Indeed, real estate agents help people with one of the most important things in life: their home.

Consequently, you need to go beyond the “basic” questions when choosing a real estate agent to help you buy or sell your home.

Some folks think that the “tough” questions include things like “how long have you been in business? ” or “how many homes have you sold this year?” or “what’s the most expensive property you’ve sold?”

These questions may shed some light on who you’re working with — but they don’t touch upon what really matters when it comes to you and your home.

Instead, you need to ask, are more like the “so…whaddya gonna do for me?” line of questions.

1. How Will You Make My Home Stand Out From The Rest?

A good real estate agent will have at least a few ideas about what makes your home unique — and how it’s uniqueness can help sell it.

2. Who Are the Potential Buyers You’re Trying to Attract?

Good ideas about selling a home are one thing. But good ideas won’t help if they’re not explained in the right way to the right people. A good real estate agent will have a keen understanding of the types of people that are most interested in your home. And they’ll have a good idea of how to get their attention with your home or property.

3. What Was The Most Difficult Home You Had to Sell?

The answer to this question doesn’t matter as much as how it is explained. And the explanation can tell you a lot about a real estate agent. Some may avoid a direct answer to this question. But the real pros will most certainly remember their most difficult sale — and will explain the lessons they learned from it.

4. What Can I Do To Increase the Value of My Home?

A good real estate agent will be able to give you some advice and instruction about getting more from selling your home, even after just a quick walk-through. And if the advice sounds cliché, it probably is. A good real estate agent will be able to give you specific items, with a value range, for increasing the value of your home.

5. Will You Keep Me Informed — On My Terms?

Buying and selling a home can be one of the most stressful life experiences. Sure, you want a real estate agent who communicates. But it’s more important to have an agent who will communicate on your wave-length.

Make sure to choose an agent who will communicate with you when and how you want. If you want daily updates by text, make sure your real estate agent will commit to that.

If you only want a weekly summary by e-mail, then make sure your agent will give you just that.

These are just a few of the “tough” questions you should ask a potential real estate agent before you entrust in them with one of the most challenging experiences of your lifetime.