You're about to make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life, and you get to pick who guides you through it. That's a real interview, and you're the one doing the hiring. Here are the questions worth asking any agent, including me, and what good answers sound like.

"How will you communicate with me, and how fast?" You want a specific answer: texts within a few hours, calls returned same day, whatever it is. Vague answers now become silence later. My answer: text me, and if I'm with my kids or a client, you'll hear back as soon as I'm free, and always the same day.

"What happens when you don't know something?" The right answer is "I find out and tell you." Run from anyone who has never once said "I don't know." My answer: I'll tell you I don't know, then I'll go find out, because guessing with your money isn't a service.

"Walk me through the costs." Every dollar, explained, before you sign anything. Agent compensation, closing costs, the works. Any agent who gets cagey about money questions is showing you exactly how the transaction will feel. My answer: it's literally my whole promise. Every number explained, before you commit to anything.

"What's your background beyond real estate?" Agents come from all kinds of paths, and the right background for you depends on what you need. Mine is property management and renovation: my family runs a construction and renovation business, so when I walk a house I see what it would actually take to make it yours. If you're eyeing older homes or fixer-uppers, that lens matters.

"Will you ever pressure me?" Watch how they answer, not just what they say. My answer: no, and I mean it structurally. I'd rather you take another year and buy the right house than rush into the wrong one. "Not ready yet" is a stage I happily work with.

One honest note about "top agent" lists. You'll see plenty of articles ranking agents. Ask who wrote them and why. The only ranking that matters is how an agent answers your questions, face to face, about your situation.

Want to interview me? Genuinely, please do. Bring every question on this list and the ones you think are too basic. heychristie.com, anytime.