We have bought and sold 4 properties and these brokers are by far the best. I only regret not having found them earlier for previous transactions. Marc doubles as a broker and attorney which is a huge plus (do not underestimate the value of having an attorney on the team). Claire does the showings and agent contacts. Both are extremely flexible, work tirelessly, point out the good and bad of properties, have a huge knowledge of real estate, and never pressure you to hurry into a deal. 100 percent recommend. read more

Solid 5 stars if not more. Professionalism plus integrity is what you get when working with Marc. You'll have a strategic thinker who is experienced in real estate transactions who is watching out for your interest while offering his advice and listening, letting you take the lead. I worked with Marc to complete an off market transaction. From the first time we talked to each other, for my inquiry of how an off market sale works to when attorneys like him get involved, Marc was communicative, informative, patient, and to the point. He spent time talking and explaining things to me even when there may not be a deal. When I called again after making some progress, he remembered our previous conversation and we were able to quickly confirm next steps. He also spent substantial time conducting comp analysis with me, which I wasn't really expecting, provided referrals for services as needed, and walked me through the contract point by point per my questions. It was simply superb service. Worth every penny. I would also say that he was really watching out for our interest. In cases where we might be able to negotiate, he worked to point those out and discussed potential strategies with us. On top of that, when we ended up making decisions he may not have made himself, he quickly accepted our perspective without making a big deal of it. In the end, we successfully completed the transaction without fuss. And I would recommend Marc for anyone who has needs for his type of service. I cannot say enough good things about him. read more

I had been a client for many years waiting to buy a home in the Seattle area so dealt with both Marc and Claire in this process. Claire helped me with the recent purchase of home on my 3rd property attempt. Claire was on the ball with everything, extremely communicative and responsive even after normal business hours. I felt like she treated me as she would a close family member: she always had my back, tried to understand my needs, and always protected my interests. I was amazed at her professionalism. Not only that, I had her (and Marc's) extensive experience as a lawyer to maneuver some tricky situations with the transaction. I truly could not have asked for a better experience. I also saved tons of money compared to a regular broker due to their fee structure. I would not hesitate to use them again. read more

WaLaw helped us purchase a townhome in Capitol Hill. Having all of the documents reviewed by an attorney gave us a considerable amount of peace of mind. Until working with a real estate attorney, I didn't realize how many real estate agents and builders give you legally questionable information during the home purchase process. During the due diligence process of a townhouse that we were interested in purchasing, we found a legal issue with their covenants, conditions, and restrictions. We notified the owner/seller of the problem and decided not to move forward with this property. The current owners of the townhome complex had to hire a real estate attorney and started fixing the issue with the CC&R. It's so much nicer to be able to avoid this kind of legal mess before you are in it. We ended up buying another townhome. WaLaw charges a fixed amount of fees, which gives you access to an attorney and agent. Honestly, they have a very strong value proposition. The only downside is that they have more of fixed working hours. If you are the kind of person who wants to talk to your agent at 2 am on weekends, it may not work out. This wasn't an issue for us, though. I'll definitely use WaLaw again if I sell or buy a house in the Seattle area in the future. read more

