Selling our unique home in Fairfax, Virginia was an exceptional experience thanks to Debbie Dogrul Associates and Melissa Govoruhk. From the very beginning, Melissa demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the local market, a thoughtful strategy, and a level of professionalism that immediately put my husband and I at ease. We are incredibly grateful for the outstanding service we received and would highly recommend Debbie Dogrul Associates and Melissa Govoruhk to anyone looking to sell their home in Fairfax, Virginia. A true five-star experience from start to finish. read more

Debbie Dogrul Associates - Our home in Fairfax, VA - Real Estate Services Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

My wife and I worked with AB to both find our new forever home and sell a rental property we own. AB was great throughout the process. Yes, he's young, and that might turn some people away, but don't let his age be a negative factor. As a real estate investor, I have worked with many realtors, and I can say AB is great. His persistence and willingness to help are both top notch. I always have a ton of questions and he is always open to help. Highly recommend working with him. read more

This realty office is the best. They are totally coordinated, and they do not miss a thing. We bought the perfect house we needed, and sold the house that no longer worked for us, with their help. We found our new home in two days. We sold our old home in four days. Closings were fast and painless, and the DDA team helped us all the way. Big shout out to Jamie Petrik, the best realtor ever (not kidding, we have bought and sold at least six houses, he is the best ever), Melissa Govoruhk who helped make it happen, and Desire Dixon who kept us all informed. You cannot expect better service or a better team to buy and sell. read more

Am so grateful to DDA. It's my hope one day to meet Debbie, and personally thank her. Some real estate companies are good. DDA is great due to their hiring process and team approach. They have someone for each specialty, such as buying, selling, finances, or even independent sales. All of their affiliates met were highly vested, and proved to be exceptional in home selling, along with getting a home in a sought out area. My realtor retired, and she's phenomenal. Her advice was "find someone aggressive and reputable." Kathlene, Samantha, Desire', Myles, Geoff and others were all solid. They bring the aggression but also, professionalism, maturity, expertise, and even a sense of humor. These folks decrease your blood pressure, and take the time to know you, along with what you're looking for. What impressed me was their knowledge. They know a lot of considerations not previously reflected upon, and this was vital towards selling and buying. My son and I are thrilled with the new house. Am grateful to have hired this group. I believe strongly in them. They proved time and time again, what customer service, really is and I think you'd be smart to hire them as well. The home sales process can be stressful. It is a major life advantage. Have someone taking each step with you like DDA does. Fully recommend them! read more

Mimi Nguyen is the realtor that you drop all of the others for. She is truly excellent. And, I say this with full knowledge that there are many other good realtors out there. In fact, we met many of them at open houses, on zillow, in the circuit of looking at houses... but they were just "other kids on the playground". It felt like they were not listening to what we wanted. They bombarded us with junk emails and texts. My husband actually started a "three strikes you're out" policy. Then we happened upon Mimi. She listened, and she found us houses that we actually wanted to see. If we could not see them quickly, then she took on the footwork for us, sending us videos and her advice. She got our feet in the door (literally and figuratively) of houses that we were interested in...all of this in a tough buyer's market. She was knowledgeable and savvy.  She helped us choose a price for the house we won and I never doubted that she only had our best interests in mind. Mimi is the woman you want in your corner. In the end, she got us our dream house, in our dream school district, in our dream neighborhood and at our dream price. She knows negotiations. We were not the highest offer, but, because of her, we got the house.  Also, I am a highly anxious person, and she is available at all hours and at the drop of a text. Her attentiveness and responsiveness is impressive.  I am only willing to share how great she is because we have exhausted our time with her and now need to share her with the masses. Honestly you cannot do better. If she will take you on as a client, I'd jump on it. read more

We have worked with DDA 3 times now both as buyers and sellers. This agency has an excellent reputation in NoVA, for a good reason. Harrison Williams is without a doubt the best realtor to buy a house with. He is so knowledgeable, patient and skillful at what he does. The clients interest are always his top priority. He wrote to excellent offers for us, masterfully negotiated on our behalf and got us through two quick closes. Jamie Petrik and Melissa Govoruhk listed our house and got a great price despite the wild interest rates. You cannot do better than this agency, you'll be in great hands the whole way. read more

