If you're selling a home in Irvine, choose the agent who can show you recent Irvine sales, a specific plan for getting your home in front of buyers, and real examples of how they negotiate. Don't choose based on the highest price quote or the biggest sign. That sounds obvious. But our own look at Irvine MLS data this year shows how often sellers end up with an agent who rarely sells here, and how much an overpriced start costs.
Key Takeaways
- In 2025, 1,052 different listing agents handled the 1,771 Irvine resale homes that sold. About three out of four of them sold just one.
- Irvine homes that sold without a price cut this year went under contract in a median of 14 days and closed at 98.5% of their original price. Homes that cut their price took a median of 75 days and closed at 92.1%.
- Ask every agent the same six questions and compare the answers side by side. The questions are below.
- Commission and buyer's agent compensation are both negotiable. Read the listing term and the cancellation terms before you sign.
What does this year's Irvine data say about choosing an agent?
We keep a database of every Irvine resale home that closes on the MLS. New construction is left out because builders sell differently. Three numbers from it are worth knowing before you interview anyone.
Most agents who sell in Irvine don't sell here often. In 2025, 1,771 Irvine resale homes closed, and 1,052 different listing agents handled them, counting only the primary listing agent on each sale by MLS ID. Co-listing agents aren't counted, and each member of a team counts separately. 795 of those agents, about 75%, sold exactly one Irvine home that year. Only 53 agents sold five or more. Plenty of good agents sell one home a year in a given city. But Irvine has dozens of villages with different HOAs, Mello-Roos, school boundaries and buyer pools, and an agent who works here every week will know things that an occasional visitor won't.
The first price matters more than it used to. Of the 1,453 Irvine resale homes that closed from January through September 2026, about a third had cut their price at least once before selling. Here's how the two groups compare:
No price cut (968 homes) | Price cut (485 homes) | |
|---|---|---|
Median days on market | 14 | 75 |
Median sale price vs. original list price | 98.5% | 92.1% |
The median cut was 4.7%, or about $80,000. To be fair to those sellers, the cut didn't cause the lower price. Most of those homes were priced too high to begin with, and the market told them so. That's the point: the agent who helps you pick the right first price is worth more than the one who tells you what you want to hear.
The market is slower than last year. In September 2026, the median Irvine resale home took 38 days to sell, up from 26 a year earlier. The median price per square foot was $750, down from $806. On October 5, 2026, 619 resale homes were for sale, and almost half had already reduced their price. Only 25% of this year's sales closed at or above the original list price, down from 31% in the same months of 2025.
1. How many homes have you sold in Irvine in the last two or three years?
Ask for a list of their Irvine sales from the MLS, ideally in or near your village. A career total like "over $500 million sold" can cover fifteen years and five cities. You want to know what they've done here, recently.
A good answer comes with addresses, dates and prices, and includes homes similar to yours. A weak answer is a big round number with no detail, or sales that are mostly outside Irvine.
You can check what they tell you. RealTrends Verified ranks agents and teams by sales volume and transaction sides, and Zillow and Homes.com list each agent's sales. For our team: RealTrends Verified ranks Irene and Ricky Zhang the #1 small team in Irvine by both sales volume and transaction sides (2026 City Rankings, based on 2025 production).
2. How exactly will you market my home?
"We'll put it on the MLS and hold an open house" isn't a plan. Every agent does that. Ask who takes the photos, whether they shoot video, where the video gets posted and how many people actually see it, and how they reach both English-speaking and Chinese-speaking buyers. In Irvine that last one matters, because many local buyers speak Mandarin or Cantonese at home.
A good answer names the channels and the numbers. A weak answer is "we have a great network."
Here's ours, so you have something to compare against. Our full track record is on our team page. We shoot a video for every home we list. It goes out on our English YouTube channel (@IreneandRickyZhang, more than 33,000 subscribers as of October 2026) and our Mandarin channel (@IreneandRicky, more than 60,000), plus the Chinese apps where many local buyers look, like Xiaohongshu, Douyin and WeChat Channels. We host open houses every weekend. Many of the buyers who call us have already watched the video.
3. What list price do you recommend, and what happens if there are no offers in two weeks?
Ask for the number, the reasoning behind it, and the plan if the first two weeks are quiet. The second part tells you more than the first. An agent with a plan will say what they'll watch (showings, second visits, feedback from buyer agents) and when they'll come back to you with a recommendation.
