All reviews

Brandon Barkema is an excellent realtor. He was patient and knowledgeable and helped us navigate a very competitive and difficult market. We were looking for a new house for over a few years as we were patient and waiting for the right one. We finally found one and Brandon was the reason we got it.

Thank you so much Brandon we will be calling you again if and when we move again.

I worked with Brandon to buy our first ever home. He has been nothing short of astoundingly knowledgeable, extremely friendly, and exceptionally professional. I cannot add enough superlatives to this review.

Brandon was quick to understand our personal taste and needs and help us find our dream home. In the COVID market. In the middle of the high season. I feel so very blessed to have known Brandon and have enlisted his help, I know for a fact that I will not be looking elsewhere if I were to buy or sell a house in the future. Upon comparing my notes with other friends who have recently bought houses, they were all left with glazed eyes and dropped jaws at the level of professionalism and the lengths to which he goes.

Note of warning though. If you want an agent that gushes at every house you see, is quick to point out all the niceness of the new house you just walked into, and is keen on getting you to buy the very first place you visit, and if not that then absolutely the second one, Brandon is not for you. He is quick to point out things that down the line might detract the value of the property, he is savvy and knowledgeable about the area in particular and the market in general. He is data-driven, amazingly quick to move on your behalf, and very good at predicting what is the direction of the market.

I feel very comfortable in recommending Brandon to others, and in fact I have already referred a few of my close friends to him.

We had an extremely positive experience with Brandon Barkema as our Buying Agent.
1. With several years of experience, Brandon is very knowledgable about the real estate market in the Greater Seattle area. So he was able to answer all our questions and provide valuable advice.
2. He was very responsive throughout the process, typically answering emails/texts within seconds.
3. He was always courteous, patient, and professional.
4. He has a great network and worked well with everyone in the home-buying process (lender, selling agent, etc.), so that made the whole process painless for us.
Being first-time home-buyers, we felt confident working with Brandon on choosing which homes to put offers on and were able to take well-informed decisions.

We have bought and sold a lot of homes. By FAR, Brandon is the best Realtor we've used. He is timely in responses, VERY knowledgeable about both real estate and construction. He knows what it takes to make a real estate deal. He's calm and thoughtful in his responses and very good at negotiating.
We would highly recommend Brandon as a Realtor. And we had real estate licenses ourselves. He can't be beat!

Brandon helped up buy our new house and sell the old one. The buying process was very smooth and Brandon was very helpful. But where he really shined was when selling our old house. It was our first time selling, and we didn't know what to expect. Brandon made everything crystal clear from the beginning and took care of absolutely everything, down to the smallest detail: he helped us moved out (he even store some of our stuff in his trailer), he got quotes from multiple staging companies, being a handy man he fixed some of the things that needed fixing himself (I ended breaking the front door handle on a Saturday, and he fixed it within a few hours...), he hired a contractor to redo the carpet and the job was super well done, the folks he hired to take pro pictures of our staged home took amazing pictures, he setup multiple open houses and was a fantastic advocate for our property. We ended up selling in 5 days for well above asking after receiving multiple offers. On top of it all, Brandon is a fantastic person, and I still owe him a beer. One might say that real estate agents obviously have a vested interest in selling properties for the highest possible price, but as far as we're concerned Brandon went above and beyond in every possible way, and we are incredibly thankful.

I've worked with Brandon for buying two homes and selling one. Each time he has been a fantastic agent and partner through the process. Between providing buying and selling knowledge, helping with home sale preparation (including cleaning up an old gravel driveway and helping install trim!), discussing trade-offs in different homes I looked at, and just making sure I felt comfortable with everything, he made the process easy. He was consistently accessible and there to help in a way that took much of the stress out of a high stress process. On top of this, he is extremely personable and easy to work with. I consistently felt comfortable with discussing options without feeling like I was an amateur throwing ideas at a professional even though I was. This left me feeling heard, even if it was just a personal fear or concern and not strictly grounded in reality. During touring, he regularly helped me thoroughly evaluate homes and discuss possibilities. A couple of times we spent significant time touring a home just to go through the entire span of "this is good", then "this is great", just to reach "this is a no go." He never made me feel rushed and it helped me eventually find the home I wanted and that it was the right one. Ultimately, I believe I found the right home with the right attributes thanks to Brandon. He helped me land the offer in a compelling way on my latest home and without any haggling with the seller. This experience was inline with selling my home where I had an offer accepted within days of listing despite the home being in a challenging location. I can't recommend Brandon enough