My wife and I interviewed several agents from different real estate companies before deciding to work with Ashley Finco on Debbie's team. We could not have been happier with our experience. As first time home buyers, Ashley made us feel completely comfortable during the, often times, incredibly stressful process of buying a home! From start to finish, Ashley answered all of our questions (and we had many), helped us narrow our search, and made sure we had every bit of information we needed to make the right decision, without ever being pushy or steering us outside of what we were looking for. She really helped us navigate the process, and helped us understand what it would take to win an offer in a very competitive sellers market. At the same time, she helped us craft an offer that would win us our dream home, without coming close to exhausting our budget or overpaying. Of equal importance, Ashley was incredibly responsive and communicative, answering calls or texts at virtually every hour of the day. If we could give 6 stars, we would. We cannot recommend Ashley enough for any buyer who is anxious about the process or simply wants an agent they can trust, who will help them feel comfortable about the home buying process and get them into a home they'll love. read more

Debbie Dogrul Associates sold our house for substantially more than the listing price. We were very pleased with the level of service they provided, and the partnership with the 2 realtors we worked with, as well as the General Contractor, the house stager, the photographer, and the rest of the DDA team that had a hand in our house sale. We put our house on the market quickly, but also had substantial pre-work done to spruce up some out-of-date rooms. It was admittedly chaotic at times, but well-worth the time and investment in the end, as we more that 2x recouped our improvement costs. Thanks to Jay, Monica, and the team for great work in selling our home of 16 years. read more

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Jamie Petrik and Melissa, his teammate, were personable and professional throughout the process. They answered all of our questions and helped us through the process. Although he made no promises of a quick sale, he delivered more quickly and for a better price than we had imagine was possible. He did all this without the hassle of staging or open-houses, which took away the anxiety part of selling. Finally, Jamie and Melissa were there with us today to congratulate us personally and remind us that they'll be here to help us down the road. read more

Nathan Arnold takes "above and beyond" to a whole new level. He is kind, patient, very capable, and knows his business well. He worked to sell my condo and succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. Throughout The process Nathan Arnold answered all my questions in a timely manner and took charge of managing the contractors since I was out of state for The whole process. The level of dedication he showed gave the impression that I was his best client, he is attentive and respectful. I could not be happier and would recommend him in a heartbeat to anybody. read more

I'm beyond delighted with everything Nathan did. The whole experience was stress-free, professional and effective. Truly could not imagine anything more that could have been done or been done better. Nathan is everything that you look and hope for in an agent to guide and represent you when selling a home! read more

Ashley was our Buyer's agent. She was prompt in her responses to us and always available to go and look at houses, even though (I suspect) she was very busy. Her knowledge of the home buying process and home repair and upkeep in general were critical in the success of finding our home. She thought of things that I never would have considered. She also served as a sounding board when I was frustrated about the overall market (very competitive) and fought hard for us to get our offer accepted. Ashley will be our go-to agent for future home purchases! read more

Jay D'Alessandro in this group was our listing agent, and we couldn't be happier! We went on the market at a time when there were two other active listings in our small town house community that were priced less than ours, and had both been on the market for a very long time. We took Jays advice about what updates to do, and used his recommended contractors. We had three offers in the first 5 days and accepted the best, for full asking price! A big thanks to Jay, and John (the transaction manager) as well as their whole team for ensuring a smooth transaction! read more

Debbies team was great. I worked with Jamie Petrik on her team as the listing agent on my property. I contacted Debbies team and spoke to Jamie when the remodel was 90% complete. His advice and guidance was spot on and we ending up setting the list price $40k ahead of last years comps and still closed with a cash offer in a few weeks. read more

Nathan was incredible throughout the process. He knows the market inside and out and helped us make the right decisions to maximize return on investment. As a result our property was only on the market a few days and we received multiple competing offers. Definitely recommend him and will use him for our future real estate needs. read more

