Client Testimonials
To whom it may concern:
Having worked with Chip Tilley on both the purchase and later the sale of our Queen Anne condominium, and also on the recent purchase of our Phinney Ridge dream house, we can honestly say that there is no one we would have rather worked with than Chip. In a profession sometimes known for truth-stretching, chain-pulling, and unscrupulous skullduggery, Chip’s honesty, integrity, and downright hilarity was and is a constant source of relief and peace of mind.
Not once in all the time we’ve worked together as buyers did we feel that Chip was trying to “sell” us something; to the contrary, several times Chip went above and beyond to point out reasons why we ought not to pursue bidding on a house. Amidst the vast and unknown landscape of the Seattle housing market, Chip was the Sacagawea to our Lewis and Clark expedition, venturing for months through the numerous overpriced cheapo remodels, bizarre floorplans, and tiny placards explaining how one might use the half-finished basement “bonus room” lit by a single light bulb dangling from bare electrical wire from the ceiling. He provided us with thorough (and we mean seriously thorough) explanations behind his advice and was more than willing to entertain our innumerable questions with insightful, expert answers whose veracity never failed to be verified. In the end, we purchased a home that we hope to stay in for the next 20-30 years, and reached this successful conclusion in a housing market the conditions of which couldn’t have been more challenging for buyers.
As a listing agent, Chip was equally adept at determining how best to market, price, and time the sale of our condominium. In the end, we received an offer in our second week on the market, and with Chip’s resolute guidance, we successfully managed not only a buyer with a lot of expectations, but also our remarkably unhelpful HOA and arguably incompetent property manager, to a mutually satisfactory closing. We are confident that we couldn’t have gotten a better deal.
Over the years, Chip has become more than a real estate agent to us. Through his generosity and good-heartedness, he has really endeared himself to us and we are happy to count him amongst our friends. We could not recommend a real estate agent more highly.
- Patrick & Shannon Jakubowski
To whom it may concern:
Chip Tilley helped us with three property transactions in the last six months. As we were downsizing, he first helped us secure our 2-bedroom condo in Queen Anne, followed by successfully selling our former residence in Sammamish shortly thereafter. A few months later he helped my son successfully win in a competitive bidding situation for another condo here in Queen Anne. Chip is by far the most professional real estate broker I have ever worked with — here's why:
1. He gave us full attention and responded to every inquiry almost real-time consistently. He was quick to attend to and resolve issues just as soon as they occurred.
2. He offered his honest opinions about the pros and cons of every property he toured with us. He was often the one who pointed out potential problems. We never felt any pressure from him to make an offer.
3. He knew how to structure an offer that is appealing to the seller without compromising our interest — in one of the transactions, by understanding the details of the seller's objectives, he literally won us the bid even though we were not the highest bidder.
4. He provided us with a detailed and accurate market analysis for every property involved in these transactions, both buying and selling.
5. In preparing our Sammamish house for market, he knew what would be appealing to potential buyers and guided us smartly. He was diligent in marketing the house, and provided us with feedback from potential buyers on an ongoing basis. We never felt any pressure to sell against our interest.
6. He was involved every step of the way, which truly gave us the peace of mind. Most importantly, he made us feel that he has the best interest of his client in mind the entire time throughout the process.
I believe that Chip truly enjoys and loves his work. Like any professional in the consulting business, he sees his reward and satisfaction when he succeeds in helping his clients achieving their goals and solving their problems. This is the true professional you want in your court and on your team when you enter the sport of real estate. I know my family and I will be calling him for all our future real estate transactions.
- Barry Chen
To whom it may concern:
We met Chip Tilley a few months ago when we began looking for a new home. We were impressed immediately with Chip's knowledge of our market, his thoroughness and thoughtfulness, his personalized attention, and his high expertise. Chip is an amazing combination of caring and laser attention to detail.
He shepherded us through the decisions we made as we looked for a new home: we started out looking for a home with an ADU and ended up with a home with an incredible view. The point is, he was patient with us in our process and iterations, and willing to be flexible and creative as we refined our thinking.
Once we had an accepted offer on our new home, we turned to selling our existing home, and here again Chip was involved in the details from staging to listing to guiding us through the sale. The complicated experience of buying and selling was made a whole lot easier because we clearly had the best real estate agent!
Chip communicates clearly to all parties and as a result expertly brokered the sale of our old home and the purchase of our new home. He is a genuinely kind person. We felt we were in good hands every step of the way. We are very much indebted to Chip for all he has done for us in every transaction!
- Martie & Marcie O'Donnell
To whom it may concern:
The first time I was introduced to Chip Tilley professionally he was showing me a “fixer” house that would become my first home in Seattle. I was quite surprised as he let the house show itself. I’d bought a few homes before, and I was very accustomed to real estate agents who immediately tried to sell me on the property. Chip, quite the opposite, carefully listened and thoughtfully answered our questions. He was very thorough in helping us through the offer. When we ran into trouble with the financing, he very proactively provided a lot of great advice and suggested options until we found a solution that worked.
