There's a common assumption baked into how most people search for a real estate agent: they look for the biggest number. Most transactions. Most years in the business. Most listings. Most awards.
It makes sense on the surface. You're making one of the largest financial decisions of your life, and you want someone who knows what they're doing. But here's what the data — and frankly, lived experience — actually tells us: the number that matters most isn't on anyone's bio page.
It's how much you trust the person sitting across from you.
The Real Estate Industry Is Full of Career Changers — and That's a Good Thing
Here's something that might surprise you about the people selling homes in this city: most of them didn't start here.
According to the National Association of Realtors' 2025 Member Profile, the median age of a Realtor in the United States is 57 years old. And only about 4–6% of agents say real estate was their very first career. Th
↳ NAR 2025 Member Profile — nar.realtor
That means when you walk into an open house or sit down with a buyer's agent, chances are you're talking to someone with a previous life — someone who built skills, relationships, and instincts in another industry before bringing all of that to real estate.
That's not a weakness. That's a résumé.
Career changers who come to real estate later bring something younger agents — regardless of transaction count — simply can't replicate: life experience. Professional maturity under pressure. Decades of relationship-building. And often, a network and a city knowledge that took years to develop.
The challenge for later starters is usually financial patience — not skill or credibility.
↳ CrossView Realty — joincrossviewrealty.com
The Market Is Weeding People Out — and That's Actually Good for You
Let's be honest about where the DC market is right now. It's a grind. Elevated mortgage rates, limited inventory, a federal workforce in transition, and buyer hesitation across the board have created conditions that are genuinely difficult for everyone — buyers, sellers, and agents alike.
And a lot of agents are quietly leaving. NAR reported approximately 1.55 million Realtor members at its peak in 2024, and that number has been declining steadily. Some projections suggest it could settle around 1.2 million by end of 2026 if the slow market conditions continue.
↳ Real Estate Agent Statistics 2026 — jamilacademy.com
Here's what that means for you: the agents who are still here — especially those who entered during the downturn and chose to weather it rather than walk away — are, almost by definition, the more committed ones. They didn't get into this business because the market handed them easy wins. They learned to compete, to negotiate, to find opportunity in a difficult environment, and to fight for their clients when conditions weren't favorable.
That's a different kind of experience than racking up transactions during a seller's frenzy when everything sold itself.
Roughly 15% of NAR members are brand new every year, and a similar percentage exits annually. If you're still standing, you're already winning the long game.
↳ Real Estate Agent Statistics 2026 — jamilacademy.com
An agent who started during a hard market had to develop marketing chops, negotiation skills, and client communication strategies from day one — not because it was easy, but because there was no other way to survive. Those skills don't disappear when the market improves. They compound.
What DC Buyers Actually Need: A Fiduciary, Not a Biography
Washington, DC is a specific city to buy in. The neighborhoods are hyper-local in ways that even ten-year residents sometimes don't fully appreciate. The difference between a block in Bloomingdale and a block in Truxton Circle can mean $80,000 in price and a completely different buyer pool. Shaw, NoMa, LeDroit Park, Eckington — each one has its own rhythm, its own inventory patterns, and its own negotiation dynamics.
Knowing that comes from being here. Not just holding a license, but living in the city, watching it change, understanding which blocks are transitioning and which have already arrived.
But here's the other thing DC buyers need, and it's harder to put on a ranking page: someone who is actually in your corner. A fiduciary. Someone whose job — legally and ethically — is to represent your interests and no one else's. And someone you believe, genuinely, will do that.
That's where trust comes in. And trust, it turns out, is in short supply in this industry right now.
A 2025 survey found that while 91% of sellers plan to use a real estate agent, only 70% say they actually trust one. One in four people who decided not to use an agent at all cited lack of trust as the reason. And nearly two-thirds of sellers believe agents prioritize profits over clients' best interests.
↳ Anytime Estimate, 2025 Seller Survey — anytimeestimate.com
That's the gap your agent needs to close — not with a longer bio, but with how they show up in every conversation.
The Relationship Is the Strategy
The real estate industry has spent years telling buyers and sellers to look at credentials. Years in the business. Transaction volume. Fancy designations. And those things matter, to a point.
But think about every important professional relationship in your life — your doctor, your lawyer, your financial advisor, even your contractor. The best ones aren't necessarily the most decorated. They're the ones you can call with a dumb question. The ones who tell you the truth even when it's not what you want to hear. The ones who pick up the phone.
A good real estate agent isn't just a transaction manager. They're a guide through what is, for most people, the largest single purchase of their lives. That requires trust on both sides. It requires chemistry. It requires knowing that the person across the table from you is actually listening — not just processing you as the next deal in their pipeline.
Trust isn't just the foundation of real estate. It's the whole thing.
↳ RISMedia, Rebuilding Trust in Real Estate — rismedia.com
So when you're interviewing agents — and you should interview more than one — pay attention to how you feel in the conversation. Do they listen before they pitch? Do they know the specific neighborhoods you're asking about, or are they winging it? Do they explain things clearly, or do they drown you in jargon? Do they feel like a partner or a salesperson?
That instinct you get in the first conversation is data. Trust it.
A Note on Who I Am — and Why I'm Telling You This
I'm Eric Nielsen, a Realtor with RLAH | @properties, based right here in DC. I work primarily in the neighborhoods I know best — Bloomingdale, Shaw, Truxton Circle, NoMa, LeDroit Park, and Eckington — the 20001, 20002, and 20005 zip codes that make up some of the most dynamic real estate in the city.
I came to real estate with a background in marketing and copywriting — skills that translate directly into how I present listings, how I position offers, and how I communicate on behalf of my clients. I started in this business during a down market, by choice, because I believe in the work and I believe in this city. The agents who stick around through a hard market tend to come out the other side better at the job. I intend to be one of them.
I'm also connected to something most agents — even the veterans — don't have access to: Compass Private Exclusives and off-market listings that never touch Zillow or Redfin. In a market where inventory is the constraint, that access matters. It's the difference between competing for what everyone else can see and knowing about the home before it hits.
I'm not going to promise you I've closed more deals than anyone else in DC. What I will promise is that I'll know your search, I'll know your neighborhoods, and I'll fight for your interests the way a good agent is supposed to. If that sounds like the kind of person you want in your corner, I'd love to have a conversation.
Eric Nielsen | Realtor, RLAH @properties
Cell: 571.263.5006 | eric@ericsellsdc.com | ericsellsdc.com
@ericsellsdc
Sources
↳ NAR 2025 Member Profile: Income Steady, Even as Market Slows
↳ NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
↳ Anytime Estimate: What Does a Real Estate Agent Do? (2025 Seller Survey)
↳ RISMedia: Reflecting on 2025 — Rebuilding Trust in Real Estate
↳ RISMedia: 2026 Outlook — Strengthening Trust and Transparency
↳ Jamil Academy: Real Estate Agent Statistics 2026
↳ CrossView Realty: What Is the Best Age to Start as a Real Estate Agent?
