Tudor revival house at dusk with half-timbered gables, a stone arched entry, and lit leaded-glass windows over a wet sidewalk — A Tudor revival at dusk

A good agent is easy to find. The right one for your street takes a phone call.

I’m Austin Hellickson, Managing Broker at LPT Realty. Tell me what you’re buying or selling in Washington, and I’ll introduce you to an independently licensed agent who works that exact market. It costs you nothing, and I stay on as your point of contact.

Call 206.940.0942 How the match works

Most people choose a real estate agent the way they’d choose a plumber late on a Sunday: a yard sign, or a name a coworker mentioned once. Sometimes it works out. Often it works out fine for the agent and less well for the client, because the agent was good at something other than the house in question.

Washington isn’t one market. A 1920s Craftsman on a narrow Wallingford lot, a 1970s split-level in Bellevue that will sell to someone who wants the school district more than the kitchen, a brick bungalow on Spokane’s South Hill, a new townhome a few minutes from the Interstate Bridge in Vancouver: each has its own buyers and its own inspection surprises. In Clark County and around Spokane, homes don’t even list through the same service most of western Washington uses. An agent who is excellent in one of those places can be a tourist in another.

Very Best Real Estate starts with one proper conversation with me. I work out what kind of agent your situation needs, find one who works your area and price range, and introduce you. You meet them, ask whatever you like, and decide. If it isn’t right, you tell me and I look again.

Who calls

Owners selling a longtime home: You bought decades ago and the house has a history. You want someone who can price it honestly and tell you which repairs are worth making before listing.
Buyers moving to Washington: A new job in Redmond, orders to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, family in Spokane. You don’t yet know which side of Lake Washington suits you, or which school boundary actually matters for a given street.
People moving across the state: Selling in Tacoma and buying in Vancouver means two markets and usually two agents, ideally two who will talk to each other about timing. I can set that up from the start.
Heirs and executors: An inherited house brings probate paperwork, a full garage, and relatives with opinions. The agent you need has handled estates before and is patient about it.
Anyone who has been burned: If your last agent disappeared after the listing photos, you’re allowed to be particular. Tell me what went wrong and I’ll look for someone who works the other way.

Houses on the southwest side of Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, along the 700 block of West Prospect Street, with mature street trees — Queen Anne Hill, Seattle

How a match works

There’s no questionnaire that spits out a name, and no bidding among agents for your contact details. It goes like this.

A conversation with me

We talk about the property or the search, your timing, the money in general terms, and what went well or badly the last time you did this. Much of it turns out to be about temperament: how you like to hear news, and how much explaining you want.
A short list, made by hand

I look for agents in the Homexa® network who work your neighborhood and your price range, and I talk to them about your situation before your name goes anywhere. I confirm that each license is active with the Washington State Department of Licensing.
An introduction

Usually one agent, or two if you’d like to compare. You meet, you interview them, you decide. Nobody is assigned to you, and you sign nothing with me.
I stay on

After the introduction I remain your point of contact. If something feels off, or the fit is wrong, call me. Finding someone else is part of the job.

The full process, including what I ask and why

Close-up of a brass lion's-head door knocker with a ring in its mouth on a glossy dark green paneled front door

Entry hall with a black and white checkerboard marble floor, a curving dark wood staircase, and brass sconces

A front door, and the hall behind it

Austin Hellickson, Managing Broker, LPT Realty

A note from me

Choosing an agent is one of the few decisions in a sale or a purchase that you get to make calmly, before anything is on the line. It deserves more than a search result.

I’m a Managing Broker with LPT Realty, and a good part of this work is knowing agents: who is patient with estates, and who understands why two houses on either side of a school boundary aren’t the same house. Homexa® is a network of 300+ agents across 25 states, and I use it to find the right person for you here in Washington.

I don’t rank agents, and there’s no formula. The person I introduce is someone I’d be comfortable sending a friend to, and after the introduction I stay reachable.

Austin Hellickson

Managing Broker, LPT Realty · Sumner, Washington

What it costs you

Nothing. When an introduction leads to a closed sale or purchase, the agent’s brokerage pays a referral fee to my brokerage, LPT Realty, out of the commission it earns. Referral arrangements like this are ordinary in real estate, especially when a client is moving between cities or states. The fee isn’t added to your closing costs and you never write a check for it. I’ll explain it plainly before you meet anyone. If nothing closes, nobody is paid.

More detail, including what to ask the agent about commissions, is on the questions page.