Sound Counsel Realty is a full-service real estate brokerage and real estate law firm. To the best of our knowledge, we are the only real estate company where every agent or broker is also a real estate attorney. The concept of the business was created to positively address the disadvantages and limited options sellers and buyers frequently encounter in the real estate market.

Too often, sellers pay excessive fees to real estate agents without receiving anywhere near the value they pay for those services, while buyers often do not receive the essential legal advocacy needed to fully represent and protect their best interests. We provide everything a homeowner or buyer would expect from a traditional real estate agent and added the missing but most important piece our real estate agents are also highly trained, educated and experienced real estate attorneys.

In a word - YES! Buying or selling a home is often the largest and most important financial transaction a person will face in their lifetime. Many serious legal pitfalls exist and often arise in the purchase or sale of a home. Without legal representation, buyers and sellers put themselves at enormous financial and legal risk. Buying or selling a home can be a highly stressful experience. At Sound Counsel Realty, we shoulder the burdens for you and help make the experience as smooth and stress free as possible.

With Sound Counsel Realty, sellers and buyers receive an expert legal eye throughout the transaction. We provide meticulous research and advise clients based on up to date market conditions. After careful analysis, we pursue a variety of strategies to meet our clients’ needs. As motivated and skilled negotiators, we often achieve successful results far beyond clients' expectations including price reductions for buyers amounting to hundreds of thousands below asking price ( See Testimonials).

Unfortunately, sellers and buyers often place their faith and finances in non-attorney real estate agents who do not possess the legal knowledge to recognize and appropriately handle important legal issues. A real estate agent who is also a real estate attorney is invaluable to a client - making sure all aspects of the transaction are covered appropriately, understanding and advising clients regarding the legal requirements of the process, avoiding conflicts of interest, reviewing and making sure all of the disclosures are appropriate, carefully scrutinizing every word and term of the purchase and sale agreement and other legal documents, submitting strategic offers and counter offers, setting and complying with timelines to keep the transaction moving forward, providing an exit plan if necessary, and overseeing a smooth transition of all important details until the sale is closed. Because the typical agent has no legal training, knowledge, or experience, the necessary foundation is lacking for recognizing and handling problematic, time sensitive and critical legal issues.

Many clients unknowingly enter into contracts or sign disclosures regarding their home which contain material inaccuracies, omit key terms or simply fail to take advantage of opportunities only available with a solid understanding of the law. A real estate agent cannot advise you of the law, your legal rights, or explain the legal significance and/or requirements of contract law. In every purchase and sale agreement, deadlines must be met in a timely manner. If a problem arises, an agent may not insert, modify or change the legal language on behalf of their clients. A real estate agent may only fill in the informational blanks on pre-printed legal documents. In the event a legal concern occurs during a transaction, you will have an attorney in your corner to take the necessary steps to resolve or appropriately address the issue before it is too late. Often, problems can be prevented or solved by simply drafting or modifying the language of the contract for our clients.

Sellers - Exceptional Service and Lower Fees

Sound Counsel Realty provides the highest level of service while our fees are lower than the fees charged by traditional real estate agencies. We bring a level of service and education no other brokerage can match and the difference in savings is significant, especially in today's housing market. In addition, with our strong negotiation skills and advocacy, we are often able to help sellers obtain higher sales prices.

Our real estate services are comprehensive, including state of the art high definition photography, virtual tours, a dedicated website, staging by interior designers, creative marketing strategies, open houses, and exposure of your home on the MLS.

Buyers - A clear advantage

At Sound Counsel Realty buyers receive an incomparable, clear advantage in the real estate market. When we represent a buyer, we provide a credit out of our commission to help pay their closing costs. Buyers who hire other full service real estate agencies still have to pay their own closing costs (note - Redfin and other similar discount real estate companies are not full service real estate companies and their agents are not real estate attorneys). As a result, buyers must pay thousands of dollars in out of pocket cash for their closing costs. Of course, past performance does not guarantee future results, but so far we have been very successful significantly lower the amount of money our buyers must bring to closing.

Example of our advantage: If a buyer purchases a home for $450,000, with FHA financing, their closing costs could be as much as $7,000-10,000 in addition to the down payment of $15,750. We strive to structure the deal so that with a combination of our contribution to the buyer's closing costs and negotiating credits with the seller, our buyer would only have to bring the $15,750 down payment, rather than $22,750-$25,750.

Home buyers choose Sound Counsel Realty because they want the additional education and protection of having a real estate agent who is also an attorney to represent them throughout the process. We provide everything a buyer needs from finding the right home, aggressively negotiating the lowest possible price, and presenting and responding to the contracts and legal documents.

Most real estate companies are saturated with agents, all of which are paid purely on commission. In a traditional real estate office, the agents generally work independently from one another under the same broker. Agents pay for their individual advertising expenses, administrative costs, desk fees, and other miscellaneous expenses. When commissions are earned, agents are often required to share a large portion of their fees with their company. In this environment, agents work under the same roof in direct competition for the same clients, rather than working together to develop an efficient industry. We don't think our clients should pay higher fees because of industry inefficiency.

By providing a unified approach to our business model, our resources are used efficiently, substantially reducing our administrative costs. We work as a team, rather than competing within the firm for clients. As a result, we are able to comfortably pass these savings on to our clients, including paying our buyer's closing costs.

Dual Agency occurs when the seller's agent and buyer's agent both work for the same real estate agency. On many occasions, the buyer's agent and seller's agent often work out of the same small, local office. We strongly believe dual agency creates a clear conflict of interest for the seller and the buyer. The potential for exchanging harmful confidential financial and strategic information between agents, even unintentionally, creates an unnecessary risk for clients. As consumers, it is important to ask every potential agent if dual agency is permitted by their broker. Most listing agreements require the consumer to consent to dual agency. Abiding by the attorney rules of professional conduct and ethics, an attorney can never put his or her own interests ahead of their clients.

