How do you choose a luxury real estate agent in Scottsdale?

Choosing a luxury real estate agent in Scottsdale comes down to questions you can check against paper: what the marketing plan includes, how the price gets set, who controls showings, how often you hear from the agent, who does the work, and what the listing agreement says. I'll go through each one and tell you what I do, so you have the same list to use with me and with anyone else you interview.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, helping people sell and buy homes, and I've been in real estate for more than 20 years and have sold roughly 300 homes. You've sold a home before, so I'm skipping the basics and going straight to what you can check before you sign a listing agreement.

A license can be looked up, a listing agreement can be read, and a marketing plan can be requested as a list.

Start with the Arizona Department of Real Estate's public database, because it's the official record and you can search it yourself. According to the department's page, you can look up an individual salesperson or broker to see license information, employment history and disciplinary actions, look up a company to see its employees, branch offices and designated broker, and search disciplinary actions and download the orders. The employment history is how you see which brokerage an agent works under. I hold an Arizona salesperson license, number SA550665000, so you can look me up the same way.

The brokerage matters because of how Arizona sets up supervision. Under Arizona Administrative Code R4-28-1103, the employing broker and the designated broker have to supervise the licensees who work for them, and the employing broker is responsible for what salespersons and other employees do within the scope of their work. The Department of Real Estate's guidance for real estate teams describes a team as more than one licensee, all licensed with the same brokerage. So "who is your broker" and "who supervises your work" are fair questions, and the answers are on the public record.

The National Association of REALTORS® calls both of these certifications, and for both an agent has to be an NAR member in good standing, complete the course and pay a one-time application fee. According to NAR, the Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) certification covers resort, vacation and second-home markets, including the rental and investment potential of those homes and the ownership and financing options that go with them.

The Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) certification covers short sales and foreclosure and bank-owned (REO) sales, according to NAR, and a course listing from the Chicago Association of REALTORS describes it as covering how to qualify a seller for a short sale, how to prepare a short sale package and how to negotiate with lenders. I hold both, and they show I completed that coursework. They say nothing about how a listing gets marketed, priced or shown, so the rest of these questions tell you more.

Ask for the plan as a list of what gets done, with an example of each item you can look at, and ask which items are covered by the listing agreement. For my listings, the list includes professional photography, drone photography for homes $400,000 and up, a walkthrough video and a 3D walkthrough. Homes at $500,000 and up also get paid and retargeted Meta ads, and my luxury listings add advertising through eXp Luxury, the Wall Street Journal and Robb Report. I'll walk you through each of those at the listing appointment.

Use the same test on every agent you interview. A plan described as "full marketing" with no pieces named gives you nothing to compare against the next agent's plan. Ask where the ads run, how long they run, who is paying for each item, and who owns the photos, the video and the 3D tour when the listing agreement ends.

With few comparable sales, the method matters more, so ask the agent to show it. Ask which sales they used and why, what they adjusted for, what they did with the sales that don't fit, and what range they see. Then ask what supports the top of that range. A price that comes with a story but no sales behind it is a guess, and you're entitled to hear that it's a guess.

At the listing appointment I bring three prices, one that tests the ceiling, one that matches the market and one that tests the floor, and you choose. I walk from a listing when a seller is unreasonable on price or timeframe, and I say so before you sign. While your home is listed I refresh the CMA every month, so a pricing conversation in week six uses current sales and not the ones from the appointment.

Ask who can get into the home, how they're verified, and whether every visit is logged. Then ask how feedback from the agents who showed it reaches you, how often, and in what form.

I use a synced lockbox that logs every showing and pulls agent feedback in automatically, so the record of who came through and what they said doesn't depend on me remembering to collect it. I also don't take listings with limited showing windows.

Ask for the cadence in writing, along with what each update contains. I send weekly seller updates and a monthly CMA refresh, and you can call me between them. I work on my own rather than as part of a team, so the person you meet at the listing appointment is the person you work with.

