PRESS PERSONAL REAL ESTATE SUPPORT SERVICES

My wife and I met Brett through a class on home buying at the University of Washington Experimental College, which he was teaching. That class was excellent, and we would highly recommend it to any and all first-time home buyers. It prepared us for the steps involved in buying a first-time home and allowed us to ask all the initial questions we had. We knew Brett also offered personalized service through PRESS and, at the recommendation of a friend, signed up for this as well. Brett helped us look at our finances to determine our budget, introduced us to multiple real estate agents, and put us in touch with mortgage providers he had experience with. Throughout the home-buying process, whenever we had a question or wanted to double-check a conclusion we had come to, Brett was available via phone & email to talk us through it. Generally, we felt much more secure in the process having an experienced agent in our corner through the process. Since then, we have maintained our relationship with Brett & PRESS, sending questions his way about plans for fixing & renovating the house, and he has continued to provide clear and sober advice in each situation.

I was very happy with my experience with PRESS.  Brett is a professional, and doesn't pretend to be anything he is not.  He provides clarity to the home buying process and offers up pre-screened recommendations for real estate professionals to work with on the home buying process, from agents, to brokers and inspectors.
I was most impressed by Brett's willingness to talk through complex issues related to home buying in a competitive market.  He was willing to educate me, not just tell me what to do. 
With PRESS's help I found a terrific agent and lender.  Then, when I was frustrated through the ups and downs on multiple offer bidding Brett talked me through options as well as calculated risks associated with each option.
I would recommend PRESS to anyone.  The beauty of their service is that it comes with a $0 price tag to you as the client.  PRESS works out a commission percentage with your real estate agent.  So basically you get a free consultant to provide additional support and collaboration on top of your real estate agent.
If you want to learn how to buy and sell real estate as part of your investment strategy I strongly recommend signing up with PRESS, or if you just want to have support at your fingertips for your home buying process this is the right choice!

Brett was amazing.  We were first time home buyers with tons of questions.  He was patient and thorough as we went through our long list of questions and concerns and we walked away from our first meeting thrilled that we had decided to work with Press and feeling confident about the whole process.  Everyone he referred us to was great, and he clearly prides himself on finding the right fit for each home buyer he works with.  At every step of the process Brett was there to answer questions, help us navigate the many hoops we had to jump through and keep everything going smoothly.  

As a 23 year old first time homebuyer, I can't emphasize enough how supportive PRESS has been.  I came in knowing next to nothing about buying a home, in Seattle no less, which is one of the most competitive markets in the country.  PRESS not only helped educate me on the process, they also held my hand through the entire process and made the whole experience far less stressful than it could have been.  Brett is incredibly knowledgable and is an invaluable resource.  The referrals he gave really made a smooth process out of what could have been an intense experience.  The fact that PRESS is a free service to homebuyers is truly astounding, and I recommend anyone looking to make a home purchase consult with them.  It truly will make all the difference.

I would encourage you to read every review that precedes mine - each one is a true testimonial of what your experience will be like working with Brett.  The home buying and selling experience can be stressful, frustrating and feel overwhelming at times, but Brett and the professionals he trusts to recommend to you (real estate agents, contractors, inspectors, etc.) will help keep you focused and on track, making the whole process easier and more comfortable.
What strikes me most about working with Brett is his vast knowledge, experience, responsiveness, and patience.  He listens, he offers advice and presents options.  He doesn't rush or make you feel pressured.  He gives you his time and undivided attention when you need it most.  I can't imagine going through the buying and selling experience without PRESS.  I highly recommend PRESS.

Our experience was extremely successful. It is evident that PRESS has committed itself to maintaining relationships with only the most upstanding, knowledgeable and honest professionals. While this formula does not guarantee success, especially in such a competitive market, we couldn't have felt more supported and empowered by their advice, knowledge base, and overall service.

We had a great experience buying our first home with PRESS.  As a first time homebuyer, it was great to have solid referrals for things like our real estate agent, loan officer, and inspector.  All of the information we needed from start to finish was available, as well as having PRESS as a resource for questions that came up.  Our real estate agent went above and beyond in helping us find a great house.  She and our loan officer helped coordinate signing our documents remotely (we were out of the country), and helped us to get last-minute repairs done quickly before closing.  In a competitive market, we are really grateful to have a great team available to help us find the right house for us.

