I worked with Julie Birkle at the Windermere Real Estate office in Anacortes. This was the 5th…read morehouse I bought, and she was by far the best real estate agent I have known. I concur with everything that JoDee wrote about her. Not only is she very knowledgeable about real estate, services and the island but she has incredible tenacity. I bought my house from flippers who only cared about how it looked. After mutually agreeing to do certain things to get the house ready for me to move in, Julie volunteered to come back 5 times to make sure the work was done completely, not just halfway. Her integrity and dedication to her clients are phenomenal. I would highly recommend her to anyone buying or selling a home. IN SHORT, JULIE HAS YOUR BACK!

They advertise on their webpage that they provide HOA management. My association is interested in…read morehiring professional management nearby. I called, yes they are interested in adding more clients. The person who handles it, Brittany, is either not in, or busy. I have left 3 different messages, and she has NEVER return the call. If this is how they treat you when they "want" your business, how are you treated when they have it? If you really don't want a client, at least be professional enough to return the call and tell them no, thank you.

I thought working with a property management company would be the right way to go to avoid creepy…read morelandlords as a young female. Boy was I wrong. The staff at Windermere were dishonest to me and my roommate about the state of the home we were to move into. There was mold building up in the laundry room and the wall was falling apart due to a water leak. Issues that WE discovered ourselves. The leak was clearly visible to the human eye; my roommate took photos as soon as she saw the leak and we let Windermere know of the issue. Of course, this was after we had already paid $4,400.00 and signed our lease. These issues were completely ignored by all who did an "inspection" of the place. The mold is a huge concern of ours, as it should be. I had requested a professional mold test on December 17th but that request was never acknowledged and there was no follow-through. The people at Windermere made it seem like the mold was "no big deal". One of their staff members tried to tell us it was "lint stuck to the wall." That was very insulting because all photos show it is, in fact, mold. She also kept defensively talking over us, like our concerns were not valid and she had to "defend, defend, defend". She said something along the lines of, "when we complete our inspections we don't break open walls to look at their pipes.!" as an excuse. Well guess what, I didn't break down any walls either and I saw the water leak OUTSIDE of the walls. My roommate and I were not and have not, been living in the home due to the hazardous conditions. This company was not honest and scammed us out of money along with the landlord they represent. Had we known about these issues prior, we would never had signed the lease or given any money until the issues were addressed. It completely baffles me how all of these issues came about once the landlord and Windermere had our money and a signed lease. We were hopeful when we spoke with Paula at Windermere who said she would advise the landlord to forgive our January rent due to the living conditions. The landlord said "no" and that the conditions were "livable". And that was that. It's shocking because I keep thinking "Doesn't he want a good relationship with his tenants?". However, the landlord had to "drive 1,000 miles and take time off of work" due to him wanting to complete the repairs himself. That information was used by the landlord and Windermere as a tactic for us having to pay rent for a hazardous home. It was his choice to do the repairs when there were plenty of capable contractors right here in the community who would have completed the job within the week. It took a month for this guy to fix issues he ignored for a long time. This has been a terrible experience for me and I have 0 respect for Windermere Property Management and the landlords they represent and choose to defend. Now, if you can excuse me as I write a check for $2,200 for a house where I have not lived in over the past two months. This is due to Windermere's lack of anything regarding the mold test and the lack of urgency regarding the mushy wall in the laundry room. It's truly just the principle of the situation and I feel frustrated, and I am lacking hope for my living circumstances. 2025 is rough and I believe we all need to help each other out, not take advantage. And that is what Windermere did and does. All - Use caution and complete your own inspection before signing a lease agreement or giving any money. This company will lie to you and scam you and think nothing of it.

This is for the renter's side of their business…read more They charge tons of fees - $50 per person for the application, $20-25 for each pet, and when the first application came back with no results on the credit score they asked us to submit a new application, with new fees. They promised to refund the first application fees via email, and did not. All in all just applying cost us (two people + pets) about $300. Windermere did not even want to manage the property I was applying to and dropped the owner of the house as a client AFTER I paid all the fees - I was in touch with the owner and she was bewildered - it sounded like they have never wanted to take the property over and are so unscrupulous that they operated like they would just to get the application in. Read the other reviews. At best they are expensive, at worst they are fraudulent. It's so hard to avoid them because housing is tight here, but you will surely pay more in the end if you choose them out of desperation. They rely on you not going to small claims court or hiring legal to keep being scummy.

