Most sellers in New York City interview two or three agents, listen to three confident presentations, and choose based on a combination of the suggested price and how much they liked the person in the room. Both are poor predictors of outcome.
A listing presentation is a sales meeting. Every agent will arrive with comparable sales, a marketing deck, and a number. The useful information is not in what they present — it is in how they answer questions they did not prepare for.
Below are the twelve questions worth asking, why each one matters, what a strong answer sounds like, and what should give you pause. Ask these and the differences between agents stop being about polish and start being about substance.
Why the Interview Matters More in New York City
In most American markets, the gap between a good listing agent and an average one is measured in weeks on market and a few percentage points. In New York City it is wider, for reasons specific to how this market works.
Buyers here are unusually well informed. They track StreetEasy daily, know what sold in your building, and can tell within the first two weeks whether a home is priced correctly. A listing that misfires at launch does not simply wait for the right buyer — it accumulates days on market, and that number becomes a negotiating weapon used against you.
The transaction is also more layered than most. Co-op board approval can end a deal months after you accepted an offer. A large share of sales are co-brokered, which makes an agent's standing among other agents a real asset. Buildings have rules, flip taxes, and financial disclosures that shape who can buy your home at all.
All of that means the person you hire is not simply marketing a property. They are pricing into a sophisticated market, managing a multi-party process, and negotiating with people who do this professionally. The interview is your only real chance to assess whether they can do it.
How Many Agents Should You Interview?
Two or three. One opinion is impossible to calibrate, particularly on price — you need something to compare it against. Beyond three or four the conversations blur, and the delay costs more than the additional perspective is worth.
Ask each of them the same questions, and take notes during rather than after. The differences that matter tend to be specific — a number defended with pending sales rather than closed ones, a buyer profile described in detail, a willingness to say the timing is wrong. Those details fade quickly once three polished presentations blend together in memory.
The 12 Questions
Ask all twelve. The answers you get to the last two are usually the most revealing.
What would you list my home at — and show me the data behind that number.
Pricing is the single most consequential decision in the sale, and it is where agents most often tell sellers what they want to hear in order to win the listing.
Listen for
They walk you through closed comparables with adjustments for floor, light, layout, and condition; then active competition, because that is what your buyer is actually choosing between; then pending sales, which show where the market is trading now rather than six months ago. They give you a range and explain what moves you within it.
What should worry you
A number with no defense behind it. Or a number dramatically above what every other agent said — that is often an attempt to buy the listing, followed by pressure to reduce a month later.
What were the last three homes you sold in my neighborhood, and what did they go for versus asking?
This tests real, recent, local production rather than a general claim of experience.
Listen for
Specific addresses or buildings, the asking price, the sale price, and days on market. A strong agent knows these numbers without looking them up, and will tell you about the one that took longer than expected and why.
What should worry you
Vagueness, deflection, or citing sales from a different neighborhood or price tier. In New York City, a strong Upper East Side record says very little about Downtown Brooklyn.
How many transactions have you closed in total — and how many in this specific neighborhood?
Both numbers matter, and they are different. Volume shows the agent can run a process. Neighborhood depth shows they know your buyer.
Listen for
Real figures and honest framing. An agent who says "I have closed over 200 transactions across Manhattan and Brooklyn, and eleven in Downtown Brooklyn in the last two years" is telling you something useful. Honesty about where they are less deep is a good sign, not a bad one.
What should worry you
Inflated or unverifiable claims, or treating "NYC experience" as interchangeable across boroughs and price points.
Who exactly will I be working with, day to day?
On large teams it is common to be pitched by a well-known name and then handed to someone junior for everything that follows.
Listen for
A clear answer about who runs your listing, who attends showings, who calls you with feedback, and who sits at the negotiating table. If a team handles it collaboratively, they can tell you exactly who owns what.
What should worry you
Evasiveness, or an answer that amounts to "the team handles it." You should leave knowing whose phone number to call.
What is your marketing plan for my property specifically — not your general marketing plan?
Almost every agent has a deck. Far fewer have a plan built around your particular apartment, your particular building, and your particular buyer.
Listen for
Specifics: what the hero image will be and why, whether the property warrants video, whether staging changes the outcome, which portals and paid channels, and which buyer's agents they intend to contact directly. They should reference something about your actual home.
What should worry you
"We list on StreetEasy, Zillow, and our brokerage site, and we hold open houses." That is distribution, not marketing, and it is what every listing gets by default.
Who do you think the buyer for this home is, and how will you reach them?
This is the question that most cleanly separates a strategist from someone who simply lists property.
Listen for
A defined profile — who they are, what they are trading up or down from, what they will compare your home against, and where they are actually looking. In Brooklyn that answer often differs by a few blocks; a Boerum Hill buyer and a Downtown Brooklyn tower buyer are not the same person.
What should worry you
"Anyone looking in this price range." If they cannot describe the buyer, they cannot deliberately reach them.