So one day my husband declares we're getting a detached house. Visions of turning up the RockBand as loud as I want danced in my head. I say "Cool". The journey begins. BUYING: During our first weekend out we ran into Morgan Stillwell at one of the open houses we visited. I liked him, so I actually wrote down my real contact information on the little sign in form. A day later he called and without any commitment on my part or expectations on his, he answered questions on everything from process to financing. The next maybe 2 weeks we were out and about with Morgan to check out places he had picked out for us based on our list. He was fun. Yeah a FUN realtor. Really. We found our house. And now I'm going to rock the bullet points... - Price was recently reduced $50k and was priced right, we were going to offer asking - "no no no..." he says, we got another $15k off - He also got us $1500 credit toward a custom closet that was mentioned in the listing but not actually in the house. - And a bunch of new windows - We weren't crazy about the kitchen design so Morgan had a contractor come out and give us some ideas/rough estimates on changes. Happy. - We wanted a pool, Morgan got the septic/lot plans on his phone and had a pool contractor come out and do the same. Happy. - We also got a bunch of martinis after closing. See? Fun. I see myself in this house for a long time, but if we get too old to rake a half acre of leaves every year, I will definitely work with Morgan again. SELLING: This brings me to Noel Burrows. Our Selling Agent/Mediator/Hero. First off, he got us multiple contracts in less than a week. Once we accepted one, we pretty much sat back and Noel took care of everything. Our buyer was a first time buyer and could be described as "difficult". He insisted on...a lot. ie home inspection items - there were things in that doc i hadn't even heard of before - but they all appeared in the list of things he wanted done (yes, every single one of them). Noel was able to help us sort through things we should agree to, and things we shouldn't and also gave us insight into what's an easy/inexpensive change and what's not. Fix the J Channel ?!?!? I didn't know I had one, don't know what it is, where it is or what it's for let alone how to fix it. This is where Noel comes in again - I didn't even know realtors did this, I'm guessing many don't - but he set up contractors to take care of all the repairs and made sure everything was set for closing. Last night we closed without a hitch. Today we have the hangovers to prove it. Thank you Noel! One word summary for my experience with Debbie Dogrul Associates: Awesome. read more

I am writing this review specifically on Sean Ragen, the agent that my husband and I have dealt with in buying our new house. We did not use the agent that is selling our current house (still on the market- UGH) and we are so glad that we met Sean and decided to go with him. My husband and I went out to look at some open houses in NoVA, as we are moving from a condo in the city to a house in the 'burbs. Sean was a listing agent at a house that we really liked, and we just started talking to him during our visit. We just all kind of meshed- he is very friendly and not pushy at all. We just felt very comfortable with him. We asked him to call us the next week so we could talk about seeing some other properties, which he did. He did the whole take-us-around-town, look-at-whatever-houses-we-want thing, but what impressed us was the fact that he is so responsive. We have had the opposite experience with our current listing agent on our condo, so it was a breath of fresh air. Finding our new home was a process, but all of the paperwork and questions are being handled by Sean. He helped us through looking at a bunch of places and gave us his honest opinion on them. I had a question about a part in the paperwork for the bank, and he even called the bank for me and emailed me back to let me know what I need to do. We are currently under contract and will close in a month. He negotiated a great price for us. And he stays in contact with us, just to see if we need him for anything. Also, a perk that his company has is a couple of 14' vans that they let you use for free when you move. We have stuff in storage, and while we are hiring movers for our big things in our condo, it's nice to be able to not to have to rent a U-Haul to move our stuff from storage. read more

i tried to attend an open house listed 1-4. No one was there at 1:10. Doors were locked. I called the number on the sign and they didn't even know what city Burke town road is located. It is in Burke. they couldn't tell me if open house 1-4 meant I had to schedule an appointment or it was open 1-4. Unprofessional, discourteous and do not care about your time. Find a smaller business where your time matters. read more

