Most sellers spend more time researching a refrigerator than they do interviewing the person who’ll manage the biggest financial transaction of their year. That’s not a knock on sellers, it’s just how the process usually gets rushed. Here’s what an actual interview should sound like.

Start with the house, not the price

Before an agent talks price, ask them to talk about your property. What would buyers like about it? What would concern them? Which homes would they actually compare it to, and where does that comparison break down? An agent who can answer this specifically, not generically, has actually thought about your house.

Ask about the street, not just the neighborhood

Have they walked your street at different times of day? Do they know what’s confirmed about the area versus what’s just neighborhood talk? A subdivision-level answer isn’t the same as a street-level answer, and the difference shows up in how a home gets priced and marketed.

The one question that reveals the most

Ask for an example of a time they advised a seller against the seller’s own preferred price. Anyone can agree with you at the kitchen table. Agreement is easy and doesn’t cost the agent anything. You’re hiring judgment, not agreement, and judgment sometimes means telling you something you don’t want to hear.

What to bring to the interview

Bring any online estimate you’ve seen. Bring questions about comparable sales near you, and ask the agent to explain, not just state, why those comps do or don’t apply. A confident answer with no explanation behind it is the thing to watch for.

I welcome this kind of interview. Ask me the hard version of these questions. That’s exactly how I’d want a seller to choose me.

— Candie Worsham, Nashville Area Homes

A house doesn’t sell to a statistic. It sells to a specific person, with a specific reason for buying, at a specific point in their life. Part of pricing and marketing a home well is getting curious about who that buyer actually is, instead of guessing.

The wrong way to think about buyers

It’s easy to fall into shorthand. “Buyers around here want X.” “Nobody in this price range cares about Y.” Sometimes that shorthand is just wrong. Sometimes it edges into something worse: sorting people into a neighborhood based on assumptions about who belongs there. An agent who tells you everyone around here is a certain kind of person is telling you more about their own assumptions than about your home’s value. That line matters, and it’s the law.

A better question to ask

Instead of guessing at a buyer’s identity, I ask what problem a house solves for them. A shorter commute. A specific school zone. Room for aging parents. A first home instead of a rental. A downsize after the kids move out. Those are real, practical reasons people buy, and they point directly to how a home should be marketed and staged, without needing to guess who the buyer is beyond that.

Why this actually helps you sell

When I understand the practical reasons someone would want your specific home, I can market to that reason directly, the school district, the flat driveway, the finished basement, the walk to the coffee shop. That’s a sharper, more honest way to sell a house than assuming a “typical buyer” and marketing to a guess.

I’d rather ask ten specific questions about who might buy your home than sort buyers into a category based on a zip code. That’s the whole point of local knowledge: it replaces assumptions with actual answers.

— Candie Worsham, Nashville Area Homes

A lot of what gets called “local knowledge” in real estate is really just a search radius. Pull up an online map, draw a circle around a house, and call whatever falls inside it comparable. It’s a useful place to begin. It’s a poor place to end.

A comp is a question, not an answer

“Comparable sale” sounds reassuring, but on its own it explains very little. Was the other house renovated? Did it include a garage? Did it sell with concessions? A confident answer without an explanation is a warning sign. When I price a home, I start with closed sales, then look at what’s actively competing with it right now, then look at what buyers walked away from and why.

Ask your agent to show you one comp that supports their price and one that challenges it. That second conversation tells you a lot.

Schools require precision

Schools matter to a lot of buyers, including plenty who don’t have kids. A school boundary can change, and proximity to a campus doesn’t guarantee enrollment. A district map saved from last year may already be wrong today. If schools matter to your sale, get the current assignment verified, not assumed.

An agent who says everyone around here is a certain kind of person is telling you more about the agent’s assumptions than the home’s value. My job is to give you sources so you can verify assignment yourself, never to sort buyers into a neighborhood based on assumptions about who belongs there.

The invisible lines around a lot

A shed that looks harmless may sit in a utility easement. Zoning, setbacks, and easements matter as much as anything you can see from the patio. Get the survey and permits together before you list, not after a buyer’s inspector finds them for you.

What the asking price is actually for

The asking price has a job: to place the home in front of buyers who will recognize its value. It’s not an accounting of every dollar you spent, and it can’t guarantee your net proceeds. It’s an invitation, and it has to be priced to work.

What online estimates miss

An automated home value estimate is a fine starting point. It’s never the whole picture. It can combine recorded sales and property data, but it can’t walk through your house with a buyer, notice a layout that doesn’t work, or explain why one side of a street feels different from the other.

If an estimate has shaped your expectations, bring it to your listing appointment and ask for the evidence behind any difference.

By the third choice, I hope you expect more than a confident smile and a high asking price. Local knowledge cannot be faked. Buyers test it the moment they walk in the door, your agent should be able to pass that same test before you ever list.

— Candie Worsham, Nashville Area Homes