He was prompt in keeping his appointment.  He maintained a cheerful, totally professional demeanor during our interview.
Although he made it clear that he is not an attorney, he displayed considerable knowledge of real estate law.  He was aware of the special considerations necessary when selling a home that is occupied by a renter.  He maintains a roster of real estate agents that he has interviewed and vetted and gave me the names of 3 agents to interview before making my choice.  All 3 agents appeared very competent but the one we chose proved to be outstanding in her thoroughness and dedication.  Our home sold the first day it was on the market.  We couldn't have been more pleased with the entire transaction.

Our first meeting was comprehensive and extremely informative.  Although we have bought and sold homes before in a different state, we were not that familiar with the process of selling a home in the Seattle area.  Brett initially met with us for several hours at our house and he thoroughly explained the process of pricing and getting the house ready for market.  Brett is professional, prepared, knowledgeable, and excels at communications.  He answered all of our questions completely. The initial meeting was a no charge session.  After we opted to have Brett act as our broker, he served as our full service broker from the beginning of the process to closing of escrow.  He gave us candid advice on what we needed to do to get our property up to the level where it would sell at close to our preferred price.  He spent a great deal of time with us in selecting the listing price, using data from recent sales as well as pending sales to make a detailed market analysis.  Brett recommended a superb stager to help us stage the house so that it would show at its best.  He also gave us some excellent leads for contractors to make the improvements we needed to make prior to sale.  He helped guide us through the inspection process and he was an excellent resource during the closing process.
In summary, we were very pleased with the outcome and we appreciated Brett's knowledge, expertise, responsiveness, and patience in helping us sell our house.

All of the mortgage brokers we discussed were knowledgeable and professional. PRESS's tools were invaluable in understanding the tradeoffs between different lenders. The mortgage broker we chose closed on time.
Similarly, our realtor was fantastic. She had detailed knowledge of the market. She took the time to understand exactly what we were looking for. She provided near-daily updates on new properties to consider. When it came time to make an offer, she walked us through the process. We ended up making offers on several homes. Regardless of outcome, we had no regrets. Our realtor ultimately located the perfect house for us.
I could not recommend PRESS more highly.

My wife and I started our home-buying process in March 2014 and found PRESS while looking for real estate agents on Angie's List. We liked the idea of working with someone who could refer us to high-quality professionals and decided to get ahold of Brett Clifton at PRESS to schedule a meeting. Brett offers classes for prospective buyers in the Seattle area; we didn't take any of these prior to contacting PRESS or meeting Brett, which ended up being perfectly fine--I imagine they're incredibly helpful, but they certainly aren't a strict prerequisite.
Brett met with us in person for about 2 hours a few days after we contacted him. Because we were first-time buyers, he gave us a detailed overview of the home-buying process and answered questions about some of our specific concerns about buying in the Puget Sound area. He then asked us about our goals and what we were looking for in a home and used that information to provide us with the profiles of two area real estate agents that were on his list of trusted brokers. After the meeting, Brett sent us a PDF handbook containing the information we'd discussed and gave us lists of trusted mortgage brokers and inspectors.
After we gathered a set of mortgage quotes, we sent them over to Brett, who compiled them all into a spreadsheet to compare the total financing costs and then called us to talk over the results. Most of our quotes were very similar, so our spreadsheet wasn't especially interesting, but it was still useful to see everything compared side-by-side, and it would definitely have come in handy if our quotes had been significantly different.
We interviewed both of the agents Brett referred us to. It was clear to us that both of them would have been a pleasure to work with and that they both would have done a fantastic job for us, and the agent we eventually chose did do a great job. We also ended up working with a mortgage broker and inspector from Brett's list and were extremely happy with our choices, especially our choice of lender--once we found a house and had an offer accepted, we got through to closing with absolutely no issues.
Brett was available for consultation throughout our escrow period, but we ended up being fortunate enough not to have any problems with our inspection or with the closing process, so we didn't need to lean on him much after our offer was accepted, though we knew that he was available to consult with us if we had any questions about what was going on. All told, we were able to go from contacting Brett to closing our sale in about 3 months with what seemed to us to be a minimal amount of hassle.
And the service really is free--PRESS receives referral fees from the buyer's agents that PRESS clients eventually work with. The only things Brett asks of clients are to make an effort to actually purchase a property (the referral fee comes out of the agent's commission, so PRESS only gets paid when a sale closes) and to write a review of the experience after the sale closes.
We were thrilled to work with Brett and will absolutely contact PRESS again if and when it comes time for us to re-enter the real estate market.