After using another agent (who was lackluster in performance to say the least), my wife and I had given up the search and decided to rent in a new area for a year... We loved the neighborhood (and the elementary school) and decide to try searching for property again. A quick search using various websites and Yelp reviews reveals that Debbie Dogrul is a very active group in the area. We select Harrison Williams (glowing commentary and references) and needless to say, we found and purchased a home quickly. Harrison is by far the best agent we have worked with. Attentive, responsive, knowledgeable and friendly are just a few words I can use to describe him. He is a solid negotiator and we ended up with a price that we were QUITE happy with. He has a solid team of people he works with and the entire purchase experience was overall pretty stress free. I would recommend not using his home inspector though... The guy doesn't seem all that knowledgeable and missed a few things. I should have done more background about who to use and used my own. That being said, I would use Debbie and Harrison again in a heartbeat!!! read more

We recently sold our house through Debbie Dogrul Associates. We interviewed 4 listing agents using mainly internet reviews, in the end we went with Kristy from DDA because she had actual enthusiasm for our little, fixer-upper house, superior area knowledge to the other 3 candidates, and when she suggested a higher price than two of the other agents, defended her reasoning well and told us "you could list it for less, but I think you're leaving money on the table". I liked her confidence, very professional presentation, and the large-team approach. We had two offers within two days (one backed out, unfortunately), and Kristy gave good advice about the remaining offer, which we accepted. The contract had some serious difficulties mid-process when the buyers submitted a non-technical and confusing home inspection addendum (after telling us they'd treat the inspection as "for information" and not ask for anything big) that baffled both us and our contractor. She was superb in this negotiation process, giving us information quickly and negotiating a compromise with our buyers that saved us money. Basically, Kristy was everything we were hoping to find in a listing agent. Polished, professional, and very good during that difficult contract-to-settlement period. She always responded quickly to calls and emails, helped soothe our first-time-seller anxiety (complicated by the fact that we also had a buying-contingent-on-home-sale contract in another city), and clearly explained how the process worked and what we needed to do at each stage. I can't recommend her and her team highly enough to anyone looking to sell their house in NoVA. read more

I had a great experience with Debbie Dogrul & Associates. My realtor was Jessica Elliot and she recommended a perfect home for our family once she got to know our needs. While we lost out out on the first home we wanted due to a bidding war, Jessica let us know about a property that was just listed in a great neighborhood that was walking distance to Woodson H.S. We saw the property the same day and immediately made an offer. Jessica advocated for us every step of the way and was exceedingly patient, professional and responsive. The firm even has a box truck you can borrow to move furniture! Highly recommended. read more

My wife and I went with Jessica Elliot and Kristy Moyssiadis to buy and sell a home. They did a lot of behind the scenes work and checked for loopholes. They gave nice suggestions on home repairs and financing. They have a strong network of partners. We were smart to choose Debbie Dogrul. We feel that they have a professionalism and honesty that is hard to find. read more

My husband and I worked with Brendan Reals earlier this year when buying our first home. We had met a few other agents with different companies before meeting Brendan and definitely saw a difference. Brendan was extremely professional, patient and helpful throughout the entire process. We likely saw over 40 homes and Brendan was always punctual, thorough and put us at ease. Brendan was always flexible and easy to get in contact with for questions. He made the experience of buying our first home so pleasant and comfortable. We love our new home and can't say enough good things about Brendan Reals at Debbie Dogrul Associates! read more

This review is related to a Debbie Dogrul property that her family bought, remodeled (Hade LLC-owned by the Dogrul family) and sold. Their treatment of the buyers in regard to the home inspection and fixing problems found was abominable. They signed off saying they would fix everything on the list and then they waited until the last possible minute to even address the issues, did a sub par fix and then postponed the walk through until right before the closing, putting the buyers in a bad position. read more

