Rochester MN Home Buyers Are Losing Deals Before They Even Make an Offer - Alex Mayer on the Mistakes That Hurt the Most

Written by:

Heather Hook

Date:

23 Apr 2026

KeyCrew Studio

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Buying a home in Rochester, Minnesota in 2026 is not as simple as scheduling a showing online and making an offer. The market moves quickly, the process has more moving parts than most buyers anticipate, and the decisions made in the first few weeks can either set a buyer up for success or create problems that are genuinely hard to undo.

Alex Mayer, a Rochester MN real estate agent with eXp Realty and a four-time winner of Best Real Estate Agent in Rochester MN, has spent a decade watching buyers navigate – and sometimes stumble through – the purchase process. In that time, he has identified three mistakes that surface repeatedly, not because buyers are careless, but because the process is widely misunderstood.

“We’re dealing with people’s homes, their finances, and their families,” Mayer says. “That’s the trifecta of things that make people emotional. And when emotions are running high, mistakes happen.”

Mistake One: Registering on a Third-Party Website Without Researching Who Calls You

Most home searches start the same way: a buyer opens Zillow, Realtor.com, or Redfin, clicks around for a few minutes, and enters their contact information to request a showing. Within hours, the phone starts ringing.

The issue is not the websites themselves. The issue is who tends to be on the other end of those calls.

“When people are registering on these third-party websites, there’s a very good chance the agent calling them is a more junior or less experienced agent in the market,” Mayer explains. “They’re paying for leads. Their goal is to get you to sign with them, fast.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average real estate agent completes 3.92 transactions per year. That means even an agent operating at the top 13 percent of the profession is completing roughly one or two deals a month. At that volume, staying genuinely current on what is happening in the market from week to week is difficult. And the financial dynamics of a low-volume agent can create quiet but real pressure on a transaction.

“That agent needs you to buy a house more than you need to buy that house,” Mayer says. “If they don’t get that commission check, they can’t pay their mortgage. That creates pressure even when it shouldn’t be there.”

His advice: before agreeing to meet any agent at a property, do some homework first. Look at reviews, check for professional credentials and awards, look at their social media presence, and have a real phone conversation before you ever commit to anything. A good agent will want to understand your situation before taking you to a single house.

“I have a 10 to 15-minute intake call with anyone before I even schedule a meeting,” Mayer says. “I want to make sure we’re a good fit, and I want to start giving them useful information right away.”

Mistake Two: Calling the Listing Agent Directly

This mistake surprises a lot of buyers, particularly those who believe that working directly with the listing agent might give them an advantage or save money. In practice, it tends to do neither.

When a buyer contacts the listing agent and that agent agrees to represent both sides of the transaction, it is called dual agency. Minnesota permits dual agency, but Mayer is direct about its limitations. “That agent is trying to sell that house,” he says. “They do not represent you, even if they technically do. It is very difficult for any agent to fully advocate for a buyer when they also have obligations to the seller.”

Many agents prefer dual agency because they collect both sides of the commission – a practice in the industry sometimes called double-ending. That financial incentive does not align with a buyer’s interest in securing the best possible price and terms.

Mayer recently connected with a buyer who had experienced exactly this situation. The buyer had worked directly with a listing agent, reached an accepted offer, and ultimately canceled. “They felt like that agent was pressuring them to push the purchase forward and was not actually looking out for their interest,” Mayer says. “That is a very common occurrence.”

His standard practice reflects his position on this clearly: when unrepresented buyers inquire about one of his own listings, he refers them to an agent at a different brokerage. “It’s better for both sides to have their own representation,” he says. “The transaction goes more smoothly. Nobody ends up feeling like they weren’t treated fairly. And frankly, if something small comes up mid-transaction, I don’t want to be in a position where one side thinks I’m favoring the other.”

Mistake Three: Starting the Search Without Understanding the Market First

The third mistake is the most foundational: many buyers enter the process reactively rather than proactively. They look at homes before financing is in place. They make offers without understanding what makes them competitive. They discover, only after losing out on a property they loved, that they simply were not prepared for what the Rochester market requires.

“A reactive buyer goes out there, looks at a house, maybe falls in love with it, and then starts trying to figure everything else out,” Mayer says. “A proactive buyer already knows what types of financing are available. They understand what makes up a mortgage payment, including taxes, insurance, and in some cases mortgage insurance. They know how to structure a competitive offer. And they know what to expect from the moment a contract is signed all the way through to closing.”

In the current Rochester market, buyers are often competing with other buyers rather than negotiating primarily against a seller. That dynamic changes how an offer needs to be structured, which financing options are most advantageous, and how quickly a buyer needs to be ready to act when the right property comes to market.

Mayer walks every new client through a 60 to 90-minute overview before any showings are scheduled. The conversation covers different financing types, what makes up a mortgage payment, how to search for properties effectively, what to pay attention to at showings, how to construct a winning offer, and what to expect from accepted offer through closing.

“I tell people I’m going to give them all the bad news first,” he says. “I want them entering the market with their eyes wide open, because a buyer who understands the process is a buyer who is taken seriously by listing agents on the other side.”

That preparation has a measurable effect on outcomes. “I know there are listing agents who have chosen to work with my buyers specifically because they know I go through all of this with them upfront,” Mayer says. “A prepared buyer is more likely to close. That matters when a seller is sitting down and looking at multiple offers.”

What Prepared Looks Like in Rochester MN

Rochester is not a generic market. It is shaped by the presence of Mayo Clinic, by the seasonal influx of buyers that follows major hiring cycles, and by a community where top-producing agents tend to know each other well. The buyers who do best in this market are those who treat preparation as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought.

The three mistakes Mayer identifies – connecting with the wrong agent, contacting the listing agent directly, and starting without a solid foundation of market knowledge – are all avoidable. And they share a common root cause: moving before the right groundwork is in place.

“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast,” Mayer says. “You have to slow down at the beginning to actually be ready to move quickly when it counts.”

For buyers entering the Rochester market this year, that mindset shift – from reactive to proactive – may be the most valuable thing they can bring to the process.

Alex Mayer is a full-time Rochester MN real estate agent, a 4X winner of Best Real Estate Agent in Rochester MN with 300+ five-star reviews. His core values are Education, Communication, and Responsiveness which guide every part of his business. His promise: You’ll know what to expect, how to operate, and what needs to be done to be successful in the Rochester MN real estate market. He specializes in first-time homebuyers, Mayo Clinic and other relocating buyers, and Rochester MN sellers, including move-up, downsizing, and estate sales.

Learn more at rochesterareahomesbyalex.com or watch his market insights on YouTube.

This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.