By Slava Zborovsky · Updated
Choose on evidence, not promises: recorded sales in your town and price range, a pricing plan built from those sales, a written marketing plan, and straight answers on compensation, which is fully negotiable and not set by law. Check every claim against public records before you sign.
Why this is the question sellers are asking now
"Find a realtor to sell my house" became a breakout search in New Jersey over the past 90 days, and the top suggestion when you start typing "how to choose a realtor to sell" is "your home". The rules also changed recently: since August 17, 2024, how agents are paid and how listings are offered to other agents work differently than they did when most owners last sold.
1. Check production in public records
Ask each agent for their sales in your town over the past two years, as listing agent, with addresses and prices. Then check them. Every sale in New Jersey is recorded with the State, and this site publishes the recorded sales and medians for every Bergen County town on the market reports, with a luxury report for $1.5 million and up.
Independent verification services also exist. RealTrends Verified, for example, publishes agent volumes from closed transactions. Slava's RealTrends 2025 record is 12 transaction sides and $17.4M in volume, #3 by volume among Ho-Ho-Kus agents. Hold every agent, including him, to numbers you can look up.
2. Ask how they will price it
The right list price comes from recorded sales of comparable homes nearby, adjusted for condition, lot and location, not from an online estimate and not from the highest number an agent will say to win the listing. Ask to see the sales they used and why.
Here is what the recorded sales say about the range in some of Slava's towns over the past 12 months. Half of all sales fell between the two numbers shown; an agent's price for your home should sit somewhere you can explain against these sales.
You can do the first pass yourself: the home value check shows your assessment, your home's last recorded sale and comparable recorded sales in your town.
The range in Slava's towns
Recorded sales over the past 12 months, from the State's deed records:
| Town | Middle half of sales | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saddle River | $1.99M to $3.5M | $2.45M | 51 |
| Upper Saddle River | $1.18M to $1.95M | $1.4M | 109 |
| Ho-Ho-Kus | $980K to $1.7M | $1.27M | 59 |
| Ridgewood | $875K to $1.72M | $1.16M | 208 |
| Allendale | $735K to $1.4M | $900K | 64 |
| Montvale | $720K to $1.25M | $840K | 77 |
Source: NJ Division of Taxation SR1A deed records. Each town's full report is linked.
3. Ask for the marketing plan in writing
The National Association of REALTORS describes MLSs as hubs of trusted, verified information where all participants have equitable access, and the largest opportunity for connections between agents with properties to sell and those with buyers.
Sellers now have more choices about how a listing goes out. Under NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, a seller can choose an office exclusive (filed with the MLS but not shared with other MLS participants and not publicly marketed) or delayed marketing (filed with the MLS, with public marketing through IDX and syndication delayed for a period the local MLS allows). Either requires the seller's signed acknowledgement of the MLS benefits being waived or delayed, such as broad and immediate exposure. Ask each agent which they recommend for your home and why.
Then ask for specifics: photography and video, print and digital, the buyers' agents they will call, open house plans, and how they will report activity to you each week.
4. Talk about compensation openly
NAR's own guidance for sellers: compensation for your agent remains fully negotiable and is not set by law. Since August 17, 2024, offers of compensation to buyers' agents can no longer be shared on the MLS. Sellers may still offer them, to make a listing more attractive, but they are communicated off the MLS, and your listing agent must disclose and get your written approval for any payment to an agent working for buyers, specifying the amount or rate.
Buyers now sign a written agreement with their own agent before touring a home, which sets out how that agent will be paid. Ask your listing agent how they handle buyers' agent compensation in your price range, and what the trade-offs are.
5. Read the listing agreement
Before you sign, make sure it states:
- The term: how long it runs, and whether you can end it early.
- Compensation: the amount or rate, when it is earned, and how any buyer's agent compensation is handled.
- Marketing: what is promised, and whether it is in writing.
- Exclusions: any buyer you are already talking to.
- Who your agent works for: their professional relationship to you and to any buyer.
Questions to ask every agent
Ask the same questions of every agent you interview, and compare the answers side by side:
- Which homes in my town did you list and sell in the past two years, and at what prices?
- What will you list my home at, and which recorded sales support that number?
- What would you fix or change before we go live, and what would you leave alone?
- Full MLS, office exclusive or delayed marketing: which do you recommend for my home, and why?
- What does your compensation cover, and how do you handle buyers' agent compensation?
- Who will I deal with day to day: you, or someone on your team?
- How will you report showings, feedback and offers to me?
- How do you handle multiple offers, and the attorney review period?
Red flags
Walk away from:
- A list price far above the recorded sales, with no comparable sales to support it.
- Production claims you cannot find in any public record.
- Vague answers on compensation or marketing.
- Pressure to sign the same day.
Selling soon? Get a written valuation or use the NJ closing-cost calculator.
- How do I choose a real estate agent to sell my house?
- Compare agents on recorded sales in your town and price range, a pricing plan backed by comparable sales, a written marketing plan, and clear compensation terms. Verify their sales in public records.
- What does a listing agent do?
- A listing agent represents the seller: prices the home from comparable recorded sales, prepares and markets it, runs showings, presents and negotiates offers, and coordinates the sale through New Jersey's attorney review period to closing. The listing agreement sets out the terms, the marketing and the compensation.
- Are real estate commissions negotiable in New Jersey?
- Yes. The National Association of REALTORS says compensation remains fully negotiable and is not set by law.
- Can my home be sold without being publicly listed?
- Under NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, a seller can choose an office exclusive or delayed marketing listing, filed with the MLS, after acknowledging the exposure being waived or delayed. Local MLS rules govern the details.
Sources
Written by Slava Zborovsky, Broker Associate with The Agency One Rock and a licensed New Jersey broker since 2007. About Slava · LinkedIn
