Best First-Time Buyers Real-Estate Agents in Saint Paul, MN (2026)

1. Jim Dropps

9.1/10

$240K–$1.2M · 33 reviews

Jim Dropps has lived in the Sheridan neighborhood of Northeast Minneapolis since the mid-2000s and founded Northeast Real Estate Group, an independent two-agent brokerage, in 2012. His recorded sales cluster almost entirely in Northeast and North Minneapolis neighborhoods — Audubon Park, Waite Park, Windom Park, Holland, Sheridan, and Near North — and his firm markets itself specifically around neighborhood duplexes and starter homes. Public reviews are limited in number but uniformly five-star, and a construction-and-building background in the family gives him a practical angle on the area's older housing stock.

2. Nikki Ritter

8.5/10

$300K–$900K · 43 reviews

Nikki Ritter is a RE/MAX Advantage Plus associate working out of the brokerage's Eagan office, with nine years in the business. RealTrends Verified 2025 data ranks her first by sales volume among agents primarily working Eagan, on 45 closed sides worth about $24.7 million. Her review record is real but thin on the platforms most buyers check first, concentrated instead on Experience.com. She works both sides of the transaction rather than specializing in one price tier or property type.

3. Dan Schneider

8.4/10

$200K–$1.2M

A Dale/Grand-neighborhood local whose design-and-staging partnership with his husband is a genuine, uncommon differentiator.

4. Brian Wagner

8.3/10

$180K–$650K

Brian Wagner is a Coldwell Banker Realty agent working out of the Crocus Hill office on Grand Avenue, licensed in Minnesota since 2007 after an earlier career in higher education administration. His stated practice centers on Saint Paul's Macalester-Groveland, Summit Hill, and Crocus Hill neighborhoods, with first-time buyers and foreclosure transactions named as specialties. No aggregated review count or sales-volume figure is publicly posted for him, so his standing rests more on neighborhood ties than on documented numbers.

5. Bob Reidell

8.3/10

$150K–$900K

A 46-year Twin Cities veteran whose Grand Avenue team runs almost entirely on repeat clients and referrals.

6. David Chase

8.3/10

$184K–$1.4M

A two-decade Twin Cities Realtor and Bloomington broker-owner who has lived in the area since 1982, running his own small independent brokerage rather than a large franchise team.

7. Heidi Swanson

8.2/10

$172K–$913K

A boutique Grand Avenue agent whose Old Home Certification is a genuine edge for Saint Paul's historic housing stock.

8. Chad Anderson

7.9/10

$200K–$1.6M

A Bloomington-headquartered brokerage co-founder whose interest in real estate started young at his grandfather's rental properties, and who now runs his own small local firm.