Industry Basics
What is the professional marketplace and database where participating brokers and agents share listings and cooperate on sales?
What is the MLS, or Multiple Listing Service?
Before a buyer begins a serious home search, what lender document typically shows they have been reviewed for potential financing?
What is a pre-approval?
Which agent represents the seller and manages the property listing?
Who is the listing agent?
What system should serve as the source of truth for contacts, activities, follow-up dates, referrals, and deal status?
What is a Real Estate Platform (CRM/all-in-one)?
What federal housing principle prohibits agents and technology from targeting, excluding, ranking, or steering people based on protected characteristics?
What is Fair Housing?
What is the term for an agent's personal and professional network of past clients, friends, family, local businesses, and referrals?
What is a sphere of influence (SOI)?
What is the money a buyer typically submits to demonstrate good faith after an offer is accepted?
What is earnest money?
What is the analysis of comparable active, pending, and sold homes used to support a recommended list price?
What is a comparative market analysis (CMA)?
What is the term for all prospective and active deals organized by stage?
What is a pipeline?
In a sales conversation, why should you avoid claiming that the seller always pays the buyer agent?
Buyer-agent compensation is negotiable, and arrangements vary.
What is the difference between a real estate agent and a REALTOR®?
An agent is state-licensed; a REALTOR® is a member of the National Association of REALTORS®.
Name two factors besides price that can make an offer more attractive to a seller.
Certainty, simplicity, timing, reasonable contingencies, financing strength, closing date, or possession terms.
What can happen when a property is overpriced at launch?
It can become stale, receive fewer showings, and require later price reductions.
Which technology category typically handles forms, e-signatures, checklists, and broker review?
What is transaction management software?
When an agent says, 'I already have a platform,' what is the best first response?
Ask what works well and where work still falls through; then show how the product integrates, replaces a pain point, or creates a distinct outcome.
What is an IDX feed primarily used for?
To allow a brokerage to publicly display permitted MLS listings.
Under the post-2024 MLS rules described in the guide, what agreement must an MLS-participating agent have before touring a home with a buyer?
A written buyer agreement that states the compensation amount or method.
Name three preparations an agent may recommend before launching a listing.
Repairs, decluttering, cleaning, staging, professional photography, video, drone images, floor plans, or a pre-listing inspection.
Why can a product that merely saves an agent five minutes still fail to gain adoption?
It may add another login, create duplicate data entry, use incomplete data, or disrupt an existing workflow.
What is a stronger, agent-relevant alternative to saying, 'Our platform improves productivity'?
'It reduces the time you spend entering the same contact and property information in three places.'
Why should a SaaS provider not assume that MLS data may be exported, scraped, redistributed, or used to train AI models?
MLS data rights, permissions, licensing, and retention rules vary by MLS and brokerage authorization.
Put these buyer-side stages in order: offer and negotiation; consultation and education; under contract through closing; lead and qualification; search and tours.
Lead and qualification; consultation and education; search and tours; offer and negotiation; under contract through closing.
A seller receives two offers: one is higher in price but has uncertain financing and many contingencies; the other is slightly lower but has strong financing, a clean timeline, and fewer contingencies. What should the listing agent help the seller evaluate?
The entire offer package: net proceeds, certainty of closing, timing, financing, contingencies, and terms—not price alone.
An AI product imports contacts, drafts follow-up messages, and reads listing data. Name three implementation or trust questions a brokerage should ask before adopting it.
Examples: Does it integrate with approved systems? Who owns and can export the data? What MLS permissions apply? Is data used for AI training? What access controls, encryption, audit logs, retention rules, and broker controls exist?
An agent says, 'How many deals will this close?' What is the most credible response strategy?
Do not guarantee deals; propose a measurable pilot using metrics such as response time, contacts reached, appointments set, follow-up completion, conversion rate, time saved, and cost per appointment or closed transaction.