The Real Estate Gals have now successfully helped us sell our third house after helping us buy three houses. The team is perfectly strategic helping us sell our house each time within a few days. They knew what to do to help us win in bidding wars and increase our sale price in the same way.We followed their advice to the T in preparing our homes to sell, and the results were fantastic. The rationale was always transparent, and each step of negotiating. The process was timely and supported: you can't do better! S. R. read more

Unfortunately, my wife and I had a bad experience with Johnine, and I can't recommend this place. We were FTHB in WS. Our search was fast (under contract 2 weeks after we got in contact with Johnine, only had 2 visits with Johnine, and 4 with Tonya as we did a lot of open-houses on our own). We were on top of everything and had an excellent lender (Ryan Maxwell from Homestreet) allowing us to close in 3 weeks. We reached out to this agency after having a mediocre experience with Redfin. Given their stellar rating, we were expecting to be more lucky with Johnine and her team. After an initial meeting with Johnine, we had some trial visits with Tonya over one evening, and it was excellent. Tonya was scouting the different homes, taking the time to discuss with us, and sounded very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed our experience and were looking forward to keep working with her. After these visits, we only got to interact with Johnine. To say that Johnine lacked professionalism or represents too many people is an understatement. We only had 2 visits scheduled with her, and she had been significantly late for both (15-30 minutes), even though she is the one that set the time. Both time was because she was touring homes with another customer on the other side of Seattle and couldn't make it on time for our visits. This was mildly annoying, but the second property was one we wanted to put an offer on, so we stayed put. Then, things turned chaotic. As we signified interest in putting an offer on that second property, it was a nightmare to schedule a time to meet with Johnine. The offer deadline was on a Monday, but Johnine could only meet us on the Sunday before. She had to reschedule that meeting 3 times, even though she was the one setting the time every single time. During that meeting, Johnine did not remember the offer Deadline correctly and thought it was on Tuesday. If I didn't bring it up, Johnine was only planning to work on drafting the offer the following day and might have missed the offer. After our offer was accepted, communication became really abysmal. As a FTHB, I do not expect to be baby-sitted, but I was hopping that Johnine would at least detail us what to expect and when. However, she took the fact that we were on top of things as an excuse to not do anything than the bare minimum. This caused unnecessary stress on our end as we were trying to figure out stuff completely on our own. All we had from Johnine for the following 3 weeks was a brief "next step" email with poorly worded shallow details on what to expect, and barely understandable instructions regarding utilities. That's it. Even at open-houses, listing agents distribute printed PDF with more useful information than what Johnine provided us. At no point did Johnine mention anything regarding a final walkthrough that we had to schedule ourselves and that we didn't even do with her. The ice on the cake was closing day, where we had literally no idea what to expect the day of. Johnine was out of town and couldn't get the key for us, so Tonya was scheduled to do it for us and meet with us the following day. But the day of, Tonya informed us BY EMAIL that she couldn't make it, and that the seller's agent left our home key under a rock in the garden for us to pick up anytime. Neither Johnine nor Tonya tried to arrange for another agent/staff to pick up the key for us to make sure that we were able to enter our property. They did not even bother calling us to check what was the best option for us or apologize for the inconvenience. I had to interrupt my work day in panic to go figure out what rock was the correct one and pick up the key. Johnine received a $27,000 commission out of that purchase where I felt she did not represent us better than a Redfin agent and put no effort to represent us at any step of the process. Beware. read more

I'd give Real Estate Gals 6 stars if I could. We have used them multiple times, both in selling and buying homes in Seattle and the surrounding area. I can't say enough about the professionalism, knowledge, and patience they bring to the task of buying a new home, or selling your current residence. And they know the Seattle area so well, they'll offer valuable insights into the pros and cons of any location you may be to considering. Look no further, call Johnine at Real Estate Gals. You will be glad you did! read more

We just closed on selling our longtime Seattle home. Tonya was a pleasure to work with. She was professional, responsive, and took it upon herself to ensure that our listing put its absolute best foot forward . When we found ourselves navigating multiple offers, she remained focused, explained all the easy-to-miss details and ultimately helped us select the best buyer. We couldn't have closed this chapter in a better way. Thank you, Tonya and the rest of the Real Estate Gals team! read more

