Feel at home with local insights & confidence.
Feel at home with local insights & confidence.
Here's How I Actually Help
Buying, selling, relocating — three very different jobs. What stays the same is that you'll always know where you stand, what I'd do in your shoes, and what happens next. No stress, just keys.
Buyers
Buying a Home in Seattle
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Buying a home here is not a casual purchase. It's the biggest check most people will ever write, and the process is designed by people who assume you already know how it works.
I don't hand you a list of houses and wait for you to fall in love with one. We start with a real conversation about what your life actually looks like. From the commute you'll tolerate, the yard you'll actually use, and the mortgage payment that won't make you resent your own house. I'll tell you the truth about what that gets you in this market, even when the truth is frustrating, and then make a plan to get you there.
I grew up here and I've lived in Ballard, Wallingford, and South Lake Union, so when I say a neighborhood feels different on a Tuesday night than it does at an open house on Sunday, that's from a lifetime of living it. I have a soft spot for first-time buyers because nobody explains this stuff to them, and it can feel like a different language that everyone gets but you. I'd rather over-explain 100 times to make sure you feel confident in the process than have you not understand what you’re signing up for.
Text is my default. I'm a mom to a toddler, so I'm usually up at odd hours anyway — which means when your offer needs an answer at 9pm, you'll get one.
The home buying process, step by step
1. We have a real conversation first Coffee, video call, whatever's easy. I want to hear about it all — timeline, what's driving the move, what's making you nervous, whether you've done this before. I'll walk you through exactly how the process works in Washington so nothing that happens later is a surprise. No pressure, no pitch. If I'm not the right fit for you, I'll say so.
2. Get your financing sorted before you look at anything This is step two for a reason. A pre-approval — not a pre-qualification — tells us what's actually possible, and in a competitive situation it's the difference between an offer that gets read and one that gets skipped. I'll connect you with lenders I've worked with and trust. Please don't chase the click-bait rate you saw online; I've watched that go sideways more than once.
3. Pick your two priorities Size, location, condition — you get two. Almost nobody gets all three at a price that works. Deciding this early is what keeps you from spiraling three months in. Most of my buyers land on location and then flex on either square footage or how much work the place needs.
4. Search smart, not constantly I'll set up a search that actually matches what we decided, and I'll tell you when a listing is a waste of your Saturday. We'll tour homes with a plan. I'll point out the stuff people miss when they're distracted by a good kitchen — the roof, the panel, the water heater, the grading around the foundation, whether that "bonus room" was permitted.
5. Do your homework before you write the offer In a competitive market, review happens up front. That means reading the seller disclosure (Form 17), the title report, the pre-inspection if there is one, and — for condos — the resale certificate and HOA minutes. Board minutes are where the dirty laundry lives: deferred maintenance, upcoming special assessments, litigation. I read them. I'll tell you what I found.
6. Write a strategic offer Price is one lever. The rest is strategy: which contingencies to keep, which to shorten, earnest money, closing date, whether an escalation clause makes sense, whether we're going in before the review date. I'll show you the comps and the recent competing activity so the number is a decision, not a guess — and I'll be honest about the risk in every waiver we discuss.
7. Mutual acceptance — now the real work starts Signed contract, clock running. Every contingency has a deadline and I'm the one tracking them. You'll get a plain-English timeline from me showing exactly what's due when, so nothing sneaks up on you.
8. Inspection Even if you waived the contingency, I want eyes on the house. An inspection isn't just a list of problems to negotiate — it's your owner's manual for a building you're about to be responsible for. I'll be there, and I'll help you sort the "this is normal for a 1948 house" items from the "this changes the math" items.
9. Title, appraisal, and the paperwork gauntlet Title report gets reviewed for easements, encroachments, anything that limits what you can do with the property. Your lender orders the appraisal — I review the appraisal with you, chase additional comps, and work with you to review any offer adjustments needed. Then underwriting will ask for the same bank statement three times. Send it fast.
10. Final walkthrough Usually the week of closing. We confirm the house is in the condition you agreed to, any negotiated repairs actually got done, and the seller didn't take the light fixtures. It takes twenty minutes and it has saved my clients real money.
11. Signing and closing In Washington you sign a day or two before closing, then escrow records with the county. You'll wire your funds. Once it records, the house is yours.