Brandon has helped me purchase multiple homes over the past few years and has surpassed my expectations every time. Initially as a first-time home buyer, he helped me understand the process and answered all of my many many questions along the way. His knowledge of home building and remodeling was invaluable when I started looking for a house to flip and use as a rental. He was able to point out potential problems and even provide estimates for fixing them; it was almost like having an inspector and contractor there with me! Throughout the closing process, he was able to connect me to great lenders and inspectors, ensuring the process continued smoothly, and continued to make those connections far after my closing date with skilled contractors, cleaners, and property managers. 

I genuinely believe he has my best interests at heart. He has made himself available no matter the time whether I needed to weigh the pros and cons of a buying a particular house or to know what tools I need to fix a sprinkler system. His guidance, knowledge, and connections have saved me countless hours and thousands of dollars. I can’t recommend him enough! 

Brandon went above and beyond to make sure our home buying experience was smooth. After couple meetings we knew we had a great agent and were assured that we would make the right decisions with Brandon's expertise. He was always quick to respond, thorough in his work and research, great in-person conversations and consulting all the way from house hunting to post closing. He brings with him a good network of contacts, if you need recommendations on any house fix work. His prior experience as house contractor even helped us with identifying the right needs and fixes for the house we bought. We are extremely impressed and thankful for such a great agent to work with.

We recently bought a condo with Brandon's help. Brandon is patient while you're looking, provides great guidance when you're making a decision, and extremely proactive when pursuing an offer. Brandon's knowledge of construction is extremely helpful--he provides great inputs during tours. But what I really appreciate when working with him is his patience and willingness to help you explore and understand the type of property you should pursue.

We bought a condo with Brandon’s patient help and detailed guidance. We started out knowing very little about the process. Brandon made everything simple and helped us understand details that informed a bunch of our decisions. Admittedly, we had a difficult time understanding exactly what we wanted and were looking at all kinds of properties in different parts of King County. Brandon patiently worked with us to understand the pros and cons of different property types and locations. Surprisingly, we managed to buy the place we wanted after a few months of searching in a very competitive market.

Brandon is a great agent, knows his stuff, super down to earth, great advice all around!

Brandon goes above and beyond to help us with selling our mom’s condo. He treats us like family. Makes sure we understand the procedures necessary in selling a condo. Is always there to answer any questions or concerns. 

We enjoyed working with Brandon very much in the house buying process, he provided good insights on various topics and came up with good tactics on securing the best deal on the house we liked. He’s also continue to be available after we closed when questions came up which is super helpful for first time home owners like we are. 

Brandon has lots of knowledge when it comes to houses. He tells it how it is and makes sure that you understand the process. We used him for selling our place and buying our house. 

Brandon’s experience and knowledge of the region was invaluable. He also displayed the patience of a saint while my husband and I tried to find a home that made sense for both of us in an overwhelming market. Thanks again, Brandon!

Knowledgeable and very responsive. Took the time to understand our needs and suggested tactics for both buying and selling our homes. Brandon was a pleasure to work with!!

Brandon is a very accomplished agent. His experience and knowledge about the market made our first home purchase relatively less stressful. He explained the entire process to us very patiently and he was super prompt in replying to our questions and requests. It seemed like Brandon was available 24/7 to help us. We are glad that we got to work with Brandon for our home purchase. 

Brandon was quick to respond to our many questions and we loved that! He is knowledgeable about the area that we moved to and that was very helpful for us. And the best part is that he came to the rescue on our move-in day when we realized we had lost our new house keys! We called Brandon and he was at our house in minutes, helping us to remove a window so we could enter the house and move in our furniture and personal items! THANK YOU BRANDON!!