I can't recommend WaLaw highly enough as a buyer's agency, as long as all of the below are true for you: 1.) You know the area where you want to buy a home fairly well. You know the pros and cons of the various neighboroods, you know the schools, you know the roads and traffic patterns. 2.) You know what kind of house you want, and in what price range. You're familiar with the various house styles in your neighborhood choices, you're familiar with what features you want. 3.) You're comfortable finding your own house choices on Redfin and similar sites. 4.) You're comfortable choosing a house after using a relatively low number of in-person property tours (less than 10 ideally). 5.) You're 99% sure that you're going to buy a house in the Puget Sound area in the next couple of years (because you pay WaLaw a flat fee whether you buy or not). These were all true for my husband and me, and WaLaw made our first-time home buying experience far smoother than we thought possible. Saving over $8000 on the commission at closing didn't hurt either! I would not use WaLaw if I was relocating into the Seattle area and needed to buy something that would suit my needs quickly, nor if I needed a great deal of hand-holding to figure out what I wanted in house and location. WaLaw WILL: * give you the abilty to tour houses on the MLS (some # of initial tour-hours are free, after which you pay them by the hour) * guide you through the intricacies of the buying process after you've chosen a house * represent you effectively in negotiations * provide legal review of all contracts involved before you sign your life away * consistently and professionally communicate with you, the listing agent, the mortgage broker, and escrow * provide expert comparative market analysis to keep you from overpaying WaLaw WILL NOT: * buy you lunches * interrogate you at length about your hopes and dreams * call you up with houses they found for you * drive you around to tour houses * tour houses forever "for free" (in exchange for an enormous payday at the end) * pressure you to close on a house - they get paid either way, so they have no incentive to sell you anything. For this package of services, WaLaw charges a flat fee 40-90% less than a traditional real estate agent (depending on property price). We would use WaLaw again in a heartbeat. -Olivia & David Aldridge read more

Have (those of you who are unfortunate enough to watch live TV) noticed an increasing number of generic commercials for REEL-TOURS? I'm sure I know the reason for that - it's because the traditional realtor model is dying. You can point towards the likes of Redfin, but I'm quite certain WaLaw is doing their own brand of damage. After buying a home with Marc and crew, I don't know why anyone would bother with that old fashioned institution. Well, I guess I kinda do. I'm the kind of person that knows exactly what I want and have no problems finding it myself. All I really need in transactions like a home purchase is sound advice from someone whose knows local nuances and can act as a sounding board for my crazy ass ideas. I don't need a secretary, a chauffeur, or someone to convince me I'm not making the biggest mistake of my life. What I do need is someone who can work around my schedule, communicate mostly through email, tell me the truth like it's going out of style, and text me when there's an email I need to read RIGHT NOW. In the end, we ended up with a house we didn't think we'd ever find in a neighborhood we didn't think we could ever afford. All this made possible by a little diligence with Redfin (we actually found our house with the mobile app while on vacation) and a bias for action. I don't know about you, but $12k is worth a little effort on my part. I knew we made the right decision, on house and broker, when Marc was noticeably excited about the potential of our new place. Now the adventure begins... read more

We worked with Jason, Caitlin, and Claire to purchase a new home. Having read all of the reviews about WaLaw's structure, we knew what we were getting into. We did our own research and went to over 50 open houses on the weekends over a course of three months, from Seattle to Everett and even some on the east side. We ended up saving more money than we had spent hiring them because of their rebate. This is NOT a regular real estate agency where the realtors do the leg work for you. They state their structure and fees clearly on their contract. WaLaw does not look for houses for you- you do your own homework and ask them to show you the home during their business hours. Once we narrowed down the houses we wanted to see again after going to the open houses during the weekend, we emailed Claire or Jason and would receive an answer during business hours within 30 minutes to an hour. They are professional, punctual, and very responsive via email, text, or phone call. It was somewhat challenging to schedule all the home viewings with WaLaw only during business hours but it worked out. As other reviewers pointed out, you have to have a pretty good idea about the type of home you want to buy before working with them. One thing to note- If you are considering putting in an offer on a foreclosure you may want to discuss the process with your WaLaw agent first to ensure that the process goes smoothly. I highly recommend WaLaw if you know what type of house you want to buy, are 95-100% sure that you will be buying, and have good access to a computer with Internet. The money you save in the end if you do it correctly makes working with them worth it. read more

Had an opportunity to sell my home off market, and good friends recommended using WaLaw to do the legal paperwork + escrow for a fixed price. Ended up spending $1500 for their services versus paying the traditional 6% I would have if I sold on market through realtors. Significant savings, and was taken care of the whole way. Recommended. [Edit: to be fair to WaLaw, my fee was low simply due to the fact that the house sale price and purchaser was already identified, and the only work needed was sales agreement + escrow. Your mileage may vary, but will still come out *way* ahead due to the flat fee.] read more