What happens in the first two weeks after we go live?
Buyer attention peaks sharply at launch and declines steadily. What happens in that window largely determines the outcome.
Listen for
A sequenced answer: what is ready before launch, when the broker open and public open house happen, when they follow up with every agent who attended, and when they report back to you with real data.
What should worry you
Treating launch as a switch that gets flipped, or having no plan for the first fourteen days beyond "we will see what the response is."
Will you handle staging — and what does it cost me?
Staging materially affects both photography and showings, and it is the part of preparation sellers most dread managing.
Listen for
Clarity about who does the work and who pays. Some agents manage staging directly; others refer you to a company and step back. Either can work, but you should know which you are getting and what the invoice looks like before you sign.
What should worry you
A vendor list handed over with no involvement, or vagueness about cost. Preparation is not an add-on to a listing — it is part of the job.
What is your commission, what does it cover, and what is negotiable?
Commission is the largest cost in the sale, and rules around buyer-broker compensation have changed. You are entitled to a direct answer.
Listen for
A straightforward number, a clear list of what it includes — photography, video, staging, advertising, floor plans — and an honest explanation of how buyer-side compensation will be handled and disclosed. A confident agent explains their value rather than deflecting.
What should worry you
Discomfort, evasion, or immediately discounting without discussion. An agent who cuts their fee the moment it is questioned may negotiate your sale price the same way.
How will you communicate with me, and how often?
The most common seller complaint in New York City real estate is not price. It is silence.
Listen for
A specific cadence — a written weekly report with traffic and showing data, feedback from every showing within a day or two, and a scheduled check-in. Specific beats "I am always available."
What should worry you
No defined rhythm. "Call me anytime" puts the burden of staying informed on you.
What would make you tell me not to sell right now?
This is the question that reveals the most, because it asks whether they will ever give you news you do not want.
Listen for
A real answer. Perhaps the building has three competing units listed, perhaps a comparable just sold low, perhaps a few weeks of preparation would materially change the result. An agent willing to talk you out of a listing is an agent you can trust inside a negotiation.
What should worry you
"Now is always a good time to sell." It is not, and an agent who cannot say so is optimizing for their pipeline rather than your outcome.
Can I speak with your last three sellers — including one whose sale did not go smoothly?
Anyone can supply three delighted clients. The second half of the question is the part that matters.
Listen for
No hesitation, and a genuine willingness to connect you with a harder transaction. How an agent handled a deal that went sideways tells you far more than how they handled an easy one.
What should worry you
Reluctance, or producing only curated references. Every experienced agent has had a difficult sale; being unable to name one is its own answer.
Why Neighborhood-Level Experience Actually Matters
"I work all over New York City" sounds like a strength. In practice it often means an agent lacks depth anywhere in particular, and depth is what pricing accuracy depends on.
Consider how different these markets are. A Downtown Brooklyn tower condo competes with other new development inventory a few floors away, sells largely on light, view, and amenities, and often carries a tax abatement that shapes the buyer's monthly math. A Park Slope brownstone floor-through sells on proportion, original detail, and the specific block. An Upper East Side co-op sells into a buyer pool that has to clear a board, which changes who can even bid.
Those are three different pricing exercises, three different buyer profiles, and three different marketing approaches. An agent who has genuinely sold in your neighborhood knows which building lines are quiet, which floors carry a premium, what the board actually requires, and which competing listings your buyer is walking through the same weekend.
Ask directly: what have you sold within a few blocks of here, in this price range, in the last two years? Then ask what they learned from it.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Talking About Commission Without Discomfort
Commission is the largest single cost in your sale, and following industry-wide changes to how buyer-broker compensation is handled and disclosed, sellers should expect a direct conversation about it rather than a practiced deflection.
Ask three things: what the fee is, exactly what it covers, and how compensation to the buyer's agent will be handled. Then compare answers across agents on total value rather than on the headline number alone. A lower fee that excludes professional photography, video, staging, and paid advertising is frequently more expensive in the end, because presentation is what determines the price the market is willing to pay.
Watch how the agent responds to being asked. Someone who explains their fee calmly and specifically is showing you how they will handle a buyer's agent pushing on price. Someone who becomes uncomfortable, or discounts immediately, is showing you that too.
For the full picture of what a sale costs beyond commission — transfer taxes, flip taxes, attorney fees — see our NYC closing costs breakdown.
Red Flags
The highest price opinion in the room
When one agent's number is far above the others, ask them to defend it with data. Sometimes they see something real. More often it is a strategy for winning the listing, followed by pressure to reduce once you are under contract with them.
A generic marketing deck
If the presentation would be identical for any apartment in the city, the marketing will be too.
Immediate commission cutting
An agent who drops their fee the moment you raise it is showing you how they behave under pressure — which is exactly what negotiation is.
No questions for you
A good listing interview runs both directions. An agent who never asks about your timeline, your next move, or what matters most to you cannot build a strategy around any of it.