I selected a recommended agent for buying my home in rural Snohomish County.  Before our first meeting, my agent gave me a homework assignment: write down what's important for me in my home selection.  I replied with things like serenity, privacy, and independence.
My agent emailed me daily with new listings meeting my price and geographic criteria.  I drove by those that could potentially meet my criteria. When I had accumulated several candidates, I called my agent, and we did interior inspections of the houses (On a hot Summer day, she even brought a cooler full of drinks!).   This went on for over 6 months.  In early January, 2011, I finally found a place that I thought would work (I fell in love with the mountain view).  There was a house nearby, and my agent, remembeirng my initial criterion of privacy, queried me on that point.  I think that shows that my agent's interest was not in in making a sale, but in making a satisfied buyer.   Other qualities of the property won over, and I finally bought the house.
I had wanted to buy a house years, but didn't know whom to trust.   I had been sort of burned by advice (decades ago) and a co-worker had spoken to me about how he hated real estate agents [bad experience].  Once I found PRESS, I had the confidence to go ahead.

My wife and I can't say enough great things about Brett Clifton and the PRESS organization...but we'll try.
My wife and I attended the "Multi-Plex Magic" class offered by PRESS and taught by Brett Clifton.  The class was fun and inspiring for both of us.  By the time the class ended we knew that our goal was to purchase a multi-family real estate.  Circumstances with the home we were renting forced our hand to search for a property sooner than later.  We had a very small window of time to find a property, and we asked Brett if we were crazy to try to accomplish a purchase within our limited time-frame.  He said it could be done and gave us specific instructions and a list of tasks to accomplish to make our goals a reality.  He referred us to a short list of PRESS trusted real estate brokers and mortgage brokers.  It didn't take us long to confirm the real estate broker.  We fell in love with the first broker we met with and within a month we found a duplex in the neighborhood of our choice.  Our offer was one of three made on the property within 24 hours of the duplex having been listed.  She walked us through the process of making what she felt would be the best offer and the seller ended up going with us.  On the mortgage broker side of the equation it wasn't as easy to choose which to go with because they were all very impressive.  Being a freelancer required a few more hoops to jump through to get financing, but the mortgage broker we chose guided us along the process to a very speedy three week closing.
I have purchased two properties prior to my having worked with PRESS.  After this experience I would not make a real estate move without the help of Brett Clifton and the PRESS organization.  Even after our property purchase, Brett and our real estate broker have been there to help with the next step in our continuing education of becoming landlords.

Brett was very helpful and usually responded to our questions quickly. The real estate agent and inspector referred by Brett also turned out to be great. The entire process was smooth and without problems. We were very happy with the result.

After taking Brett Clifton's class on Home Buying 101 through the Experimental College in 2011, my husband and I decided to contact him about the PRESS service once we were serious about buying our first home. Brett met us for about 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon at a coffee shop near our house and very patiently responded to alllll of our many questions about real estate. He gave us good, honest advice, educated us about many things, and then referred us to a handful of brokers he thought would be a good fit for our needs and personality. The broker we ended up working with was FABULOUS, so much so that we stopped feeling like we needed Brett's help. But, we knew he was always there for us if we wanted a second opinion on something. Even though we went into the home buying process kind of scared about how much we didn't know, we emerged from it confident that we had made an educated decision about buying our first place, and much of that is owed to the PRESS service. I highly recommend it to first time buyers!

All I can say is WOW. Brett was very patient and explained everything. The agent we chose was wonderful, friendly and was more than happy to answer the pedantic questions I had a habit of asking. She rocked! I wouldn't want to go through this first-time-home-buyer process without them and I can't imagine how much more stressful it would have been. Holy cow.
They also offer services for selling homes, so I'm sure we'll be using them to list our property in the future as well. If you're at all thinking of buying a home (even if you've done it before), use Press. You won't regret it!

He was wonderful. He gave us great advice and set us up with a great agent. He was honest and helpful. When we do decide to buy and sell we will definitely use him.

I was on an international assignment in Spain with my wife and we decided before we returned that we wanted to buy a house. We contacted Brett from PRESS and had a call with him, and he went over the PRESS process and gave us recommendations for 3 real estate agents. We selected 2 of them from the bios and made house tours as soon as we got back to Seattle. After the house tours we selected 1 of those to be our agent, and she was an awesome agent - very knowledgeable, looked after our interests, and was always on top of everything. Using the pdf booklet provided by PRESS we also selected a mortgage broker who did an awesome job. Our house buying process overall went extremely well and I'm very happy that I went through PRESS. Brett was very flexible with our unique circumstances and I would recommend him to anyone buying a house in the Seattle area - you can be confident that the people he recommends will be top-notch quality.

