claim that there is no comparable property and therefore no analysis is possible.
Section 03
Group two: pricing and evidence
How did you build your price opinion, and what would make you revise it? What would we do if there is no serious interest by week four? Have you ever advised a seller to price below their expectation, and what happened?
A strong answer shows a method, a revision trigger and at least one occasion of delivering unwelcome advice. A warning sign is a figure offered before the property has been examined, a figure that moves upward when you look unconvinced, or an unwillingness to describe the week-four position.
Section 04
Group three: production and distribution
Who produces the photography, plans and written material, and do you review it before it is published? Where does the material go, in order? What is the second phase if the first does not produce activity? What do you not publish for a discreet file, and how does that change reach?
A strong answer separates production from distribution, names the sequence, and is candid that discretion costs exposure. A warning sign is an emphasis on volume of advertising with no account of who is being reached.
Section 05
Group four: access, security and confidentiality
What is verified before someone enters this property? Who accompanies a showing? How is the property described before an appointment is confirmed? Who inside your brokerage will know this file exists, and what is done with feedback we would rather not circulate?
A strong answer describes a written qualification step and a named person attending. A warning sign is a lockbox-and-hope answer for a significant property, or a promise of confidentiality with no mechanism attached to it.
Section 06
Group five: offers, conditions and negotiation
How are offers presented to us? What is your approach to an early offer well below the asking position? How do you handle multiple interested parties without misrepresenting the situation? How do you keep a conditional period moving? What has gone wrong in a recent conditional period and how was it handled?
A strong answer describes a process and a real failure. A warning sign is an assurance of toughness with no structure behind it, or a description of competing interest that would require misleading somebody.
Section 07
Group six: representation, conflicts, fees and reporting
What agreement will I be asked to sign, for how long, and what is the holdover provision? What does the fee cover and what is billed separately? What happens if the property does not sell? What occurs if a buyer approaches you or your brokerage directly? Does any referral arrangement apply to this file? What will I receive from you, and how often?
A strong answer explains the documents without hurrying and states conflict procedure and referral arrangements without prompting. A warning sign is pressure to sign at the first meeting, a fee explanation that avoids the failure case, or discomfort at the question about referrals.
Section 08
The evidence-request checklist
Close every interview by requesting the same items in writing: a written marketing and distribution plan for this property; the reporting cadence; a sample of recent written material the candidate produced for a comparable file; the representation agreement with term and holdover identified; a statement of any referral arrangement; and the names of the specialists they would expect to involve for this property type.
Give each candidate the same deadline. How the request is handled is itself evidence, because the way a professional treats a small written commitment predicts how they will treat a larger one.
Print this record and take it to each meeting. Nothing entered on this site is stored or transmitted.
Section 09
What to do with the answers
Immediately after each meeting, write two sentences: the most specific thing the candidate said, and the question they handled least well. Those two lines survive the memory distortion that follows three similar conversations.
Then transfer the comparison into the scorecard, weight the criteria according to your mandate, and look at where the candidates actually diverge. In most files the decision turns on two or three criteria, not on an overall impression.