Why First-Time Buyers Rate Their Agent's Communication So Much Lower, and How to Close the Gap

In our last article we looked at how much Canadian buyers now value an agent who's easy to reach. One figure from that same survey deserves its own look, because it points to a gap most agents don't realize they have: first-time buyers rate their agent's communication far lower than repeat buyers do. Other research, from Canada and the U.S., explains why that gap exists and what closes it.

The Gap

RE/MAX Canada's Future of Real Estate report, based on a survey of 2,030 Canadian buyers and sellers, asked respondents about their most recent purchase or sale. Only 53% of first-time buyers agreed that "communication with the real estate agent was great," compared with 78% of repeat buyers. The same pattern shows up on transparency: 49% of first-time buyers said their agent was very transparent, against 77% of experienced buyers.

That's a 25-point gap on communication alone, and it lands on the group that values responsiveness most. In the same survey, 61% of first-time buyers said an easy-to-reach agent had become more important to them.

It's a Capacity Problem, Not a Caring Problem

It would be easy to read that gap as agents caring less about first-time clients. The rest of the data points somewhere else: first-time buyers simply need far more from their agent, and there's only one agent.

They have more to learn. In the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, a U.S. survey of 6,103 recent buyers, 38% of first-time buyers said understanding the process and steps was the most difficult part of buying a home. Only 9% of repeat buyers said the same.

The surprises cost them more. In Canada, CMHC's 2026 Mortgage Consumer Survey of more than 4,100 mortgage consumers found that 36% of first-time buyers ran into unexpected costs, compared with 23% of repeat buyers, and that first-time buyers were twice as likely to cover those costs with a credit card or line of credit. Across all buyers, 47% felt uncertain or concerned at some point during the homebuying process. Unexpected costs are, almost by definition, questions nobody answered in time.

So they lean on their agent much harder. NAR found that 76% of first-time buyers said their agent helped them understand the process, compared with 45% of repeat buyers. Put those findings together and the gap explains itself. A first-time buyer arrives with more questions, more uncertainty, and more reliance on one person, often asking at night and on weekends when that person is with family or in a showing with another client. A repeat buyer who already knows the steps barely notices a slow reply. A first-time buyer waiting on an answer about deposits or closing costs feels every hour of it.

The First Conversation Usually Decides It

First-time buyers also don't shop around much. NAR found that 67% of first-time buyers interviewed only one agent before deciding. Zillow's 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents, released in December 2025, found that 47% of buyers hired the first agent they spoke with. Both are U.S. figures, but they point to the same thing: for most first-time buyers, the agent who answers their first questions is the agent they hire. An unanswered call at that stage doesn't just delay the relationship. It often hands it to someone else.

They're Already Looking for Answers Elsewhere

When answers don't come quickly, buyers go looking. CMHC's 2026 survey found that 16% of people who researched mortgages online used AI tools to get mortgage information. That's a useful signal for agents: buyers are already comfortable asking AI their questions. The real choice is whether those answers come from a generic chatbot with no knowledge of your market, or from you.

How to Close the Gap Without Losing the Personal Touch

First-time buyers don't want less of their agent. The fix isn't to put technology between them and you, but to make sure their questions get answered and their next conversation with you gets booked, even when you can't pick up.

• Your phone rings first. For realtors, we typically set things up so your own phone rings first, and the AI voice agent only answers when you can't, such as during a showing, at a listing appointment, or after hours. A first-time buyer's call reaches someone instead of voicemail.
• Routine questions get answered on the spot. First-time buyers ask the same questions again and again: what happens after an offer is accepted, how deposits work, which closing costs to budget for. Those can be answered immediately, using the answers you've set it up with.
• Anything that needs judgment gets booked with you. Pricing, offers, negotiation, and financing stay with the agent. The AI books a call or showing directly into your calendar, so the buyer leaves the conversation with a confirmed time to talk to you, not a promise of a callback.
• New leads from your other sources get called in seconds. Separately, our speed-to-lead system follows up on new leads coming in from your website, Facebook lead ads, Instagram DMs, and listing portals with an automated call in as little as 30 seconds. The goal is the same: getting a conversation with you on the calendar. NAR found that 75% of first-time buyers value an agent who communicates by text and 67% value personal calls, so calls and texts work best together.

Done this way, the first-time buyer gets what the data says they're missing: answers when they have questions, and a real conversation with their agent at a time that works. Done badly, with no clear path to a person, AI makes the gap worse, which is why we've written separately about what actually goes wrong with AI voice agents.

A Note on the Data

The RE/MAX figures come from a survey conducted in 2022 and published in 2023, during an unusually fast market. The CMHC figures are Canadian and current, from a survey conducted in January 2026. The NAR and Zillow figures are American; we've included them because they measure first-time buyer behaviour in more detail than any comparable Canadian source we could find, and we've labelled them as U.S. data throughout.

Sources

• RE/MAX Canada, with Camp + King and Canvas8, The Future of Real Estate 2023: Canada (July 2023). Survey of 2,030 Canadian homebuyers and sellers, conducted in 2022. Source for the 53% vs. 78% communication finding, the 49% vs. 77% transparency finding, and the 61% figure.
• National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. U.S. survey mailed in July 2025, 6,103 responses from buyers who purchased between July 2024 and June 2025. Source for the 38% vs. 9%, 76% vs. 45%, 67%, 75%, and 67% figures.
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2026 Mortgage Consumer Survey Results (published May 20, 2026). Survey of more than 4,100 mortgage consumers, conducted January 2026. Source for the 36% vs. 23% unexpected costs, 47% uncertainty, and 16% AI-use figures.
• Zillow Group, 2025 Consumer Housing Trends Report for Agents press release (December 30, 2025). U.S. data; source for the 47% first-agent figure.