We’ve since become friends and he’s guided me through a couple other real estate transactions. He is very smart, hardworking, obsessive about every detail, and well-connected in the Greater Seattle area. Chip has my highest recommendation and I know he’ll serve every client as well as he has served me.
- Bryan Dunkeld
To whom it may concern:
As a first-time home-buyer as well as a new resident in the Seattle area, I had tons of questions and concerns regarding the whole process and related details about buying a house. Several of my friends all recommended Chip Tilley to help me purchase my first house, as they were all really impressed by his skill and services. From the very beginning, Chip calmly and carefully answered all my questions, ensuring I understood all details. During the whole process, he helped me weigh the pros and cons of the various options that are involved in purchasing a home, and this enabled me to make the best possible decision.
Chip has an excellent understanding of the behind-the-scenes psychology that is involved in establishing valuations for properties, and also negotiating deals favorable to his clients. During our time working together, he always gave me useful tips and suggestions that helped me negotiate a better deal. With Chip's knowledge of the market and his experience about the entire process, I was able to successfully navigate the entire house-hunting process with ease and was successful in getting the townhouse I wanted.
Chip would promptly answer my calls and emails, as well as periodically check-in with me throughout the entire process. I was also very impressed with Chip's understanding of real estate law, and I never doubted his guidance. He helped me make what could have been a grueling process into a relatively stress-free and enjoyable undertaking. I would use Chip Tilley for all future real estate transactions without any hesitation whatsoever. He is very patient and personable, and his customer service skills are stellar. I give him five stars and two thumbs up, and look forward to recommending him to my friends and colleagues who are searching for a home to buy.
- Hui Dai
To whom it may concern:
A friend from my university told us about Chip Tilley when our family moved to the Seattle area and we wanted to start looking for a home to buy. It was extremely important for us to have a good real estate agent because this would be our first home purchase in the United States.
At the beginning, Chip asked what our criteria for a house are and what we are searching for. In accordance with that, Chip chose for us the areas which best fit our needs and price range. And so he began the "educational phase". Every tour was very extensive and well-planned.
Chip was very enthusiastic and friendly. In a short time, we learned a lot about house types, floorplans, construction quality, ideas for how to choose a good community, information about interior and exterior details, cost/value for any remodeling project, gardening, etc. It seems that you can ask him about everything — roof maintenance, paint types, landscaping, whatever you think — and you will receive the most comprehensive and interesting answers. His education and interests are wide, and he has an amazing sense of artistry.
From the very beginning of our time working together, we understood that Chip is very professional, and his thorough knowledge of the real estate market impressed us. And we really felt that we could trust him to provide good advice on any question. We found that Chip worked diligently to find a house that fit our needs best, and we were pleased with the outcome of our search. And as a professional in his field, we also trusted that he was helping us make a wise decision about what type of house would also make a good long-term investment.
Finally, whenever we needed additional resources and professional services — from financing and escrow to gardening services and contractor referrals — Chip always provided information and guidance to other professionals that could assist us. We followed those leads and were never disappointed.
We had great experience working with Chip to find our new home, and we will strongly recommend him as real estate agent to all our friends.
- Igor & Natalja Liokumovich
To whom it may concern:
Chip Tilley recently helped me buy my first house. I was quite nervous about the entire process, but his easygoing and thoroughly professional manner put me at ease and let me concentrate on the business of choosing a home, safe in the knowledge that the myriad of details would be in good hands. He likes to educate his clients to help in their decision-making process, and in very little time he took me from having almost no idea of the process to having a pretty good understanding of the different types of houses, things to look for when estimating the quality of a house, and even the basics of home loans. During all this he never came across as condescending or pushy; I always felt I was fully in control of the process and he was the helpful guide through the labyrinth of paperwork, negotiations, inspections, etc.
The house-hunting process itself ended up actually being quite short; in the first couple of trips Chip took me to houses in a few different neighborhoods to assess them and get a feel for square footage, while we discussed what sort of things I was looking for. I soon had a clear idea of exactly what I wanted, and discussed it with him. Here Chip’s extensive expertise came in, and he suggested a townhouse in a certain complex in Redmond. After a tour of the townhouse complex (there were no houses on the market there at that time) I agreed that this seemed like a good idea, and then we waited for homes to appear in that market. About a month later Chip called me: a house had appeared there that seemed to fit my requirements, and so we went to see it. After some deliberation (I liked the house but was reluctant to pick the very first house I looked at), I gave Chip the go-ahead.
Using what can only be described as ninja real estate skills, Chip sprang into action and inside of a day or two managed to get the initial paperwork done, the house inspected and agreement with the seller’s agent reached. His deadly combination of speed and negotiating skills simply proved too much for the other prospective buyers to handle, and we ended up securing the house at base price during a time on the market when there were many multiple offer situations. During this frenzy of activity, my only involvement was filling in a few forms under Chip's careful tutelage and writing some checks; this was good because life at work had taken a turn for the intense around that time. In the time between then and closing, Chip coordinated between the seller and myself to make sure that the few items in the house inspector's list were taken care of to my satisfaction, and even recommended a few home loan agents, one of whom I ended up choosing.