Worked with Debbie Dogrul Associates as a Seller. I would say that it was probably the worst real estate experience I have had ever. The agent was not interested in protecting my interests, she was only interested in making me spend as much money possible to make it easier for her to sell the house. I had to micromanage her throughout the process, had to keep calling her and emailing her for updates. The agent did NOT attempt to protect my interests, she was just interested in making sure the deal closed, and that she got her commission regardless of whether my interests/finances were protected or not. I had selected Debbie Dogrul based on reviews and the brand name but I will not refer anyone to use them. I bet someone would get much better service from the 1.5% listing agents instead... read more

We worked with Jessica who worked really closely with us to find exactly what we wanted. She was up early and stayed late to make sure we got our place. She also helped us level set when we wanted to look at places and neighborhoods that were not good fits for us. She helped cajole us when needed and helped us persevere through disappointments too. And getting the DD moving truck for free was a bonus! Debbie Dogrul manages a LOT of potential home buyers, but we usually felt like they genuinely cared about getting our business. read more

Used Jay D'Allesandro to sell a home. Very mixed experience. He recommended a higher selling price (which we got) and recommended repairs and arranged to have them done. Excellent. He also totally ignored us. He rarely responded to our emails or phone calls. Went on vacation right as the house went on the market and didn't tell us until the night before. Bottom line is that he made a stressful situation much more stressful than it needed to be. read more

The Debbie Dogrul Associates bought a property and flipped it for sale. I am the buyer. Beware! I have lived in the home for 5 years. During that time, I have found numerous serious problems that were covered up rather than fixed--a completely rotted sliding door frame is one example. The rotted wood was filled in with putty and painted. I discovered the problem when the paint began to fall off. When I replaced the door, I discovered that the ENTIRE frame was rotted. Another sliding door was replaced improperly. It is lower in the middle than on the sides. This became apparent roughly one month after I moved in when the glass doors began to tilt towards the middle and there was a 1/2 inch space between the door and the frame. It took them over a month to get that portion of the problem fixed--a piece had been left off the door during installation. However, the middle continues to sink and water pools in the ridges and won't drain. I now have a water leak in the downstairs ceiling. This will be the next door that I have to replace. I anticipate finding more rotting wood. These are just two of the expensive problems that were covered up and that I keep experiencing. Long story short, if you are buying from this company be very careful before purchasing. read more

I bought my house from someone who listed with this agency. I wish there had been FULL disclosure on problem areas in the house. Once the sale is done, you're stuck. I know I would have chosen a different house if I knew the BATH TUB was NOT white, but PINK, COVERED in white PAINT. While I'm here, let me mention the ripple effect of a bad match for buyer and location. WHY steer a buyer to a home that is on a WOODED lot when they want a LAWN for a back yard? How offensive it is to see ALL THE TREES REMOVED. Sure, owner rights, blah, blah, but there is SENSITIVITY to the community to consider. Thanks to Debbie Dogrul and company, and the Real Estate industry in this county, there is a hole in the fabric on what makes this location special. A little common sense and courtesy would go a long way. Do we have to legislate common sense? read more

Jessica Elliott helped me purchase my first home. She did an amazing job and very knowledgable I would recommend her to anyone. Thanks Jess!! read more

We had a very good experience with Kristy Moyssiadis as our listing agent. We had multiple issues with the buyers contingencies and their buyers contingencies and Kristy made it all work out wonderfully! Peyton was a huge help with paperwork and I rate the experience 5 stars! Thanks DDA read more

Debbie Dogrul Associates is a FRAUD. They were the seller's agent in a house we purchased in Fairfax VA. This was our worst experience in purchasing a house, in just getting things fixed according to the contract. Our closing was November 18th 2016. By the closing day most of the repairs were not done. The walk through was a disaster. We refused to close due to many agreed repairs not done. Debbie Dogrul Associates send our agent an email promising everything to be fixed in 2 weeks if we closed on that day, November 18th 2016. I am traveling and was not home this past weekend. Thermostat mauled functioned and no ones FAULT. It took 2 days to get it fixed and my family did not have heat in basement and main floor for 2 days. REASON: the on/off automation system on fire place has never worked, it only works manually. My wife and daughter can not turn it on since it is old and very hard for them to turn. Bad on/off automation system was the issue very first time we saw the house, was the issue when we did the walk through and it is an issue today. This was on very top of the list of the things needed to be fixed by the seller according to our contract. We are almost in February of 2017 and are still getting the run around. Buyers / Sellers beware. If I had done a review search on Debbie Dogrul Associates agency I would not had even looked at this house. We are taking legal action on parties at fault soon and will keep you posted. read more

