11 Questions to Ask a Scottsdale Realtor Before You List Your Home

The questions to ask a Scottsdale realtor before you list come down to eleven things: proof of local sales, the math behind the price, the marketing plan, the timeline, the paperwork, the fees and the tax.

Scottsdale realtors each answer these differently, and the differences are the point.

Ask all eleven at the listing appointment, and compare the answers before signing anything.

The eleven questions, in short:

1. Recent nearby sales, in writing
2. A price built from real comparable sales
3. A written marketing plan with dates
4. A timeline and a price-change trigger
5. Disclosure due three days after acceptance
6. As is does not cancel disclosure
7. Ten days to inspect, five to respond
8. Buyer agent pay is negotiated now
9. Title, escrow and county charges
10. Capped disclosure fee, uncapped transfer fee
11. The primary residence gain exclusion

1. How many homes have you sold in my part of Scottsdale in the past year?

An agent's recent sales near the home are a matter of record. What buyers pay shifts from Scottsdale Ranch to Grayhawk to DC Ranch. An agent who has closed nearby knows what those buyers paid. One with no recent sales there can still do the job, but the learning happens on this listing.

A strong answer arrives as a printed MLS list: addresses, list price, sale price and days on market, for sales that agent handled. Sold by Samantha is a Scottsdale real estate team covering Scottsdale Ranch, McCormick Ranch, Grayhawk, DC Ranch and Silverleaf.

The answer to watch for trades the agent's record for the brokerage's: a big office-wide number with no personal list behind it. A newer agent leaning on a named team is fine. An unnamed one is not.

2. How did you arrive at this listing price, and which sales did you compare it to?

A listing price comes from recent sales of comparable homes, not from the number a seller hopes to hear. Redfin put the Scottsdale median sale price at 906,900 dollars in August 2026, with homes selling at 96.2 percent of list that month. A price above what nearby sales support tends to end in a price cut weeks later.

A strong answer names three to five sales within about a mile, closed in recent months, and says why this home sits above or below each one. It comes with the printout.

Watch for a price with no comparable sales attached, or a number that climbs once the seller mentions another agent is coming. A high quote wins listings. It does not sell houses.

3. What exactly will you do to market the house, and can I see that in writing?

A marketing plan is a list of tasks with dates and a budget, not a promise to do everything possible. Photography, the listing description, open houses and paid promotion each happen on a schedule or they do not. A plan written before the listing goes live is the only version a seller can hold anyone to.

A strong answer is a one-page schedule: who shoots the photos and when, what day the listing goes live, which weekends have open houses, and who pays for each line.

The answer to worry about is a list of portals. Every MLS listing reaches those sites, so that is the baseline, not a plan. An agent who will not put it in writing leaves nothing to check in week three.

4. How long will this take to sell, and what happens if it sits?

Time on market is a signal buyers read. Redfin recorded a median 77 days on market in Scottsdale in August 2026, so a seller planning around a two-week sale is using the wrong number. A listing that sits collects showing feedback first, then price questions, then offers below asking.

A strong answer gives a date to go live, a target window to go under contract, and a written trigger for a price change: a set number of showings, or a set number of days, agreed up front.

The answer to watch for is open ended: it will sell when it sells. With no agreed trigger, the price conversation happens later, after the days-on-market count has climbed and buyers have started asking what is wrong.

5. What paperwork will I sign, and when is the disclosure statement due?

Under the Arizona REALTORS resale contract a seller delivers a completed Seller's Property Disclosure Statement within three days of contract acceptance. The form comes from the Arizona Association of REALTORS rather than from a statute, and it is long. A seller who starts it on day one of escrow fills it out against a deadline instead of thinking.

A strong answer hands over a blank disclosure form at the listing appointment and walks through the sections on roof repairs, prior leaks, pool equipment and work done without a permit.

An agent who says the form can wait until an offer arrives has traded the seller's preparation time for convenience. Rushed answers on a disclosure form are how sellers end up in a dispute months later.

6. Do I still have to disclose problems if I sell the house as is?

An as-is clause does not release an Arizona seller from disclosing known material defects. It shifts the risk for problems the seller did not know about. Arizona courts have held that a seller who knows facts that materially affect value, which a buyer cannot readily see, has a duty to disclose them.

A strong answer separates the two ideas out loud. As is sets who fixes things. The disclosure form sets what the buyer gets told. The agent should name what the seller knows, such as a past roof leak, and put it on the form.

The line to worry about is sell it as is and say nothing. That is not what as is means, and it is the version that turns a closed sale into a claim.

7. How does the inspection period work, and what can a buyer ask me to fix?

Under the Arizona REALTORS resale contract the buyer's inspection period runs ten days from contract acceptance unless the contract says otherwise. The buyer lists disapproved items on the BINSR form. A seller has five days from delivery to respond, and a buyer who never delivers a BINSR gives up asking for those repairs.