My wife and I worked with Marc and his associate Claire to purchase a new home. New to the Seattle area, the duo initially helped us peruse the very limited selection of resales on the Eastside. I checked the MLS listings every day but we were frustrated by what was available in our target municipalities. Claire took point in this phase, joining us on these listing tours. We ultimately went with the new construction route after three months of almost weekly open houses and tours. Once two promising listing was found, Marc helped us negotiate / evaluate with the two builders in the Sammamish area who happened to place listings on the MLS. (I believe this is key, as WaLR needs to earn the agent commission that they then rebate to *you*). He correctly pointed out the potential pitfalls in new construction and structuring the commission rebates so it would still pass muster with our mortgage lender. As other reviews have noted, Marc's fee structures are much lower than Redfin's or RE agents that will rebate some of their commissions. This is possible because Marc runs an uber-lean operation and he expects you to do a lot of the home-search legwork. I definitely recommend these guys without reservation -- in fact, we hope to use Marc again someday! read more

This is how real estate transactions should be done! I've worked with Mark and Craig on two different occasions, and both times I've had great experiences. The truth is I generally complain about lawyers, but this firm is different. I highly recommend them. Every penny I've spent has been worth it. So if you're looking for someone to help you buy or sell a home, look no further. These guys know the business and will only have your best interests in mind. Of course, the commission rebate at closing only sweetens the deal! read more

We had a wonderful experience working with Marc at WaLaw buying our home in Brier. If you're comfortable using the internet to find houses to look at, WaLaw is the way to go. Other reviewers have noted the pricing structure - you need to be really sure you are going to buy, since you pay some money upfront to prove you are serious. Also, don't expect them to do all the legwork for you - you need to find houses you like and ask to see them. Going to lots of open houses helps too (that's how we found the house we ended up choosing). With our first house, we used a conventional real-estate agent, which was fine, but we ended up finding the house we wanted without that agent's help. Really all we needed was someone to let us in for tours, and someone to do the heavy lifting when it comes time for all the paperwork. If that's all YOU need, you should check out WaLaw. With our second house, we were going to use Redfin, but my friend who used WaLaw to purchase his house recommended that we check them out. I'm so glad we did! On the paperwork side, WaLaw is absolutely ideal, because they are lawyers too! They aren't just pushing papers around that somebody else wrote - they can make changes on your behalf, and they can explain things to you as a lawyer. Marc and Claire were great from start to finish. I would highly recommend them to anybody. Plus, you save money - even more than you would save by using Redfin! read more

I'm currently using WaLaw as a buyer and love their innovative flat-fee model which cuts out bias and corruption from the homebuying process. I wish all agents worked this way! A normal "buyer's agent" claims to represent the buyer, but is actually being paid by the seller to make a deal happen. Sellers specify secret kickback percentages in the private listing fields that only other agents (and not homebuyers) can see. So you never know (as a buyer) whether "your" agent is advising you toward a certain property because they truly consider it better for you or because that one provides a larger kickback. And even once you decide on a property, the kickback is structured as a sale percentage so your agent actually gets paid more if they convince you to overpay! WaLaw brings wonderful transparency and honesty to the process. They charge a flat fee ($8,995 for sales under $1M) no matter what property you buy, so there's no conflict of interest and you can trust their advice. Plus their fee is normally less than the standard real estate kickback ("comission") and so it usually results in thousands of extra dollars in your pocket! Having an actual real estate attorney on board is a huge plus as well. Five stars for WaLaw and keep up the good work! read more

If you know that you are going to buy a house (and this is admittedly a big if) WaLaw is a great option. From my experience it wasn't just a great option, it was the best one. The best reason to use them is the financial one. Using WaLaw you will end up paying much less money than if you used a traditional agent or even other alternative agents that I have looked at (eg Redfin). I don't know about you, but I am a big fan of paying less money. If we ignore the financial argument (which would be stupid, but let's make believe for just a second) there is still a strong case to be made for using WaLaw. I have worked with traditional agents in the past and invariably I get a bit of the used car salesman vibe from them. They are trying to sell you something, no matter how much they hide it. They simply cannot be impartial, it is not possible. This isn't a flaw in the agent; it's a flaw in the system. Marc and Craig are not motivated by making a sale; they get paid either way (which is why you had better be sure you want to buy) and that shows in your interactions with them. I always felt like they had my best interest in mind when they spoke. I had the pleasure of working with both of them and their responsiveness was great. I would recommend WaLaw to anyone who is sure that they want to buy a house. read more