This review is especially for Mr. Ross Ridenour with Debbie Dogrul Associates: Our family moved with four children from Germany into the DC Metro Area four years ago. Three of our children are attending Fairfax County Public Schools. When we came from Germany we rented a house in the W.T. Woodson High School / Frost Middle School district. After almost four years of renting we decided to buy a house. Our premises were to stay within the current school district, to find a ready-to-move-in house, and of course the price. In addition we wanted to find a house, which "speaks" to us, although we weren't capable to describe any distinct details. We contacted Ross Ridenour as a Buyer Specialist roughly a year ago to get first impression about the market. We described our situation and what we were looking for and Ross went to work. First we narrowed the list down by simply scratching off the houses we did not like and than we started visiting houses. From houses we went away at the doorstep, others were "ok", but we still didn't liked them so much to justify such a big investment. Going through the process of selecting the house Ross always watched us carefully and analyzed very detailed, what we liked and didn't liked. At the end he probably knew better what we were looking for then we did. Finally he showed us Our House and we immediately knew that this was the house for us. The process to find our house was long and sometimes cumbersome. Ross helped us along the way, he always has been very patient, very responsive, never demanding, and extremely professional in consulting us and analyzing our reactions. After we made the decision to buy our house he helped us coordinating all steps, which followed with the inspections, the mortgage, and the final settlement. Without Ross we probably would have been lost. We can highly recommend Mr. Ross Ridenour, who has a very pleasant attitude, is highly professional, and seems to have a natural talent for Real Estate. Thank You for your Services and all the best to You and Your professional career. read more

My wife and I had a wonderful experience buying our house with Corey Dutko of Debbie Dogrul Associates. Corey was extremely knowledgeable and patient as we went through this process. He set up tours of numerous houses with us (and often times multiple times in each house) and even coordinated with the contractors at one house to talk about possible construction details. Corey was especially sensitive to our family needs and desires in a new house and worked diligently with the selling agent to help us get a lowered price on the house of our dreams. He attended all of the walkthroughs and inspections and ensured that everything was carefully checked and that all of our questions were answered. Another thing that we really appreciate about Corey was that the relationship did not end after the final papers were signed. When we told him that the tile in our master shower was loose and breaking, he came to the house to inspect it and worked with a different contractor and the seller to get the shower reinstalled correctly at no cost to us. Throughout the process, Corey showed us all the care and personal concern that we had always wanted in a real estate agent. His service was unmatched, and we highly recommend him and his agency to anyone buying or selling a house. read more

My husband and I used Brendan Reals as our buying agent to purchase our first home. He was wonderful! Very professional and thorough. He went the extra mile to make everything so easy. I heard so many horror stories about buying a home and how it would be so painful... it wasn't. Brendan took care of so many things for us and explained it all in detail. His knowledge of the market in the Fairfax area was a real asset. We had several meetings throughout this process (open house, walk-through, home inspection, etc), he was always there ahead of us to get all the details set up. He was very responsive and had all our questions or concerns answered either that same day or by the morning. We're so thankful that we found someone we could actually trust. I highly recommend him! read more

