Work with a Seattle agent who reads the neighborhood, not just the city.

On the listing side, the work I do before the sign goes up decides 70% of the final price. I run a comparable analysis against active, pending, and recently closed sales within the same block radius and same school assignment. Seattle's school-attendance pricing premium is real — pulling comps from a neighboring attendance area can skew your starting point by $40K–$100K on a typical $1.2M SFH.

Prep recommendations are surgical. I'll tell you which $4,000 in cosmetic prep returns $40K, and which $30K kitchen remodel returns $25K — and to skip it. Seattle craftsman homes need a different prep playbook than Capitol Hill condos. Older Ballard and Wallingford homes often need targeted electrical/plumbing updates that materially affect appraisal; we identify those before launch, not at inspection.

Launch timing is deliberate. Seattle's peak seller windows are mid-March through early June (school-relocation + tax-refund + RSU vesting timing for Amazon/Microsoft/Meta employees) and a smaller surge mid-September through October. December and early January are softest. For sellers who need an alternative, RexMont's Instant Cash Offer produces a guaranteed offer in 7–14 days so you compare list-vs-cash side-by-side with real numbers.

Once we're live, I personally read every showing-feedback note, every buyer-agent text, and every appraisal red flag. I'm on every offer-presentation call, and I negotiate each one through close.

Real estate commission has been fully negotiable in Washington for decades. For a typical Seattle transaction expect:

• Listing-side commission typically 2.5%–3%, structured against home value, marketing scope, and complexity (staging, drone, video, syndication budget).
• Buyer-side compensation negotiated separately, typically 2%–2.5%. The seller may contribute as part of an accepted offer, the buyer may pay directly, or it may be split.
• Washington Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) paid by the seller at closing on a graduated tier schedule per the Washington Department of Revenue: 1.1% on the first $525K, 1.28% on $525K–$1.525M, 2.75% on $1.525M–$3.025M, 3% above $3.025M. On a $1.2M Seattle home, REET runs roughly $14,400.
• Title and escrow typically $1,800–$3,000 for both sides combined.

I'll show you the full net-proceeds spreadsheet against your specific home, prep budget, and target price range before you commit.

Seattle's 2026 market is large, fragmented, and neighborhood-driven. Citywide median sale price runs roughly $850K–$1.0M, with median days on market around 18–35 depending on neighborhood and price band.

Rate environment matters more than headlines suggest. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been hovering in the mid-to-upper 6% range, which has thinned the entry-level buyer pool but barely affected the cash-and-RSU upper segment in Magnolia, Madison Park, and Laurelhurst. Jumbo loans above the King County 2026 conforming limit of $1,089,300 per FHFA carry their own underwriting timelines you need to plan for in the offer terms.

Property tax: King County conducts annual reassessment. Pull your current parcel data and levy code from the King County Assessor's eRealProperty viewer before writing an offer. Effective Seattle rates run 0.92%–1.08% of assessed value depending on levy code area.

Transit context shapes pricing more in Seattle than most cities. Sound Transit's light-rail expansions through Northgate, Lynnwood, Roosevelt, U District, and East Link have measurably moved pricing in surrounding ZIPs. New station-adjacent inventory deserves its own offer math.