I also thought WaLaw was a great idea and considering listing with them, until I had an experience as a buyer bidding for a property that WaLaw listed. We had a clean offer with contingencies waived. On offer date, there was zero communication from Walaw, only a notification at the end that we didn't get the house, no words why we lost. Later, we found the property was sold at a price that is 100k lower than our price. Again, we were not even contacted in the process! We had a seasoned real estate veteran checking out the scenario, all the paperworks were reviewed. While we all agree that even a good offer may not win a bidding war in Seattle's tough market, but the puzzle of why we never even got contacted remains unsolved. We moved on and ended up purchasing another home. In the process we put in a dozen offers and we were perfectly ok when seller chooses another offer. This is the only case that we felt something strange happened. While it is difficult nor fair to speculate, for sellers it is just something to be aware of. read more

We bought and sold our house in Queen Anne through WALAW. That saved us over $18,000 when we sold our house! Marc and his team are real estate attorneys who charge clients a flat rate for their work instead of the 3% commission real estate agents charge. And because Marc and his team are experienced real estate attorneys, we thought they provided us with better and smarter service than s regular real estate agent ever could. We don't understand why anyone would want to sell a home through a real estate broker, pay a lot more, and be represented by someone who has less experience and expertise. We highly recommend WALAW and Marc Holmes. read more

My wife and I had used traditional agents before--once to buy a house, and once to sell that same house. We just couldn't see the value, especially on the buying end. If you are prepared to browse MLS listings on your own (like we did anyway with our traditional buyers agent), you can save a boatload of money going with a flat-fee agent like Walaw. They charge about $5,000, which includes attorney fees. Their fees are significantly lower than Redfin, so we went with them. Though we were paying less with Walaw, they were better in every way than our previous buyers' agent: they were more experienced, more honest, and smarter. I've been recommending Walaw (and more generally, the flat-fee model) to everyone I know. It's a no-brainer. We ended up saving $17,125 with Walaw when compared to a traditional agent. I just can't see how home buyers are leaving that kind of money on the table. Go with Walaw, people! read more

As a licensed real estate agent in the state of Colorado I was looking for a WA agent to handle my Bellevue transaction - specifically, I was looking for an agent that was not only professional and competent in real estate but also in WA real estate law. Marc Holmes and his team provided exceptional service - in fact, for a flat fee brokerage service I was astounded by Marc's level of commitment, passion and sheer knowledge. To say that I'm a satisfied customer is an understatement - Marc Holmes and WaLaw realty provide the absolute best value in the business. From discussing pricing strategy to negotiation, inspection and closing, Marc was there for me every step of the way. Whether you're searching for an agent on the buy/sell side, I highly recommend Marc and am more than happy to field any questions about the process and about my experience with WaLaw. read more

I can't say enough about the amazing team at WaLaw. I've been working with Marc, Claire, and Jason for quite some time, and they've proven to be an excellent team. As many others have stated, the model at WaLaw for buying a home works perfectly for the buyer who plans on doing a majority of the leg work. The upside is that this can save you a ton of money at closing. Once you've identified a property you would like to pursue, they're extremely responsive, and incredibly knowledgeable in walking you through the process. read more

We used WaLaw to list and sell our house. Marc was great. He walked us through the whole process and it was great to have a lawyer explain all of the paperwork. The amount of money we saved was great too! read more

Real estate agents have a serious conflict of interest and are very expensive. In contrast, WaLaw realty will save you a lot of money and I really felt like the agents were on our side. They provide almost everything you would want that a traditional real estate agent offers. I guess the only thing missing is that they don't drive you around and are not quite as available 24/7. I would say that if you were in a very hot market you might consider a traditional agent for that availability, but I really didn't feel like we missed anything in the few houses that were "hot"- well worth it and we were very happy with the service. Contract negotiations of course were their specialty and it felt good to be represented by a lawyer. Most importantly we ended up in a great house! read more

