Richmond Hill and Markham cover very different housing. A detached home on a ravine lot in Bayview Hill, a townhouse in Cornell, a heritage home in Markham Village, a condo along the Yonge and Highway 7 corridor and a newer detached home in Oak Ridges each attract different buyers and sell on different evidence.

Your listing agent recommends the comparable sales used to guide pricing, plans how your home is presented online and in person, and advises you throughout offer negotiations. Those decisions affect your final price, how long you stay on the market and how much stress the process involves.

If you are buying as well as selling, our general guide to choosing a real estate agent covers what to look for on the buying side. This guide focuses on sellers.

1. Which homes like mine have you sold nearby in the past year? Ask for addresses, dates and sold prices, not just list prices.

2. Which sold comparables support your suggested price? A price should come with the evidence behind it.

3. Would you list at market value or set an offer date and why? The answer should be specific to your home and current conditions.

4. What does your written marketing plan include? Ask for the photography, floor plans, video, online promotion and launch timeline.

5. Who will handle my file day to day? On a team, find out who recommends the listing price, coordinates showings and negotiates offers.

6. How will you communicate with me? Agree on how often you will get showing feedback and updates.

7. What do you recommend I fix, update or leave alone before listing? Good advice protects your budget as well as your price.

8. How will you handle offers, including multiple offers? Ask how offers are presented, compared and negotiated.

9. What is your commission and what does it include? Get the fee, services and any extra costs in writing.

10. What are the listing term, holdover and cancellation terms? Know how long you are committed and how you can end the agreement.

Each agent should give you a comparative market analysis that uses recently sold homes similar to yours in size, type, condition, lot and location. Active listings show your competition, but sold prices show what buyers have actually paid.

In mixed neighbourhoods such as Cornell, Mill Pond or Thornhill, a nearby sale can be a very different kind of home. Ask why each comparable was chosen and how the agent adjusted for differences.

If you want a starting point before interviews, our Richmond Hill home valuation guide explains how a local market analysis is prepared.

Professional photography. Bright, well-composed photos of every key room and the exterior. Ask to see photos from the agent's recent listings.

Floor plans and measurements. Buyers comparing several homes in an afternoon rely on floor plans to remember layouts.

Video or virtual tours where suitable. These help out-of-town and busy buyers decide whether to book a showing.

MLS and online exposure. Ask where the listing will appear and how the description and photos will be written for search.

Social and targeted promotion. Ask which channels the agent uses and how they reach buyers looking in Richmond Hill and Markham.

Agent outreach. Many buyers in York Region work with agents. Ask how the listing will be presented to agents who have active buyers.

Preparation and staging advice. Ask what the agent recommends doing before photos. Our staging guide covers the fundamentals.

Showing management. Ask how showings are booked, how feedback is collected and how often you will hear it.

Real estate commission in Ontario is negotiable and there is no standard rate. Compare what each agent provides for their fee, such as photography, floor plans, staging advice, marketing reach, negotiation and support through closing. The lowest fee is not always the lowest-cost outcome if it comes with weaker pricing or marketing.

Ask how the buyer brokerage is paid. Ask the agent to explain the proposed commission arrangements, including any amount payable to a buyer's brokerage, and how these are documented.

Check the listing term. Know the start and end dates and whether you are comfortable with that length of commitment.

Understand the holdover clause. Depending on the agreement, commission may still be payable for a sale involving certain buyers during a specified period after the listing ends. Ask which circumstances apply.

Ask about cancellation. Find out whether you can end the agreement early, on what terms and whether any costs apply.

Confirm extra charges. Ask whether staging, photography, signage or administration fees are included or billed separately.

Before you enter into a representation agreement, the brokerage must provide and explain RECO's Information Guide. Ask questions about anything you do not understand. If any wording in the agreement is unclear, have a real estate lawyer review it before you sign.

1. A price with no sold comparables. A price recommendation without supporting comparable sales deserves further questions.

2. Pressure to sign at the first meeting. A good agent gives you time to read the agreement and compare.

3. No written marketing plan. Verbal promises are hard to hold anyone to.

4. Vague answers about who handles your file. You should know who you are actually working with.

5. A commission discussion without a services discussion. The fee only makes sense next to what it includes.

6. Guarantees about price or timing. No agent can guarantee what buyers will pay or how quickly a home will sell.

7. Little recent experience with homes like yours. Ask for recent examples in your area and property type.

Pricing from sold comparables. We prepare a market analysis based on recent sales of homes like yours in your part of Richmond Hill or Markham and explain how each comparable was chosen.

A written marketing plan. You see the photography, floor plans, video, online promotion and launch timeline before you list.

Preparation advice that protects your budget. We recommend what is worth doing before photos and what is better left alone.

Offer strategy and negotiation. We explain whether listing at market or holding an offer date suits your home and how we will handle offers when they arrive.

Clear terms. We walk you through our commission, the services included and the listing agreement before you sign. We encourage you to compare.