Choosing a real estate agent for a Tennessee home move

Before anything else, the disclosure that governs this page. This site takes no money from agents, brokerages or lenders. It publishes no directory, no rankings and no recommendations, and it cannot introduce you to anyone. There is no form here and no one waiting at the other end of one.

That is not modesty. A page that recommends agents is being paid by agents, almost without exception, and the recommendation is the product. What follows is the other thing — a method for doing the choosing yourself, and the questions that make the difference. How this site is funded and what it will not publish is set out in how this guide researches and what it refuses to sell.

What changed in 2024, and why it matters before you start

Since 17 August 2024, under the practice changes that followed the National Association of Realtors settlement, an MLS participant must have a written agreement with you before touring a home with you. The agreement has to state the compensation specifically — objectively ascertainable, and not open-ended — and the agent may not receive compensation from any source exceeding the amount or rate that agreement states.

Two consequences follow. First, the conversation about money now happens before you see a single house, which is an improvement, but it means you are being asked to decide early. Second, offers of compensation are no longer published on the MLS, so what a listing side is offering a buyer's agent is now a matter for negotiation rather than something you can look up.

The settlement terms also require conspicuous disclosure, in the agreement itself, that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. Read that sentence when you see it. It is not boilerplate; it is the term of the deal.

Verify the licence before the conversation

The Tennessee Real Estate Commission regulates real estate brokers, affiliate brokers and firms in this state. Its licence verification is public and free, at search.cloud.commerce.tn.gov, and TREC also publishes a disciplinary action report. Check the name you have been given, confirm the licence is current and confirm the firm they say they work for.

This takes two minutes and almost nobody does it. Do it before the first meeting, not after a problem.

Match the experience to your transaction

Years in the business is a weak signal. What you want is work that resembles yours: the same city and county, the same price band, the same property type, and the same kind of transaction. An agent who is excellent at resale houses in one county may never have handled a condominium regime, a septic system, a probate sale or a relocation timetable.

Ask for specifics you can check rather than a claim you cannot. Closed transactions in the last twelve months, in your market, at your price band. Whether they worked those as the buyer's agent or the listing agent. Which county's register of deeds and codes department they deal with routinely — several Tennessee cities straddle more than one county, and the offices differ.

The interview

Talk to at least three, separately, and ask each the same things so the answers are comparable. Write the answers down.

1. What have you closed in this city in the last year, and at what price band? Then ask for two recent clients you may call.
2. Whom do you represent, and how? In Tennessee a licensee representing a party does so under a written agreement, and a managing broker may appoint a designated agent for you individually — in which case knowledge is not imputed between that agent, the managing broker and other clients of the firm. Ask what happens if their firm also lists a house you want to buy.
3. What does the written agreement say about compensation, and what is the term? Ask how it is calculated, who pays it, what happens if the seller's side offers less, and whether you owe anything if you do not buy.
4. How long does the agreement run and how do I end it? Ask for the termination provision by name and read it before signing.
5. What exactly will you do? Comparable sales analysis, contract drafting, negotiation, inspection coordination, deadline management. Which of those do they do personally and which does an assistant or team member handle?
6. How and how often will you communicate, and what is your response time? Then ask who covers when they are away.
7. How many clients are you working with right now? There is no correct number, but the answer tells you what to expect.
8. What would make you tell me not to buy a house? The answer to this distinguishes advisers from processors.

Read the agreement, do not initial it

The written agreement is a contract and the terms are yours to negotiate. Before signing, be able to state in your own words: the compensation figure or rate and how it is calculated; who is obliged to pay it and what happens if another party pays part; the duration; how it terminates and whether any obligation survives termination; whether it is limited to a geographic area or property type; and whether it binds you to that agent for a property you found yourself.

If a term is unclear, ask for it in writing before you sign rather than after. If you are told a term is standard and cannot be changed, that is a negotiating position, not a fact — the required disclosure in the agreement says compensation is negotiable.

If you are selling, or doing both

The same method applies with different questions: pricing method and the evidence behind it, what marketing is actually included and who pays for it, how offers will be presented to you, and what compensation the listing agreement commits you to on both sides of the deal. The seller's own sequence is in preparing and selling a Tennessee home.

If you are running both at once, ask each candidate directly how they have coordinated linked closings before — it is a distinct skill and the answers vary widely.

Choosing, and keeping a record

Compare your written notes rather than your impressions, because impressions in this business are what is being sold. Weight demonstrated work in your market and clarity about money above rapport. Then keep the file: the agreement, the compensation terms, what was promised, and the dates. If something goes wrong, TREC accepts consumer complaints against licensees, and a contemporaneous record is what makes one actionable.

With representation settled, the rest of the purchase runs in order: the Tennessee buying sequence from budget to possession. The compensation you agree here shows up again at the end, alongside the other line items in what appears on a Tennessee closing statement. And because the relevant experience is local, the county and city offices an agent has to know vary — buying in Chattanooga shows what that looks like in one market.