Comment Left on Angie’s List, July 28, 2008

My fiance and I were in the market for our first home, so we began the process incredibly early. We knew we wanted to work with an exclusive buyers agent because we didn’t want to have to deal with any potential conflicts of interest. I visited a website and conducted a search through their website for agents in the DC area. After a short while I had responses from a few agents, one of which was Dana Hill.

I liked her from the moment I spoke with her on the phone. She was very straight forward and provided a lot of information about the process despite the fact that I had not even signed a contract with her yet. (The agency she works for, requires a contract that guarantees the agent a 3% buyer’s agent fee; however, the contract is breakable by both parties should any issues arise…it’s just your standard buyer agent contract.) I met Dana as well as several other agents when my fiance and I decided she was the one.

At our first meeting she inquired about our lives, our interests and our expectations and desires for our new home. She also inquired about the areas we were interested in, the neighborhoods, and the types of properties. Unfortunately for Dana, we weren’t altogether nailed down on any of those aspects, so we dragged her all over the Metro DC area.

She educated us on what to look for when looking at a house, some basic information on what a home inspector might notice, and what to look for in a neighborhood if you’re interested in property appreciation. There were some houses that we expressed an interest in that wouldn’t have been the best option for us and after she pointed some details out to us, she talked us out of something that would have been a big mistake. That is one of the many aspects of Dana that we loved, she will never let you buy something that you would regret in the long run, and she always kept in mind what she learned during the interview. Most importantly, she teaches you how to recognize when you’ve found the best house possible; and, when you’ve found it, she is an amazing negotiator.

The house we ended up buying appraised at $50,000 over the amount we purchased it for, and it is in an area and neighborhood we absolutely adore. Dana is truly an amazing agent and I highly recommend her to anyone!