We sold our home and bought a new one in Seattle with Johnine and Tonya. Both were incredible and we'd highly recommend them! SALE: We got multiple offers and Johnine negotiated a great deal for us - dream price!! They had great suggestions for improvements and excellent contractor contacts that helped us get top dollar! PURCHASE: Tonya had amazing patience as she showed us MANY houses and didn't pressure us to make a hasty decision. She has a great eye for detail and helped us get comfortable with pros & cons for each potential house. In the end, we found a great home in this crazy market and she negotiated a fantastic price for us. Very happy with the entire process! read more

A friend recommended Johnine Larson with Real Estate Gals, the best advice I ever received. We wanted to buy a home, but it was a hot sellers' market. Not being millionaires, we had a tight budget with no wiggle room. With Johnine's help we found a house we wanted. It was the first house we put an offer on, ours was one of 16 offers. The seller picked our offer, 100% because of Johnine's guidance and experience in preparing winning offers based on things other than big bucks. We've had our home for three years and still love it! Thank you Johnine. read more

I have been with Real Estate Gals for 26 years and 6 different houses. Johnine, Scott, and Tonya are smart, ethical, and hard-working. I always feel like I'm getting honest advice and factual information, which allows me to make good decisions. More than that, they truly care about you. They have become like family over the years. read more

Johnine consistently goes above and beyond for her clients, and I so appreciated working with her. She took time to learn about my needs and wants in a home, and then looked out for houses that would be a great fit. She regularly provided feedback that allowed me to skip looking at houses that wouldn't ultimately be a fit, which I really valued. She also provided great input on the houses we looked at. Her expertise, honesty, and excellent communication make her a wonderful individual to work with. I couldn't be happier with the home I bought, and I so appreciated the opportunity to work with Johnine! I would highly recommend working with her. read more

Scott and Johnine are excellent. We appreciated having their honest opinions when viewing houses. They made the home buying experience stress-free for us. They also have great contacts for lenders, contractors and inspectors. We highly recommend Real Estate Gals! read more

Johnine was very highly recommended to my husband and me by a number of friends and she is, indeed, excellent. She is switched on, honest and has integrity. We took a long time (years) to buy a house. Johnine had patience and did a great job educating us. By the way, our friends were of widely different economic situations and she found good houses in each person's price range. After that good experience we bought rental properties with Johnine's help. She was great at helping us buy. And is a terrific manager. Finally, she is always available to help us find contractors, answer questions and help with follow-through if that is needed. Quite simply, she cares about what she does and about us. read more

Johnine was very highly recommended to me by a friend and I've never looked back. It's rare to find someone with as much honesty and integrity as Johnine does, and after searching for a house with her and Scott for 6+ months, I would trust them with just about anything. Even though I had confused criteria and a difficult time even choosing an area to focus on, I never felt rushed or pressured to buy. Johnine and Scott were always available to show me places and to discuss my thoughts. Johnine was very good at doing a free mini-inspection for every place that I was halfway serious about. Sometimes she would find issues that would have been a real problem and we were able to escape without much effort. Other times, if the place really had a clean bill of health, she let me know that (but still never pressured me). The thing that has further impressed me is that, even after I bought the house, Johnine has been totally available to me to help me find contractors to do work, answer really basic first-time homebuyer questions like how to get a new mailbox setup with the post office and how to apply sealant to shower caulking, and even to help with design ideas. I'm blown away by the follow-through. She doesn't have to do it, but she cares so much that she does. 100% recommended. read more

Johnine is a real estate rock star! As first-time homebuyers, my partner and I needed someone we could trust in the home-buying process. Johnine's MANY years of experience shone through every step of the way. Her skill at negotiation, her deep knowledge of the market, and her top-tier customer service to buyers were a winning combination for us. We won in a multiple bidder situation, getting a great deal on a gorgeous home we hope to live in for decades. We bought during an incredibly competitive seller's market, and it made a HUGE difference knowing we had a highly experienced, skilled negotiator on our side. Johnine was also incredible at helping us get down to 'brass tacks' on what we REALLY wanted in a home, and then she worked hard to make sure we got exactly what we were looking for. She never rushed us, and she was great at weeding out homes that wouldn't resell or that needed too many costly repairs. She has deep knowledge of the Seattle market, and knows the neighborhoods and market values inside and out. She gave us great advice on what price was too much to pay. I would recommend Johnine to anyone who wants a skilled agent that can help them find and win their dream home. read more