Be careful with the agent who quotes the highest price. Some win the listing with a high number and suggest a cut a few weeks later. Look again at the table above: the homes that sold without a cut went under contract in about two weeks. The first two weeks are when buyers pay the most attention to a new listing, and an overpriced home spends them sitting.
4. How do you handle negotiation, especially after the inspection?
Ask about two situations: how they compare multiple offers, and what they do when a buyer sends a long repair list after inspection. A good agent can tell you what happened on a recent deal. "I'm a strong negotiator" isn't an answer.
Repairs are where sellers lose money without noticing. In one of our sales, the seller agreed to replace a faucet for the buyer and ended up paying for a new sink as well. Since then we usually suggest a credit instead of doing repairs during escrow, where the buyer's loan allows it. Lenders cap credits, and some repairs, such as safety items, may have to be done before closing anyway. With a credit, the buyer handles the work after closing, and you don't take on new problems in the middle of a deal.
It also helps to know who your buyers are right now. In September 2026, about 36% of Irvine resale buyers paid cash, down from 46% a year earlier. More financed buyers means more appraisals and loan contingencies, so ask the agent how they check a buyer's loan approval before you accept an offer.
5. How is commission set, and how long is the listing agreement?
Commission is negotiable, and it always has been. Since August 2024, offers of compensation to buyer's agents can no longer appear on the MLS, and buyers now sign their own written agreements with their agents. In practice, you'll decide with your agent whether to offer anything to the buyer's agent, and how much.
Before you sign, read the listing term (how many months), what happens if you want to cancel, and whether you'd owe anything if you sell to someone you found yourself.
6. Where can I read your reviews?
Look at the last twelve months of reviews on Google, Zillow and Yelp. The useful ones mention specifics, like how long the home took to sell, what came up in escrow, or how the agent handled a problem. A one-line "very professional" review doesn't tell you much. If you can, call one or two past clients. Most agents will be glad to connect you.
How do you compare agents after the interviews?
Put the answers side by side. For each agent, write down four things: their Irvine sales in the last two to three years, the marketing plan in one sentence, the list price they recommended and their plan if it doesn't work, and one real negotiation story they told you. The right choice is usually clear on paper, even when everyone seemed nice in person.
FAQ
What should I ask a real estate agent before listing my Irvine home?
Ask how many Irvine homes they've sold in the last two to three years, how they'll market your home, what list price they recommend and what they'll do if there are no offers in two weeks, how they handle offers and repair requests, how commission and the listing term work, and where you can read their reviews.
Does it matter if an agent doesn't sell many homes in Irvine?
It can. In 2025, about three out of four agents who listed an Irvine resale home that sold handled only one. An agent who works in Irvine every week knows the villages, HOAs, schools and today's buyers in a way an occasional visitor usually doesn't.
Is real estate commission negotiable in California?
Yes. Commission is set by agreement between you and your agent. Compensation for the buyer's agent is negotiated separately and can't be offered on the MLS.
How long does it take to sell a home in Irvine right now?
Irvine resale homes that closed in September 2026 took a median of 38 days, up from 26 a year earlier. Homes that sold this year without a price cut went under contract in a median of 14 days.
About Irene and Ricky Zhang
Irene and Ricky Zhang Real Estate Group is a husband-and-wife REALTOR® team with Keller Williams Realty Irvine. RealTrends Verified ranks them the #1 small team in Irvine by both sales volume and transaction sides (2026 City Rankings, based on 2025 production). Before real estate, both spent eight years in sales and marketing at Procter & Gamble. They have sold homes in Irvine since 2015 and work in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Ricky leads pricing strategy and marketing. Irene leads home preparation, negotiation and client care. If you're interviewing agents, call or text 949-208-5555 and ask us these six questions too.
中文读者可以看这篇的中文版：尔湾卖房怎么选经纪人？面谈时问这 6 个问题
Equal Housing Opportunity. Irene Zhang, CA DRE# 01967217. Ricky Zhang, CA DRE# 01972236. Keller Williams Realty Irvine, 4010 Barranca Pkwy, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92604. Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated. Market data: Irvine resale closed and active listings from the MLS (closings January 2025 through September 2026; active listings as of October 5, 2026), compiled by Irene and Ricky Zhang Real Estate Group; new construction excluded. "Price cut" means the final list price was below the original list price; days on market are cumulative. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This article is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice.