12. Keys, and then I don't disappear You'll get keys and a list of the people I actually use — electricians, plumbers, the handyman who answers his phone. Then I'm still here. Annual value updates, contractor recommendations, and a straight answer when you're wondering if you should refinance.
Sellers
Selling Your Home
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Selling is arguably the biggest financial decision you'll ever make, and the person you hand it to should treat it that way. For me that means showing up for every listing like it's my own front door.
Most of the money in a sale is made before it ever hits the market — in the prep, the pricing, and the photos. I'll walk your house with you and tell you exactly which projects will come back to you and which ones are a waste of a weekend. Sometimes that's paint and a deep clean and nothing else. I'd rather save you $8,000 than talk you into a kitchen refresh that won't move your number.
And I'll price it honestly. Overpricing is the most expensive mistake sellers make — you sit, you get stale, and then you're negotiating from behind against buyers who watched you sit. My job is to tell you what the market will actually pay, show you the comps that prove it, and then go get it.
The detail-obsession is left over from years as a medical administrator. Deadlines don't slip on my watch.
The home selling process, step by step
1. Walkthrough and honest assessment I come see the house. We go room by room and I tell you what buyers will notice, what they'll forgive, and what's going to show up in every piece of feedback if we don't handle it. I'll flag anything that's likely to surface in inspection, so we're not blindsided later.
2. Pricing conversation, with the receipts I'll bring a real comparative market analysis — recent sales, what's currently competing with you, what's expired and why. We'll talk strategy: price to draw a crowd, price at market, or price for a specific buyer. You'll see the reasoning, not just a number. If you want a higher number than the data supports, I'll tell you what that decision usually costs.
3. Prep plan and timeline We build a punch list ranked by return, and I bring in my people — cleaners, painters, handyman, landscaper, stager. You get the list, the estimated cost, and my honest opinion on what to skip. Then we set a launch date and work backwards from it.
4. Photos, video, and how it looks online Nearly every buyer meets your house on a phone screen first. Professional photography is non-negotiable, and depending on the property we'll add video, floor plan, drone, or twilight shots. I write the listing description myself — no "must see to believe," no all-caps. Just the things that actually make someone take a closer look.
5. Pre-listing disclosures and paperwork Form 17 seller disclosure, title, permits, HOA docs and resale certificate if you're in a condo. Getting this together up front means we can hand it to buyers before offers, which produces cleaner offers with fewer contingencies. It's unglamorous and it makes a real difference.
6. Go live with a launch, not a whisper Coordinated hit across NWMLS and the syndicated sites, social, my database, and broker networks — plus open houses if they make sense for your property. Momentum in the first ten days is most of the ballgame.
7. Showings and feedback you actually get to see Showings run through ShowingTime so you have notice and control over the schedule. I collect feedback and I pass it to you straight, including the parts you don't want to hear. If we're getting traffic without offers, that's information, and we adjust.
8. Reviewing offers When offers come in, we look at more than price: financing type, contingencies, earnest money, closing timeline, whether the lender is one I trust to actually close, and how much of that number is likely to come back at us later. I'll lay them side by side and give you my recommendation and my reasoning.
9. Negotiating — including the second negotiation Mutual acceptance isn't the finish line. There's usually a second round after inspection. I go into that one having already told you where the house is weak, so we're negotiating from a prepared position instead of a defensive one.
10. Contract to close Inspection, appraisal, title, financing, and about a dozen deadlines. I coordinate with the buyer's agent, escrow, both lenders, and your title company, and I'll send you a weekly update whether or not there's news — because silence during escrow is the worst part of this for most sellers.
11. Appraisal, if there's a loan I give the appraiser a comp package and the improvements list every time. If it comes in low, we have options — renegotiate, dispute with better comps, or restructure. It's a problem, not a disaster, and I've handled it before.
12. Signing and closing day You sign a day or two ahead, escrow records, and your proceeds are wired. I'll walk you through the settlement statement line by line before you sign it, so you know exactly where every dollar went and what you're actually netting.
Relocation
Selling Your Home
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Relocating is a different animal. You're buying a house and a city at the same time, usually on a timeline someone else picked, often without having spent more than a long weekend here.
