Hiring a Listing Agent in Florida: What to Ask, How Commission Works, and What You're Signing

Picking a listing agent is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make when you sell, and most people spend more time choosing a paint color. Here’s how I’d help a friend pick the right agent, even if it isn’t me.

Interview more than one agent

Talk to at least two or three. You’ll learn a lot just from how differently they answer the same questions. Here’s what I’d ask:

About price

• What do you think my home will sell for, and how did you get there? Ask to see the recent sales they used and why.
• What would I walk away with at that price? (I bring a market analysis and a net sheet to every listing appointment.)
• What would you change about my home before listing, and what’s not worth the money?

About marketing

• Where will buyers see my home, and when?
• Who takes the photos? Will there be video or a floor plan?
• How do you handle showings and open houses?

About communication

• How often will I hear from you, and how? Text, call, email?
• Who handles my file day to day: you, a team member, or an assistant?

About the contract

• How long is the listing agreement, and how can I end it early if it isn’t working?
• What exactly is your fee, and what’s included?
• What do you recommend I offer, if anything, toward the buyer’s agent?

Be a little wary of the agent who simply names the highest price. An overpriced home tends to sit, and that usually costs you more than a realistic price would have.

How commission works now

Every commission is negotiable. It isn’t set by law, and it never was. Get the fee in writing, and know what’s included.

The bigger change since August 2024 is on the buyer’s side:

• Buyers now sign their own agreement with their agent before touring, and that agreement says how their agent gets paid.
• Buyer-agent pay isn’t on the MLS anymore. If a buyer wants you to cover some or all of it, the request typically arrives with their offer package.
• You decide. Say yes, say no, or meet in the middle, like any other term.

There’s no one right answer. It depends on your price point, timeline and what buyers in your range are asking for. I walk through your options in should I pay the buyer’s agent?

How your home gets marketed

Under the MLS’s Clear Cooperation rule, once your home is marketed to the public, it generally has to go into the MLS (Stellar MLS, here in Central Florida) within one business day.

You still choose how it launches: Active right away, Coming Soon, Delayed Distribution or Office Exclusive. More exposure usually means more buyers. More privacy usually means fewer. Here’s how the four options compare.

Read the listing agreement

Before you sign, look for:

• The term: how long it lasts. This is negotiable.
• Cancellation: how either of you can end it early, and whether there’s a fee.
• The fee: the amount, when it’s owed, and what happens if a buyer you introduced buys after the listing ends.
• The brokerage relationship. In Florida, agents are presumed to be transaction brokers unless you agree in writing to a single agent relationship. A single agent owes you loyalty and full confidentiality. A transaction broker still deals honestly and fairly, and can’t share things like the fact that you’d take less than your asking price.

My advice

Choose the agent whose pricing makes sense, whose plan you understand, and whose honesty you trust, especially when it’s not what you want to hear. The fee matters, but the right price and the right plan usually matter more.

Thinking about selling and want an honest opinion on price and timing, with no pressure to sign anything? I’m happy to take a look.