The house-buying process is a big long-term commitment, and it's important to know your criteria and what you're willing to compromise on, because you're unlikely to find an absolutely perfect dream home especially right away. This can be especially difficult if members of your family have  different criteria for what a perfect home should be. This is why it's important to work with a realtor who understands the market well and really listens to your input and understands the needs of the whole family. In our case, we needed to find a place that is on the subway line as my spouse does not drive, and we also needed good schools because we have a toddler who will be starting elementary school at some point. My spouse also wanted a good view and some quiet outdoor space, and I really wanted to have a garage. We were both interested in mostly newer homes. That combination is not that easy to find, but without first seeing some options we had a hard time coming to an agreement about what we really wanted out of our first house. Ali was very patient with us and showed us a bunch of options until we found one that fit all of our needs. Once we found the place she worked extremely diligently behind the scenes to make sure that the got the best deal and then continued to push for an on-time closing, which was difficult to get done in the midst of a pandemic and the property being a new construction project. She would respond day and night with updates as the buying process progressed and was an excellent advocate for us, which is essential because the process of buying a house can be fraught with pitfalls and gotchas, which she walked us through. This was especially helpful as this was our first home purchase and we had no prior experience with the process. We would highly recommend her to our friends and all of you who are looking for a good realtor!