If you’re thinking about selling your home, choosing the right real estate agent can make a significant difference—not only in your final sale price, but in how your home is prepared, marketed, negotiated and managed from beginning to closing.
So, how do you find the best real estate agent in Stanwood, Washington?
I don’t think the answer is simply choosing the person with the most signs around town or the biggest advertising budget.
The best REALTOR® for you should understand the Stanwood real estate market, know how to position your particular type of property, have a strong marketing strategy, communicate well and, maybe most importantly, be willing to give you honest information even when it isn’t necessarily what you expected to hear.
Here are some of the things I believe Stanwood homeowners should consider when choosing an agent to sell their home.
1. Look for a REALTOR® Who Truly Understands the Stanwood Real Estate Market
Stanwood isn’t one uniform housing market.
A home near downtown Stanwood can attract a different buyer than a property in Cedarhome, Warm Beach or Lake Ketchum. Newer construction can compete differently than an established home, and acreage or rural properties introduce an entirely different set of considerations.
Understanding those differences matters when determining how to price and market a home.
I’ve lived in the Stanwood community since 2001, and working in this market gives me the opportunity to see what’s happening beyond the numbers.
I pay attention to what is coming on the market, what’s going pending, what’s sitting, what’s reducing its price and, most importantly, what buyers are actually responding to.
2. Your Agent Should Understand Your Type of Property
This is especially important in Stanwood and the surrounding area.
Our real estate isn’t limited to traditional homes in residential neighborhoods. We also have:
- Acreage and rural properties
- Equestrian properties
- Homes with barns and shops
- ADUs and multigenerational properties
- Private wells
- Septic systems
- Manufactured homes
- Waterfront and water-view properties
- New construction
- Vacant land
Selling acreage with a barn, shop, well and septic system is not the same as selling a home in a traditional neighborhood.
The buyer can be different. The questions are different. The due diligence can be different.
Your agent should understand those differences and know how to communicate the features that make your particular property valuable to the buyers most likely to appreciate them.
3. Ask How Your Agent Determines What Your Home Is Worth
Online home-value estimates can be interesting, but I would never recommend determining a listing price solely from an automated valuation.
When I’m evaluating a property, I manually select comparable homes.
Why?
Because a computer doesn’t walk through your house.
It doesn’t know that one five-acre property has mostly usable land while another doesn’t. It may not adequately account for the condition of a shop, barn or ADU, the quality of updates, privacy, views, road noise, deferred maintenance or dozens of other details buyers notice.
Technology is incredibly useful, but I still believe determining market value requires experienced human judgment.
I look at recent sales, pending properties, current competition and the characteristics of the individual property before recommending a pricing strategy.
Just Curious What Your Stanwood Home Is Worth?
If you’re not planning to sell right now but would like to keep an eye on your estimated value and equity, you can use my complimentary Homebot home wealth report.
4. Find Out What You Should Do Before Putting Your Home on the Market
One of the biggest mistakes I see homeowners make is spending money before talking with their real estate agent.
You don’t necessarily need a remodeled kitchen, new flooring throughout or thousands of dollars in improvements to sell your home.
Sometimes the little things matter more.
I recently had a seller remove a wall-mounted television from a bedroom. The room had previously been painted around the television, leaving a very obvious different-colored rectangle on the wall.
Could we technically have listed the house that way? Of course.
Was I going to have professional marketing photographs taken with a giant TV-shaped spot on the bedroom wall?
No.
So I painted it.
That’s a small example, but it illustrates something important.
Preparing a home for sale isn’t about making everything perfect. It’s about looking at the property through a buyer’s eyes and deciding what is worth addressing before the home goes on the market.
Before my sellers start spending money, I like to walk through the property with them and talk about:
- What buyers are likely to notice
- What should be repaired or addressed
- What could improve the home’s presentation
- What might affect an inspection
- What probably isn’t worth spending money on
Sometimes my advice is to make the repair.
Sometimes it’s to get an estimate.
And sometimes it’s: don’t spend the money.
5. Ask How Your Home Will Actually Be Marketed
Putting a property in the MLS is important, but it shouldn’t be the entire marketing plan.
Today’s buyers often discover homes before they ever schedule a showing.
Depending on the property, my marketing may include professional photography, video, social media, YouTube, Google and other digital marketing designed to put the property in front of potential buyers.
But good marketing isn’t simply doing more.
It’s determining what makes a particular home worth noticing and building the marketing around that.
If we’re selling acreage, I want buyers to understand the land.
If there’s a shop or barn, I want them to see it.
If the property has an ADU, we need to communicate that additional space.
If the setting, view or location is one of the home’s strongest features, that should be part of the story.
We’re not just marketing bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage. We’re marketing the property and what makes it different.
6. Look for Strong Negotiation and Transaction Experience
Getting an offer is only one part of selling a home.
