Frequently Asked Questions
About SASH
SASH was founded in 2005, and began serving clients and their families in 2006. We have been providing specialized home sale services to senior homeowners every day of every year since then! Read more About Us here.
We have provided hundreds of customized home sales to clients, benefiting over a thousand individuals with our specialized services. From century old homes to new construction, from tiny bungalows to sprawling estates, from urban penthouse condos to rural acreage, SASH has sold every kind of real estate for our clients.
At this time we are hiring in multiple geographical areas in Western Washington. If you are located in Washington state, specifically in the I-5 corridor and around the Puget Sound, we may have an open position for you to fill. Reach out to us to learn more.
All of our SASH Realty brokers and SASH Client Service Managers work from the comfort of their home, and you can too! Serve your local community with SASH’s services without a long daily commute, and do marketing, outreach, and transactions within a comfortable radius around your home.
SASH is specifically hiring in Whatcom, Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, Island, Jefferson, San Juan, and Mason Counties.
SASH has been an Accredited Member of the BBB since we were founded in 2005– even before our first client. SASH has maintained the highest rating of A+ every single year, with zero complaints filed. This is also true for our brokerage, SASH Realty.
As a result of our outstanding care of clients, and our depth of experience managing every kind of home sale situation, SASH has earned the trust of the elder care community. Elder law attorneys, financial planners, placement advisors, social workers, home health care providers, assisted living directors, memory care community directors, adult family home owners, long term care insurance providers, geriatric care managers, hospice professionals, senior center directors, Veterans Administration officials, Aging and Long Term Care officials, downsizing professionals, funeral home directors, and many more trusted professionals refer their clients to SASH. SASH has worked within this “circle of care” around senior clients since 2006, and has hosted over 1,150 networking events over the years to strengthen teamwork and collaboration within the elder care community.
Since many of our clients are advanced in age, we do not gather online ratings and reviews from them. However, almost all have chosen to review us in a formal, written evaluation that we request at the end of each transaction. We invite you to read their comments – which are a compilation of testimonials from every year since 2006!
We are not. While we provide customized home sales and home renovations, SASH is very different than house-flippers. We disagree with the unsavory and unethical business practices that house-flippers often employ for their own profit. At SASH, we practice transparency and accountability with our transactions. Our team is focused first and foremost on our clients, and helping them receive the best outcome from the sale of their home.
SASH Realty is a Realtor® firm, meaning that we subscribe to higher standards of ethics in real estate business practices. Almost all of our brokers are Seniors Real Estate Specialists® (SRES). SASH is also a member of several Puget Sound elder care associations, including Senior Care Coalition, Southend Senior Care Coalition, Health Care Providers Council of Pierce County, Eldernet of Snohomish County, Northwest LGBT Senior Care Providers Network, Senior Care Network of Skagit County, and Coordinators of Patient Services.
SASH's Track Record
No, there is no age limitation to utilize our services. While we were founded as a senior service, and still do primarily serve senior homeowners and their families, SASH has provided our home sale services to all ages. If you think you would benefit from SASH’s assistance, give us a call!
Everyone. We are privileged to serve a very diverse range of clients, from twenty-somethings to centenarians, of many different socio-economic levels, backgrounds, families, and sexual orientations. Our team serves clients of different ethnicities, languages and nationalities. Every client has a unique life story, and each benefits from SASH’s service. We welcome the opportunity to serve everyone.
There are some situations in which SASH does not provide services. If there is an ongoing conflict among decision makers, we choose to step back until this is resolved. If homeowners have unreasonable expectations about their home’s value, we may not proceed with our services. If we suspect elder abuse or fraud against the senior, we will report it to authorities and will not proceed with our services until this is appropriately addressed. Call us about your specific situation.
Who SASH Serves
Generally, the SASH Team serves the Western Washington / Greater Puget Sound area, including Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Mason, Kitsap, Jefferson, Clallam, Island, and San Juan Counties. We have gone outside this area in specific situations. Our goal is to provide outstanding service, and we serve wherever we are able to do this.
If you live outside this area, we can often find resources and professionals to help in your geographical region. SASH also provides over-the-phone guidance and expertise to assist clients and families in their decision making process. SASH will be growing to serve new areas in the near future!
