Seattle Property Lawyer

Craig is excellent. As an attorney myself I was reticent to hire someone to help us navigate quit claiming our properties but he was quick. efficient, and pointed out intricacies in the process I definitely would have missed without counsel. Highly recommend!

tl;dr - Hire this man!

In an era of runaway home prices and inflated realtor commissions, Craig (Seattle Property Lawyer aka SPL) is a breath of fresh air… if you temper your expectations.

A few points about working with SPL over a traditional buyer’s agent:
- The SPL model works best (per his own admission) on properties that have been on the market for some time, ideally over a few weeks. This is typically due to the seller not pricing the house correctly, which can then be used as leverage during negotiations.
- The SPL model does not work for houses that have been priced low to invite bidding wars, or houses that review offers within days as opposed to weeks, think: hot homes. There is no leverage here, and you’re better off with an agent.
- The primary difference between SPL and an agent is the cost savings. For example, in the Seattle area where SPL operates, houses typically go for a million dollars. With realtors’ 3% commission, that works out to about $30k, as opposed to a flat $3k with SPL, a savings of $27k. More realistically, you should have negotiated a 2% commission with your agent, which translates into savings of $17k, still nothing to sneeze at & can go directly towards your closing costs.

The value that realtors provide imo is they are personable, and do a lot of handholding during the process; this is especially valuable for first-time homebuyers (FTHB). Craig’s approach is more practical, and his tone is shall we say, more matter-of-fact. This can be jarring if you’ve only ever worked with realtors, and are used to that level of service and a more amicable tone.

As an Indian and a foodie, the analogy I would use here is: you visit an Indian restaurant for the delicious food, and the value for money. You do not visit an Indian restaurant for the hospitality. You deal with the service and you suck it up, because you know your wallet will thank you later. In a similar vein, working with Craig might not be a smooth ride all the time, but you persevere, because at the end of the day, this man saved us SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS! And to me, that is worth the experience.

For the same reason, I do not recommend SPL for FTHB.

At this time, SPL does not have any local competition that I’m aware of: his brand of service is unique and effective. Until there are other avenues for homebuyers to avoid realtor commissions, Craig is your best bet. He has even been featured in the Seattle Times, so you know he is legit :)

You might be asking yourself: why give what appears to be a middling review and yet, a rating of 5 stars. It’s the same reason I gave the Indian restaurant 5 stars. If you are outcome-based and temper your expectations, you will have a good time. Also, did I mention the savings!

In summary, I’m very pleased to have engaged Craig’s services, and I heartily recommend him to anyone in the Seattle area, except first-timers. For them, I would recommend an agent with a pre-negotiated commission.

PS: it appears inflation has not come for SPL’s prices yet, the numbers are very round and very satisfying: $1k x 3, spaced about evenly, for a total of $3k.

I regret to share that my experience with Craig Blackmon was deeply disappointing.

The main reason I ended our arrangement was the condescending tone he used during our conversations. This was particularly frustrating after a prior discussion--which he claimed not to recall from the day before--regarding the specifics of our arrangement as a transaction facilitator for a real estate sale.

When I decided to discharge him, I was billed for two hours of work, despite the fact that the work appeared to involve little more than filling out a few inputs into a basic template agreement readily available online for free.

I don't typically write reviews, but I feel compelled to share my experience to help others make an informed decision. Having worked with numerous lawyers throughout my businesses, I've never encountered an experience quite like this.