There may still be inspection negotiations, financing, appraisal, title issues, septic or well requirements, contingencies and countless other details between mutual acceptance and closing.
A strong real estate agent should make sure you understand what is happening, answer your questions and explain the options available to you throughout the transaction.
I’ve worked in real estate since 1992, including many years in property management before focusing exclusively on residential sales.
That experience has taught me that transactions don’t always follow a perfectly straight line.
When something unexpected happens, experience matters.
7. Read the Agent’s Reviews
Reviews can tell you quite a bit about what it’s actually like to work with an agent.
Don’t only look at the star rating. Read what past clients say.
Do they mention communication? Responsiveness? Negotiation? Problem solving? Market knowledge? Did they feel informed throughout the process?
Those details can tell you much more than a number alone.
You can read reviews from people I’ve helped buy and sell real estate here:
8. Local Knowledge Matters
I believe there is a difference between knowing how to sell real estate and knowing the community where you’re selling it.
I’ve lived in Stanwood since 2001.
This is where I live, work, shop, spend time with my family and horses, and participate in the community.
I also serve as President of the Stanwood Commerce Alliance, Stanwood’s Chamber of Commerce.
That local connection gives me another perspective on what’s happening in our community, and I’m paying attention to our real estate market all the time—not only when I have a listing coming up.
9. Awards Are Nice, But They Aren’t the Whole Story
I was incredibly honored to be voted Best Real Estate Agent in Stanwood & Camano Island in both 2025 and 2026.
I’m proud of that recognition because it came from the community where I live and work.
But an award shouldn’t be the only reason you choose a REALTOR®.
What matters much more is what happens when we’re sitting at your kitchen table talking about your home.
Do I understand what you’re trying to accomplish?
Am I giving you honest information?
Am I answering your questions?
Do you understand what’s happening in the market?
Do you understand the options available to you?
And do you feel you have the information you need to make the best decisions for yourself?
That’s what ultimately matters.
10. Choose a Real Estate Agent Who Will Tell You the Truth
This may be the most important one.
I don’t believe every homeowner should sell simply because they ask me what their house is worth.
And I don’t believe it’s always a great time to sell—because it isn’t.
Every homeowner’s circumstances and goals are different.
My role is to understand what you’re trying to accomplish, provide accurate information about your property and the current real estate market, answer your questions and explain the options available to you.
Then you have the information you need to decide what is best for you.
If selling makes sense, we can build a strategy and move forward.
If it doesn’t, that’s valuable information too.
Thinking About Selling a Home in Stanwood, WA?
You don’t have to be ready to put a sign in the yard to start gathering information.
In fact, I prefer talking with homeowners before they’re ready to list.
That gives us time to walk through the property, talk about value, identify anything that may be worth addressing and answer questions without feeling rushed.
If you’re simply curious about your home’s estimated value and equity:
If you’re considering selling and would like accurate information about your particular property and today’s Stanwood real estate market:
I’m always happy to start with a conversation.
About Tricia Jacobs
Tricia Jacobs is a Managing Broker and REALTOR® with RE/MAX Gateway, serving buyers and sellers throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Whatcom Counties.
Originally licensed in 1992, Tricia has decades of experience in real estate and has called Stanwood home since 2001. Her experience includes residential homes, acreage and country properties, equestrian properties, waterfront and water-view homes, ADUs and multigenerational properties, investment properties and land.
Tricia believes good real estate advice starts with understanding the person sitting across the table from her. For sellers, that means learning why they are considering a move, what they hope to accomplish and what their timeline looks like before providing information about their property and the current market.
She doesn’t believe it’s always a great time to sell—because it isn’t. Her role is to provide accurate information, answer questions and explain the options available so her clients have what they need to make the best decision for themselves.
When a client does decide to sell, Tricia takes a hands-on approach to preparing and marketing the property. She helps sellers determine what is worth addressing before going on the market—and what isn’t worth spending money on—then builds the pricing and marketing strategy around the individual property.
For buyers, Tricia provides experienced guidance from the initial search through inspections, negotiations and closing. Her background is particularly helpful with the additional considerations that can come with acreage, wells, septic systems, equestrian properties, waterfront and other unique properties common throughout Northwest Washington.
Tricia was honored to be voted Best Real Estate Agent in Stanwood & Camano Island in both 2025 and 2026 and serves as President of the Stanwood Commerce Alliance, Stanwood’s Chamber of Commerce. Both are especially meaningful because Stanwood isn’t simply an area where she sells real estate—it’s her community.
Outside of real estate, you’ll usually find Tricia spending time with her family, horses and dogs and enjoying the Northwest Washington lifestyle she helps her clients call home.
Tricia Jacobs | Managing Broker / REALTOR®
RE/MAX Gateway
360-223-1100
triciajacobs@remax.net
triciajacobsrealtor.com