In the months after moving in, Chip has followed up a few times to make sure I'm happy with my home, and I have contacted him with various “inexperienced homeowner” questions; these he has always cheerfully answered to the best of his ability.
I would definitely recommend Chip to anyone looking to buy a house; the next time I'm on the market to buy or sell, I will definitely be using his services.
- Fabian Nunez
To whom it may concern:
We recently bought our beautiful house through the help of Chip Tilley. We are very happy with our purchase, and we really enjoyed the home-buying experience with Chip. We highly recommend Chip for his professionalism, his patience, his promptness, his knowledge of the real estate market, as well as his judgment and negotiation skills.
As first-time home buyers, we were a bit nervous at the beginning. Chip understood our concerns and helped us grasp every aspect of home-buying, from the house preview, real estate tour, to drafting and negotiation the offer, as well as the inspection and other details. Chip made buying a home a worry-free and pleasant journey.
He gave sharp and honest comments on every house we visited. He could quickly pinpoint the pros and cons of each house. We appreciated his straight-forward way of communication. We never felt that we only got half of the story. We were very impressed by his rich knowledge and deep understanding of the market.
Chip thinks of his clients first. He was always available to answer our concerns in detail and always very promptly. We trusted him a lot and we could chat over the phone for hours up to midnight, exchanging opinions of the houses that interested us. We never felt any pressure to make decisions.
And when we came to a decision, he drafted our purchase offer with great care and worked with us closely to come up with a win-win strategy. Chip knew exactly when and how to present convincing arguments in a graceful manner. The negotiation and the inspection went much more smoothly than we had expected. We finally got the house with a very reasonable price.
In addition to helping with the house purchase, he also offers us a lot of opinions on house maintenance and renovation. We have found his suggestions valuable and illuminating.
We feel no hesitation to recommend Chip’s service to people around us and we will definitely work with him again on our future real estate transactions.
- Xiaofeng Ren & Shuo Dong
To whom it may concern:
Chip Tilley is a man of miracles. With tremendous patience and persistence, starting with a house-hunting marathon of what felt like hundreds of properties, he somehow managed to transform a seemingly impossible goal into a successful tangible result. After we found our dream home, a Victorian house in Seattle’s Central District, Chip used his experience and negotiation skills to troubleshoot a series of incredibly complex challenges, any of which could have easily derailed our plans. The seller was actually out of the country through almost the entire process, often unreachable for weeks at a time, and she also wanted a very long escrow period of six months — the nature of the situation made the communications extremely tricky and the process sometimes nerve-racking. But Chip was always there, reassuring us, giving us honest advice and direction, assembling teams of experts to help us clear a series hurdles, and following through on every detail until the successful closing of our purchase.
The central challenge was that we were first-time homebuyers using FHA financing to purchase a 100-year old house with tons of deferred maintenance. Without extensive repairs being done before closing, it would have been impossible for the house to qualify for financing — and, even if it had been possible, as new homeowners, we didn’t want to be saddled with huge repair bills right after moving in. During the inspection process, Chip brought in both a veteran home-inspector as well as an experienced FHA appraiser to advise us on which repair items were most urgent, and which would be required in order for the house to pass FHA appraisal. With this information in hand, Chip went back to the seller and listing agent to completely renegotiate the entire structure of the contract, convincing the seller to pay for all the repairs at her sole expense prior to closing at a cost exceeding $25,000. Because many of these repairs involved making substantial upgrades to various systems in the house, the seller asked — and we agreed — to partially offset these costs with an upward adjustment in the purchase price. But this too presented a challenge because we were already near the top of our price-range. Accordingly, before signing off on the amended contract, Chip worked with our lender to restructure our financing package to make sure that we’d still qualify for financing and that our monthly payments would still be affordable.
These negotiations took weeks, with multiparty discussions involving the listing agent, seller, inspector, appraiser, and various contractors. Because there were so many moving parts, it was pretty amazing that everything ultimately came together as smoothly as it did. Especially with the seller being out of the country, getting and keeping the countless involved parties on the same page and moving forward involved tremendous communication skills by our steadfast buyer’s agent, Chip. The final result…? The house passed FHA appraisal, and we closed the purchase at an acceptable price, with an affordable financing package, with all urgent and looming work orders completed, and also with the seller paying our closing costs so that we were able keep more money in our pockets at closing so that we’d be in a financial position to cover the costs of some additional improvements we wanted to perform after moving in.
I dare say that, throughout this entire process, Chip always displayed the upmost professionalism, respect, and creativity in solving one complex problem after another until we reached a successful conclusion… and, to boot, always maintained a great sense of humor at every stage. I would definitely recommend Chip to anyone looking to buy or sell a home — he’s a real estate superhero.
