Six Questions to Ask About Your Agent’s Scope of Work

Before choosing an agent, ask what the work actually includes.

A service list is useful when it tells you who is responsible, which costs are separate and what happens when the plan changes. The useful comparison is the work each proposal commits to handling for your home.

Ask these six questions

1. Planning: How will we connect the sale and purchase timelines?
2. Preparation: How will we decide what to repair, clean, leave alone or price accordingly?
3. Vendors: Who selects, books and supervises outside providers, and who pays them?
4. Marketing: What deliverables will be provided, when, and how will I review the listing presentation?
5. Offers and contracts: How will you explain the terms, deadlines and trade-offs so I can make decisions?
6. Moving: What coordination is included, and which arrangements remain my responsibility?

Make the marketing deliverables reviewable

Ask how comparable sales will inform the price discussion, what photography and listing materials are proposed, how showings will be managed and how offers will be presented. Confirm who prepares each item, when you will review it and which costs or outside services are separate.

Then ask how contract deadlines and decisions will be tracked. An agent’s proposal should make the promised work understandable before you rely on it.

Use the planning framework to ask better questions

PLAN, PREP, SEARCH, SELL and MOVING describe the parts of a move-up conversation. For each part, ask what is included in your written scope and what needs another provider or agreement. A named process is useful when the responsibilities underneath it are clear.

You may need a limited scope because your preparation and move are already arranged. You may need more coordination. Choose the proposal that fits those needs and confirm the commitments in writing.

Get specific about costs and limits

Ask for the scope in writing. If a service depends on a provider, financing approval or a separate agreement, identify that condition before relying on it.

Do not assume preparation funding, contractor management, packing, storage or moving costs are included because a process has a name. Discuss the actual terms for your home.

Know how updates will work

Choose a contact method, an update schedule and the decisions that need your approval. Ask who you should call when a deadline changes and how the revised plan will be confirmed.

For a Lincoln move-up, I want the conversation to cover the home you are selling and the move you are trying to make. Bring this list. We can walk through the proposed scope and identify any outside services before you decide.

See the Move-Up Method planning framework.