A strong answer walks the calendar out loud: the day the clock starts, the day the BINSR is due, the five days to respond, and what each response does to the buyer's right to cancel.

An agent who treats the inspection period as a formality, or who says buyers here never ask for repairs, is setting the seller up for a surprise. A missed response date changes what the buyer may do next.

8. Who pays the buyer's agent now, and how does that change what I keep?

Since 17 August 2024, offers of buyer-broker compensation may not be published on the MLS, and a buyer working with an agent signs a written agreement before touring a home. A seller may still offer to cover part or all of that cost. It is now a negotiated term rather than an assumption built into the listing.

A strong answer shows both paths on paper: what the seller nets after offering a concession toward the buyer's agent, and what the seller nets without one.

The answer that dates an agent is the seller always pays it. So does one that says the question does not come up. Both describe a rulebook that changed, and a seller who budgets from it will be surprised at closing.

9. What will I pay at closing, and what does an Arizona seller usually cover?

Arizona has no real estate transfer tax. Proposition 100, approved by voters in November 2008, amended the state constitution to bar any new tax or fee on the sale or transfer of real estate. By Arizona custom the seller usually pays for the owner's title insurance policy, and escrow fees are split as the contract says.

A strong answer is a written estimate, line by line: the title policy, the escrow fee, recording, the two dollar county affidavit of property value fee, any association charges, the loan payoff and prorated property taxes.

A percentage guess with no lines under it is not an estimate. A seller who hears one number and nothing else finds out at signing which items were left out. Ask what day the title company pulled the figures.

10. Will my homeowners association charge me anything when I sell?

Arizona caps what an association may charge a seller for the resale disclosure statement at an aggregate of 400 dollars, for planned communities and condominiums alike, and requires delivery within ten days of written notice of a pending sale. That fee is collected no earlier than close of escrow, and it is not the only charge that can appear.

A strong answer names the association, says who sends the notice and when, and gets a written fee schedule from the management company. Arizona bans most private transfer fees but exempts association fees, so a capital contribution at resale carries no statutory cap.

The answer that costs money is that the association charges whatever it charges. Those figures are knowable weeks ahead, and a seller who first sees them on the settlement statement has no time to question them.

11. Will I owe tax on the money I make from this sale?

A seller may exclude up to 250,000 dollars of gain on a primary residence from federal tax, or up to 500,000 dollars filing jointly, subject to ownership and use tests. Gain is not the sale price, and it is not the check at closing. It is the price less selling costs and less the adjusted basis.

A strong answer stops at the outline and points to a tax professional for the math. What the agent supplies is the paperwork: the settlement statement, the commission and closing costs, and the dates of ownership and occupancy.

An agent who gives a confident yes or no on a seller's tax bill is answering a question that belongs to a tax professional. The tests turn on dates and household facts, and a wrong answer is expensive.

Arizona resale contract deadlines a seller should know

Deadlines from the Arizona REALTORS resale contract and the association statutes run in days, not weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best questions to ask a realtor?

The best questions are the ones with a checkable answer. Ask for recent sales the agent handled personally, the comparable sales behind the price, the marketing plan in writing, the Arizona contract deadlines, and a written closing cost estimate. Questions that ask for a document get a document.

What are some red flags when selling a house?

The red flags a seller can spot early are all about paper. An agent who will not put the marketing plan in writing. A price with no comparable sales attached. A listing agreement handed over without walking through how it ends. A closing cost estimate given as a percentage, not a line-by-line sheet.

What is the hardest month to sell a house?

No single month is hardest everywhere. Zillow research published in March 2025, based on 1.6 million sales in 2024, found that nationally homes listed in the second half of May sold for about 1.6 percent more than average, while in the Phoenix metro the strongest window was the second half of November, about 1.4 percent more.

What should I not tell my realtor when selling my house?

A listing agent works for the seller, so the honest answer is less than most sellers expect. Deadlines, money pressure and the lowest acceptable price all matter, because the agent needs them to negotiate. Be careful everywhere else. Say nothing to a buyer or an open house visitor that a seller would not want quoted in a counteroffer.

How do I interview a realtor when selling my home?

Interview at least two, in the home, with the same questions in the same order. Ask each one for a sold list, a written marketing plan and an estimate of net proceeds. Compare the paperwork afterward, not the conversation. The best real estate agents in Scottsdale expect that comparison.

Comparing the answers

Sold by Samantha is a real estate team in Scottsdale, Arizona, working Scottsdale Ranch, McCormick Ranch, Grayhawk, DC Ranch, Silverleaf, Windgate Ranch and greater Scottsdale. Sellers who want these eleven questions answered for their own address can call (602) 541-3949 or visit liveitloveitlistit.com.

This article is general information about selling a home in Arizona, not legal or tax advice. Contract deadlines, disclosure duties and tax treatment depend on the facts of a sale. Sellers should confirm their situation with an Arizona real estate attorney or a tax professional.