- Osiris Indriya & Chiyona Dang
To whom it may concern:
We ran into Chip Tilley while trying to buy another home; that deal didn't work out, but Chip impressed us as very knowledgeable and competent real estate agent.
We actually found the house we liked by ourselves, and we fell in love with it right away. We knew we would need an agent to compete to get it, and we knew we would need someone aggressive and experienced to help us, so we immediately thought of Chip. The listing came on market in the morning, we called Chip late in the afternoon, and he spent most of the night in our house working on the offer. The trick was to act very fast, and in the morning Chip was able to present our offer, and it was accepted right away.
The whole transaction went very smoothly. Chip was always available to answer questions and give advice 24/7, on matters both big and small, and has been an amazing resource for referrals and recommendations for any need. We’ve already recommended Chip to several of our friends and family members who are looking into buying real estate, and will not hesitate to work with him again when the time comes.
- Michael & Anna Murstein
To whom it may concern:
We came across Chip by accident when we walked into an open house he was showing. We were not planning on buying a house right away but were curious on how the home market was and the kind of houses around Redmond. It was really easy talking to Chip; he listened to us on what type of house, location, and other details we needed in a house. Chip’s professionalism and knowledge in the housing market, building materials, and building codes gave us a lot of confidence in him. He was always very frank and upfront about the pros and cons of the house he was showing. At this point we decided that he would be our real estate agent.
We contacted Chip to show us houses. We were rigid in our criteria for the kind of house we were looking for. Chip understood our criteria and showed us homes until we were 100% satisfied with the house on which we intended to put an offer. He was very accommodative, responsive, and exceptionally professional.
When we identified the house that we wanted to buy and got it under contract, we found that our neighbors had an easement right over a rose bed. Chip researched it, then contacted a lawyer who was knowledgeable in that area and got our neighbors to nullify the easement rights. He followed through the whole process and executed it with great professionalism.
In our opinion, Chip’s knowledge, professionalism, and commitment to his clients make him an excellent choice for an agent. We have continued to refer him to many of our friends.
- Kiran Panja & Pallavi Gajula
To whom it may concern:
We’ve met with a couple agents over the years, and Chip is hands-down the best. He provides deep insight into every property visited and gives totally honest, straight-forward opinions, outlining in great detail both the good and the bad. He is on your side every step of the way, and will only recommend good properties and steer you away from bad properties, and always provides a full page of explanations on how and why he came to that decision. He is a supreme negotiator — he will get you the best deal on a place, and will walk you through the entire process from making an offer to hand-delivering the keys, to helping you move in.
Chip’s knowledge on every aspect of the real estate transaction is impressive — in our situation, he basically drove the entire process when the mortgage broker was dragging his feet, and successfully pushed for a smooth and timely close. Chip will not let you down, and we plan to use him again for selling my new place in the future, and also for any future real estate purchases.
- Andrew & Kaoru Hickey
To whom it may concern:
Allow me to say that working with Chip Tilley was a terrific experience. One of our friends recommended Chip’s name to us and once we started house hunting with Chip, we were thrilled at how smoothly things went. As first time homebuyers, we had a LOT of questions. Chip very patiently explained the whole thing to us and helped us understand what home buying was all about. He was very considerate and very professional.
Chip is always well prepared and constantly followed up to see if we needed his help. In fact, he went out his way to resolve some questions we had about the property we eventually bought, and got us a good deal too…! He is friendly, professional, very thorough, and has been of great help even after the home purchase was done.
All in all, I highly recommend Chip as an exceptional real estate agent.
- Sai Ramani & Amrita Kalkura
To whom it may concern:
Chip recently helped us to purchase our first house. Chip is really a great real estate agent who has great knowledge about local real estate market, is very quick to act, most importantly of all, practices professionalism.
When we wanted to start looking for a house in Redmond and Bellevue, a friend of mine strongly recommended Chip. During our introduction talk, we were very impressed with his knowledge about the local market.
Because this was our first time looking for a house, we didn’t know what specific type of house we were looking for. Chip started with showing us different types of houses to find out what we really like. After seeing a lot of houses, we identified our dream house: single family house close to our workplace, big lot, 2 story, classic style, built late 1980s or early 1990s, above 2300 square feet. Because of the rarity of this type of houses on market, we waited for 4 months and gave 3 offers before we finally purchased our current house. We are very happy with our current house because it meets all our criteria.
We appreciate the quality of Chip’s service very much. He was very patient with us when waiting for the right house to emerge in the market. He respected our decision while he provided us with sufficient information. Chip is also very quick to respond to the market, so we didn’t miss any opportunity. Once a house appeared in the market that met our criteria, he would notify us, take us to see the house, if necessary, he might sit down with us to strike out an offer right away. Chip also demonstrated great competence during collecting information, offer preparation, and price negotiation process. And most importantly, Chip always represented our interest as a real estate agent.
