Engel & Völkers Washington DC — Local services in Washington

Phil Di Ruggiero of GreenLine Real Estate is the third agent that I have worked with, and he is without question the best! Before working with Phil, I considered my prior experiences with other agents to be positive. My friends had similar experiences with their agents. But after working with Phil, I realized that many agents are paper pushers–they simply make appointments, fill out form contracts, and explain the process. With Phil, you’re getting an experienced advisor and counselor; someone who represents your best interests. If he thinks a house is overpriced, he will tell you. He will point out issues that you are overlooking, even if it means you will not put in an offer. Of course you don’t have to follow his advice, but you’ll be making a much more informed decision because of it. Simply put, Phil isn’t just trying to collect his commission–he wants you to make the best and most informed decision so that you are comfortable with the big commitment you're about to enter.

Phil is able to provide this top-notch service because he doesn’t just know DC real estate–he knows houses. Like most agents, Phil can talk to you about location, schools, crime rates, etc. But he’s also going to educate you about the house itself. During one open house, he knew that termites were common in the area, and he pointed out hidden termite damage that I would have never noticed. Another time, Phil noticed the yard was sloped, looked at the gutters, and walked down the slope to the detached garage and found water damage to the siding, which meant not only fixing the damage but needing to install adequate drainage. He always examines the quality of the windows, the landscaping, the age of the HVAC and water heaters, and the roof condition. And when he doesn’t have the answers, he’ll raise the issue during the pre-inspection if you’re able to schedule one—and you might not in this market, which is why Phil’s insights helped us so much in assessing the value of the homes we were looking at.

Phil is also different because he not only tries to understand your criteria for a home, but he tries to understand your vision. With other agents, you tell them the type of property you’re looking for, the neighborhoods you’re interested in, and your budget. Then, they create a search for you, and from that list you tell them what properties you want to see. With Phil, that’s only the beginning. After each showing, he took the time to learn what we liked, what we didn’t like, and whether the house made us think differently about our search. He then used that knowledge to proactively find opportunities. Phil would go look at a property that hit the market just hours earlier, without us asking or even knowing, to see if the house might be of interest to us. Phil drove around neighborhoods and leveraged his relationships with other agents to find the right off-market opportunities. Because Phil actually understood our thinking, and not just number of bedrooms, sq ft, etc., he was able to hustle and find the right home for us.

Finally, Phil knows how to close the deal. Sure, the main factor for sellers will be price. But in a competitive market, Phil knows how to elevate your offer. He’ll have the lender contact the seller to vouch for your ability to secure financing. Phil will get a sense from the agents about what the sellers are looking for in a buyer, so that you can tailor your offer (and your letter to the seller) to hit those points. And, Phil will contact the seller’s agents to sell them on you. We actually met the seller of our house after closing, and she said she knew right away that she wanted to sell the house to us because of the package we put together, and in fact she chose our offer over an all-cash buyer at the same price point. Sure, other sellers might not have bypassed an all-cash buyer, but because of Phil, we put our best foot forward and ultimately landed our dream house.

I really can’t say enough good things about Phil. Buying a home is a big commitment, and you need someone like Phil who will...

I enthusiastically recommend Tom Spier (Greenline) as a real estate agent. My wife and I were first-time buyers, and Tom was extremely helpful at every step along the way. Friendly and accommodating, Tom initially met with us for about an hour to explain the whole process of buying a home from start to finish, and gave us detailed examples of what kinds of questions we should consider from the outset. In addition he walked us through all of the paperwork that we could expect to encounter at various stages. With decades of experience in the DC area, Tom was a great source of knowledge about not only the process of buying a home, but about the latest trends in the highly competitive DC market. In addition, he is available basically 24/7, responding to all emails/calls/texts in very quick fashion (I honestly don’t know when he finds time to sleep).

We weren’t on a tight timeline to buy a home, and so we really appreciated that Tom was patient with us as we saw many houses over several months with him. He always worked around our schedule (we have a toddler) to make sure we could see the houses we were interested with him, which was a great relief. Tom is extremely thorough when visiting homes, and he has a deep knowledge of construction and codes. For example, while our eyes were being dazzled by a sparkly new kitchen, Tom was rooting around in the basement checking on the state of the electric panel, inspecting the age of the hot water tank, finding evidence of leaks and water damage in unexpected nooks and crannies, etc. He is very adept at assessing the state of the structure of houses, not just the glossy finishes.

When it came time to put an offer in, Tom was super on top of things. He immediately pulled the paperwork together (we did everything over e-sign, which is conveniently usable with mobile devices for signing documents), even speaking with our lender directly when we had a question that the lender couldn’t answer clearly. Tom’s depth of experience makes him a great strategist and negotiator, which really came in handy when putting together our competitive offer, and in negotiating other costs.

Once our offer was accepted, Tom quickly coordinated the inspection with a trusted colleague that he’s worked with for years, and he even brought in a plumber and an electrician to get more professional assessments of specific areas that needed to be fixed, along with estimates and invoices that we used to negotiate for repair costs at settlement. Because Tom was so thorough in making the case for repair credits, the sellers gave us every dollar we asked for and didn’t even try to negotiate us down!

In summary, Tom is an excellent real-estate agent. As first-time buyers, we couldn’t have asked for anything more. If you’re looking to take the stress out of buying a home, and you want to get a great deal on the house that’s right for you, Tom Spier is your guy!

-Richard N....

Phil DiRuggiero helped me purchase my condo in 2014, and he helped me sell the condo in 2020. Phil is nothing short of exceptional. Through every step of the process, Phil exceeded my (very demanding) expectations. Because of Phil, within five days of putting my condo on the market, I received multiple offers above asking price during a pandemic and a heat wave.

Phil is a true professional who loves his craft and cares deeply about his clients. To know Phil is to know that he lives and breathes DC real estate, and that he will go to any length for his clients. At all times, Phil is available and responsive. He frequently responded to my 6 am text messages and late-night phone calls. Phil also made a point to be present at the condo far more often than I would have expected. He came out for an initial visit to discuss what repairs to make and the most cost-effective way to make them, he came out with the photographer to make sure she captured all the correct angles, he came out during the open house and showings, and he came out to tour the property with the appraiser. Phil even stopped by to drop off flowers before the open house when I couldn’t pick up the flowers.

Phil’s deep expertise in the DC real estate market includes decades of experience and strong relationships with other agents. He is outstanding with people and has valuable relationships all over town. For example, he helped me prepare for the sale by putting me in touch with an excellent contractor and cleaning service that gave me a fantastic rate because I was working with Phil. As a result, not only did Phil get us thousands of dollars over our asking price, he saved us thousands of dollars in preparing for the sale. Also in preparing for the sale, Phil’s on-line and printed marketing materials were outstanding, and he knew the exact photographer and photos to use to make the condo look its best.

In addition to being an outstanding agent, Phil is a genuinely good person. He was patient and kind in guiding me through the very stressful process. It isn’t common to find true professionals who are so devoted to their clients and their craft. The sale of my condo was the third real-estate transaction I’ve done with Phil, and I feel so lucky and so grateful for everything he’s done for me...