This review is for Harrison Williams, our buyers agent through DDA. We were looking to move from our townhouse to a single family in Fairfax. We interviewed multiple agents in the area from leading offices before selecting Harrison. Immediately, we felt at ease with his communication style, knowledge, and confidence that he would be able to help us find the right home for us. Throughout the process, he has always been very responsive to emails and phone calls. He kept us posted at every step and answered any questions we had. He will gave us his honest opinion about what's good and not so good about a home. He helped make our purchase a smooth one in a very competitive market. There were multiple offers on the home we purchased, and he made suggestions to make ours the strongest. He has many connections in the area, whether they are other real estate agents, lenders, or contractors, and everyone seems to hold him in high regard. He also knows the neighborhoods and schools in Fairfax extremely well - down to the models available in the neighborhood in many cases. Working with DDA overall seemed to provide a benefit, as we were able to see some houses for which DDA was the sellers agent before they went on the market (since they do so much business in this market). We didn't end up buying any of those, but I imagine that is a benefit to get a head start on what's going to be coming up for sale before everyone else sees it. We hope to be in our new home for a while, but we will definitely use Harrison next time we are in the market - highly recommend! read more

We worked with Jay D'Alessandro to sell our house in Springfield, VA. Jay was a great professional and guided my wife and I through the initial phase of "getting ready" to sell. Jay took charge and started us off with a home staging expert and a professional photographer. Completing a few small tasks we all agreed the house was ready for the market. Amazingly the house sold within 8 hours. That buyer unexpectedly backed out, lost his deposit, and we were back on the market. Jay reassured us not to worry. Yes, 24 hours later it sold again. We closed escrow within 30 days. I would highly recommend Debbie Dogrul Associates or your listing, and please ask for Jay D'Alessandro if you want your house sold! read more

We worked with Jay D'Alessandro to sell our house in Burke, VA. Jay was outstanding in understanding how to show our house. He had a home stager assist us. Our house was on the market during the slow times last year. Jay was confident that it would be sold. To our amazement it sold in 4 days. We received the full asking price!! I would also like to comment on the professionalism in the entire office. They made the paperwork seemless. Selling a home with Dogrul makes the process fun! We would highly recommend their service!!! read more

This is a review for Debbie Dogrul Associates and the agent, Jay D'Alessandro as we had experienced it. I will try to be as honest as possible. What we liked about Jay was that he was very clear about what we could expect from him, and we liked that he had contacts to the contractors who could do various jobs in the house). So, despite that he offered us a higher percentage to sell our house, we went with him hoping we would get the biggest bang for our buck. We should have thought better. Everything is negotiable, and you can negotiate the percentage. You are better off with other agents if they don't accept the smaller percent. If you sign with DDA, there are a few strings. They will reduce their fees if you go with their buyer's agent, and they will include in the contract a penalty in the upwards of hundreds of dollars if you decide to cancel prematurely supposedly for the costs of marketing your home. We did not negotiate any of these fees and we should have. He brought the designer and the contractor to choose the paint color and other things to repair in the house. All materials used were chosen for us, and we had no say. So, if our house did not sell, we would have been stuck with the materials and colors that we hated. I will write another review about the contractor they used - G's remodeling, Inc., but to be brief, I want you all to know that the final product of their work will look good, but will not be a quality product. Throughout the whole process Jay maintained excellent communication with us - always was in touch, even when we could probably choke him, he was very professional. But he made us repair everything in the house for the buyer. And here is our real disappointment - when we hired him, we thought he would have our back, and support us in the selling process, but the only back he had was his own - rather his pocket's! He dropped the ball during price negotiations, and then he dropped the ball on after inspection checklist from the buyer. We got a low ball offer, and he was trying to convince us it was a good offer. We knew better, and we pushed back. He was trying to make us agree to a price that was about $20,000less than what the house cost on the market. I am glad we pushed back because the buyer came back with a better offer - not the best price we could have gotten, but acceptable for us. When we got a checklist after the inspection, Jay wanted us to do everything, and offered us contractors to do those things. We had to push back again because had we spent more money on his contractors we'd have to show up with cash to the closing. If you are selling a house you have had for a long time, and have not refinanced and all that, sure, what is $20,000 - a drop in a bucket, right?... (NOT) But if it matters to you, that's what we'd be losing if we did not push back. Now, the contractors - I personally suspect they have mutually convenient agreements of referral fees. That basically means that your agent is not only making his fee as per agreement, he is probably taking in some of the fees you pay to the contractors. This is my personal opinion, I could not vouch that it really happened, nor have I seen anything to prove my personal suspicion, but when someone is sending you work worth thousands of dollars, would not they want to have a referral fee agreement? In any case, we did not care about it as long as the service provided was good, but we are not happy and now it makes one wonder. In general, DDA when listing townhouses tends to list slightly below the market rate, presents the house looking great, and obtains several bids the first week they list the house. It's a great strategy and they tend to sell them quickly, but if the house does not sell right away they will literally bully you into dropping the price. Every $10,000 you drop costs them ONLY $300 - Keep in mind! They will ask you to keep dropping the price because eventually they will sell, and they don't care whether you are under water - they will have made their money!!!! Well, if you don't want to sell anymore because your price is not good enough (low enough), you are trapped in the contract until it expires six months later because you don't want to pay that penalty!!! Also, you should know, Debbie Dogrul is retired - she will not have a clue about your house, we've heard! Two great things DDA has and provides are free truck for moving and web site full of options to see listings by various filters. Lastly, the closing company they use, Gold Cup, they are great. Overall, we are happy that the house is sold, not happy with overall experience, price we got, contractors we dealt with. Having gone through this experience, would we list the house with them again? Absolutely not! We did not go with their buyer's agent both because we just hated the whole process, and we could not risk going through the same again. So there, you have all your pros and cons. You can make your choice. read more