Besides the professionalism demonstrated during his service, Chip is also very easy to get along with. Many of his clients have become Chip’s friends. We would strongly recommend Chip as a real estate agent. We have referred him to several of our friends and will continue to do so.
- Yonghua Wei & Zhaoan Liu
To whom it may concern:
One of our most significant business and investment decisions, whenever buying or selling property in the Pacific Northwest, has been to work with Chip Tilley as a business partner. Chip is not just a real estate broker but, more importantly, a true professional who has demonstrated time and again a supreme interest in our well-being as clients, managing with care and precision every aspect of the business-process related to buying and selling homes.
Chip knows his industry, and, more specifically, has an unmatched command of the real estate market in the Greater Seattle area. In a recent experience in which he helped us sell one of our properties in Bellevue, he demonstrated — as always — a keen understanding of current market trends, which he analyzed to guide us through the marketing and sale of the house. He used his knowledge and experience to help us set a smart asking price, which was verified by a quick sale — and, by drawing multiple offers, we achieved a sale price substantially above the asking price, which was much more than we ever expected.
We had a high level of satisfaction with the end result, confirmed by the timing of the transaction and the financial reward. We would rely on Chip’s expertise without hesitation in the future, and would unequivocally recommend his services both to buyers and sellers of real estate in the Greater Seattle market.
- Fred Carr & Claire Hauser
To whom it may concern:
I recently purchased a home in Seattle through Chip Tilley — I'm ecstatic about the house and thrilled with the level of service Chip provided me!
Chip has a wealth of knowledge about the intricacies of the home-buying process, and his professionalism is superb. My experience working with Chip was wonderful. After Chip and I sat down to talk about the kind of house I was looking for and the location I was hoping to find it in, he took over the process from there. He sent appropriate listings every day, and made himself available to show any house I was interested in seeing. He returned calls and emails promptly and always showed up for appointments on time.
Chip handles all the details of the home-buying process and definitely strives to make it easy for his clients — he has given me the highest level of service I have ever received from anyone in the real estate industry.
- Kim Bradley
To whom it may concern:
We highly recommend Chip Tilley to all our friends and colleagues looking to buy a house. Chip recently helped us purchase a wonderful home in Sammamish — he did a high quality job, and we are very happy with the service he provided us.
Chip impressed us in many ways. For starters, he knows everything about the local real estate market — he is simply amazing in this area. He even can even tell you the full, detailed history of housing development on the Eastside going back more than 50 years.
With real estate being such an important and costly investment, and also because purchasing a home is a very complicated process, we really appreciated Chip’s insights in helping us make the right decision — he is a very organized person, and always planned things incredibly well. And for us, as international buyers, there were a lot of additional hurdles that had to be cleared — some predicable, and some not. Chip did a superb job in managing our transactional process, and was always proactively engaged at every step along the way.
Chip is extremely patient with his clients. During our house-hunting process, there were a few times when we changed our minds on houses that we were considering, but Chip never showed a single bit of impatience — instead, he always told us that we shouldn’t feel any pressure about changing our minds, and reminded us that his only goal was our happiness and success.
Additionally, Chip is incredibly hard-working, and we feel he always puts his clients’ needs and interests as his highest priority. Because we were working overseas during part of our process, many of our conversations and email exchanges took place late and night and very early in the morning at hours that most real estate brokers would be in bed sleeping — we really appreciate this level of dedication and professionalism.
We really enjoyed working with Chip Tilley very much — not only because he helped us find a wonderful home, but also because he is a true professional who has a mastery of his business, and who is genuinely passionate about providing the highest level of service to his clients.
- Chao & Coco
To whom it may concern:
Chip and I were first introduced a few years ago. I was in search of a home and had very strict criteria. I was a first time homebuyer, and was unsure of how the whole process worked. The end result was that Chip provided a very clear understanding of what my needs were and helped me find exactly what I was looking for. What that really showed me was that he was listening and cared about what mattered in my ultimate decision. We have since worked on two additional transactions together (one sale and one additional purchase), and I’ve been extremely satisfied with the result in every instance.
We always have confidence in Chip because he is trustworthy, reliable, and knowledgeable. His integrity and tenacity for this business goes unmatched. We’re happy to offer our highest recommendation of Chip Tilley. There are many qualified real estate agents out there, but we would undoubtedly call on Chip again in the future.
- Mark & Audrey Steinberger
To whom it may concern:
We recently bought our first home — it was a very hot sellers’ market at that time, especially in our price range. However, we found and bought a perfect house with help of Chip. Until now we haven’t found a better house than ours in that price range. We thank Chip, because we couldn’t have gotten this house without him.