That's where being a lifelong Seattleite actually matters. I can tell you which neighborhoods are genuinely walkable versus walkable-if-you-don't-mind-a-hill, what the commute from Ballard to South Lake Union really looks like at 8am, where you'll find yourself on a Saturday morning, and how the light situation in November hits people who moved from somewhere sunnier. That's not information you can get from a listing site.
If your company is covering the move, I've worked inside those timelines — the temporary housing window, the tight house-hunting trip, the coordination with a relocation coordinator who has their own list of requirements. I'll work with your package instead of around it, and I'll be honest about what your budget realistically buys in each area so your trip isn't a series of disappointments.
I'll also tour homes for you on video, in detail, and tell you what the photos are hiding. A lot of my relocation clients buy a home they never stood in until the walkthrough. That works when the person doing the looking is actually looking.
The relocation process, step by step
1. Discovery call — the city before the houses We start with your life, not listings. Where you'll work or whether you're remote, how you like to spend a weekend, kids and schools, commute tolerance, dogs, whether you want a yard or want to never mow again. I'll be straight about the trade-offs across the area, including cost of living and what the transit picture really is.
2. Sort out timing and, if applicable, your relocation package If your employer is covering some of this, we map it early: what's reimbursed, whether there's a home-purchase benefit, temporary housing dates, whether they require a specific vendor or approved agent list. Then we work backwards from your start date and set a realistic search window. If the timeline is genuinely too tight to buy well, I'll tell you to rent first — that has been my honest recommendation more than once.
3. Get pre-approved with a lender licensed in Washington Your out-of-state lender may not be licensed here, and even if they are, local sellers weigh local lenders differently. I'll introduce you to lenders who close on time in this market. If you're selling a home elsewhere first, we'll talk through the sequencing and your bridge options before you're under pressure.
4. Neighborhood shortlist I'll build you a short list — usually three or four areas — with what each one actually costs, what your money gets you there, the commute reality, and the trade-offs. Then we narrow it. This step saves relocation buyers the most time, because Seattle is a collection of very different neighborhoods and casting a wide net from 2,000 miles away is how people burn out.
5. Virtual touring, done properly I walk homes on video for you — slow, narrated, showing the things a listing photo crops out. The steep driveway. The neighbor's addition. The noise from the arterial. Whatever you'd notice if you were standing there, I'll point out.
6. The house-hunting trip When you fly in, we don't waste it. I plan a route that covers your shortlist neighborhoods at useful times of day, with homes booked back to back and a coffee stop built in. If you can, I'll suggest coming a day early and just wandering the two or three areas you're most drawn to — that's usually the moment it clicks.
7. Make an offer that works from a distance Everything can be done remotely: electronic signatures, remote online notarization or a mobile notary, wires through escrow. I'll structure the offer so distance isn't a liability — clear timelines, a lender who can move, and if you haven't seen the property in person, a walkthrough provision that protects you.
8. Under contract, coordinated for someone in another time zone Inspection, title, appraisal, HOA docs — the same process, but I attend everything and report back with photos and video. You'll get a weekly plain-English summary and a clear list of anything I need from you, with deadlines. I'll flag time-zone-sensitive items so nothing waits on a business day you've already slept through.
9. Landing logistics This is the part most agents skip. Movers, storage, timing your household goods against your closing date, utility setup, vehicle registration and driver's license, school enrollment timelines, and whether you actually need a car here. I'll give you my list and the local contacts I use.
10. Closing and keys, from wherever you are Signing happens remotely or in person, escrow records, and the house is yours. If you're still in transit, I'll do the final walkthrough on video and meet the movers if that's what you need.
11. Actually settling in The part I like best. Your coffee shop, your grocery store, your farmers market, the urgent care, the vet, where to take out-of-town guests, and which neighborhood spots are worth the hype. I'll get you a list. I'll also just answer the random text six months later about where to get a decent bagel.
Not Sure Where You Fit?
That's fine — most people aren't at the start. Send me a text or fill out the form and we'll get on a call. I'll ask some questions, give you my honest read on your situation, and tell you what I'd do. No pressure, no pitch. Worst case, you get free advice from someone who really likes talking about Seattle.
Or Text me directly: (206) 778-6330
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