In my initial meeting with Brett, I indicated that I wanted 3 bedrooms, had a hard limit to stay under for my PITI payment and wanted to be in a fairly specific 20x15 block, geographic area. Brett provided valuable insight as to whether that was realistic and recommended three mortgage brokers and three real estate brokers (all tailored to my situation). He went over good-faith estimates aimed towards my price range provided by the mortgage brokers and gave valuable insight which helped me to choose which one to proceed with. I chose the first real estate broker I met with because it was apparent she had the requisite drive for my situation.
I quickly made an offer on a short-sale, 3 BD townhome within the desired area. Brett recommended an inspector and talked through the inspection report with me. I closed on the townhome 3.5 months later, and my PITI is $8 less than the limit I established in our first meeting.
Upon closing on the property, some fixtures that should have stayed with the property, which I was able to easily identify because I had taken some of Brett's classes, were absent. He, along with my real estate broker, advised me as to the appropriate steps to make the house whole. The situation was fully rectified three weeks after closing, with no legal action necessary; though, I'm sure Brett would've been quick to recommend a lawyer should I have needed one. I've told many a friend about PRESS.

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PRESS was a wonderful service to have as first time home buyers. We weren't sure where to begin, and sitting down with Brett immediately calmed our nerves. He walked us through the whole process in that initial meeting, and we knew it would all go smoothly. 
The network at PRESS was phenomenal: With the assistance of PRESS we found an absolutely stellar agent who exceeded all our expectations, as well as a wonderful mortgage broker and home inspector. 
When we needed additional perspective on decision-making, Brett responded promptly with insightful, helpful advice. 
We are grateful for the FREE and great service at PRESS! Check them out today!

I would highly recommend this free service to anyone who is interested in buying or selling his/her home. Their knowledge, expertise and passion to help people are what make PRESS like no other service out there.

Wonderful!! No issues at all!

Brett was there every step of the way to answer all of my questions.  I contacted him about many things - the condo resale certificate, the loan process, the appraisal, etc and he answered all of my questions.  I am now closing on a condo, and there is no way I could have done it without Press.  If I ever sell this place and buy again I will definitely use Press again.  In fact, I would not move forward into a real estate deal without Press. 

Our experience couldn't have been smoother ( even in the face of road bumps coming from the seller's side)! We really trusted and appreciated Brett's expertise and knew right away what house conditions were deal-breakers for us. Our realtor was fantastic! She had personal experience with fixers herself and was so knowledgeable about every aspect of industry. She really listened to what we were looking for and accommodated our over-excited desire to view as many houses as we could! She was always prepared, and we really investigated every inch of the properties. She let us do the talking while we were taking in the house, answering our questions and pointing out potential issues/positives as they arose, but she really let us as couple explore our potential. She definitely had our best interest in mind and there was never any pressure to make a hasty offer. When we were ready, she really took the time to explain the details of every document we signed and kept us constantly informed and on a schedule towards closing.

We were very happy with the thoroughness of the inspection, my fiance and realtor going through everything with him, and we had a simultaneous sewer pipe inspection that we even got to see the video of! 

Our broker got us an amazing rate, working with our atypical situation with me being a graduate student and a lot of our down payment coming from family gifts. And by the time closing came our realtor had already prepped us by reviewing boilerplates of the form, and the title company had managed to switch the signing location to an office closer to us the day of and kept us informed by the minute of our files being received. Our broker and realtor had reviewed our closing documents for completeness thoroughly so when we got to our closing appointment early, we were in and out the door ahead of schedule and felt very confident about everything we signed!

We had one bizarre set back when the seller, who was selling under what she owed on the house, hadn't secured a loan by the closing date so escrow could let us close. Our realtor immediately contacted us to let us know what has happening and she stayed on top of the seller's agent, who apparently hadn't been staying on top of her own client, as well as escrow to know exactly when the seller's money was to be received and when we could close. Our broker contacted us as well and we were able to assure that our loan would still be good with this set-back and we contacted Brett as well who offered us advice on what we could do to keep control of the situation. None of our team had ever seen this happen before, but everyone including the title company really was proactive about making sure our position was securing and getting all the information about the seller's process that we closed only two days behind schedule, did not have to resign any documents, and got a refund for those two pre-paid days!

We could not have done this so smartly and sucessfully without the help and connections of PRESS! We have developed such good relationships with our team that we feel comfortable for contacting them for advice in our future home renovations and will absolutely work with them again when we are ready to get a new place!