My wife and I had a wonderful experience with Mark, Carey, and the McLean Mortgage Team. They were…read morevery thorough, advocated on our behalf, and respectful. I would highly recommend and encourage anyone seeking a mortgage servicer to contact McLean Mortgage. Trust, honest, and integrity go a long way when purchasing a home. It is more than just who can offer the best rate or lowest closing costs (which McLean can definitely help with).

When we were ready to sell our house, we offered the listing to Mark, and had a disappointing…read moreexperience. We had worked with his firm to buy the house and, in retrospect, I think we gave the benefit of the doubt a little too much the first time around. Both times, he was not straightforward with us about pretty fundamental stuff that we'd tried to establish from the beginning. He was also not especially positive to work with, and none of the contractors he recommended were positive either. On the selling end, what we were looking for was a realtor to work with us as teammates in selling our house, allowing us a little bit of input into how the house would be made over for the sale. We were selling a vintage colonial house in MD, so it made sense for it to be presented just a hair differently than a modern high-rise condo in downtown DC, for example. Of the realtors we interviewed, Mark had the most disagreements with us about how to make over the house, but we thought he would be the most straightforward person to work with. So before offering him the listing, we asked how differences of opinion would be settled, and he said he'd ultimately defer to us. After six weeks of waiting on his primary stager, Mark finally brought over another one, Bona Gjoni (who has iffy reviews on Yelp). We wanted to be open-minded, and we agreed to at least 80% of what she said. However, she was very hard to work with; she was cold, rarely spoke to us (she mainly just addressed Mark), and she frankly seemed put off that we were there at all. (Mark later explained that they usually just stage vacant homes.) We suggested that if she told us how strongly she felt about her suggestions on a scale of 1-10, we could use that to inform our decision -- but she rejected this idea out of hand and said she's "a 10 on everything." She wanted us to paint our kitchen a specific shade of light brown (!) because "all [her] clients do that". (Shouldn't design be tailored to the property, not the same for all?) Oddly enough, what was a dealbreaker for Mark was when we disagreed with Bona's directive to paint our whole fireplace a glossy jet black. This seemed way out of character for our parkside country-mouse colonial, and we emailed Mark to ask if we could take a breath before deciding whether to proceed with Bona -- while emphasizing how important it was to us to make sure *he* was comfortable with all the choices made. He said we should leave all these decisions to the professionals, and wrote a long message about how experienced he was. When we said we get it, we just want to be *a* part of the team to some extent, he abruptly emailed us to bow out of the listing because of the fact that we "have your own ideas of how you want to present and market your home." This was a real curveball a month and a half into working with him. We didn't have any particularly zany ideas for our house -- it seemed like the problem was that we wanted any input whatsoever. Then I realized that all 3 of the references I'd called from his recent sales were seniors who had already moved into assisted living and had him handle 100% of the preparation process -- maybe that is his jam. So it seems like Mark prefers to only work with sellers who do not want any input at all; that's fine if that's his choice -- the frustrating thing was that he was not straightforward with us from the beginning, even though we tried to be very straightforward with him. We had shared all our opinions/preferences on the house during the interview stage, so none of it was a surprise. We had even directly asked about how he'd handle differences of opinion. If he had been honest from the beginning about his "my way or the highway" approach, it would have saved us all a lot of wasted time. In the end, the realtor we ended up selling our house with was outstanding: very kind, smart, and straightforward; his stager and most other contractors were excellent (super nice, very responsive, and did quality work); and we were thrilled with the results. So all's well that ends well, but much like in our buying experience, Mark did a bait-and-switch. We told him exactly what we were looking for, he accepted enthusiastically, and then he changed things up on us later in a non-straightforward way. Our hope is that an honest review can be helpful to others trying to choose a realtor that will suit their needs.

