By Maggie Sun, Managing Broker · Updated September 2026

This article gives you a verification framework for choosing a real estate team — seven questions to ask, the official records you can check yourself, and only the facts about our own team that are independently verifiable, with links to the sources.

Data definitions used throughout: all market figures are NWMLS closed sales unless stated otherwise; property type is Single Family (detached) unless a line says Condominium; the geography is named on every line; the window is the most recent reported month or a three-month rolling window as labeled. Tax figures come from the King County Assessor, the Washington State Department of Revenue (WA DOR) and the IRS. School information comes from the district's own published materials.

Contents

Why agent reviews are hard to read

Online reviews for real estate agents share a structural problem: the sample is self-selected, the transactions behind them are invisible, and a five-star average tells you nothing about whether that agent has done your kind of transaction in your price band in your sub-market. A team with excellent reviews from first-time condo buyers may have no relevant experience with a cross-border purchase, a teardown lot, or a trust sale. The review score is not the signal. The transaction fit is.

Treat reviews as one input among several, and weight them by whether the reviewer's situation resembles yours. If you want to see how a team presents itself directly, its own About page and testimonials page are a reasonable starting point — then verify everything else independently using the official records below.

Seven questions that actually separate teams

  1. How many transactions have you closed in my specific sub-market and price band in the last twelve months? Ask for the count, not a story.
  2. Who will actually be at my showings, and who writes my offer? On a team, these can be different people. Get names.
  3. What is your written pricing process? A team should be able to describe how it selects comparables — same sub-market, same property type, same age band, last 90 days — before it names a number.
  4. What do you do in the first fourteen days of a listing, and what will you change if the feedback is soft? The answer reveals whether they have a process or a hope.
  5. How do you handle inspection negotiation? Ask for the sequence, not the outcome.
  6. What languages does the team work in, and what is available in writing? Verbal bilingual support is not the same as a translated legal document.
  7. What is in the representation agreement, and what are the terms for ending it? Read it before you sign it.

A worksheet for comparing teams side by side

If you are interviewing more than one team, use the same seven questions for each and record the answers immediately after the call. A simple table like the one below makes it easy to see, at a glance, where each team was strong, vague or unable to answer.

QuestionTeam A — answerTeam B — answerTeam C — answer
1. Transactions in my sub-market/price band, last 12 months   
2. Named individuals for showings and offer-writing   
3. Written pricing/comparable-selection process   
4. First 14 days of a listing / plan if feedback is soft   
5. Inspection negotiation sequence   
6. Languages spoken / what is available in writing   
7. Representation agreement terms and exit terms   
License verified? (DOL lookup)   
Overall score (pass/partial/fail per question)   

Print or copy this table before your first call so you are recording answers in the same format for every team, which makes the comparison meaningful rather than impressionistic.

How to verify the answers yourself

Every claim a real estate professional makes about licensing and standing is checkable. Washington real estate licenses are verifiable through the Department of Licensing's public license lookup, which shows license status, license type and any disciplinary history; background on license levels and requirements is published on the WA DOL real estate brokers page. Brokerage affiliation is public. Transaction and listing history can be discussed against NWMLS records in a listing or buyer consultation. Licensees are also expected to follow the NAR Code of Ethics if they are Realtor members, and Washington's agency-relationship duties are set out in the agency law pamphlet (RCW 18.86) that every buyer and seller should receive. If a team cannot or will not support a claim with a record, treat the claim as marketing.

Bellevue real estate team consultation with bilingual buyers
Bellevue real estate team consultation with bilingual buyers

What is verifiable about our team

We list only facts we can support, and we encourage you to check them rather than take our word for it. Maggie Sun has been a licensed Washington real estate broker since 2022 and holds the Managing Broker designation; you can confirm current license status through the DOL license lookup. The team itself — separate from Maggie's individual licensing date — was founded in 2014. Background on the team, its members and its service areas is published on our About page, and current listings can be reviewed on our buy and sell pages. The team's practice is concentrated in Bellevue, Seattle and the Eastside cities — Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah and Mercer Island.

On language: the team offers spoken Mandarin explanation of the buying and selling process and can provide written summaries of key terms in Mandarin on request. Official contract documents, disclosures and NWMLS forms are executed in English, as is standard for Washington real estate transactions; we do not provide formally translated legal versions of those documents. If bilingual documentation at a different level is important to your decision, ask any team — including ours — exactly what they mean by "bilingual" before you rely on it.

What we do not publish: unverifiable client quotes, award claims we cannot source, guaranteed outcomes, or promises about school enrollment, future boundary decisions or future appreciation. If you see any of those on a real estate website, including ours, ask for the source.

A decision method for choosing between teams

Rather than trying to rank teams on an overall impression, score each candidate against the same seven questions above using a simple pass, partial or fail for each, and write the answers down immediately after the call while the specifics are fresh — the worksheet above is built for this. A team that gives specific, checkable answers — a transaction count you can cross-reference, named individuals for showings and offer-writing, a described comparable-selection process — should outscore a team that answers in general reassurances, even if the second team's overall tone feels more polished. What we tell prospective clients is that the interview itself is a preview of how the team will communicate during your actual transaction, so pay as much attention to how directly they answer as to what they say.

