I am the CEO and Co-Founder of findwell, and come from a background in technology, where I spent 8 years at Microsoft as a product manager for products like Small Business Server, Windows Mobile and Visio.
My career in real estate began when I was a college student and helped my dad buy and manage a rental property. Since then, I have become an active real estate investor and own multiple apartment buildings in the Seattle area. I've also built and remodeled condos, townhomes and single-family residences.
I started findwell when my side business in real estate became full-time, with friends and co-workers using me to help them buy and sell their homes. I thought there there was room for a different sort of real estate company focused on technology innovation, unbeatable customer service and lower fees, and I believe that we are changing the real estate industry for the better.
I am a Badger from the University of Wisconsin, with a degree in Chemical Engineering and East Asian Studies that is not getting a lot of use these days. (Yes, I went to the "real" UW for any local Huskies who are confused!)
Our house shopping experience with Kevin Lisota has been a great one. We wanted an agent who will show us homes that we requested of him rather than take us to various properties that he thinks we may be interested in looking. Kevin was always available to show us any property whenever we asked him to, even if it was just a single property or at an akward time of the day. He was punctual for our appointments with him and provided us with details of the properties. It took us 2 years to find our house and in all this time, Kevin was always patient, available and never pushed us towards a sale. He was polite and knowledgeable and taught us much about the various kinds of property sales. Above all, he was honest and trustworthy. He guided us away from some of the questionable practices and shenanigans of the selling agents and helped us navigate through a successful short sale. It will be my distinct pleasure to recommend Kevin Lisota of Findwell to anyone who is looking for a good, hardworking and trustworthy real estate agent. - wqshmswee
Working with Findwell to sell our condo was a pleasure in an otherwise unpleasant real estate market. We worked with Kevin and Shannon, who were professional, diligent, and helpful throughout the entire selling process. We would recommend Findwell unconditionally even if they didn't offer half-price commissions, and we will definitely be calling them when we buy our next home! - Darren S.
I don't write many reviews- the ones I do write are for the best of the best. Findwell is worthy of this. I went to Yelp when looking for a real-estate company when my wife and I were in the market. I always thought the real estate agent's job was simply a little bit of work for a lot of money, which made me feel cheated in some way. Findwell's premise is that when you buy a house with them you get back 50% of their fees, and their agents are paid a salary rather than a commission. Genius idea. I met 3 of their agents when looking for our house but mostly worked with Kevin, and they all were exactly what I was hoping they would be. No pressure, no lame catch-phrases, they just show you the house and that's it. Kevin's knowledge of the different situations out there regarding buying options was incredible. Whether it was bank-owned, a short sale, or a regular sale he knew exactly what the best course of action was and advised us as such. We ended up getting a house that we still can't believe we were able to get, and when all is said and done we received a check from Findwell for around $7000. You'd be incredibly foolish not to use Findwell for your next purchase. After all, you know your going to find the next house you buy by looking on the Internet anyway- you might as well use a company that gives you half of the fees back. Right? - Todd A.
I have worked with too many agents in Seattle. Then I found Kevin Lisota with Findwell. Since Findwell agents are NOT ON COMMISSION, but are salaried employees they do not live from "sale to sale". Remember that. If you use any "normal" real estate agent, they are highly motivated to push you into something, so they can get paid. Not Findwell agents.
I found Findwell.com, and particularly Kevin Lisota, to be a refreshing source in an otherwise polluted industry. Since we were buying remotely, he would go preview homes for us, and forward comments and photos that eliminated the worst, and elevated the best.
The only very minor complaint I had was, at the time, he was very busy. Most of the time he got back to me immediately, sometimes it would be late at night. I guess that's when he would respond to everybody with emails since he'd be would be, presumably, showing properties to other clients during the day.
He was very thorough with the paperwork on our offer, and he treated our purchase with the kind of respect a real estate sale should command. Almost every other agent I have used in previous transactions would rush the paperwork together making all kinds of mistakes.
Do yourself a favor, use Findwell to buy or sell your next home. They are beyond the traditional full-service agency, and they rebated back 1/2 of their commission. How do you beat that?
Addendum: Zillow said we paid about $525,000 for this home. We paid $450,000 and with total credits, including FindWell's rebate, the cost was about $435,000.
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kenrw98199
We were extremely happy with Kevin - and we are tough to please!! We looked at really challenging properties for months, and Kevin was an excellent source of knowledge and sound judgment, with an excellent understanding of the details of the transaction. I'd happily use Findwell again, and would recommend them without any hesitation. - eliamienti
We were really, really happy with Findwell. Frankly I am a tough client, we looked at a lot of challenging and unusual properties, and it is rare for me to find an agent who brings much value-add to the table. Findwell was absolutely great to work with, and we were very glad to have our agent on the team, he brought really useful knowledge, experience, a positive tone, sound judgment, and a great understanding of realty transactions. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Findwell to anyone!! - Jack A.