Searching for our home during this time of strange economic circumstances felt like a daunting…read morejourney when we first began. But by a stroke of good fortune, (and Zillow) - we crossed paths with Leah and Jon Courage, and that has made all the difference for us in every possible way. From my very first conversation with Leah it was as clear as day that she was a consummate professional who not only follows through, but is at all times, ahead of the game. Not only was she able to answer every single question and challenge thoroughly and articulately and with a wealth of information and expertise - but she did so with such clear authenticity and passion for what she does. We felt very quickly that we could trust her to be an expert guide and an ally as we tackled everything that comes with searching for and purchasing a home. At every showing, Leah came beyond prepared. She came to the table equipped with research on the property, with incredible insights, and most importantly, a deep connection to and awareness of our goals, our needs, and our specific situation. She was there to earn our business, and make certain we got everything we needed and more. Our search initially started out with a wide net. We were searching MANY areas in Washington and, because of that, did showings with multiple realtors in different locations, but none of them felt as personally devoted to our needs as Leah. She followed up consistently, but never overwhelmed us. She was so positive and encouraging, but also incredibly direct and clear about every property, and every aspect of the process. As we continued to search, we had the pleasure of beginning to work with Jon as well and found him to also be a treasure trove of expertise and information. He was also honest, direct, very funny, and incredibly professional. Together, we felt we had a crack team on our side. They jumped through hoops and were incredibly prompt and responsive to every single inquiry, text, question, emotion, thought bubble and annoying equivocation. Every single question was met with enthusiasm and expert advice. Leah and Jon know this industry backward and forward. They educated us at every turn and offered every possible option and consideration we needed. And when we finally walked into the house that checked all of our boxes - they knew before we did - and were already pulling out all the stops and contacts in their toolbox to ensure not only that we could secure our home, for the right price, but that the entire negotiation would go seamlessly. We were expecting the purchasing process to be bumpy - but it was absolutely seamless from start to finish. Leah stayed present at every possible moment - answering every single question, advocating for us, expertly guiding us, and always being excited, encouraging, direct, clear, honest and authentic. Leah and Jon not only helped us find our dream home - which exceeded our expectations - but most importantly, they dug in and put in the work to be present for us at every step to ensure we got through the process with zero problems. They also referred us to multiple contacts throughout the process that turned out to be exceptional referrals. We did our homework on lenders in particular - but in the end, Leah's recommendation was of course the most professional and best option. Her conscientiousness is also clear in who she partners and does business with. She clearly has high standards for who she keeps company with - and we benefitted greatly from that. You cannot match the level of expertise and devotion Leah clearly brings to the table. I don't think she sleeps. We could not have had a better team on our side. They're the best decision we made in our home buying journey. We are about to move into our dream home. It's everything. Thank you Leah and Jon!

This is a small island with many choices for realtors. A few years ago we went to Friday Harbor to…read morecheck out our retirement home possibilities. Lucky us, we began our investigation with Christopher Spaulding from the Island Group Southey's Reality! It's been over five years since that first meeting, and you would think that Chris would forget about that first meeting? That is not the case. Chris would periodically send us an email, no pressure whatsoever over this time and when we were ready this past June, he went into high gear on our behalf. Through text and email, we had 12 waterfront properties to choose from. With Chris offering valuable information throughout the process. When we arrived, Chris had set up a plan for three full days of house hunting. This accomplished, we had two days to revisit, do our due diligence and just go visit our final two choices. Throughout this entire process, including closing, Chris was with us all the way! His knowledge, savvy of local market conditions and professionalism, is excellent, his personality, calming during this stressful process and we believe, he is our first Island friend! The island life is not for everybody. But if you need help finding a home in the San Juan's, be sure and see Chris Spaulding!

My husband and I were making a big move (physically and emotionally) from Los Angeles to remote…read moreOrcas Island and did not know a soul in the area. Kathryn Bowes and her colleague Chris Spaulding were the perfect people to help us make the transition and find a home. Kathryn was organized, flexible, and patient (even after we waffled back and forth between buying undeveloped land, renting or buying a home (we even considered San Juan Island for a time)). She never pushed us in a direction but gave us important information and her opinions when asked to help us make a sound decision. In the end, with her persistence and her sound negotiation skills we were able to buy a real gem of a property with a 180 degree panoramic view of Cascade Bay and a commercial vacation rental property on the premises, all for 1/3rd the cost of our LA home. We've been living in the house for less than a week and Kathryn is still helping answer questions and graciously introducing us to the community. We we would highly recommend her and Chris Spaulding to anyone else.