Mark Meyerdirk is a rock star, plain and simple. Super organized, on the ball, and extremely…read moreknowledgeable about the DC market. We saw a listing in pre-sale and loved it. Mark went to bat for us and within an hour he'd sent us spreadsheets of comparable homes, pricing trends, and his impressions on what we should offer. He also advised us to write a personal letter to the seller. He surmised correctly from the condition of the house that the owners would likely prefer an early offer so they don't have a parade of people coming in and out of their lovely home. He was so right! The offer price he suggested was higher than the asking but not astronomically high. After reviewing all the data he shared, we followed his advice for the offer price and also spent some time writing a personal letter to the seller. It worked! Even though the sellers had another pre-offer, they accepted ours. Mark was not done. Since we were first time home buyers, Mark walked us through all the steps to closing. He communicated by email and text and answered questions at all times of the day and night, be it 7AM or 11PM. His working style fits right in with the typical DC type-A crowd, who (like me) want things done yesterday. Finally, we closed and then went out for drinks with Mark. He even bought us a surprise house warming gift that was incredibly thoughtful and personal. Mark is such a personable and likable guy. He'll adapt to your working style and roll with the punches. His communication style is straightforward and (thankfully) completely lacking the typical real-estate patronizing tone. I cannot recommend him enough for the DC market! Apart from being our agent, he is now our friend and we look forward to that friendship. Kudos to Mark. Even my angry cat is happy!

Libby Bish and Michael Ubertini are consummate professionals and were a joy to work with in the…read moreselling of our house in Arlington, Virginia. Libby and Michael were very informative in walking us through the selling process and guided my wife and I throughout. They were always accessible and totally responsive to questions and thoughts we had. They were very skillful with marketing our house, and that led to a sale within the first few days of going on market, and at a price that exceeded our expectations. Libby and Michael clearly are knowledgeable of the DC and Northern Virginia markets and brought that knowledge to bear on the sales process for our house. My wife and I enjoyed working with them and would do so again in a heartbeat! We unequivocally recommend them.

We can't say enough great things about Libby Bish and Michael Ubertini of Bish Properties, who…read morehelped us buy our first home in Arlington, VA! As first-time buyers, we had tons of questions, but they made the whole process feel straightforward and low-stress. The craziest part? We got the very first house we put an offer on and UNDER asking, even with 4 other offers on the table. In Northern Arlington! Truly unheard of. Libby knew exactly how to position our offer, and their experience and guidance are 100% the reason we landed our home. On top of that, they're simply the nicest people. Can't recommend them enough!

Seth is very knowledgeable and professional. I contacted him on a Friday for quotes for a mortgage…read moreand he got back to me right away with the quotes along with other helpful information. The rates he got are very competitive and he has been very easy to work with--highly recommended!

Billy Saylor and his team made our entire mortgage experience quick and easy. He explained…read moreeverything throughout the entire process and got us a great rate on our cash out refi! This was our second experience with Billy - he sorted another refi for us several years ago, which is why we contacted him again this time. He is all about customer satisfaction, and we are definitely satisfied customers!

Billy is fantastic! We contacted several lenders for quotes, and he was the first to respond. He…read morehad a specific recommendation for a loan option that worked well for our circumstances. He answered all of our questions and promptly responded to phone calls and emails. We were in a rush to close quickly, and he made sure that we did. Very happy to avoid the potential rate hikes. Couldn't recommend anyone more highly!

I recently purchased two properties. Both of my home loans were taken care of by the SAI mortgage…read morecompany. I'm very pleased with them as they handled my loans professionally and were able to help me close by the closing dates. Mr. Saleem and Mr. Nadeem both were very professional and extremely humble during the whole process. I really appreciate them and I can't say thank you enough for their professionalism, patience and their help. They are easy and joyful to work with. Mr. Saleem went above and beyond to bring the lowest interest rate for me and Mr. Nadeem finished up the process smoothly. They are a great team!

Excellent customer service. They made sure I had everything I needed and displayed great…read morecommunication throughout the process. They were clear and concise and were super friendly. I highly recommend using them to get your loan on your new home.