Areas SASH Serves
First, we invite potential clients to learn about SASH’s services. You can review our website, call our office with specific questions, or send us an e-mail with your inquiry. SASH can also send a packet of information about our services to you through the mail if you wish.
After you’ve had a chance to learn about SASH, the next step is to schedule a home visit. One of our Client Service Managers will visit the home, to find out about your family’s specific needs and goals, and to answer any questions you might have. We also take this time to view the home so that we can put accurate numbers together for the home sale options. Our goal is to create a home sale that is tailored around you, your plans and schedule, and the services that you would like us to provide.
After the home visit, the SASH Client Service Manager takes a couple of days to do research, create a budget, and to compile the numbers for SASH home sale options. He or she returns to present this information in person to the decision-makers of the home sale, sharing comparable sales in the neighborhood, and estimated net proceeds from the sale. At this time, SASH home sale options will be presented that have been tailor-made for you.
We have never charged for this service. At SASH, we believe it is important for clients and their families to know all of their home sale options without having to pay for this information.
As much time as they need! Days, weeks, months, or years. We are on your schedule, and we never pressure a decision. If several months go by, we may need to update the numbers to reflect the current real estate market, but the timeline of decision making is entirely up to you.
We draw up an agreement that outlines SASH’s services and responsibilities in the home sale, and sign around all of the documents with our client. A calendar is created that outlines the dates for each step and the services provided. We mobilize the services that we will provide our client. And then we begin!
The mortgage balance on your home is one of the factors that is used in determining the best home sale options for you. In some cases, the mortgage can be paid off at the beginning of a SASH Managed Home Sale or SASH Purchase. In a Market Listing, the mortgage or reverse mortgage is paid off when the home is sold to a buyer. A SASH Client Service Manager can guide you through your home sale options with this information.
Since every single home sale we manage is unique and different than any other, SASH does not have a “one-size-fits-all” fee for our services. For a standard Market Listing, SASH charges typical real estate brokerage fees. With our SASH Managed Home Sale, SASH receives a small percentage of the net proceeds of the home sale, which is shared and agreed upon at the beginning. In a SASH Purchase transaction, our proceeds come at the end of the sale of the home, and depend completely on the outcome of the transaction.
Each SASH home sale is evaluated by many factors, including the number of services provided to our client, the size of the renovation, financial risks that will be taken by SASH, and more. In every case, SASH’s income is tied to the outcome of the transaction. We are not paid until the home has been sold and our services are complete. Our goal is always to net our clients the highest net proceeds possible, while carefully managing every nickel, and preserving the goals of the sale.
This depends on many factors, including the amount of household items in the home, the scope of updates and renovations, current real estate market activity, and more. The SASH Client Service Manager will provide an estimate, based on how much time he or she believes it will take for your specific home sale.
Depending on the numbers of the specific home sale, SASH may be able to provide a cash advance from the future profit of the sale soon after we begin the transaction. This is only available with the SASH Managed Home Sale option. Many clients have benefited from this feature of our SASH Managed Home Sale, because it allows them to cover housing costs at their new home, to pay off bills or debt, to pay for care, or to have resources for immediate needs. Ask your Client Service Manager about whether your transaction qualifies for a cash advance.
It’s an honor for us at SASH to guide our clients through this significant life event. At the end, we ensure our client has received the net proceeds from their home sale. Sometimes our clients would like to see the finished result of the home renovation, and we schedule a walk through to show them. In every case, we work hard to ensure all of our clients’ specific needs have been met, and that SASH has delivered a great home sale experience to everyone involved.
The SASH Client Service Manager will find out who is in the homeowner’s circle of care, that they would like to include in the decision making process. This includes local and out of state family members, financial advisors, elder lawyers, neighbors, caregivers, and whomever else is part of the decision making process. Some clients choose not to involve their family in the decision, and we respect their right to do this if they wish.
Our Home Sale Process
Yes, SASH is very experienced with managing the process of divesting household items prior to the home sale. We contract with excellent, professional companies who specialize in efficient and cost-effective downsizing and moving services. SASH can also coordinate steps to monetize household items through estate sales or online auctions. This offsets the costs of cleaning out the home, and can sometimes create additional income for our clients.
We have a list of several local packing and moving services that we contract with to provide this important assistance to our clients. They are selected to provide high quality service, and to be tuned into our clients’ specific needs all the way through until the final box is unpacked in the new home.