WaLaw is the answer for tech-savvy home shoppers. The amount of money we saved by simply being able to use freely available online MLS sources is unbelievable. Setting up automatic new listing alerts is easy and saved us thousands of dollars (covered our entire closing fees with enough left over to lower our interest rate!). It's important to note, however, that less expensive does not mean no frills. We found WaLaw agents, Marc and Kim, Jason and Claire, to be incredibly responsive and communicative. They included us on every email possible and kept us in the loop constantly. They toured numerous homes with us giving their valuable opinion and had what it took to close a home in a very seller-friendly Ballard market. I think most importantly WaLaw are not just real estate agents, but also real estate lawyers. They advise on the state of paperwork and look for important details that we had no idea about. They noticed a missing tax requirement form in our final paperwork that could have cost us months down the line. We have no doubt that many real estate agents can fulfill your needs but WaLaw did everything we wanted and more for a fraction of the cost (We had around 70% savings!) We cannot recommend them enough and will be recommending WaLaw to all of our friends. We will look forward to working with WaLaw the next time when we need to buy or sell a house. read more

I'm in the market to buy a property in Seattle. Found WaLaw Realty through my own research. Called; no one answered. I left a voicemail asking for a callback. Nothing. A few weeks later, called again; no one answered. A few weeks later, called for a third time -- all during business hours, to be sure -- and again no one answered. The voicemail greeting suggests they're still in business, but if it's this difficult to *give* them money, I wonder how difficult it'll be to work with them once I've given them my money. read more

We are extremely glad that we decided to use WaLaw. We initially chose WaLaw solely because of the lower fee structure compared to other realtors, but we were very happily surprised by the great advice we got from Marc. On home tours, he was quite knowledgeable about details of construction and comparative market value of property. He was very analytical and gave us much more detail than we were used to hearing from realtors. Rather than pressuring us to buy, on one occasion Marc dissuaded us when we were close to making an offer, even though this ultimately meant more work for him as he then had to go on other home tours with us. Once we selected a property, WaLaw was again very helpful in the purchasing process. It was a contested auction, but WaLaw helped us convince the sellers to go with our bid rather than another, based on our ability to close more rapidly. Then, in the inspection process, WaLaw helped us save a lot of money (more than the fee we paid them!) by identifying what needed to be fixed. Throughout the process, Marc and Claire were very responsive. Especially in the final stages, when things became time-critical, they were always available when needed. Having a lawyer on your side is great too, as they made sure that we got the best possible wording on the deed. In the end, we got a much nicer house than we hoped, for less money than we planned to spend. read more

My husband and I closed on a house with WaLaw, and we could not have been more pleased with them. We had planned to hire a lawyer in addition to a traditional agent but were able to find the best of both worlds with Walaw - the commission back was an added bonus. They are worth every penny - and more! Marc and Craig were responsive every step of the way; we were able to tour houses expeditiously and write up offers the same day. Marc's analysis of the comps to properties in which we were interested was second to none; he did not just tell us what he thought the value of the property was, he took the time to communicate why in great detail, giving us the all of the information we needed to make the best decision for ourselves. Having a lawyer discuss possible legal issues with properties involving easements, misdirected drainage, etc, was also particularly valuable to us. When it came time to make an offer, there is little doubt in our minds that it was Marc's suggestions for a course of action that turned our offer into a signed contract. It was also great knowing that he was looking out for our best interests, particularly in regards to the contingencies he included in the offers and dealing with the title company. We do not believe we would have received such benefits from a traditional agent. If we ever decide to sell or buy another house, we would not think of using anyone but WaLaw. read more