We had a great experience working with Brandon when looking for our first home. As first-time home buyers we had a lot of questions throughout the process and Brandon was always there to provide an advice and the most detailed explanations. With his experience in construction he was an invaluable resource for us and even shared tips on renovation and maintenance. Brandon is very responsible agent and was available even late in the evenings and on weekends, if we needed anything. He went above and beyond to make sure we had all information about the homes we considered. He was very fast in drafting offers and preparing all necessary paperwork with great attention to details. We could have been absolutely sure that nothing would be missed. Overall, it was a delight having Brandon as our agent!

Brandon was excellent. He went out of his way to make sure that our questions were answered in detail, had a ton of useful advice, and was flexible with us during all the bumps of being first time buyers. We really appreciated his honesty and clarity, and we believe it helped us land the purchase. 

My older brother and I interviewed 4 realtors and Brandon was by far our choice. He was calm, knowledgeable and when asked to check in to things for us went above and beyond our expectations. My older brother and I were helping our brother, who had moved in to assisted living, sell the house, which made it a bit more time consuming with the paperwork. I asked Brandon to help my brother and I fill out the required paperwork and Brandon met us at the facility and with extraordinary patience helped us get it done without any stress. All of my emails and phone calls were answered almost immediately so I felt our line of communication was always open. I won’t hesitate to recommend him to my family and friends. 

I had a wonderful experience working with Brandon! Because I was looking for something to fix up, his prior experience building houses was a real asset. He knows the market very well and encouraged me to be patient throughout the process, allowing me to be competitive with my offer, while ensuring it was still something I was comfortable with. I would absolutely work with him again and will be recommending him to friends in the future. Thank you Brandon! 

Awesome, Awesome Experience to work with Brandon. Having vast background in construction, he knows the through detail whether it is related to roof, siding, interior or electrical or heating system. He has answer for every questions related to home, neighborhood, schools etc. Moreover, he is always ready to help and guide as and when needed and provides true opinion. In my opinion Brandon should deserve as Outstanding Real Estate Agent Award. 

Being detail oriented buyers in this sellers’ market is tough and Brandon was everything we could ask for in an agent. He never rushed us or made us feel pressured, a breath of fresh air from real estate agents we had tried in the past. Brandon kept us well informed and always answered our emails and texts promptly. This was our first time buying a house and we had a lot fo questions. Throughout the whole process we felt that he was a great advocate for us and was on top of things to make sure we were able to put offers in quickly and close on time when the finally had our offer accepted. He really wowed us when he went to the county builders office to find the permit for additions to our house when he know we were really concerned about it, but didn’t have time to go ourselves. Thank you, Brandon!

This is the 2nd property we worked with Brandon (we bought a property and then sold one with him) and we can’t express enough how much we appreciate him! Brandon is a hard worker who goes beyond anyone’s expectations to deliver the best result. He’s very knowledgeable, responsive, detail oriented, and works focused with his client’s best interest. We will be selling another property soon, and we are so thankful that we can work with him again. He’s the best!!!

Working with Brandon was absolutely great! He knows everything about everything I needed to put in an offer and what services to get and where. It was really useful to understand the home buying process and the market situation/etc. I particularly like that he wasn’t trying to push any homes for me, so that I could control the buying process entirely. (Having said that I really should have taken his advice and gone with a lower amount to secure the deal that I did :) Oh well! Another reason why I should have listened to Brandon in the first place!)

Working with Brandon was truly a great experience. We got introduced to him through a friend and we are very glad that we chose him to be our agent. He is very knowledgeable and professional. He answered all of our questions anytime of the day and guided us throughout the process and made it a stress free one. I highly recommend working with him. No doubt you will have a great experience! 

Working with Brandon was an amazing experience.

His knowledge about the market, the construction and overall opinion on what’s best for a home is outstanding. He is very courteous, knowledgable and always on the call for you day or night. I couldn’t have asked more from an agent, he was aiding us throughout the process even though ours was a new house.

Also as it is our first house, he was able to walk through the whole buying process and was able to take out time for each of our home visits whether it be blue tape, initial walk through, contract read etc. etc. 

Overall I will say that he is an amazing agent with a solid background on home constructions and one who will make your whole buying process easy, simple and understandable. 

