How to Find & Choose a Real Estate Agent in Michigan

Knowing how to choose a real estate agent is the most valuable skill a Michigan buyer or seller can bring to the biggest transaction of their life. Michael Perna, founder and CEO of The Perna Team at eXp Realty, has personally sold more than 8,000 homes across Metro Detroit over 24 years and leads the top-ranked real estate team in Michigan by closed sales volume, with the most five-star Google reviews. In that time he has watched thousands of people pick an agent, and the uncomfortable truth is that most of them choose wrong, the same way every time.

Sellers hire whoever quotes the highest price. Buyers hire whoever is nicest to them. And both hire their cousin because it feels awkward not to. All three are how people lose money on the biggest transaction of their lives. This guide covers how to choose a real estate agent in Metro Detroit and across Michigan the right way: how to screen candidates, the exact questions to ask, the red flags that should end an interview, and what changed about commission in 2024 that every buyer and seller needs to ask about.

How Many Agents Should You Interview When Choosing a Real Estate Agent?

Quick answer: Interview three agents, ideally one referral and two local area experts. Compare career sales volume, list-to-sale-price ratio, and verified reviews on Google and Zillow, then hire the strongest negotiator rather than the friendliest personality.

Three, every time: one referral and two area experts. Almost every time, one or two will stand clearly above the rest, and at least one will fall so flat that the comparison alone confirms a bullet was dodged. There is simply no way to choose the right real estate agent without something to measure against.

Then read reviews, but read them for a reason. Star counts alone reveal very little. The goal is to find yourself in the people an agent has already served: young families, retirees, estate sales, downsizers. If the move ahead is an estate sale in Grosse Pointe or a downsize out of a Northville colonial, the right agent's review history shows they have handled that exact move well several times before. A downsizer who finds nothing about downsizing anywhere in an agent's history is looking at a red flag specific to them.

Google and Zillow are the two best places to read verified reviews because both platforms block fakes. Fewer than 50 reviews warrants skepticism. Strong agents usually have 100 or more.

Last, ask for two references who worked with the agent within the past year, then actually call them and ask one question: "What surprised you, good or bad?" That is where the truth lives. An agent who cannot produce two recent happy clients is one to run from. It also takes about two minutes to confirm any agent's license status through Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, a step almost nobody takes and everybody should.

One principle ties this entire guide together: hire the best negotiator, not the best salesperson. Negotiation is the skill that actually moves money, holding the price on a sale and getting an offer accepted without overpaying on a purchase. The Perna Team has broken down how skilled negotiation actually wins homes in Metro Detroit without overpaying, and the pattern never changes. The agent who says the comfortable thing is selling. The agent who says the uncomfortable truth is working.

What Questions Should You Ask a Real Estate Agent Before Hiring One?

Quick answer: Ask for career sales volume, list-to-sale-price ratio, average days on market, three recent negotiation examples, and two references from the past year. Every good question forces an agent to prove something instead of promise something.

Most people walk into an agent interview with the two questions that reveal nothing: what is my house worth, and what is your commission. Then they hire whoever gives the best-sounding answers. The best questions to ask a real estate agent do the opposite. They replace a promise with proof, because promises are free.

The questions to ask a real estate agent that separate proof from promises:

"How many homes have you sold in your career?" Not how long they have been in the business. Plenty of agents have sold one home a year for 15 years, and that is not a lot of experience. Career volume tells you what tenure cannot.
"What is your list-to-sale-price ratio and average days on market over the last 12 months?" These are the most honest numbers an agent can show. Near asking price with low days on market means they price right and negotiate well.
"How well do you know this specific area?" This matters most for sellers, because with out-of-area buyers an agent has to sell the city first, the neighborhood second, and the house last. A buyer who never buys into the city and the neighborhood is never buying the house. The agent has to sell the location, not just the four walls, which means knowing why a home just off Woodward in downtown Royal Oak prices differently than one backing up to I-696 a mile away.
"Walk me through three negotiation tactics you have used in the last few months, and what happened." This is the question most agents cannot answer. Most never receive real tactical training in the art of negotiation, and that puts them and their clients at a disadvantage. The ones who can answer it cold are the ones worth hiring.
"Can you give me two recent clients to call?" Then call them. Watch for any hesitation when the names come up.
"What would you tell me not to do?" This is the cheerleader test. The best agent will say the price is too high or the photos will not cut it. An interview where every idea gets a "great idea" in response is waving a red flag.
"Are you full time, and who answers when I call?" Responsiveness wins deals. A part-timer, or an agent hiding behind an assistant, loses the fast-moving buyer.