We worked with Mark buying a house in 2011 and selling our rental house in 2014. In 2011, Mark actually talked us out of buying a house we initially fell in love with, which, in hindsight, was for the best. We saved enough money on the purchase with WALAW's flat fee that we were able to get new appliances and flooring throughout with the money we saved. In addition, he was able to read between the lines of the local covenants for the same flat fee. In 2014 he helped us sell our rental house, which sold for well above the asking price. His quick and discerning review of the paperwork allowed the deal to go through without a hitch. Also, we saved about $18,000 on the sale with their flat fee. In summary, WALAW killed it on both our purchase and sale. After the two transactions with WALAW, I will never again engage a traditional brokerage firm. read more

Excellent service...even better pricing! I would highly recommended them over any standard real estate agent. We had the best experience with Marc & Jason at WaLaw. They were prompt, organized, honest, professional, and most importantly flexible in everything we did. We felt confident and assured throughout the entire process having experienced agents and attorneys representing us. On several occasions their guidance and advice helped us steer clear of pitfalls and their thoughtful approach and strategy to making bids ultimately helped us the find the home we were searching for. We saved over $18k in commissions with WaLaw! read more

I recently bought a short sale in Seattle with WaLaw Realty and I'm extremely satisfied with the level of service provided. It's been a complicated transaction; the negotiation went on for 4 months. Craig stayed on top of every detail, giving me valuable advice every step along the way and working very hard to get me the best possible deal. I'll definitely go back to Craig and Mark for my next transaction, they know the ins and outs of the real estate business. In addition to the savings when compared to a traditional agent, having a lawyer as your real estate agent, and someone that does not work on commission, provides some very valuable additional perks, like the added peace of mind when it's time to review all the paperwork involved in the purchase or sale of a home. read more

I sold my house through WaLaw Realty. Marc Holmes and Claire Wilburn are terrific. It's a terrific service. Showings started out a little slow--the very week my house went on sale there was a slight economic downturn, and my house has several steps leading up to the front door--but Claire worked very hard to get the house the attention it deserved. She arranged a second photo session, and got the new spectacular pics up in a few hours. Marc helped me with professional advice when we got closer to the sale--the buyer was buying through a company, perhaps for the sake of privacy--but Marc was on top of it, and spent some time analyzing the situation and thinking about it, making sure there was nothing in the deal that warranted excessive caution. Marc is really smart, and really professional. These two deserve all the kudos in the world. I'm only sorry I didn't get this review up sooner--after the sale I experienced a traumatic personal setback. Really, really appreciate both of you. read more

Our home purchase had some very unusual legal complications (our mortgage broker said it's the only case he's seen in 15+ years!), which made it even more beneficial to have an agent who is also an attorney on our side. Craig did an excellent job closing a very complicated deal, and saved us money to boot! As first time buyers we also a many questions and Craig was always patient, prompt and knowledgeable in answering us. We've also worked with Marc (1st unaccepted offer) and Claire (for some showings), and everyone at WaLaw was a pleasure to deal with. If you are serious about buying a house, and understand fully the value proposition provided by WaLaw, this is a great way to go. I hope new real estate business models like this one will continue to drive quality of service up and costs to consumers down. read more

Highly recommended. Marc and Claire have been a great guidance for first time home buyer like us in the Greater Seattle area. They went above and beyond to address any concerns we have promptly, making the buying process a lot smoother. We also love their flat fee model and never felt pressured to buy. read more

Simply great. What can I say. From the very beginning Marc was there for us. We have been checking some houses for ourselves and we already knew what we wanted, but we could not find the perfect match. Marc was there to advice us and present the options that we had. Once we found the house (after a couple of failed attempts) our relationship with WaLaw was smooth and easy. Have into account they have their working hours, though, but when we really needed them (and we needed them a lot at the end) they were always there for us. When we finally did the offer and it was accepted. WaLaw advice us and present our case in the way we liked, always asking us when an important decision needed to be taken, and translating our questions and concerns to the seller. Finally we agreed in the terms and went for the deal. Our experience with the bank was a real nightmare. They delayed again and again (to the point of having to spend some nights in hotels that we are still waiting to be refunded), and during all that time Marc was there, following the process to the point that I felt relieved sometimes when I felt overwhelmed by the situation. He was there and took care of it meanwhile I recover so I could face again the challenge. It was really good to have them then. I highly recommend WaLaw, especially if you already know what you want and how you want it. At the moment we chose them, they have the policy that limited their number of hours for visiting houses, so have that in mind and try to do some research by yourself -I don't know if they have changed that part already - I just say that so you don't feel cheated when you want to visit 20 different places and they start to charge you, because for the rest of the process, they are going to be there with you, making your life easier and showing a high degree of professionalism and knowledge. read more