Kevin Tsan guided me through the entire process from beginning to end. He took the time to find out…read morewhat I was looking for by listening to me and asking smart questions. He explained the house buying process and the extra effort needed to succeed in Arlington Virginia and DC area. He referred me to a great local lender. He advised me where to look, what to look for, and how much to bid. At every step of the process, he told me exactly what needed to be done next. At the same time, he was never pushy and always ensured I was comfortable with what I am getting into. Kevin fully understand the VA/DC market and by following his advice, we ended up succeeding on getting the offer ratified. He held my hands and educated me every step of the way: from mortgage bankers, to desirable neighborhoods in our range, to home inspectors and contractors I could trust. Any question I had, I'd receive an incredibly detailed and informative response, and I learn way more than I would have in the hours I'd spend online trying to figure it out for ourselves. What I appreciated most about Kevin Tsan is that he was a completely genuine person, and always had my best interest at heart. In such a crazy market, I ended up house-hunting for a while. In that time, I rode a rollercoaster of emotions, but always knew I could trust Kevin Tsan to keep us level-headed and focused on the goal. On top of all that, he remains to be a great person to know even after their work is done. He is absolutely amazing recommendations for anything you might need for your home: movers, gardeners, handymen, plumbers, electricians, etc. Anytime I need to hire someone for something house related, the first thing I do is email Kevin for recommendations. If you are looking for a buyer's or seller's agent in Virginia and DC, you aren't going to find anyone better than Kevin Tsan. Thanks to Kevin Tsan I have been able to find the right home for investment and couldn't be happier. I know exactly who to call and refer my family and friends!

I have had two awesome real estate transactions with Kevin. He worked really hard to get the price…read moredown on my purchase and got me over asking on my sale. He goes out of his way to help with everything. Highly recommend.

I was disappointed in DC Living Real Estate, even though I would say that the price we ultimately…read morereceived for the sale of our house was satisfactory, as were the number of days the house was on the market. In addition, the DC Living brokers worked hard. There were aspects, too, of our sale that would have tried the patience of any broker, and they remained cheerful and positive throughout. Some, and perhaps most, buyers would find the two principal brokers to be a good fit. Despite all of this, I found my relationship with one of the brokers to be among the most problematic I've had with a professional. I would urge anyone considering these brokers to make sure that they are equally comfortable with both, as their styles are quite different. My clear preference for dealing with the one with whom I felt I still had a good relationship was overridden at every turn. I particularly regret having agreed to dual agency. In effect, as soon as I had done so, I no longer felt I could receive reliable advice on the price negotiations, and later on the negotiations over the list of repairs. I'm pretty sure in retrospect that the buyers would have gone through with the purchase without the split-it-down-the-middle approach that dual agency invites. I don't know this for sure, and it is quite possible we would have made the same concessions had we been advised by a broker with no stake in serving the buyer, but with dual agency I couldn't be sure. I don't blame DC Living for having agreed to dual agency, although it wasn't clear until afterwards when I asked that they did not have a prior relationship to the buyers before meeting them at one of our open houses. Later, when the broker with whom I had a problematic relationship described a portion of the commission that they were kicking back to the buyer as having been granted to help make the deal work, it seemed curious. When I inquired, I was advised that the buyers had asked for it during the negotiations to bridge the gap between us, but it was not disclosed at the time it was asked for or granted, but rather later as a heads up in connection with a form that we would see at settlement. It didn't make any difference to the amount of commission we paid, but it dovetailed with the narrative I was developing in which I felt managed and not listened to or treated with genuine respect.

We have used DC Living - specifically Deb and Skip - for three purchases and two sales of houses…read moreacross the last decade. On the sell side, they got us record setting high prices for the block both times. On the sell side, they were incredibly patient with us, introducing us to various neighborhoods, faring stops and starts to our thinking about our readiness to move. In addition, they are real home experts - the best at recommending handymen/painters/floor guys and have excellent ideas on home improvement in general. They are pretty much our go-to house consultants. Couldn't recommend more highly.