Once you have scored two or three teams, compare not just the totals but where each team was strongest. A team that excels on pricing process and inspection negotiation but is vague on bilingual documentation may be a poor fit for a household that needs written materials in a second language, even if its overall score is high. Match the team's specific strengths to your specific transaction, rather than choosing on aggregate impression alone.

Common mistakes when choosing a team

The most common mistake is choosing based on marketing reach or listing volume alone, without confirming that the specific person taking your calls has closed transactions in your sub-market and price band recently. A large team can have deep experience in one part of the market and comparatively little in another; the seven-question framework exists specifically to surface that gap before you sign anything.

The second common mistake is skipping the license and disciplinary check because a referral came from a trusted friend. A personal referral is a reasonable starting point, but it is not a substitute for an independent check using the DOL license lookup, since a friend's positive experience does not verify current license standing or reveal history that a public record would show.

A third mistake is signing a representation agreement without reading the termination terms, then feeling locked in when the working relationship is not a good fit. Every agreement should be read fully before signing, and a team that discourages you from doing so, or that cannot clearly explain its own exit terms, is giving you useful information about how it will behave under pressure later in the transaction.

A fourth mistake, specific to bilingual households, is confirming that a team "speaks" a second language without confirming exactly what is available in writing — a translated summary, a verbal walkthrough, or nothing beyond conversation. Verbal fluency in a showing is not the same guarantee as accurate written comprehension of a legal document, and the two should be verified separately.

How different client profiles should weigh the questions

A first-time buyer should weight questions two and five most heavily — who will actually be at showings and writing the offer, and how the team handles inspection negotiation — since a first-time buyer benefits most from a consistent point of contact and a clear, predictable process during the two stages of a purchase that feel the least familiar.

A move-up seller who is listing an existing home while buying a replacement should weight question three and question four the most, since accurate pricing and an active first-two-weeks strategy directly determine whether the sale and purchase timelines can be coordinated without a costly bridge or a rushed price reduction.

An investor purchasing for a rental portfolio should weight question one most heavily, specifically asking for transaction counts in the exact property type and price band relevant to investment purchases, since general residential experience does not always transfer cleanly to income-property underwriting and negotiation.

A cross-border or bilingual household should weight question six above all others, and should ask for the specific form that language support takes — spoken explanation, a written summary, or a formally translated document — rather than accepting a general statement that the team is bilingual.

Execution timeline: from first call to signed agreement

In the first call, ask the seven questions and request that the team send transaction counts and named individuals in writing afterward rather than relying on what was said verbally. Within the following few days, independently verify license status through the Department of Licensing lookup and cross-reference any stated transaction history against public MLS data where possible.

Before your second conversation, review a sample or template of the representation agreement if the team is willing to provide one, and prepare specific questions about scope and termination terms. Washington's agency law pamphlet under RCW 18.86 requires that a licensee provide this pamphlet and disclose the type of agency relationship being offered before you sign; ask for it explicitly if it has not already been provided. In the second conversation, bring a specific address or a specific situation rather than general questions, since a specific scenario reveals far more about a team's actual process than abstract discussion does. Only sign the representation agreement once its scope, term, exit provisions and agency relationship are fully clear to you, and keep a copy for your own records from day one.

FAQ

Can I check a broker's license in Washington?

Yes. The Washington State Department of Licensing publishes a searchable license lookup showing status, license type and disciplinary history.

What does 'Managing Broker' mean?

It is a Washington license level above Broker, requiring additional experience and examination, and permitting supervision of other brokers. Details are published on the WA DOL real estate brokers page.

Does a bilingual team matter?

It matters when documentation, disclosure and negotiation nuance need to be understood precisely by every decision-maker in the household. Ask specifically what is available in writing — a translated summary versus a verbal explanation versus a formally translated document — rather than accepting "bilingual" as a single category.

Should I sign a buyer representation agreement?

Read it first, understand the term, the scope, the agency relationship disclosed under RCW 18.86 and the exit terms, and ask for anything unclear in writing. A team that resists explaining its own agreement is telling you something.

What our team is seeing

Stated as a team view: the most useful thing a prospective client can do in a first consultation is bring a specific address or a specific situation. General questions produce general answers. A specific property produces a comparables analysis, a holding-cost estimate and a real discussion of risk — which is a far better test of a team than any review page.

We also encourage clients to interview more than one team using the worksheet above. Fit by transaction type matters more than brand, and the mismatch is easier to see in a second conversation. What we tell clients directly is that if we are not the strongest fit for a particular transaction type, we would rather say so in the first call than take on a client we cannot serve well. You can reach us through our contact page to start that conversation.

About the author

Maggie Sun, Managing Broker — Maggie has been a licensed Washington real estate broker since 2022 and founded her Bellevue-based bilingual team in 2014; full background is on our About page. The team advises buyers, move-up sellers and investors across Bellevue, Seattle and the Eastside in English, with Mandarin spoken explanation and written-summary support.

Last updated: September 2026. Market figures are sourced as listed under Sources below. This article is general information and is not legal, tax or investment advice; consult a licensed professional about your specific situation.

Sources

This article is general information based on public data and our team's transaction experience. It is not legal, tax, appraisal or investment advice. Verify every figure for your own address, property type and tax situation before you act.