Chip is very professional, and cares about every detail. He only showed us homes that met our criteria. On our first tour, Chip showed us different styles of homes, then figured out what we really liked, so he could do research for us. He kept us updated on new listings according to our criteria, and then showed us the homes that we wanted to see immediately. He never pushed us to buy, and was always honest about every house we toured. He told us in detail the advantage and disadvantage of every house that he showed to us. When we found the house that we wanted to buy, he put together a clear market analysis that helped us understand its valuation in the market. With more than fifteen years’ experience, Chip has excellent communication skills, which was really important to us throughout the process of buying a home.
Chip said that his job is only done when his client is happy with every detail. Even now that we have lived in our home for about one year, he still cares about us and about our house. There was one problem we had with a contractor, for example, and Chip stepped up to help us resolve the problem even though it was more than six months after closing. He has also given us lots of good advice and referrals… for the mortgage, for painting, carpet cleaning, tree cutting, etc. We really appreciate the fact that he cares so much and knows so much about every detail. In closing, we really appreciate his hard work for us, and are very happy with our home.
- Junmin Zhang & Junfeng Dong
To whom it may concern:
Chip Tilley is a high-caliber, result-driven, detail-oriented, and extremely friendly real estate professional. It was pleasure having him on our side in our first time home-buying journey. Chip is an amazing expert on everything related to real estate. He exhibits unbelievable patience while answering every question of the buyer and never refrains from going extra-yard to ensure the safety and security his clients. He makes the whole cumbersome process look effortless, all with pleasing smile and his signature craftsmanship and amazing attention to detail.
I’m thankful to my colleague at work who introduced us our new friend, Chip, and all I can say that “you can count on Chip anytime without a second thought”. We’ll be working soon with Chip on our second property.
- Sri Nemani & Shanti Angajala
To whom it may concern:
We wish we had enjoyed more real estate tours with Chip! We recently purchased our first home together — but we didn’t have many tours, because we actually found the house of our dreams on just the second time we went out touring. Nevertheless, right from the start we had a deep impression of Chip’s professionalism, and this was further supported throughout our entire home-buying process. Here are some examples of Chip’s excellent service:
First, he took great amount of care and effort in drafting our purchase offer and paid close attention to details regarding the inspection follow-ups of the house.
Second, he spent a very good amount of time in providing us with the background and knowledge necessary to make a smart home-buying decision, especially because we were first-time buyers.
Third, at the time of closing, there was actually some mess-up with the escrow company for us, but Chip stepped up and helped us resolved the issue in a very satisfying manner, making sure the deal closed on time.
Fourth, we have been especially impressed by the way Chip has followed up after the purchase. He dropped personal notes, paid visits, made sure everything went fine with the moving, and also provided suggestions/advice over possible home improvement projects, etc.
With the experience we have had with Chip, we have had no hesitation in recommending him to people around us as an effective and outstanding real estate agent, and we look forward to working with him in the future when the time comes.
- Qibo Zhu & Tsan Zheng
To whom it may concern:
I have no hesitations recommending Chip due to the expertise, professionalism, and strong personal dedication to me while purchasing my new home. I find him to be an excellent communicator, and he is always available by phone, or in person.
Chip is well versed in Seattle-area real estate, and works non-stop to find the perfect home for his clients. Chip goes above and beyond what I usually expect from a real estate professional. With my current house, for example, not only was he in close communication with our mortgage broker to make sure he had everything needed so the deal could close on time, but Chip also made calls to the city permitting department to make sure the renovations I had in mind would work.
I'm as thrilled with Chip’s service as I am with my new house — I happily recommend him.
- Ken Bonnin
To whom it may concern:
As a repeat client of Chip’s since 2001, what brings us back to him time after time is his comprehensive market knowledge, his flexibility, his determination to do what’s right for his clients, his affable personality and, quite simply, his phenomenal project-management skills.
Buying and selling a home is an extraordinary undertaking — Chip goes out of his way to make it as easy as possible. He is enormously giving of himself and his time; he has phenomenal contacts in both the real-estate and home-improvement sectors; he is a trustworthy and capable partner.
We continue to be exceedingly happy with his service and would not hesitate to recommend him without reservation.
- Seth & Emily Grossman
To whom it may concern:
In our recent home purchase in Seattle, Chip Tilley has redefined my expectations of his profession. Chip added value with respect to home selection, design, negotiations with the seller, and financing. Each of the services provided exceeded my expectations, and also exceeded the performance of Chip’s peers in the industry. We were completely satisfied with the services provided by Chip Tilley, would use his services again in the future, and would gladly refer him to friends and family for their real estate needs.
- Derek & Stephanie Standifer
To whom it may concern:
We recently closed two real estate transactions with Chip Tilley, both selling and buying. With Chip’s expertise, we were able to sell our one house quickly, receiving three good offers. Chip leveraged the multiple offer situation to negotiate a favorable rent-back agreement with the buyer we decided to work with — this enabled us to stay in our home until construction had been completed our new house, thus avoiding the time, expense, and hassle of moving twice.
