Questions to ask before signing with an agent
By Daniel C. Swenson, Minnesota attorney. Educational information, not legal advice about your situation.
Before the meeting: two lookups
Verify the license is active and typed the way you expect (salesperson or broker; a salesperson must work under a licensed broker). Then search the name, and the brokerage name, in our enforcement record lookup. Ten minutes, free, and you will be more informed than most clients ever are.
About money
- How are you paid on my transaction, in dollars or percent, and who pays it? Since the 2024 changes, your written agreement must state this; make the number in the document match the number in the conversation.
- If the seller offers less toward my agent's fee than this agreement promises you, who covers the difference?
- Do you charge administrative, transaction, or document fees on top of the commission?
About the agreement itself
- When does this agreement end? Minnesota requires a definite expiration date; an agreement without one is a red flag, not a technicality.
- How do I cancel early, and what does cancellation cost?
- If the deal closes after this agreement ends with a buyer you introduced, do I still owe you? (This is an override clause; Minnesota limits how these work and ties them to a written protective list. Ask to see the language.)
- Am I agreeing to exclusivity, and how wide: one property, a metro area, everything you show me?
About loyalty and the work
- Will you or your brokerage ever represent the other side of my transaction? What happens to your duties to me then? (Read our dual agency guide.)
- How many transactions did you personally close in my area in the last 12 months?
- Who else touches my file: assistants, team members, a showing service? Are they licensed?
- What happens if I find the house myself, or a buyer approaches me directly?
Answers that should worry you
“The commission is standard.” (No commission is standard; rates are negotiable by law.) “We can fill the blanks in later.” (An agreement with blanks is not done.) “Everyone signs this.” (You are not everyone.) “You do not need to read it now.” (You do.) None of these is an enforcement matter by itself; all of them are reasons to slow down.