75% of Buyers Say Their Agent Was Helpful. Here’s What Made It Memorable
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Most buyers don’t walk away from a home purchase remembering your pre-approval timelines or market absorption rates.
What sticks with them is the moment you showed up when the process got quiet.
According to Cotality’s from House to Home report, that kind of timing is what separates agents that buyers trust from the ones they don’t call back.
Buyers Say Guidance Matters, But Only When It’s Timed Right
Nearly 75% of recent buyers said their agent provided helpful guidance. But what they remembered wasn’t the pitch. It was the presence.
What mattered most:
- A short, clear reminder about next steps when things got overwhelming
- A plain-language explanation of legal or financial documents
- A check-in timed around an offer, appraisal, or moment of doubt
- A heads-up about closing costs or insurance before they became surprises
These aren’t just good service touches. They are emotional anchors.
From Cotality’s report:
“Confidence has less to do with the actions themselves and more to do with how information is received and when it arrives.”
Buyers who received this kind of guidance reported significantly higher confidence and satisfaction, even when the content of those check-ins included no new information. They weren’t looking for speed. They were looking for someone to help them feel ready.
The Confidence Gap Is Real
Only 8% of buyers felt confident even after finding “the right home.” Just 13% said they felt confident by the time they reached closing.
And only 7% described the entire process as straightforward.
That means the overwhelming majority of buyers moved through the largest financial decision of their lives without feeling certain at any stage.
What fills that gap isn’t more data. It’s more attention, at the right time.
Trust Starts Before the First Handshake
According to Cotality, buyers form expectations before they ever meet you. They read reviews, scroll listings, compare brokers, and build spreadsheets.
By the time they reach out, trust is already taking shape. Or doing the opposite.
Even so, 63% of buyers said they’d rather have a human help them find a home than use an AI tool. That number jumped to 71% when legal matters were involved.
Interestingly, Millennials were the most willing to trust automation, not Gen Z. Gen Z’s preferences around trust were closer to Boomers, revealing that younger buyers are more cautious than many assume.
But trust is fragile. 41% of recent buyers reported that professionals they worked with created unexpected delays or issues. What broke trust?
- Unreturned calls
- Missed expectations on cost
- Inconsistent timelines
- Vague or delayed communication at critical steps
Josh Symons, Director of Industry Solutions for Cotality AU, put it this way:
“Buyers aren’t asking for perfection, but they do expect you to be there at the right moments.”
Trust is less about frequency and more about timing.
Buyers trusted professionals who explained things in plain terms, anticipated questions, and responded to stress, not with speed but with steady guidance.
Comfort Beats Loyalty and Convenience
The data is clear: Buyers are far more likely to return to professionals who made them feel comfortable, even more than those who were convenient or familiar.
Here’s how buyers ranked their experience with key professionals:
- Real estate agents:
- 80% felt comfortable
- 47% cited convenience
- 42% felt loyal
- Mortgage brokers:
- 79% felt comfortable
- 48% cited convenience
- 31% felt loyal
- Insurance agents:
- 68% felt comfortable
- 53% cited convenience
- 35% felt loyal
- Real estate attorneys:
- 73% felt comfortable
- 49% cited convenience
- 40% felt loyal
Comfort means feeling safe to ask small questions, get clarifications, and slow down when needed. And comfort was the top predictor of whether a buyer would use a professional again.
Cultivating that comfort level is what separates the best agents from the rest. And this is why the foundation for referrals and repeat business is laid during the process, not after the sale.
Buyers Are Still Overwhelmed (Especially Younger Ones)
Despite all the apps, dashboards, and calculators, the process is still overwhelming.
- 54% of buyers said finding a home was the most stressful part.
- 50% cited securing a mortgage.
- 38% felt overwhelmed by legal matters.
- 29% felt the same about homeowners’ insurance.
For Gen Z and Millennials, the stress spiked even higher:
- 54% of Gen Z and 59% of Millennials said the mortgage process was a top source of stress.
- Many of these buyers revised their expectations midstream, made unexpected compromises, and described the experience as more emotionally draining than they anticipated.
And in many cases, their hesitation went unaddressed.
From Cotality’s report:
“A buyer who slows down is rarely indecisive. They’re paying attention. The job of the professional is to understand what that pause is trying to say.”
The Signals You May Be Missing
Cotality highlights a set of behaviors that often precede deal friction, and most of them are subtle:
- A buyer who goes quiet after receiving a document
- A question asked twice in slightly different ways
- A long gap between email opens and responses
- A sudden delay in scheduling the next step
These aren’t signs of disengagement. They’re signals of doubt. The buyer is waiting for someone to meet them there, not to push them forward, but to ask: “What’s on your mind?”
Anand Srinivasan, Head of Research & Development for Cotality, said this:
“There’s a natural moment when people go from searching to deciding. That handoff is where trust either takes root or drifts.”
Don’t Track Speed. Track Timing.
The industry is built on lagging metrics: days on market, list-to-close time, signed deals. But timing, the alignment between your actions and the buyer’s needs, is a leading indicator.
Buyers leave clues:
- Drop-offs in engagement after receiving a quote
- Repeated outreach about unclear steps
- Delays after a rate lock
These moments predict regret, offer withdrawals, or slowed momentum. And the agents who know how to respond at the right time are the ones who keep deals moving, and confidence growing.
Key Details:
- Based on Cotality’s From House to Home report, 75% of buyers said their agent provided helpful guidance, but only 8% felt confident after finding the right home.
- While 63% preferred a human over AI for help finding a home, just 7% described the overall process as straightforward.
- Comfort, not speed or convenience, was the top predictor of whether buyers would work with the same agent again
Sarah Lentz | Aug 6, 2025 | Housing Market
https://nowbam.com/75-of-buyers-say-their-agent-was-helpful-heres-what-made-it-memorable/
@ChuckBarberini - #ChuckBarberiniRealEstate - @ChuckBarberiniRealEstate
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