Brandon is an amazing agent. He went way beyond what I would have expected from any real estate agent in helping my family purchase a home in this difficult market. I highly recommend Brandon to everyone. 

Brandon will go above and beyond to help you sell your home. he keeps you fully informed through the entire process and looks out for your best interest. 

Brandon is just wonderful to work with. He patiently guided us throughout the process of searching, offering and closing. He responds very quick, which is a “must have” to win a home in the current market situation! 

I’ve purchased and sold homes all over the states and Brandon is by far the best agent I’ve worked with. He is professional and more than willing to go the extra mile for helping out. Do not hesitate to work with him, he’s great. 

We highly recommend Brandon! He exceeded our expectations as an agent. He is quick in responding questions and very thoughtful. He went above and beyond to make sure our interests are well protected, and our needs are met. He is AMAZING!!!

Working with Brandon was great! He was very knowledgeable about the market as well as home construction and what to look for. He also was very efficient in getting in our offer and making it as competitive as possible. We would highly recommend! 

Brandon was quick in response and gave great advice to us as first time home buyers

The whole Property Searching Process with Brandon was very satisfactory. He is the Property Purchase Wikipedia and I will definitely recommend him to my friends. Brandon equipped us with the full set knowledge of how to compete in this crazy market without rushing us to close. For each property we were interested in Brandon always provide us comprehensive market analysis and objective estimates about how he think will close at based on his experience, which were proven to be pretty accurate. 

My wife and I loved working with Brandon. He’s a down-to-earth guy with extensive experience and knowledge of the real estate market in the greater Seattle metro. Not only does he have an accurate idea of what a given home will eventually sell for, but also how the bidding process will unfold in terms of the strength of different types of offers (cash vs conventional, contingencies, etc). Moreover, he has prior occupational experience in home remodeling and can give you a good sense of what is likely to need repair/replacement on a property and how well the HOA has managed their funds. This can be useful in ruling out a prospective home before you shell out hundreds on a professional inspection. Throughout the whole process, he was always very prompt to respond and gave us detailed…

Brandon demonstrated absolutely exceptional professional and people skills, was proactive and organized while he was helping us to buy our house in Bothell. He has guided us through very challenging and often frustrating process of buying a house in Seattle suburbs. Brandon truly made the process as easy as it can possibly be in the sellers market situation. He was kind and patient with us, always lightning fast and readily available to answer any questions we had even if it was late night hours or when he was off duty. We faced 6 bidding wars with him, learned a lot during the process, got more experienced with every next offer we made. Brandon went above and beyond his time and expertise to inspect the houses with us, to do detailed market analysis on every house we were interested in… 

We got Brandon’s name and contact information from friends who had previously worked with Brandon. Brandon was AMAZING! Not only were we first time home buyers, but we were also purchasing from out of state. He was extremely knowledgeable regarding WA homes including common issues such as siding and moss on the roof. Coming from CA, where those are not common issues, we were appreciative of the information. He went out of his way to do many FaceTime calls so we could view the homes we were interested in. We can’t say enough great things about Brandon, and would recommend him to anyone and everyone. 

Brandon was very insightful, professional, and helpful. He answered all the questions I had as a first time buyer and worked to make sure the entire process proceeded smoothly. 

Brandon is the person you need to go to if you have any real estate needs. He is very knowledgeable, extremely helpful and very prompt at responding to you needs. He thoroughly explained every step of the process and advised us what to expect in each stage. He gave us some excellent recommendations for lenders and property inspectors. We would definitely work with him again if we need to buy/sell a house. Keep up the good work, Brandon! 

As a first time buyer Brandon made the whole experience so awesome and easy for us. He provided support in each and every step of buying. With his help we were able to transact fear free. As we removed the inspection contingency he inspected the house with us ad guide us for all dos and don’t. In part of loan approval and understanding and making us comfortable with all tedious steps. 

Brandon was: 

Very helpful and easy to work with
- Always prompt
- No pressure, he provided us with all the information required to make an informed decision
- Has some construction experience and gave us good insights on every home we toured
- Touring a house with him was a semi-inspection almost and we learnt a lot 
- Gave us reasonable estimates on the spot for changes we wished to do
- Well versed with technicalities of real estate documents and helped us quite a lot with this aspect when we closed our home 

We have already recommended him to our friends. 

