David Sidoni walks through four ways to pick a realtor as a first-time buyer: prioritize experience over charm, check their reputation, match them to your loan type and local market, and hire early so you have time to improve your credit and down payment. Look for full-time agents with years in the business and strong vendor relationships.
Questions this video answers
April 4, 2025
87%
47%
3.5% down
Chapters
A good Realtor can be the difference between a bargain or a money pit, especially when you're buying your first home. But how do you know you've chosen the right person for your team? Here are four essential things when you're selecting your Realtor specifically for first time home buyers. Identifying experience over charm. Checking the reputation of a potential candidate. Identifying Realtors based on your specific buyer needs. And four, the timing mistake that most buyers make selecting their realtor, which can destroy the entire process. If you've ever seen those HGTV shows where the Realtors walk buyers through home after home, just know that what you're seeing there, it's about 5% of what makes a Realtor actually good at their job. And now, since the lawsuit against the national association of Realtors, it's more important than ever to get quality buyer representation from the beginning because you need to sign a contract with a Realtor to even open any doors. And as a first time home buyer coach, I've seen buyers all across the country get their offers accepted based on how their advocate presented their offer. And as a Realtor myself, I've seen my sellers accept offers based on the representation that the buyer had. Literally, how your Realtor writes words on the contract could be the reason that you get accepted. So why is it so difficult to find someone who understands all this? Well, did you know that 87% of realtors quit in the first five years of doing that job? And did you know that 47% of realtors in 2023 did not sell one home? So this creates a challenge for you to find someone who has experience in the market. And to make matters worse, when new Realtors start their job, they're told fake it till you make it no or invest in marketing. Which of course means that you have unskilled, untrained agents who are asking to help you with the biggest financial transaction of your life. So the things you should look for in your Realtor you're not going to see on hgtv. It'd make a lousy TV show, but it will set you up for your best buying process. To check a Realtor's experience, ask the following. Ask them if they're part time or full time and ask them for how long. Ask them what percentage of their sales are working with first time home buyers. It's important that they're active and working with current current home buyers. Find out if they have a consistent track record of working with first time homebuyers. Are they intimately familiar and able to communicate the data of the current housing market specifically for first time homebuyers. And finally, you shouldn't get bad vibes from your realtor, but don't set the expectation that you absolutely have to find that dream TV realtor personality. Understand what you're looking for and be ready to adjust. You're looking for someone that has a history, someone who's seen the inventory in your area, someone who has great relationships with local vendors, from termite people to inspectors, as well as of course, someone to help you with your home loan. The real estate market is always changing and great Realtors are diligent people that are staying up to date with the current data. A lot of times that's information that people who are just dipping their toe in the business they tend to miss. Reputation goes hand in hand with experience, but it's not the same thing. Just because someone stuck around for five years doesn't necessarily mean that they've built up a good reputation. And just because a certain realtor has a big name backing them doesn't mean that Realtor has a necessary experience to be good for first time homebuyers. Most big brokers give first time homebuyers to their junior agents as a method of on the job training. They learn right alongside their buyers. The representation that you choose to be at the center of your financial transaction says a lot about you and the other players in the transaction they're going to take notice. For example, if an inexperienced agent presents an offer with an FHA loan incorrectly, that offer might not get accepted. In comparison, we had a single mom looking to buy a home in Queens. They put an offer in and it was about to go into a bidding war. But the listing agent had a relationship with her buyer's agent. Because of that, the seller trusted that this deal would go through smoothly. They accepted their offer and the buyer didn't even have to use get into a bidding war. Why would they do that? Well, it's because the seller's agent trusted that our client's team could get things done reliably and efficiently. And that's just one of the ways that a solid reputation can really benefit you in the short term and the long. I've hired and worked with Realtors all across the country and here are my biggest tips. When you're checking on someone's reputation, look for testimonials and reviews. See if real people recommend this person. You can look them up on the Department of Real Estate website to see if their license has been suspended. Is the realtor or the team that they're working with active in the community. That type of commitment demonstrates the local expertise that you're looking for. The next topic is fairly important. It's factoring in what you need as a buyer. As I mentioned, not every experienced realtor likes to work with first time home buyers. Takes a special mix of education, patience and motivation and they need to understand your specific needs. Like should you do FHA or conventional? Are you potentially a VA buyer? Should you look at a USDA loan? Is there an opportunity to use a mortgage buy down so you can get a cheaper mortgage rate? You see, it's no small task and each region might have specific regulations and opportunities. So it's important you find someone intimate with all the knowledge of what happens in the area that you're trying to buy a home. Here's how to pick a realtor that meets your first time home buyer needs. Like I said, a local professional is a must. Like the right realtor, the right lender will keep you educated and informed throughout the process. So look for a realtor that has a relationship with a local lender, specifically someone who wants to work with first time home buyers. Not only is staying educated and informed important, but the communication with a realtor lender relationship it brings speed, efficiency and everything you need to have a smooth transaction in a highly competitive market. Getting an answer quickly from your lender can be the difference between you getting the home or your competition. Above all else, the timing of when you choose your realtor is everything. Too many people wait too long to choose a realtor because they're afraid they're going to be bothering them. Some of the best advice that I've given first time home buyers to get them in a better position to buy can take 6, 8, 12 months or even longer. Things like improving credit scores, managing debt correctly, figuring out how much of a down payment you need, and then saving for it. All these things take time and the more time you have to improve them, the better purchasing power you'll have later. If you could make a small change today that would result in thousands of dollars of savings when you buy a home, wouldn't you do it? A good realtor can help you take care of these things asap, but traditionally most people wait too long and they call the realtor right when they're ready to start going looking at homes. This misses valuable opportunities that can make a big impact on how much home you can buy, and a good realtor is happy to help you with these things long before you're ready to start writing offers. A good realtor is about options. They're going to be able to tell you where you are today, but they're also going to be able to show you where you could be. With a few tweaks along the way, a good Realtor will make it their mission to dispel the myths and get you the information you need for your home buying journey. And if you're just starting out, you might be surprised that one of the biggest myths in real estate is that you don't need a 20% down payment so you can start owning and stop renting. So check out this video where you can learn the difference between conventional and an FHA loan, where you might be able to buy with as little as 3.5% down. See you in the next video.
