Check the licence first. It takes two minutes.
Every Arizona real estate licence is public. The Arizona Department of Real Estate publishes a searchable database, and you can look up any agent by name and see their licence number, its status, when it expires, and which brokerage holds it.
What you are checking for: that the licence is active, that the brokerage on the licence matches what the agent told you, and that there is no disciplinary history. It is rare to find a problem. It costs nothing to look, and an agent who is uncomfortable with you looking has told you something.
For the record: Kristi Olson, MBA holds an active Arizona salesperson licence with Barrett Real Estate, LLC (ADRE licence LC701376000), and is separately a licensed mortgage broker, NMLS #1459928, through Barrett Financial Group, L.L.C.
The questions that actually separate people
Most interview questions get the same rehearsed answer from everybody. These do not.
"What did you close in the last six months, and where?" Career totals are close to meaningless — a thousand sales in Mesa tells you nothing about a well-and-septic parcel outside Show Low. You want recent, local, and in your property type.
"How do you price something when there are no good comps?" On acreage and on unusual properties, genuinely comparable sales are scarce. There is no single right answer, but there is a difference between someone who has a method and someone who has never had to think about it.
"What happens if the buyer's insurance quote comes back bad?" Wildfire risk has changed what carriers will write in parts of the White Mountains. It is one of the most common ways a transaction dies here, and it usually surfaces after contract. You want to hear that they raise it during the inspection period.
"How do you tell a strong offer from a weak one?" If the answer is only about price and closing date, keep looking. A machine-generated pre-qualification letter and a fully underwritten approval look nearly identical on paper and carry completely different risk.
"Who else will I be dealing with?" Some agents hand you to an assistant after signing. That can be fine. You should know before, not after.
Red flags worth taking seriously
A valuation that is noticeably higher than everyone else's. Buying a listing by flattering the seller is an old tactic and it still happens. An overpriced home sits, goes stale, and eventually sells for less than it would have with an honest number on day one.
Pressure to sign immediately. A representation agreement is a real contract. Any agent worth hiring will let you read it.
Vagueness about the marketing plan. "I'll put it on the MLS" is not a plan. Ask specifically what happens in the first fourteen days.
No local knowledge of the practical stuff. Well and septic, shared roads, snow access, which parcels have utility problems. If they have to go find out, they are learning on your transaction.
What you will actually be asked to sign
Buyers now sign a written representation agreement before touring homes. Sellers sign a listing agreement. Both set out what the agent will do, for how long, and how they are paid — and compensation is negotiable, not fixed by any rule or rate. Read the term length and the cancellation terms specifically. If you are unclear on any of it, ask before signing, and get the answer in writing.
Interview more than one
Even if you already have someone in mind. Comparing two or three answers to the questions above tells you more than any single conversation can, and a good agent will not be offended that you did.
If you want to see what one set of answers looks like in writing, that is essentially what the Show Low realtor page is, and the monthly market report shows the numbers any agent should be able to talk you through.
One more thing worth knowing: it is possible to work with a realtor who is also a mortgage broker, which changes when you get the financing answer on a specific property.