If there's one thing I've learned as a first-time home buyer is that a good agent is someone who knows their stuff, is well educated about the process, and knows the area... but a great agent is someone who can really be your advocate. It's someone who really understands your personal needs, knows what you want in a home, and can help you every step of the way. It takes a lot of effort to build that level of understanding. And with the premise of the buyer-agent relationship, it is extremely difficult to trust your agent has your absolute best interest in mind. With Johnine Larsen and the Real Estate Gals, creating that rapport was easy, effortless, and was a very positive experience. Johnine is not just a great agent, but an exceptional one. There's a really good reason Johnine and her team come highly recommended by both friends and family, and a reason why they're still around (started 1989) when all their business comes from referrals. They're simply great. They know their stuff, they care about customer service, and they take the time to really understand your needs and what you're looking for. As first-time home buyers my partner and I had so many questions! Johnine is incredibly patient and a good communicator. She took the time to answer every one of our questions. She walked us through the process every step of the way, and she set our expectations while we prepared for a life change. With her incredible wealth of expertise and knowledge of the greater Seattle areas, we felt comfortable with her judgment and recommendations on potential homes while we searched and searched. And after we found the home of our dreams, Johnine was there to help us put in a very crisp and attractive offer and to advocate on our behalf when we found out there were other offers on our dream home. We couldn't have found it without her, and we couldn't be happier. Thank you Johnine Larsen, and the Real Estate Gals, for helping us find our first home and making it such a great and rewarding experience! And to those of you looking to purchase a home, please do make sure to interview Johnine Larsen and her team for the job as your real estate agents. You won't be disappointed you did. read more

Darcie was a great partner during my long search and throughout the short sale process. She was tireless in her understanding as i wavered from one idea to the next then determined and knowledgeable during the months it took to finally close on my great house. I am totally happy with my house and thank her for that. I highly recommend working with Darcie Wells! read more

We worked with Johnine, Gaile, and Scott when purchasing our first home back in the summer of '09. They are truly awesome! Johnine drove us all over Seattle looking for the perfect place (and sometimes multiple trips to the same places because we needed a second look!) and put up with my near constant emails and questions...all with patience and professionalism. Best of all, Johnine was honest, trustworthy and tells it like it is, which is especially important for first time home buyers. I would definitely work with them all again. Oh, and we love our house! Thanks Real Estate Gals! read more

My husband and I had a great experience working with Darcie. We viewed hundreds of listings and toured at least 30 houses with Darcie before finally settling on one. She was very patient, never tried to pressure us into making an offer, and was honest about her concerns about potential homes we viewed, pointing out flaws we might not have noticed otherwise. She was extremely quick to respond to emails and texts, and very patient with the many dumb questions we had as first time homebuyers. We really felt like she went above and beyond for us, working around our busy schedules, fitting in last minute viewings, etc. Even once she had the sale in the bag, she still went out of her way to make sure we were happy, even covering the cost of a small repair the sellers neglected to finish, so that we wouldn't have to deal with the stress of it. We definitely recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell. read more

Johnine and Gaile are the best! They helped us purchase our new home, and expertly handled the sale of our existing home and a rental property. We relied on their expertise and amazing contacts that simplified the entire process. We couldn't be happier, or more appreciative. read more

I cannot say enough good things about this team of experts. I have both sold a home and bought a home with them and had a great experience both times. It's hard to know who to trust and it is important to feel confident when you are making such big decisions and while I'm normally a real control freak in situations like this, I found myself able to take it down several notches, knowing I was in good hands. We ended up in a competitive situation when we bought our new house, but Johnine really shined, showing us why you spend money on a real realtor rather than getting a discount. We won the bidding war against several other offers without much escalation because she knew what the seller needed, presented in person, and used her deep knowledge of the market to get to a price everyone was happy with. Not only that, but the whole team provided incredible service, helping us get competitive bids for contractors and even meeting with them so we didn't have to leave work. read more