Name the transaction and location
Write down whether you are asking about buying, selling, renting or another service, and identify the jurisdiction. Rules and terminology vary. Avoid beginning with a claim that an agent is best because of an old directory position, award or online review. Start with the service you actually require and the question the agent needs to answer.
Check identity through the regulator
Record the full professional and business names and the appropriate official licence or registration reference where applicable. Texas TREC consumer information is one jurisdiction-specific example; association membership and a regulatory licence have different purposes. Match the person and entity rather than a common name. Keep the date and scope of the register result, and ask about an unclear status through the relevant regulator.
Clarify representation
Ask whom the agent would represent in the proposed transaction and what that arrangement permits. Request the actual disclosure or agreement used in that jurisdiction. Ask how conflicts or an intermediary arrangement would be handled where relevant. A helpful viewing conversation does not by itself explain representation, confidentiality or negotiating responsibilities. Do not infer legal duties from a marketing title.
Compare the written service
Request the service scope, fee basis, payer, timing, exclusivity, duration and ending conditions in writing. Keep a proposed agreement distinct from one actually signed. Ask a qualified local adviser about terms you do not understand before relying on them. The worksheet helps organise questions; it does not value a property, negotiate a transaction or determine legal obligations.
Read the drawing as text
A regulator record answers identity and status questions. Representation, service scope and fees require their own written evidence.
Work through an example
A fictional seller contacts agent A. The regulator identity is located, but A has not yet explained the proposed representation or supplied the fee agreement. The record marks identity checked, representation unanswered and fees pending. It does not merge these into agent approved. A second agent’s proposal is compared using the same fields rather than a promise of a higher sale price.
Illustrative example; figures, people and organisations in the worked record are fictional.
The example record
Identity
- Evidence
- Exact regulator record
- Next question
- Relevant person and entity?
Representation
- Evidence
- Not yet explained
- Next question
- Who would A represent?
Service
- Evidence
- Written proposal requested
- Next question
- What is included?
Fees and duration
- Evidence
- Agreement pending
- Next question
- Who pays, when, and how does it end?
Download blank worksheet (.csv) ↗Download worked example (.csv) ↗
Keep your own record
Use the result within its scope
Confirm the actual agreement and local requirements with appropriate advice. A licence check does not establish the best agent, a particular sale price, mortgage approval or a successful transaction.
Reference sources
Earlier articles on this subject
- Tips on Choosing a Good Realtor ↗ — 2021-02-27, Maria Baldwin.