I contacted them a while back as I wanted to sell my commercial building. Unfortunately they don't do commercial but the advice and help I received was outstanding. If and when I decide to sell my house, I would definitely list with WaLaw. Right now, finding a commercial realtor with the integrity of WaLaw is a daunting task. read more

Marc is an agent we would highly recommend. My wife and I hired him to help us sell our home on Bainbridge Island and he was a true pleasure to work with. As an agent he provided us with a wealth of information on relevant comps, realistic pricing, etc. As an attorney he was priceless! Our buyer had some issues that impacted our sale and we were very glad to have not only an agent but an attorney on our side. He gave us great legal advise that helped get the sale across the finish line and kept us calm and collected through the process. WALaw is great! read more

We were extremely happy and satisfied working with Walaw. Both Marc & Claire are very professional, efficient and provided us with a highest level of service. We would never consider using any other real estate service after this experience. Thanks again for helping us find our new home Walaw! read more

So, I obviously really, really like that they saved us almost $19,000 buying a house, and I can't wait to start working with them on selling this extra house we now have. Perhaps more importantly, they were knowledgeable and there when we needed them. Claire was always available when we had a question or wanted to see a house, and it was great to have Mark, who is an attorney, looking over and questioning the documents. Gave us a warm fuzzy feeling. Today, you don't really need a traditional agent to help you find a house. Some searches set up on the internet does all the work. But you continue to need expertise in making, negotiating and closing an offer. You continue to need an intermediary between you and the other seller/buyer. WaLaw Realty performed that function perfectly. read more

I simply stopped by randomly on a spring day in 2016 asking if there was an agent that I could interview as I was considering selling my condominium. The receptionist was polite but told me no one was available. I told her I had hoped to meet someone that day and was disappointed and at that moment Marc Holmes stepped out of his office and introduced himself. He proceeded to listen to my scenario and amazingly ... talked me out of selling my condo! He spent almost an hour reviewing similar units and after learning that I had tenants who were renting and a low mortgage balance, he said it was a tough call but he wasn't sure it was in my best interest to sell. Of course, he told me he could help me if I wanted to but I decided to postpone for a year. I was VERY impressed with the level of knowledge that this man possesses about world economics and unlike most individuals I have met involved in the real estate market - he doesn't preach that the only place to make money is in real estate. When I do get around to selling, this guy is on top of my list! read more

Walaw Realty is fantastic. Not only they rebate 100% of their comission (-4000 flat fee for their service), but they offer wonderful service. Marc and Craig are both lawyers and licensed real estate agents. They understand the real estate market and the law. They can advise you about the legal significance of every single page you sign in a real estate transaction. They answer phone calls and are always on top of things. I had great experience with them and will use them for any real estate matters. read more

WaLaw is fantastic! We saved five figures on our home purchase and they were great to work with. Highly recommended if you're a local buyer who doesn't need a ton of hand-holding. read more