John Monroe helped us find our dream home on Whidbey. He and the Craig McKenzie team were very…read moreprofessional and easy to communicate with at all times of the day or night. John went above and beyond for us, and he is very knoweldgeable about all of the different areas on Whidbey Island. He also provided us with many contractor references which has been very helpful. Thank you John!!

We were shopping for our dream home from out of state. Reid was always accessible and responsive…read moreand was instrumental in making our dream a reality. We recommend him and the CM team!

Bert helped us with our fourth real estate transaction. Prior to working with Bert, we had worked…read morewith a great agent, an average agent, and bad agent. Bert is a great agent! From the start of our house-hunting with Bert in Anacortes in November 2012, we were confident that he was focused on what WE wanted. In what was a thin market, he started out by showing us various houses that he knew were NOT right for us but which helped him understand what features we liked and didn't like. This approach shortened the time it took for him to understand our house must-have, would-be-nice, and gee-we-thought-that-was-important-but-we-aren't-going-to-pay-for-it features. A lesser agent would have "saved time" by waiting for the occasional house that matched our desired features and taken longer to move up the learning curve about what truly was the right match of house and price for us. Also, with Bert, we never worried that we might miss out on a house - he was talking to other agents about our needs, driving around town, sending out mailings, and checking the MLS every morning before we even get up! Given our particular needs and ability to wait for the perfect house, our agent needed to exhibit patience, persistence, and a focus on OUR satisfaction. Bert met this challenge perfectly. Since we bought our house in March 2013, we have reveled in what is the perfect house -- for us. No buyers remorse, no second thoughts. A lot of credit for that is shared with our agent, Bert. While it was the "big things" that were most important to our satisfaction with Bert - finding the right house, getting the right price, having the paperwork handled with care -- we also appreciated his attention to small, discretionary matters such as giving the house one final sweeping before he handed us the keys and we walked into our home for the first time. One of the benefits of having a newer agent who is smart is that he or she knows to ask for input from peers when encountering a tricky situation. We had a number of such situations before we succeeded in buying our home and Bert occasionally sought the counsel of his experienced colleagues at John L. Scott before making a recommendation to us. That shows a commitment to the client and to learning. That he always got the support from his peers reflects well on John L. Scott as an agency, too. Bert displayed complete integrity, great negotiating skill, and constant commitment to us as clients. We recommend him without hesitation. Dennis and Lynne

I've used several RE agents and Bert is the only agent I've bothered to review, and for good…read morereason. HE IS EXCELLENT compared to the others. He always answers his phone and is available whenever you need him, even for odd requests like driving an hour to let you measure room dimensions on a house already in the purchase process. He knows his landscape and he does his research so he has answers before you ask the questions. And if he doesn't know on the spot, you can be sure he'll get your answer will same day! I've spent 20 years in the country, and another 20 years in the inner city. Moving back to the country was daunting, but Bert knows his area and makes such a drastic change feel comfortable and easy. He has neat RE negotiation tricks my other agents didn't know - which proved successful in my obtainment in this last property. Thank You, Bert! Bert is friendly and personable - someone you'd like to be friends with. I've even met his wife! And he works his butt off regardless of the sales price/commission. His goal is to make you happy. And with me, he succeeded 100%. He's helped me into my dream home and I couldn't be happier.

Highly recommended for their service and professionalism. Whenever I had a question or needed…read moreassistance Dean or his team were always there. They helped us buy our home on Whidbey Island where not just the deer but our grandkids come to play

Was impressed with Dean and Naomi. Diligent and very good communication skills; and they strive…read moreto provide exceptional customer service . When I said I was not comfortable doing something, she quickly provided a solution. Dean would answer my phone call after hours. Very professional. Highly recommended.

I needed to rent my house and went looking in the phone book for a real estate agent to manage my…read moreproperty. I really lucked out when I found Jim Lyons at Century 21. He has been doing rentals for years and really knows his stuff! He is easy going and very helpful. As a first time landlord, I had a lot of questions. He helped me though the process and made it almost seem easy. I have been with him over 6 years now and he has helped me not only find a great tenant but also with the any issues that have come up. I think he does a great job and would recommend him to everyone!

Their rental management service is horrible. No communication. My rental was filthy and damaged…read more James allowed the renters to walk away with the bulk of the damage deposit and was more upset that the renters chose to use another firm when buy a house. The contract with C21 called for on site inspections twice a year. In nearly four years, their rep admitted that he only came out once.