Vague on who does the work
Being pitched by a name and handed to a stranger is a common and avoidable disappointment.
Discomfort with being checked
Any hesitation about references, sales history, or how they arrived at a number is worth taking seriously.
After the Interviews: How to Decide
Once the presentations are over, the useful comparison is narrow. Set aside who was most charming and ask four things.
Whose pricing logic was most defensible?
Not whose number was highest — whose reasoning you could repeat to someone else and have it hold up.
Who described my buyer most specifically?
The agent who knows who is buying knows how to reach them.
Who told me something I did not want to hear?
Candor at the interview is the best available predictor of candor during negotiation.
Who will actually be doing the work?
And are you comfortable with that person, not just the one who presented?
Then read the listing agreement before you sign it. Ask how long the exclusive runs, what happens if you are unhappy, and whether there is a protection period after it expires. A confident agent will walk you through it line by line.
FAQ: Interviewing a Listing Agent in NYC
How many listing agents should I interview before choosing one?
Two or three is the right number for most Manhattan and Brooklyn sellers. One gives you nothing to compare against — particularly on price, where a single opinion is impossible to calibrate. More than three or four tends to blur together and delay a launch, which costs more than the extra opinion is worth.
What is the most important question to ask a listing agent?
"What would make you tell me not to sell right now?" It is the one question an agent cannot answer well without being willing to give you unwelcome news. An agent who says now is always a good time to sell has told you they are optimizing for their pipeline rather than your result.
Should I choose the agent who gives me the highest price?
No — not on that basis alone. Suggesting a high number costs an agent nothing at the interview, and overpricing is the most common reason a New York City listing sits and eventually sells for less than a correctly priced one would have. Ask every agent to defend their number with closed comparables, active competition, and pending sales. Choose the number you find most defensible, not the largest.
Is commission negotiable in NYC?
It can be, and you are entitled to a clear conversation about it — what the fee is, what it covers, and how buyer-side compensation is handled and disclosed. Weigh it against what is actually included. A lower fee that excludes professional photography, video, and staging is often more expensive in the end, because presentation drives the price the market will pay.
Does it matter if an agent works mostly in a different neighborhood?
In New York City, yes, more than people expect. Pricing, buyer profile, and building-level dynamics vary block by block. An agent with a strong Upper East Side co-op record may have limited insight into a Downtown Brooklyn new development tower, and the reverse is equally true. Ask specifically what they have closed in your neighborhood and your price tier.
What should I have ready for a listing appointment?
Your building's maintenance or common charge figures, recent assessments or planned capital work, anything you have renovated with dates, your ideal timeline, and where you plan to go next. The more accurately an agent understands your situation, the more useful their pricing and strategy advice will be.
Can I change agents if the listing is not working?
Listing agreements have a term, and the terms vary. Read yours before signing and ask directly what happens if you are unhappy — including the length of the exclusive and any post-expiration protection period. A confident agent will explain it plainly rather than glossing over it.
Final Thoughts
The agent you choose determines your price, your timeline, and how much of this process lands on you. That decision is made in a one-hour conversation, usually on the basis of a number and a first impression — which is why asking better questions changes outcomes more than almost anything else a seller can do.
Ask all twelve. Ask every agent the same twelve. The one who answers the uncomfortable ones directly is usually the one who will tell you the truth when it matters, months later, with an offer on the table.
If you are preparing to sell in Manhattan or Brooklyn, we are glad to be one of the agents you interview — and equally glad to tell you honestly if your home is better served by someone with deeper experience in your specific building. Either way, you should walk out of every one of these conversations knowing more than you walked in with.
Related reading: our complete NYC seller's guide covers pricing, preparation, and marketing in depth, and how to choose an agent covers the decision from the buyer's side as well.
Disclaimer
Any figures in this guide are approximations. Commission structures, listing agreement terms, and market conditions vary by brokerage, building, and transaction, and change over time.
This is not legal or tax advice. The Miller Markowicz Team are licensed real estate professionals, not attorneys or accountants. Have your own attorney review any listing agreement before you sign it.
Written by
The Miller Markowicz Team at The Corcoran Group
Andreea Miller and Steven Markowicz are licensed real estate agents at The Corcoran Group specializing in condos, co-ops, townhouses, and new development across Manhattan and Brooklyn — including Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Williamsburg, Park Slope, Chelsea, and the Upper East Side.
Co-Founder · Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Recognized among The Corcoran Group's Top 25 agents and ranked in the top 1.5% of agents nationwide by RealTrends. Known for analytical rigor in pricing and a design-led approach to preparing and presenting homes.
Co-Founder · Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
A background in luxury hospitality shapes a client experience built on anticipation and responsiveness. Focused on Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Williamsburg, and Boerum Hill, with deep new development experience.
Track Record
200+ transactions closed across Manhattan and Brooklyn
Top 25 at The Corcoran Group, five of the last six months
Top 1.5% of agents nationwide by RealTrends