We recently had the distinct pleasure of working with realtor Harrison Williams as we looked for and purchased a home in the Northern VA area. We cannot sing his praises enough. We have worked with several agents in the past, and Harrison is without a doubt - and by far- the most knowledgeable, capable, connected, customer-oriented and professional realtor we have EVER worked with. He surpasses them all. We moved to the metro Washington, DC area for new jobs, and decided to purchase a home in the area. We chose Debbie Dogrul Associates from a list of "The Best [realtors] In Washington 2015" issue of The Washingtonian. After making an initial cold call, Harrison Williams contacted us within the hour. We knew immediately that we hit the "agent jackpot." He spent the next hour or so getting to know us, and telling us about himself in order that we might get to know him as well, thus allowing us to decide if we would be comfortable working with him. He immediately impressed us with his vast and detailed knowledge of the Northern VA area and the local housing market. He clearly has many professional contacts in the area with whom he has excellent working relationships. He sought from that first phone conversation to find out what our housing needs and wants were. He listened, asked questions, and listened some more. We decided to work with him on the spot. Looking for a home: Harrison worked with our schedules to allow for visits from Boston. He arranged for us to see many properties during our visits, and was very organized. He never gave up on us (we had an extensive must-have list). Harrison went himself to look at properties we found, or some he thought might work for us. He was relentless. He made good on his promise to find us our home, and one day contacted us at 3 am having found "THE" perfect home (Harrison's amazing negotiating skills convinced the buyer's agent to allow us to view it before a scheduled open house as we were going to be in the area)- and we put in an offer on the spot, because the property was exactly what we were looking for. Harrison was always immediately available by email, phone or text, and never made us feel rushed or pressured, or that we were an imposition on his time, despite him having many other clients. We really were made to feel that we were his only and most important clients. Buying the home: Once we decided to purchase the property, Harrison was there every step of the way. He used his outstanding negotiating skills and knowledge of the housing market in the area to secure our home for an amazing price. Harrison made the nuts and bolts of buying the property easy and seamless, using his many professional connections to recommend an outstanding mortgage company (which we used in lieu of the ones we were considering), inspectors, etc... Nothing went wrong or was delayed. Settlement: a breeze. There were no delays. Again, we used a title company recommended by Harrison, and everything was handled professionally with no delays or problems. We closed in three weeks! Harrison' s attention to detail is astonishing. He knew what was going on every step of the way and explained everything to us in great detail. He was very patient, and answered every question and addressed every concern. Should we buy another property or sell this one, we will call upon Harrison to be our agent. We will highly recommend Harrison to any of our friends or acquaintances who are looking to buy or sell property in the area. Thank you, Harrison! read more