Ross Hartwich – Lake Real Estate

We have nothing but positive things to say about Ross. Our home search in Seattle was mostly remote, as we were living out of state. From the very beginning, Ross was considerate and cognizant of our time constraints and he was diligent to follow up with any question or concern that we raised.
We began looking at homes with another company, but they weren’t able to find new construction, non-​listed homes very easily. On our own we found a home that we were curious about and contacted the listing agent. That agent referred us to Ross who then was able to show us one that hadn’t been listed. We had a very tight schedule as we were ending our week long search that afternoon and flying back to the previous state we lived in. The first home we saw with Ross, we put an offer in and it was accepted. Ross recognized that we were potentially «settling» on the home. He was concerned it didn’t have everything we were looking for and he wanted to be certain it was the right fit for us. One a separate trip, Ross took us to City Hall to find answers we had about property lines and additions. He worked closely to counsel us and we agreed that the home just wasn’t right. While we thought this could impact our client/​agent relationship, it turned around to really help build our relationship and solidify our true needs in a home.
We continued to fly back to Seattle every week for a few days at a time and Ross would graciously assist with our pick up and drop offs at the airport. He even had us keep our car at his home for a period of time before closing. Once we determined the next home for purchase, Ross made sure our offer was solid and it was accepted, below list price! In this market, that is not a common occurrence. Since we were still out of state, Ross coordinated to meet with the builder and all the other services that were needed. Once closing and possession took place, we saw a few items from the blue tape walk through that hadn’t been completed. Ross worked with the builder to begin completion the following week.
In addition to his kind personality, he also makes the process less anxiety filled because he is calm and well intended. Working on a major home purchase out of state is stressful. Ross worked towards making sure we were always updated with progress. Without pause we would highly recommend Ross, especially for relocation. His generosity and follow through shine again and again.

One day while getting in the car with Ross, (Ross is awesome and picks his clients up to tour homes) I noticed he had a bunch of tools in the back of his car. He was apologetic for the noise they were making. It wasn’t bothering us at all and we later learned he was dropping them off with a former client who found a home and needed tools. This is one small example of the awesomeness of Ross.
We are fist time home buyers who barely scraped enough to buy a home in the madness of the Seattle market, and we needed a lot of guidance and strategy to help us navigate not only the first time home buying process, but the illogical nature an over saturated low inventory market. Ross had helped fellow friends and colleges which made the decision easier but after interviewing a few other realtors, we knew he was the one.
Ross is the realtor you want on your side. Not only does he brings years of experience in the Seattle market, as a bonus he used to remodel homes in the Seattle area so he knows a lot of the pitfalls we needed to consider. Oil heat? Galvanized pipes? Years left on a roof? Foundation type? Electrical? Siding? Flooring? Heating? All things he can recognize and point out as a consideration for purchase. We could also give him a list of homes on a Monday and we were out looking at them on Tuesday. He also spent a few weekends taking us on tours and it didn’t matter how far apart they were.
He is also VERY patient. We had a lot of questions and no matter the time of day or frequency, his response was always prompt and well thought out. As a great realtor should, Ross helps to guide the purchase rather then inject his opinion. He looks at the whole picture and asks questions to help us understand how the different aspects of the home and purchase fit into our needs and budget. However he had no issues saying a house was solid or needed a lot of work to be comfortable.
Ross is also committed to the sale. Based on our fist few offers, all losing to bids 10−30% over asking, or homes with multiple per-​inspections/​offers, we were becoming a bit discouraged on the entire process. Due to the constraints of our budget and down payment, we knew we needed to be creative and re — strategize on approach. When we finally stumbled into a house we had a chance at buying, knowing the competitive nature of this market, Ross jumped into action. He spent a Saturday with us scheduling (and un-​scheduling) pre-​inspections, communicating with the listing agent, guiding us on our offer, earnest money, contingencies, escalation, and making sure we had all the offer documents in place. When it looked like we were going be out bid, he continued to work with us until the later evening on Sunday, re-​negotiating with the listing agent and sellers, gave us some solid advice, and our offer was accepted on Monday afternoon, even beating out a higher offer. Even after mutual acceptance he came to our workplace to pick up our earnest money check and hand delivered critical documents to the sellers escrow agent to make sure the process moved smoothly.
I can’t recommend Ross enough. We could have «tried» to save a few dollars by going through a service like Redfin but I can tell you we would have never had a chance in this market where a skilled and knowledgeable agent is required. Now I’m very excited to be on the receiving end of Ross’s tool library for our new home needs.