The first conversation with an agent: what to bring and what to ask

How to make the first meeting with an agent produce a plan instead of pleasantries.

The first conversation with an agent sets the terms for everything after it, and it goes best when both sides arrive with material.

Bring the constraints you are not willing to move: the areas, the timing, the number that would genuinely strain you. An agent can only route around obstacles they have been shown.

Bring your questions in writing. In the room, momentum takes over and the unasked question stays unasked. Paper fixes that.

Ask how they work, practically. How showings get scheduled, how offers get written, what happens on a weekend when something lists on Friday. The mechanics predict the experience better than any pitch.

Ask what they would do first in your position, and listen to whether the answer is about you or about them. A plan built from your constraints is the product; enthusiasm is just packaging.

End with the next step named and dated. A good first conversation finishes with both sides knowing exactly what happens next and when.