Chip also assisted us in finding and building our new home, and was active in all phases of the construction process. He was a huge help in every detail of design and décor, and also making sure our loan file and escrow process kept moving along in a timely manner. Building a new house can be overwhelming, but Chip kept everything on schedule so we were able to close escrow on time — and for this we were especially grateful, given the harried new construction market where closing delays can be common. Our new home is such a joy, and we see Chip's touches throughout.
Chip is amazing — totally organized, a meticulous designer and project manager, excellent at timely communication, and incredibly knowledgeable about the mechanics of buying and selling homes. His professionalism enables him to work smoothly with everyone. Chip anticipates and takes care of his clients’ needs.
We have bought and sold several houses and never had the kind of service Chip provided us! We are thoroughly impressed with Chip and very thankful to have had him take care of our real estate transactions. He has spoiled us!
- Jim and Carolyn O'Donnell
To whom it may concern:
He did it again…!
We had already bought one house using Chip’s services. After owning this house for about a decade, we bought a newer house about two years ago. Once again, we utilized Chip’s services as our buyer’s agent to purchase the new home. The transaction went through very smoothly, and at a very favorable price at what turned out to be the very bottom of the market.
But this is where Chip went above and beyond, helping us think through the pros and cons of continuing to hold our first home as a rental property vs. just selling it. At the time of our second purchase, as noted, prices were deeply depressed, so Chip encouraged us to hold the first property as a rental, so that’s what we did.
Fast forward two years and the market had changed dramatically from being a strong buyer’s market to being a strong seller’s market. Chip actually got in touch with us proactively to discuss the option of selling our first house, and then rolling the proceeds of that sale into a refinance on the mortgage on our new place — running the numbers, Chip demonstrated how we could literally save hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest payments with this strategic move. We actually took the proposal to our financial planner who readily agreed it was an excellent idea. Truth be told, I’d say Chip’s insights on financial markets and financial planning is far more nuanced and richly detailed than most actual financial planners.
And when it came to selling our first house, we also had important strategic decisions to make about just selling the house in as-is condition, or instead making some targeted cosmetic touch-ups to put the house into “turn-key” condition. Although we were a little skeptical, Chip provided us with extensive evidence of the value of making the improvements — he then worked with our contractor to fully execute the plan in just two weeks, and immediately got the property on the market. The final result was a multiple offer situation and our netting (after costs) $40K more than what we expected if we had sold the house as-is. Closing on that sale happened quickly and without incident, and we were then able to immediately apply the proceeds from the sale to our refi (at a historically low interest rate) — all exactly as planned.
Chip goes beyond moving property in and out of people’s hands and focuses on building true long-term wealth. His candor and thoroughness, combined with his keen insight into how the housing and financial markets work, helped us to time our sale and refinance exquisitely. Thank you, Chip — you have a lifelong client in us.
- Sai Ramani & Amrita Kalkura
To whom it may concern:
I have known Chip Tilley for over 20 years. As Chip has always been a steadfast friend and trusted associate, it was very easy to choose him to be my real estate agent as well. I used Chip to help in my search for an appropriate building lot for my new home, and again as my agent on the sale of my prior residence when construction of my new home was completed.
Chip’s service throughout my professional involvement with him has been consistently first-rate. He was meticulous in taking care of every aspect of the transaction, and was thoughtful and thorough in coming up with a marketing plan and then following through on the implementation of this plan.
I was especially impressed with Chip’s response when problems arose. For example, shortly after we listed my prior condominium residence for sale, we learned that the condominium HOA had just authorized a structural survey in which they quickly discovered significant structural damage in the building that would necessitate a future special assessment and repairs. A lesser agent than Chip might have suggested that I slash my asking price in this circumstance, or just allowed the property to languish on the market. However, Chip was proactive in coming up with a revised marketing plan and a creative solution to incorporate in the purchase and sale agreement, which resulted in only a minor delay in the sale of my condominium, and a sale price very close to my original asking price.
I have no hesitation in recommending Chip’s services in any residential real estate transaction: his intellect, integrity, attention to detail, and can-do spirit make him a top-notch real estate agent.
- Joe Haberzetle
To whom it may concern:
Working with Chip was a great experience. We were first-time home buyers and had no clue of what was involved in the process. Not only did Chip show us houses, he also answered all of our questions patiently and perfectly, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the real estate market. What we found amazing was that, he knew by street numbers and names, which areas had power lines over them, which ones had apartments very close by, etc., and he kept us away from them. So we never had to waste time going to a house, only to decide against it.
Chip was also very honest about the pros and cons of every house we saw. There were houses which we liked — in fact one which we really liked — but Chip said “I would not buy this house at any price”. This kind of honesty is really rare and proves that he is not interested in just closing the deal. He wants you to buy a house that you enjoy living in and never regret the purchase.