Kevin Lisota, one of the founders of findwell, is hands down the best agent we have ever worked with. And we have worked with a lot of agents, from Windermere to John L Scott to Prudential. Combine Kevin's diligence and expertise with 50% off commissions and my question is, why isn't every prospective buyer/seller in Seattle using findwell.
We are experienced buyers who have participated in many real estate transactions (WA and OR) as well as built a house (UT) and Kevin is the sharpest, most knowledgable agent we have come across. He's the only agent we've ever worked with who actually paid attention to what we wanted, who previewed properties and eliminated those that didn't meet our criteria, thereby not wasting our time when we were in town. (We were out of town buyers.) And we never felt the 'hardsell', the pressure to buy now because this deal won't last.
And when it came to closing, the most important part of the transaction, Kevin was completely on top of all the documents. We didn't have to scrutinize every line because Kevin had our back. I can't tell how many other agents we've used who have bungled these critical documents, mispelling names, entering incorrect values for tax owed, using poor grammer.
Why would any buyer or seller pay an additional 1.5% to Windermere so they can maintain their koi ponds (northgate office) and fancy buildings. Or John L. Scott, whose parking lot in Bend, OR can resemble a BMW dealership.
We recommend Kevin and Findwell without hesitation and when it's time to re-sell our home in Seattle, we'll be using Findwell again. We're hoping Kevin will expand to Bend, OR so we can use his services there.
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Sara M.
My husband and I are first time home buyers and we have been following the Seattle real estate market for a few years now. We're decisive and know what we want in terms of house/location/price point. We have been in touch with several of the main real estate firms in Seattle as well as with a real estate centered law office, their level of service was not adequate for us and therefore our dealings with these firms ended either after touring with them or after inquiring about a property and not receiving knowledgeable/satisfactory responses. We chose to engage with Findwell after contacting Kevin, who from day one has been able to answer all of our real estate questions and even inquiries dealing with more obscure issues such as the HUD.-1 form, title insurance, septic systems, RESPA., PMI., etc. The man is a wealth of knowledge and for that reason alone, he is an excellent choice, but the reasons to go with Kevin & Findwell do not end here! 1. Our short sale closed (a real estate law office and several realtors told us that it would never close) 2. We needed to get a roof certificate in order to close the transaction; Kevin arranged roofing companies and was present when we couldn't be. 3. Each and every one of our emails was answered in a matter of minutes, and we sent Kevin tons of emails. He probably has a smart phone attached to one of his appendages. 4. Kevin is extremely easy to work with. He is very patient and professional 5. Kevin and Findwell make good use of technology, meaning we could just sign documents and scan/email them to him, rather than have to arrange a meeting every time something needed signature. This was key, as we had several offers going at the same time. 6. Findwell gives not only excellent service but also shares their commission with you 7. Kevin cares about your investment and will point out not only the good but also the bad about your house. ?It's a great house with a terrible roof? - Kevin Lisota 8. He writes very informative articles for Findwell's blog which I still check from time to time, even after having bought our home. 9. The Findwell office offers Free house buying/selling seminars where you can just ask them any questions that you may have without any obligation. 10. Kevin drives a mini, called Fiona, with a huge Findwell logo. For these reasons and more, we wholeheartedly recommend Kevin & Findwell. - adwii
Findwell recently helped us sell our home and find a great house! Thank you, Kevin. I will, and have already, recommended Kevin and Findwell to my friends. For anyone who is looking for a realtor to buy and/or sell a home, and can’t justify the overpriced fees of “traditional” realtors, look no further. I was in the same boat and interviewed a couple of realtors before deciding to go with Kevin from Findwell. Findwell saves you money with absolutely no sacrifice to service quality. As a matter of fact, I preferred working with Kevin to working with the “traditional” realtor I had when I purchased my first home. Other non-traditional realtors will sacrifice service quality, by sending you with a different “field agent” every time or limiting the number of houses you can see per day. Not Findwell! ....... Kevin was very responsive any time of day. He was very flexible with his schedule for home visits. He bought in a ton of knowledge and experience at all steps of the process. Any question we had, he answered knowledgeably. Kevin was also receptive to all our requests and gave us great suggestions. When we had concerns about something, he got more information to help us make decisions. He was extremely patient and never pushed us! This wasn’t our first home, so we were very specific in what we wanted (and what we didn’t). It took us more than 6 months looking for the home, and Kevin was very patient with us. And, I remember a day I was extremely busy at work and couldn’t leave to hand Kevin some paper work for closing. He sent a courier to my office to pick up the paper work and move the process forward! Thank you, Kevin! - AB
Findwell offers the services of a traditional brokerage house, but at about half the cost. We found the experience with Findwell, and Kevin in particular, fairly seamless on both the buy and sell side of the transaction. The process was efficient and the knowledge of the local market was excellent. The Company’s concept of leveraging current technologies with the customers’ willingness to research and educate themselves is a winning one. Findwell focuses on value-added activities (e.g. – administrative particulars, marketing reach, and touch) rather than a host of traditional information that is otherwise readily available to the consumer. - Mike R.