As a result, we will not represent a seller and buyer in the same transaction. Eliminating dual agency protects our clients and allows us to fully represent each client without divided interests.

Loan evaluation and advice
With origination fees, points, pre-payment penalties, negative amortization, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) and all the other nuances, it is important to have someone that will represent your interests throughout the lending process. A real estate agent cannot legally provide this service.

A mortgage broker may search for lending products on your behalf, but they are paid by the lender and they receive higher compensation from the lender if the borrower pays higher upfront fees or a higher interest rate. With the vast variety of lending products, and the significant harm they have caused many people, it is important to have an attorney representing your interests in the loan application and closing process.

Your attorney/agent can provide advice regarding loan choices, the implications, and your liabilities. Your attorney/agent will help you understand the loan you are getting, review the loan to see the terms are as agreed, and help avoid surprises at closing or later.

There are still loans available for all amounts and at historically low interest rates. If you have already found a lender, your attorney will assist through the application and funding process. If you need help deciding on a lender, your attorney can advise regarding the pros and cons of various lenders.

Advanced Financing Contingencies
In the current credit market, it is important to have provisions in the purchase and sale agreement to protect the buyer from sudden changes in the credit market. Your attorney will include a financing contingency that covers a loss of financing at a later stage of the transaction.

The standard Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) financing contingency that real estate agents use only applies for 30 days and can be required to be waived once the buyer has a loan commitment. The standard NWMLS financing contingency does not protect the buyer if prior to closing, the lender rescinds the commitment. Your attorney will draft a financing contingency that anticipates and addresses the unique challenges of the current credit markets.

Drafting a contract
A real estate agent cannot draft a contract. Real estate agents generally use the pre-printed MLS forms and are only permitted to fill in the blank spaces on these forms. If a real estate agent adds language to the pre-printed forms with the exception of filling in simple informational terms such as price, closing date, title company, etc…the agent has engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. More important, if a real estate agent adds clauses or conditions that are not pre-printed or reviewed by an attorney, you could be exposed to extensive liability.

Title report and title insurance
Your attorney will review the title report and title insurance policy to ensure a smooth transaction and marketable title. Unless the buyer hires an attorney, the buyer does not have anyone in their corner who can advise them regarding the legal implications of the title report or title insurance policy.

Facilitate smooth closing process
In Washington, there is rarely an attorney at closing. Unless you hire your own attorney, there is not anyone representing your interests at closing. In Washington, there is rarely an attorney present at closing. Closing is a complicated process with numerous pages of documents requiring your signature. With Sound Counsel Realty, your attorney can be present at closing to assist you and review the documentation. The Escrow officer cannot advise you of the legal implications of the documents, nor can a real estate agent.

All of the above additional services are included at no additional fee.

Consumers no longer have to pay high fees to sell their most precious asset or risk making their largest investment without legal representation. With Sound Counsel Realty you will receive full service, comprehensive representation by a real estate agent and real estate attorney, all while saving thousands compared to a traditional real estate brokerage.

As a full-service real estate company and members of the Multiple Listing Service we have access to the same properties and services as other MLS affiliated real estate companies. We will help you through the entire process, including showing you all the homes you would like to see until you find the right one.

Sound Counsel Realty provides all of the services of a full service real estate agency. We go beyond most traditional agencies, which hold open houses and not much else - we also provide High Definition professional photography, staging by interior designers, creative marketing strategies including dedicated websites, and MLS Internet exposure. The pictures of your house buyers will see on the internet are amazing. They will make your home stand apart from the competition. Photography is critical in today's internet based market. How many times have you looked at bad pictures of a home and eliminated that home from your search? How many times have you agreed to pay your real estate agent a huge fee, expecting the best services, only to have your agent come to your house with their own 5 mega pixel camera and take the photos?

What most sellers do not know; With a traditional real estate agency, the seller who signs the standard MLS listing agreement obligates them to pay the entire 6% commission even when the buyer does not have an agent! Why should you pay your agent an additional 3% when the buyer does not have an agent to pay and when you have agreed to pay your agent 3% for his or her services? We don't think there is a good reason. At Sound Counsel Realty, if the buyer purchases your home without an agent, you keep the savings and only pay us the commission agreed to in the Listing Agreement for our side of the work.

For example, if you sold your home for $700,000 with Sound Counsel, our fee would be 2% or $14,000. If a buyer's agent was involved in the sale, you would pay them the commission you stated in the Listing Agreement. If that amount was 2.5%, a buyer's agent's fee would be $17,500. However, if a buyer purchased your home without an agent, your fee would be our 2% ($14,000) instead of 4.5% ($31,500).

On the other hand, if you sold your home for $700,000 with most other real estate companies, you could probably expect to pay your agent 3% or $21,000. In addition, your agent would likely persuade you to pay a buyer's agent's commission of 3% as well based on the unfounded myth that your chances of selling will be increased. In this example, when your home sells, you will pay 6% of the sales price of your home regardless of whether the buyer had an agent or not. At the end of the day, you will pay a whopping $42,000 when you could have saved $9,500 to $28,000.

We use a 3 month listing agreement, instead of a 6 month listing agreement. Why? Many sellers do not realize the potentially negative consequences of signing a 6 month contract with their real estate agent. If the agent does not provide the level of services promised or live up to expectations, you will not be happy because you will be stuck in a contract for 6 months. A 3 month contract has no downside for the seller, only the agent. If the seller is happy with their agent, the contract can simply be extended for another 3 months.

If your home does not sell, you do not pay any fees.