Chip is also committed to his clients 100%, and 24/7. He would show us whichever house we wanted to see at whatever time of day. When we finally found the house we fell in love with, Chip had to write an offer for it at 8 pm and he was very happy to do so. Since his office lost power, he also took us to his home in Seattle so that we could write the offer. Not only did he write the offer and send it, he also kept awake and in touch with us over the phone until just before midnight when the offer was formally accepted by the sellers.
We would definitely recommend Chip to any of our friends.
- Sarosh & Mahzareen Havewala
To whom it may concern:
Our family has a long history working with Chip Tilley. We first met Chip when we were trying to buy a property several years ago. We were impressed by Chip’s knowledge of the real estate market, real estate law, and also his overall demeanor — especially his patience and creativity. That first deal didn’t go through, but since that experience Chip has become our consultant for our family’s every real estate need.
Chip worked as the agent for our daughter’s family when they purchased their home in Bellevue a few years ago, and also advised them on the design of a new home they built there a few years later. Chip later served as our design consultant when we remodeled our own home — we were very happy with the outcome of the plan that he suggested for us. It’s unusual to find a real estate agent with this combination of skills — not just brokerage, but also law, financial markets, and also with an extensive background in design.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I sought Chip’s assistance in purchasing an investment property — and we found one that was being offered as a short-sale. We had heard nightmare stories about trying to purchase a short-sale property, but were both impressed and rather amazed at what a remarkably simple and stress-free journey it turned out to be with Chip at our side handling all the details. In the end, we closed the sale within a very reasonable timeframe and got an exceptionally good deal.
This past year we decided it was time to sell that house and roll the proceeds into yet another investment property that Chip helped us purchase. With the sale of the first house, we had to make some important strategic decisions about how to prepare and price the property for sale. Given that the market was favorable for sellers at that time, we had thought about just offering the place as-is. Instead, after a long discussion with Chip, we decided to make some minor improvements to the house to increase the range of prospective buyers to which the house would appeal. Then, by setting an intelligent asking price, we ended up attracting multiple offers, and accepted a winning bid that was about 10% above the list price. This was great, but we were really worried about the buyer’s appraisal. Being proactive, Chip made sure the appraiser had access to all the relevant information about the property, especially about the value of the systems upgrades that might not have been readily ascertainable during a quick visual inspection of the property that occurs during a typical appraisal. Chip didn’t hassle or pressure the appraiser — he just provided the information, and let the appraiser do his work. The final result…? The appraisal came in at value, and the deal closed on time without any trouble whatsoever — and we made a very solid profit.
Each and every time we’ve worked with Chip, he has demonstrated professionalism, amazing client service, incredible depth of knowledge, and an extraordinary attention to detail in every aspect of the process of buying and selling homes.
We have recommended Chip to our relatives and friends and will gladly do so again.
- Yuriy & Inna Yarmolinskiy
To whom it may concern:
I can recommend Chip Tilley without hesitation. My house-selling experience was easy, smooth, and efficient due to Chip’s expertise and ability to support me throughout the transaction.
He concerned himself with all aspects of the sale: from arranging and financing pre-listing repairs to a perfectly-laid marketing plan, he was fully available, engaged and concerned with all details of the house and its sale. I found him to be knowledgeable about the market, our Seattle communities, and all the fine machinations of real estate financing, buying and selling.
Chip is a wonderful communicator, easy-to-work-with, and was great about keeping things moving forward, following through on his commitments, and keeping me informed of developments. I felt like I was his only client, and yet I know him to be very busy — he is this good about staying present with everyone he works with.
If I am ever in need of a real estate agent again, I will undoubtedly call upon Chip.
- Leandra Jones
To whom it may concern:
We would strongly recommend Chip Tilley to anyone looking for a house or wanting to sell one. His ability for understanding our needs, fitting them to the marketplace, and finding the right house for us was invaluable. He handled all aspects of the process, including house hunting, detailed information about areas, remodeling and negotiating ideas, contractors, painters, etc.
Chip’s open and caring demeanor and accessibility made working with him a delight. We always felt well taken care of and important even though we weren't the most prestigious of his clients. Chip's wealth of ideas, energy and exuberance, high level of integrity, and his keen eye made him an awesome buyer’s agent for our house hunting and final purchase needs. In fact, Chip’s efforts as a buying agent were so superb that we didn't hesitate to hire him as our listing agent during a relocation move a few years later. This too was a wonderful and easy experience for us.
We give Chip Tilley our highest endorsement.
- Ben & Judie Ram
To whom it may concern:
Chip Tilley was of great assistance to us in the recent sale of our primary residence. We worked together to develop an effective marketing plan which resulted in the house selling after two days on the market at full asking price. Chip did his homework in a timely manner; we had current information on relevant comps which helped us set an intelligent asking price. We developed a very effective marketing flyer complete with artist’s rendition. Chip also provided helpful input along with my interior designer on the staging of key rooms.
As homebuilders and owners of rental property, we are particularly demanding of real estate brokers. We are very comfortable working with Chip and believe his work is responsive, professional, and profitable for his clients.
- Jim & Mary Haberzetle