Brandon was a great advisor to work with as we went through the home buying process. He is very experienced and helped us work through some unexpected hurdles. He was very patient, responsive and knowledgeable about the market and houses. 

He answered our tons of questions with patience, he was very helpful and positive all the time. Buying an house is a stressful process and we are glad that he was with us in this process. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better experience working with Brandon. As a first-time home buyer, everything went much smoother and faster than I had expected and I really appreciate the patience Brandon showed addressing all my questions and concerns. I would absolutely recommend working with Brandon, and will actively do so with my friends. Thank you! 

He is super helpful in terms of tiny details about the home. I didn’t know about home, bad or good construction, crawling spaces protection, roof etc.. he has given us so much knowledge about all these important things. Always on top of his work and ready to pick call anytime to answer our plenty questions. I wish Brandon all success! 

Brandon has been absolutely wonderful throughout our home searching experience. He’s spent hours answering questions, putting in research, and being present for every inspection or request we’ve needed. We’d highly recommend him to anyone! 

Brandon was always quick, diligent and patient. He answered any questions, gave any possible information, reacted same moment we asked him. 

We made an offer matching the listing price and won it without any delays or issues. Brandon was following us through the closing process, preparing all the required documentation and keeping contact with the selling agent. 

Now we are happy in our new house and feel like the dreams come true! It was a good decision for us to start working with Brandon. 

Loved working with Brandon. He is really knowledgeable in many aspects of home buying and servicing and his professional attitude really helped me closing my 1st home. Definitely recommend Brandon to my friends. 

Brandon is very knowledgeable about the market, local housing inventory and options. He was super quick in responding to questions that I had and provided timely information and help to finalize the deal. It was due to his hard work, we could finalize on our home within 3 weeks in a hot market and won the bid in first attempt. Moreover, he and his team provided superb support post the sale on closing and on various house improvement related questions that I had. I would definitely recommend him as a buyer’s agent. 

Brandon was amazing throughout our house purchase. He was extremely helpful in explaining the buying process as well as finding us the right house. I would not hesitate to refer him in the future. 

Extremely knowledgeable, very patient, easy to work with.

Brandon was a pleasure to work with on my home purchase. When I called, I asked for him based on his reviews and his knowledge of home construction. When we toured the home, it was like having a contractor or inspector there to explain all the details. During the inspection itself, he even helped the inspector figure out a couple things. Brandon is very friendly and easy to communicate with. He and his team were always available and on top of things. He helped me find some of my other service providers on the purchase, and they were all top notch. I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I recommend him highly. 

Working with Brandon was mind-blowingly awesome! Went above and beyond over and over again. 

Brandon was an amazing advocate for us. He was very helpful when we ran up against unexpected problems, and managed to convince the builder to solve problems that we thought we’d have to pay thousands of dollars to fix. He was available at times that worked for us, and was very responsive, both to us and to any external events. 

He was a pleasure to work with, and we’d absolutely ask to work with him again, should we be in the market. 

What can I say? the best experience I have ever had with an agent. (drop mic) 

I took almost 3 to 4 moths time to choose agent. I was looking for agent who can put himself in my position. I talk to almost 10-15 agents and felt that all are interested to sell home by hooks and crooks. Brandon gave more than enough time to visit houses. List all pros and cons of house. He is also from construction back ground so he can suggest quality of house as well. I had almost 50+ house tours. He never sleeps. :) Yes, I have worked with him early morning and late night 1 A.M. or 1.30 A.M. as well. Even, he was on vacation, he responded very quickly, put offer, followed up very closely. We are very happy with his service. He is very Very professional and friendly. Highly recommended. 

Great guy, very knowledgeable and down to earth. Made things happen and ensured that my wife and I were always taken care of. He didn’t leave any question unanswered and was very professional. 