[edit 10/24/17: I made a few minor changes, mostly removing the actual costs we paid since those will change over time. We're also still in our house and still love it and plan to stay a long time. I sometimes see WaLaw realty signs when driving around town and tip my virtual hat and say thanks to Marc for his invaluable help in our getting it.] Our experience with Marc and Jason at WA Law was more than we could have expected when we first found about WA Law on the internet. We first found them as an alternative to traditional realtors and Redfin agents. Unlike Redfin, who give half of the buyer's commission back as a rebate after closing, WA Law gives the entire commission back, minus a flat rate $[I removed the actual cost since fees change over time] fee. We loved that aspect of using WA Law but actually what we got from hiring them was much more. As attorneys, they were able to review the documents legally (instead of hiring an attorney to do just that), but even more than that we really felt that they were our attorneys who represented us in good faith and had our interests in mind first and foremost. For example, our first house that we were interested in turned out to have some serious foundation concerns that Marc brought to our attention. So instead of closing the deal right there, which would have happened without his input, we ended up not putting in an offer and continuing the search. This happened with another house that we were interested in, where Marc made us aware of potential problems (turned out the house had ground contamination that could have led to major buyer's regret) and an easement that we could have easily missed. The third house that Marc basically warned us about offering had an easement due to tunnel work under the house from the light rail project in Montlake that the seller was seemingly trying to cover up in the disclosures. So three houses that we, as desperate buyers, would have probably bought to our later great regret that we did not buy only because of Marc's thoughtful input, research, and warning. I can't imagine that many agents would have done this. This speaks volumes about Marc's character and trustworthiness. He is obviously not in business just for the money. Jason (who joined WA Law while we were in the midst of our house search) was also great and very accessible, responsive, helpful, and we never doubted his intentions or recommendations/input. Both were also conservative when we were in the offer making stage, often recommending lower offers and escalation clauses and urging us to not waive contingencies (which everyone was doing at the height of the seller's market in the summer/fall of 2013), which we were glad we followed. The only thing people should be aware of is that (at least when we worked with WA Law) you have three offers to make on three (different) houses, and after that you have to start anew (another $[I removed the actual cost since fees change over time] for three more offers). I understand why they do that though (to make sure that people are making serious offers and to make their business model viable) and we bought our house on the 3rd try (that is, the 3rd house we made an offer on) so it worked out for us and we did end up getting $17,500 in rebate (in the form of closing costs/principle reduction) that we would NOT have gotten if we had gone with a traditional realtor. And $8250 more than if we had used a Redfin agent. With the legal attention to your contract and process that you receive, in addition to the great service provided by Marc (and Jason), the benefits of using WA Law are huge. And if you're tech savvy you really don't need or want all the house hunting services that traditional realtors offer anyway. The bottom line is that Marc and Jason at WA Law are amazing, ethical, and trustworthy attorney-realtors who I can unreservedly recommend to anyone looking for a house. We love our house and thank both of them for helping us find and get it. read more

We worked with Marc, Jason (who does not work there now), and Claire for purchasing our first home. As first-time home buyers, there can be a lot of steps and sub-processes, that can become extremely overwhelming, and expensive. If you're the kind of person that is able to do their own research, and do it well (using online listings from Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, etc.), then WaLaw's business model should DEFINITELY be your first choice. You pay a simple flat fee, which allows you to save the difference between the buying agent's commission (3%) and the flat fee you pay WaLaw. This is particularly helpful to offset some of the extra costs/charges you incur for closing on a home. At no point in dealing with Marc did we ever feel like he did not have our best interests at hand. He is extremely detail-oriented and will be able to push back on the seller for a variety of issues (that a regular realtor may not be able to). Additionally, because of the flat-fee model, Marc will do his best to negotiate as much as possible (realtors' interests in doing so are not aligned with your interests of saving money - read 'Freakonomics' to understand this further) :) The fact that Marc is also a real-estate attorney, made it even more worthwhile - it was awesome to have his eyes on documentation we were signing, terms we were agreeing to, etc. Always good to understand your liabilities so this was more than worth the fee you pay WaLaw. The only challenge you may encounter is scheduling time with WaLaw to look at homes from M-F during business hours - but if you are flexible with your schedule during this process, and are able to shortlist the homes you wish to take a look at with WaLaw, you will find that Marc and his team are very flexible and helpful. The icing on the cake was how responsive everyone at WaLaw was to our questions/concerns/issues - they are easy to email, text, and call as necessary, and will help clarify all the various stages in the process. This is certainly the future business model of home-buying and selling, so I encourage you to at least call them and explore your options with them. Best of luck to everyone reading this, and I hope you find your dream home/sell your home with success. Cheers! read more