Home buyers and sellers: how they find and choose an agent

The latest home buyer and seller trends point to an older, more experienced buyer pool, near-universal use of agents, and a growing role for online research in choosing one. NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, covering transactions from July 2024 to June 2025, found first-time buyers made up 21% of purchases, a record low, with a median age of 40. The median age of repeat buyers was 62.

This report compiles NAR's 2025 Profile (from NAR's press release and a summary by Virginia Realtors) and Zillow's 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents (from Zillow's press release and HousingWire's coverage). NAR's survey went to 173,250 recent buyers in July 2025 and received 6,103 usable responses, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.25 percentage points. Zillow's press release does not state its sample size.

Nearly all of them. NAR's 2025 Profile found 88% of buyers purchased through an agent or broker, rising to 92% for previously owned homes. 91% of sellers used an agent, tying the highest share on record. For-sale-by-owner sales fell to 5% of recent sales, a historic low, according to Virginia Realtors' summary.

Satisfaction is high. NAR reports 91% of buyers would use their agent again or recommend them. Virginia Realtors' summary of the Profile adds that 85% of recent buyers ranked agents as the most useful information source in their search, and that agent-assisted homes sold for a median of $425,000, compared with $360,000 for for-sale-by-owner homes, though the two groups of homes are not directly comparable.

Today's typical buyer is older, has bought before and often brings substantial cash. NAR's 2025 Profile put the median age of all buyers at 59. First-time buyers put down a median of 10%, while repeat buyers put down 23%, and 30% of repeat buyers paid all cash. Zillow's 2025 report found repeat buyers make up 55% of purchasers. The two surveys use different methods, but both describe a market weighted toward experienced buyers.

Sellers are staying put longer and moving shorter distances. NAR found sellers lived in their homes a median of 11 years before selling, an all-time high, and moved a median of 30 miles, down from 35 the year before. Half bought a newer home and 34% bought a larger one.

Sellers are also making concessions. HousingWire's coverage of Zillow's report found about two-thirds of sellers covered some or all of a buyer's closing costs, roughly a third offered mortgage rate buydowns, and a third prioritized selling within their timeframe over getting the highest price. On the buyer side, Virginia Realtors' summary of NAR's Profile found 56% of buyers said finding the right property was the hardest step, which helps explain why buyers rank agents so highly as an information source during a search that took a median of 10 weeks.

Most buyers still find their agent through people they know, but online research increasingly shapes the choice. In NAR's 2025 Profile, 43% of buyers used an agent found through a referral and 18% used an agent they had worked with before. Zillow's 2025 report found 33% of buyers said online research played a key role in choosing their agent.

Past relationships are weaker than they look. Zillow found 79% of repeat buyers would consider working with the same agent again, yet only 13% actually hired based on past experience with that agent. Nearly half of repeat buyers interviewed two or more agents, often narrowing the list through online research first.

Sellers rely heavily on referrals and reputation, with online channels growing quickly. Virginia Realtors' summary of NAR's 2025 Profile found 66% of sellers found their agent through a referral or used an agent they had worked with before, and 35% said the agent's reputation was a deciding factor.

Zillow's 2025 report found 36% of sellers now find their agents through online channels, up from 15% in 2018. Marketing offers sway sellers: 78% said they are more likely to hire agents offering high-resolution photography, and 75% are more likely to hire agents offering virtual tours and interactive floor plans.

Many clients hire the first agent they talk to because they did their comparison shopping online before making contact. Zillow found 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hired the first agent they spoke with. HousingWire's coverage of the report connects this to online research: by the time a client reaches out, they have often already narrowed the field.

For agents, this changes where the competition happens. Profiles, reviews, listing presentation and website content do the screening, and the first conversation often decides the hire. An agent who responds slowly to an inquiry may lose a client who was ready to commit to whoever answered first.

Text first, for many clients. Zillow's 2025 report found 50% of buyers who used an agent prefer texting or messaging apps, compared with 33% who prefer phone calls.

What clients value also differs by experience. Zillow found 63% of repeat buyers ranked organizing and submitting paperwork as the most valuable service, compared with 51% of first-time buyers. Repeat buyers placed more weight on pricing strategy, negotiation and offer structure. In Virginia Realtors' summary of NAR's Profile, 38% of first-time buyers said understanding the steps and process was their biggest challenge, and 76% of first-time buyers appreciated their agent's guidance throughout.

The data describes a client who researches online, contacts few agents, decides quickly and prefers to text. Practical steps for agents, teams and brokerages:

• Treat your online presence as the shortlist. With 36% of sellers finding agents online and a third of buyers saying online research was key, profiles, reviews and a clear website decide who gets the first call.
• Respond to new inquiries fast, by text when the client texts. With 47% of buyers and 59% of sellers hiring the first agent they speak with, being the first real conversation matters.
• Stay in touch with past clients deliberately. 79% of repeat buyers would consider the same agent, but only 13% hired based on that relationship. A light, regular touch (home value updates, anniversary notes, market summaries) keeps the relationship active.
• Make referrals easy. Referrals remain the largest buyer source at 43%. Ask at closing and after positive feedback, and give past clients something simple to forward.
• Show your marketing. Sellers respond to high-quality photography and virtual tours, so show examples on your site and in listing presentations.
• Explain the process. First-time buyers name it as their top challenge. A clear step-by-step guide on your site answers that before the first call.

Record the source of every inquiry in your CRM (referral, past client, portal, website, social, sign call) along with response time and outcome. Over a year, that shows which sources produce closings and how fast your team responds.

Monvell's Marketing and Communications teams help real estate businesses with this: websites and profiles built for online research, fast text-first response to new inquiries, and past-client follow-up that keeps relationships current.