Brandon is the best agent I’ve ever met. First time we were on a tour to a house hiding in the trees. Brandon was the touring agent with us. Eventually, it sows that we are so lucky to have Brandon as our agent. He’s always doing a great buyer agent’s job plus always pointing out good and bad points of a house with his professional knowledge. That means a lot to us, and even my 20 month little boy who’s always afraid of stranger likes Brandon so much. He’s so nice and almost available to answer our all kinds of questions 7*24! At the deal of the house we bought at the end, Brandon even saved us thousands! I’ll definitely recommend Brandon to my friends. 

Brandon is the best agent that we truly enjoyed working with. He took our house hunt so personally that he made sure that we didn’t compromise and made the right choice. He made the house tours/hunting a pleasant experience instead of a stressful one. His specialization in building construction is a great asset to home buyers. He has such a great eye in identifying flaws in the house that any client can wave the pre-inspection pretty comfortably and go ahead with the offer. As a realtor, not many have his genuine ability to build a trust in confidence relationship with their clients, which is very hard to find in any person in the present day. We sincerely thank him for all his hard work in closing the deal seamlessly for the house we cherish and strongly recommend his FANTABULOUS skills. 

Since I was a first-time buyer Brandon made sure to explain details. He was very responsive to all the queries. 

We had a great experience working with Brandon. He was very responsive, knowledgeable and always took the time to go through properties thoroughly. As first time buyers we found Brandon’s help indispensable. he explained each step of the buying process in detail and was a great resource for any questions we had along the way. Highly recommended. 

Brandon provided good insights about the construction, appliances, furnace and other aspects of the house we checked. He has experience building house from scratch and he helped provide good ball park for the remodeling queries. He also had good insights into the market state, good views on number of offers to expect and how far they could go. I would surely recommend Brandon’s services. 

Very professional and courteous. I couldn’t have asked for a better agent to work with. 

Brandon was very helpful in our home purchase process. He is quite knowledgeable about construction, prompt to respond, accommodates your scheduling needs, and most importantly, keeps your best interest in mind without pushing you. I highly recommend him. 

Brandon is really great. From the initial offer strategy, to negotiation, to all the process and to the final closing, he was always responsive and very responsible, even when he was away for vacation, He is very knowledgeable and have a construction background, which comes really handy in lot of cases. I would definitely recommend him to everyone. 

This was my first time stepping into the housing market, and Brandon made it really easy. He answered all of the questions I had for him quickly and with confidence, an pointed out things I either overlooked or didn’t even know to ask about along the way. He has a background in construction too, which helped when we were out on tours as well. When I found a place I knew I wanted, he didn’t waste any time getting in touch with me to iron out details and get the forms ready to submit. Thanks Brandon! 

It was a pleasure to work with Brandon. 

Brandon was really helpful for putting offer on this property. He always seems to have more insights whenever I tour any property with him. I will definitely recommend Brandon to my friends. 

He has given a lot of insight to home prices, value, work needed. He gave lot of information to take decisions. He suggested to give for lesser price than I thought. We got the house in first bid. He gave information on how to win bid, by lowering the price. 

Here in this real estate market, it’s a hard battle for buyers. More than 10 offers for one property are quite normal. Brandon has helped us in lots of aspects. He is totally devoted to his work, always responding to our requests and questions rapidly, including touring houses, giving clarifications, making in-time pre-inspection arrangement, etc, etc. In the case that a house will usually goes to pending within a week, efficiency means a lot to bid out competitors. 

Brandon was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating throughout the process of our house-hunt. He gave us great guidance in terms of putting the right kind of offer for the homes we liked. His experience shows when he talks without any bias about the pros and cons of a house you point out to him. His passions for getting you the perfect house keeps you motivated in the current tight market. He did a super awesome job and I truly appreciate his efforts. 

Brandon was with us every stop of the way. No pressure at all when browsing homes. He has a background in construction so he gives good insight about quality of workmanship and potential problems. 

We are first-time home buyer and have no knowledge about the process at all. But Brandon explained every step in detail and always helped us whenever we need something. He responded to our questions or requests very quickly. In addition, he tried to encourage us to go through this complicated and long process

We are so lucky to have him as our agent and definitely will work with him when we need an agent. 

We really appreciate all he’s done for us.