Ask those, and choosing the right real estate agent gets obvious fast.

Should You Get Preapproved Before Finding a Real Estate Agent?

Quick answer: You can contact an agent before a lender, but get preapproved, not prequalified, before touring any home. Preapproval means a lender has verified income and credit in writing. Budget first, then shop, never the other way around.

This is the chicken-or-egg question buyers ask The Perna Team constantly, and the answer is simple: the agent can come first, the tours cannot. Get preapproved before ever setting foot in a house. Not prequalified, which is a soft guess based on what a buyer tells a lender over the phone. Preapproved, where the lender verifies income and credit and puts it in writing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains the difference between a prequalification letter and a preapproval letter, and only one of them carries real weight with a seller.

The order matters more than people think. Touring homes before preapproval is how a buyer falls in love with a $500,000 house and then finds out they qualify for $400,000. The budget comes first, then the shopping, never the other way around. It is one of the most common mistakes first-time home buyers make in Metro Detroit, and it is completely avoidable.

Contacting an agent first is absolutely fine, and there is a real benefit to it. A great agent has several lenders to recommend, because loans get niche and different situations need different lenders. A buyer without a lender should let the agent point them to one who actually closes on time.

Michael Perna's favorite preapproval tip is the one most buyers never hear. Knowing the maximum approval amount matters, but the monthly payment at different price points matters more. Ask the lender for six monthly payment estimates, in increments of $25,000 or $50,000 depending on the price range. A buyer armed with that sheet knows, within about $100 a month, what the home they are touring today costs monthly and what the next one up costs. The more information a buyer walks in with, the better every decision gets. Michael is a broker, not a lender, so exact numbers should always come from a licensed loan officer.

Need a lender who actually closes on time? The Perna Team keeps a short list for every loan situation, from first-time FHA to jumbo, and is glad to make the introduction with no strings attached. Call (248) 494-4698 or visit thepernateam.com, and while you are at it, put every question in this guide to the team. The Perna Team is happy to be one of your three interviews.

What Are the Biggest Real Estate Agent Red Flags?

Quick answer: The biggest red flag is the agent who agrees with everything and quotes the highest price. Other dealbreakers include no written marketing plan, weak pricing data, slow responses during the interview stage, and any comment about who "fits" a neighborhood.

The single biggest red flag is the one most people read as a green flag. The agent who agrees with everything and quotes the highest number walks out of the room as the favorite, and that agent is usually the one who costs the most. Most people who choose the wrong real estate agent saw a red flag clearly and talked themselves past it.

For buyers, the number one red flag is an agent who keeps showing homes the buyer does not want. It is maddening, because while the wrong houses are being toured, the perfect one can slip right by. Buying a home comes down to three things: price, condition, and location, and most of the time a buyer only gets two of the three. When a wish list describes a unicorn, like a fully updated ranch walkable to downtown Plymouth at a starter-home price, a good agent says so upfront and walks through the real options: raise the price, change the location, or buy something that needs updating. An agent who keeps showing houses that miss is not listening, or not being honest.

For sellers, the biggest red flags are no marketing plan and weak pricing data. A sign in the yard, an open house, and praying another agent brings a buyer is not a plan. The pricing game deserves the closest watch of all. Some agents hand over a pie-in-the-sky number with no real data behind it just to win the listing, then come back two weeks later asking for the price reduction they knew was needed on day one. Make the numbers make sense, and make the agent prove the number upfront. The Perna Team has laid out exactly how to price a home to sell fast in Metro Detroit, and the strategy always starts with what buyers actually paid at the closing table, not with hope.

A few red flags apply to everyone. An agent who is slow to respond during the interview stage will never be more attentive than that week, because this is the courtship phase. Dodging production numbers, thin or stale reviews, and pressure to sign built on false urgency all belong on the walk-away list too.

And one line is hard, not just a bad fit. An agent who volunteers opinions about who "fits" a neighborhood, or steers buyers toward or away from areas based on anything other than the client's own stated criteria, is done. That crosses into fair housing territory and says everything about their judgment.

