“We will be recommending Merritt and Emily to any friends and family looking to buy; if you are searching for a real estate agent to work with, look no further. My fiancee and I entered the process of buying our first home daunted by Seattle’s market, but as soon as we met Merritt and Emily we knew we were in capable hands. Merritt and Emily made themselves available, working with our very busy schedules to view homes, they supplied just the right amount of encouragement balanced with expert advice from their extensive knowledge of the market, and they helped us craft three strong offers before getting our home on the fourth (significantly under our top offer amount!). Our success could not have been possible without this team. It was such a joy working with Merritt and Emily, and the fact that we had a blast, amidst this hot seller’s market when the process can so easily become stressful and negative, speaks volumes to their work ethic, professionalism, and dedication to their clients.”

“We used Merritt to buy our home in 2012 as well as sell it in 2018. He’s a real go-getter and always enthusiastic. He and his assistant Emily made excellent suggestions for getting the most out of our home selling process. They are readily available and went above and beyond to get us well over asking price for our home. They hosted great open houses, kept the house spotless and made the sale. We appreciate the work ethic and negotiation skills. Thank you Merritt and Emily!”

“Merritt and Emily were amazing. Super informed on the local market and the neighborhood we were in. They came prepared with a strong marketing plan and timeline for us. They maintained a positive honesty that we appreciated and committed themselves to positive results. We’ve worked with other agents before but the results were far better than we had ever experienced. Great team to work with.”

“Merritt and Emily are *the best*! They helped us with both buying and selling our home. We couldn’t have imagined a better experience with both. It’s obvious that Emily and Merritt love what they do and it really comes through in their work. They are a true team and had our backs every step of the way. The price they negotiated for selling our home was well above and beyond what we had hoped for and they were able to earn us the winning bid of our current home even though we were not the highest bid. Do yourself a favor and look no further for another agent!”

“Merritt and Emily must have more hours in their day than the rest of us. They helped us both buy and sell in an extremely stressful market. Whenever a house we were interested in was listed, Merritt and Emily helped us see it the same day. They helped us put together competitive offers on tight deadlines, always promptly answered our many (many, many) questions, and came to every single appointment all the way through closing for both homes. It took a lot of patience with the market, but we ended up in the perfect house for us. They also managed the process of getting our old house ready for market, and expertly negotiated the sale. We can’t speak more highly of them and will recommend them to anyone we know buying or selling in Seattle.”

“Merritt and Emily were a great team for us as first time home buyers. They took the time to explain the home buying process in detail, answered all of our questions, and made us feel comfortable. They had a lot of good insights into the local Seattle market including where we should be looking and how to craft a compelling offer. They were able to point out features of houses that would increase or decrease value that we would have otherwise been unaware of. They were super responsive to our requests for tours, sometimes taking tours on our behalf. Very highly recommended!”

“As soon as we met Merritt and Emily, it was a great match. They were friendly and thoughtful but also had a well-defined strategy for how to maximize the value of our sale. Because we were out-of-town owners, we were lucky to have such reliable agents who also served as project managers for some of the fix-ups we wanted to do before we went on the market, they advised us what would get the most bang for the buck and dealt with all the contractors’ work. We had frequent, near-daily phone, email and text conversations as we approached the listing date, while the apartment was on the market and as the offers started rolling in. Merritt and Emily made sure we maximized the number and monetary value of the offers we received. And, after we reached mutual acceptance, they shepherded and coached us through the remainder of the process. In the end, we got the top end of our target price with very little effort required from us. Merritt and Emily drove to a close and made sure all was in order. Thank you so much, Merritt Hess, Emily Tagami and the Windermere team!”

“This was our first time buying a home, and our experience with Merritt and Emily was magnificent. These two are awesome people who are lovely to work with in an otherwise overwhelming process. They are clearly great at building and fostering relationships in the Seattle community, and these factors come into play big time throughout the process (working with listing agents, sellers, loan officer, etc.) We started working with the duo back in April when we found a place we were excited about and wanted to put an offer in. With our initial contact, within one day of us calling to set up an initial conversation, Merritt and Emily had prepared an entire book of comparable listings and talked us through our options for that property. We ultimately didn’t move on that first house, and began a journey with Merritt and Emily that spanned the summer as we became acquainted with the market and learned about the home buying process. They were both incredibly responsive, informative, professional yet personable, and always willing to answer all of our questions while never making us feel stupid or ignorant. They joined us at a number of the open houses we visited across the city, and were always present and engaged throughout the process. They’re both extremely knowledgeable about the current market in Seattle and the home buying process in general. We went through two offer processes with Merritt and Emily, both late night in which we ended up eating dinner in the office, but Merritt’s professionalism shined as he walked us through every single page of the offers. The first home we attempted ultimately went beyond our escalation limit, but we felt like Merritt had our back throughout that offer review process. We are so thrilled with the house we did end up winning and we could not have gotten it without this team. They introduced us to West Seattle, which we hadn’t initially considered, and we now own a great home in a truly awesome neighborhood we are absolutely loving. They walked us through step-by-step the entire process, and were always available from start to finish. You’ll want these two on your team!”

“Merritt and Emily were so fun to work with. We jammed out to some top 80s hits while cruising the neighborhoods of Seattle. As out-of-staters, Merritt and Emily helped us find, negotiate, and close on a home in Magnolia within 30 days of being in Seattle. We were very concerned about appraisal coming in where we needed it, but we trusted Merritt that it would be in the right range. He promised if it wasn’t they’d work to make it right, but it came in within $1k of his estimate. Truly amazing! They made the experience a lot of fun, and they produced the research necessary to make us feel comfortable putting in our best offer in this tough and competitive market. I’m so happy they helped us find the right home in this new place... the only downside is that I don’t get to hang out with them on the reg anymore!”

“This is the second property in Seattle I have purchased with Merritt. He is awesome to work with because he understands your needs and helps you to negotiate and navigate the intricacies of the real estate market. He also understands thoroughly the Seattle market so he knows if something is worth pursuing. I highly recommend Merritt. He is very personable and if a third opportunity comes up for me, I will definitely use Merritt again.”

“This was my second time working with Merritt - first when buying and most recently when it was time to sell. In both cases, Merritt showed extensive knowledge of the region and market conditions, and provided great advice on what to look for and avoid. He was communicative and responsive, and kept us within our budget with realistic expectations when buying. When selling 4 years later, Merritt and Emily were incredibly helpful in helping us determine what updates should be made before sale, coordinating with contractors and staging, figuring out an aggressive schedule that worked for me, determining the right listing price, and just great communication throughout the process. We got the house ready for market within a month, looking immaculate inside and out. Needless to say in the current market, we accepted an excellent offer a week after listing and closed within a month. I highly recommend working with Merritt and his team whether looking to buy or sell. Friendly, professional, and respectful.”

“We were so absolutely fortunate to have Merritt as our real estate agent in this very tough Seattle market. His knowledge and expertise of the local market was extraordinary. With his guidance, expertise, and impeccable negotiation skills we were able to purchase the house of our dreams! We highly recommend Merritt and are forever grateful for everything he has done for us!”