If you're talking to a team, ask who writes the updates, who answers when you call, who goes to the showings and who handles the paperwork. The Department of Real Estate's team guidance says a team is not a defined term under Arizona law, and that the brokerage's name has to be larger than the team's name wherever the team name appears in advertising. A team can be a good fit for a seller, and you'll want to know which person you're hiring for each job.

Arizona law sets a few minimums. Under A.R.S. 32-2151.02, a real estate employment agreement has to be written in clear and unambiguous language, set out every material term including how the broker is paid, have a definite duration or expiration date showing when it starts and ends, and be signed by all parties. The Arizona REALTORS' FAQ on its listing forms, posted by MLSSAZ, says the same about the expiration date. The same statute says a licensee can't seek a new agreement from someone already bound by an exclusive one unless that person first acknowledges in writing that signing another could mean owing additional commissions, and the Central Arizona Association of REALTORS describes the rule the same way.

Arizona also caps the term: under A.R.S. 44-502, a residential exclusive property engagement agreement can't last longer than twelve months after it is signed, can't be recorded with the county recorder, and can't create a lien on your home. Arizona's Attorney General announced the law when it was signed in April 2024.

Beyond the minimums, read three things. First, the end date. Second, the protection period, which some call a tail. The Arizona REALTORS' listing contract says the same commission is payable if you sell, within a number of days written into the contract after it expires, to anyone who was shown the home or who negotiated for it during the term. According to the Arizona REALTORS, a tail provision like the one in their listing contract is generally enforceable (that article is from 2021, so check the current form). The clause can make an exception when the home has been listed with another broker in the meantime, and an Arizona attorney writing for the Arizona School of Real Estate and Business describes how those clauses can leave a seller exposed to two commissions, so read the days and the exception closely. Third, what happens to the photos, video and marketing materials when the agreement ends.

Arizona requires the listing agreement to set out how the broker is paid. If an agent could end up representing both you and a buyer, A.R.S. 32-2153 lists acting for more than one party in a transaction without the knowledge or written consent of all parties as grounds for discipline, and the Arizona REALTORS' FAQ says the broker needs the knowledge and prior written consent of both parties. A licensed Arizona attorney can review a listing agreement before you sign it.

If you interview three agents and each gives you a listing agreement, put them next to each other and ask the same five questions of each one.

1. Does it show a start date and an end date, and is the term twelve months or less?
2. Is the commission written into the agreement in full?
3. Does the protection period say how many days it lasts and who it covers?
4. Does it say anything about the agent representing the buyer as well?
5. Who owns the photos, the video and the marketing materials, and can you use them after it ends?

An agreement that leaves any of those blank or vague isn't ready to sign, and you can ask the agent to fill it in or explain it. Then run each agent's license through the Department of Real Estate's database, so the comparison covers the person as well as the paper.

• A price with no sales behind it. If an agent urges you to list above what the comparable sales support, ask them to show you the sales that justify it.
• A marketing plan made of adjectives. Ask for the items, and if the agent can't list them, you don't have a plan yet.
• A listing agreement with no end date, or with key terms promised in an email. Arizona requires the dates and the material terms, including compensation, to be in the written agreement.
• An agent who can't say who does the work. You should know who answers your calls, who attends showings and who sends the updates.
• No stated schedule for updates. If the cadence isn't written down, ask for one.
• An agent who approaches you while you're already under a listing agreement with someone else. Arizona requires your written acknowledgment of the additional commission risk first.

Before the home goes on the market, I connect you with a senior move company that walks the home room by room, and you pay the mover yourself. After you sign, I tour the next place with you, whether that's an active adult community, a lock-and-leave home or a larger home.

Here's how selling a home works with me, and here's what to know about selling a home in Scottsdale. Here's what a seller has to disclose in Arizona, and here's who pays the buyer's agent in Arizona. If your buyer's agent pay is part of the conversation, according to the Arizona REALTORS' August 2024 forms release, the buyer-broker agreement now carries a notice that a signed written agreement is needed before an agent shows a home and that broker compensation is negotiable.

If you're comparing agents for a Scottsdale listing, contact me or call (480) 203-6605 and bring this list with you.