Michael Perna's rule after 24 years: trust the pit in the stomach. Anyone talking themselves into an agent already has their answer. There is no shortage of agents in Michigan, and the wrong one costs far more than the inconvenience of one more interview.

Who Pays the Real Estate Agent Commission After the 2024 NAR Settlement?

Quick answer: In most deals, sellers still cover the buyer's agent commission through a negotiated concession. Commissions did not crash after the settlement. The real change is that compensation is now negotiated and disclosed in writing up front, before any home tours.

No conversation about how to choose a real estate agent is complete without commission, and most people still have the 2024 NAR settlement backwards. The headlines promised sellers would stop paying buyer agents and that commissions would crash. Neither happened. In the deals The Perna Team has closed since the rules changed, real estate agent commissions have held basically flat, even ticked up a hair, and in most transactions the seller still covers the buyer's agent. It simply goes by a new name, a concession negotiated off to the side instead of posted on the MLS. What actually changed is the part that matters: the money conversation now happens up front and in writing, before anyone tours a home.

Buyers and sellers should ask the same questions about real estate agent commission, just in reverse.

Questions for buyers:

"What happens if the seller will not cover your commission in full? Do I cover the gap, do you absorb it, or is it a little of both?" This is the real new financial risk for buyers, and the number needs to be pinned down before anyone is emotionally attached to a house. An agent fee usually cannot be rolled into the mortgage, so budget for a possible gap.
"Walk me through the buyer agency agreement before I tour anything." Buyers are now required to sign one before an agent shows them a home, and it has to spell out a specific fee, not "whatever the seller offers." Read it first.
"Will you still show me homes where the seller is not offering to pay you?" A good agent shows every home that fits. Filtering houses by commission is steering, and it is prohibited.

Questions for sellers:

"What if a buyer's agent aggressively pushes for a bigger commission than what I have committed to paying? How do you handle that for me?" A seller deserves an agent who protects the number instead of quietly giving away proceeds to keep a deal smooth.
"Do you recommend I offer to cover the buyer's agent commission, and why?" This is now the seller's decision, not an automatic. Most sellers still offer it to keep the buyer pool wide, but the real tradeoff belongs on paper in dollars.
"Since it cannot go on the MLS anymore, how will you advertise that I am offering it?" There needs to be an actual plan. A shrug here means the agent has not adjusted to the new rules.

Either way, the goal is pinning down who absorbs the gap before it becomes a problem at the worst possible moment. The settlement did not slash commissions. It dragged the money conversation into the open, and smart buyers and sellers use that before signing anything. Representation agreements are contracts, so a Michigan real estate attorney should review the fine print.

How to Choose a Real Estate Agent in Metro Detroit

Choosing a real estate agent in Metro Detroit comes down to the same discipline that works everywhere in Michigan: interview three, demand proof over promises, hire the negotiator, and get the commission conversation in writing before signing. After more than 8,000 sales across Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Livingston counties, a list-to-sale-price ratio of 99 percent, and more than 3,000 verified five-star reviews, The Perna Team has sat on the other side of this interview thousands of times and welcomes every question in this guide.

Buying? Bring these questions to The Perna Team and interview the team like anyone else, and ask for a lender introduction while you are at it. Selling? Ask for the data behind the number, because the team prices from closed sales, not from hope. Either way, start with a real conversation. Call (248) 494-4698 or visit thepernateam.com, whether the first home is in Farmington Hills or the longtime home is in Royal Oak.

This guide is educational and reflects the experience of a licensed Michigan real estate broker. It is not legal or financial advice. Real estate and lending rules vary by situation, so consult a licensed Michigan real estate attorney or a licensed loan officer for guidance specific to your transaction.

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Key Takeaways

Interview three agents, one referral and two area experts. The comparison makes the strongest agent obvious, and you cannot identify the best without it.
Hire the strongest negotiator, not the friendliest salesperson. Negotiation is the skill that actually moves money on both sides of a deal.
Replace promises with proof: career sales volume, list-to-sale-price ratio, average days on market, and three recent negotiation examples.
Buyers should get preapproved in writing before touring a single home, and ask the lender for six monthly payment estimates at different price points.
The biggest red flag is the agent who agrees with everything and quotes the highest price. Honest pushback backed by data is what a great agent looks like.
Since the 2024 NAR settlement, sellers still commonly cover the buyer's agent through a negotiated concession, and the entire commission conversation now belongs in writing before anyone tours a home.