That is always an option. Some of our clients have chosen to use their own family members and other volunteers to pack and move them. This may seem like a less expensive option, but we have also found that it is not entirely dependable to use volunteers. Sometimes the packing and moving drags out for months as our clients wait for helpers to show up, or items get broken because they were not packed professionally. Your Client Service Manager can help with discussing different options available to you.
Yes. SASH has renovated over two hundred homes since 2006, from light cosmetic updates to full scale, engineered and permitted renovations. SASH is a licensed, bonded, and insured general contractor, and we only use licensed and insured subcontractors to perform work on our clients’ homes. Our extensive experience creates great outcomes for our clients, because we select improvements that appeal to current buyers, and we plan repairs and updates that will provide a strong return on investment in the sale.
SASH only begins work on the home after our clients have moved out. This allows the work to be more efficient and cost-effective, causes less disruption to our clients’ daily routines, and preserves privacy and safety for our clients. We wait to begin until our clients have completed their move.
We do not take lightly the responsibility that our clients have entrusted to us, which is to sell their home for the best possible outcome. To this end, we use professional cleaners to deep clean the home before it is listed on the market. In every case we can, we also hire a professional stager to present the home beautifully. SASH uses excellent photographers, creates high quality, full color flyers, syndicates the listing to multiple websites, and represents the client with skilled and experienced negotiation. We work hard to deliver outstanding results.
Moving and Renovations
In these situations, we work directly with the family member or representative of the senior who has the authority to sign for them through this transition. Once all the necessary paperwork is in place, (Power of Attorney, Durable Power of Attorney, or Guardianship), SASH can proceed with the steps of the home sale with the full range of services that we offer to clients. We encourage you to consult with an attorney with questions about the appropriate legal documentation in these cases.
SASH is first and foremost an elder care provider, and we have a great deal of understanding and experience in assisting families through this very difficult time – even when there is a home to sell in the middle of it. In these situations, SASH can provide support through any of our home sale options, but the SASH Managed Home Sale is the most useful. We can take over all of the details of the home sale, so that the family can focus on their loved one. This we have done for many families, and we are honored to step in and carry it for them.
Since SASH has a number of home sale options to offer our clients, we can evaluate which is the best depending on other factors in the sale – such as the value in the land, any debts owed, and the seller’s needs. We always look creatively at every property that comes to us, and determine the ways that we can maximize our client’s net proceeds with as little stress as possible.
Some clients may have car loans, property taxes, credit card loans, or other debts that they hope to pay off with the sale of their home. When we put together your home sale options, we can certainly include these liens or debts in the overall assessment, and will share options with you of how they can be handled.
Yes, we can. In fact, that is the type of situation where SASH can be a great help. We have managed many sales of homes that were full to the brim of different items collected over the years. SASH provides valuable services to help sort through the items, move the important valuables to the senior’s new home, and distribute anything else as needed to donation or recycle. We clean out the home, update and repair it to marketable condition, and sell it for much higher than “as-is”. Full homes do not sell easily on the regular market, and the homeowner is often embarrassed to have strangers viewing their home in that condition. SASH can step in and protect the senior’s dignity and privacy in our custom home sale process, with a great potential upside.
This is also an area where SASH has a lot of experience. Sometimes it’s an adult child living in the home, grandkids, a tenant, or a “helper” who is providing companionship or caregiving in exchange for a place to live. Regardless of the reason why, the time comes when the senior is no longer able to live in the home, and it must be sold. SASH has a number of options for clients to consider, so that everyone can move out in a peaceful and supported manner. Call us for additional details.
Unique Situations
For additional guidance on unique situations, visit our Unique Situations page.
Yes. SASH Realty, our full service real estate brokerage, has an outstanding team of licensed Realtors®. Here we list and sell your home when you go with SASH. Often, your Client Service Manager is also your Realtor®. SASH Realty brokers receive ongoing, in-depth training in the latest real estate technology, trends, regulations, and business practices. Each one maintains high standards in customer service and business ethics. We invite you to visit our SASH Realty website at sashrealty.com.
Whenever a client choses a SASH Managed Home Sale or SASH Purchase, it will only be SASH Realty that lists the home at the end. This allows us to provide continuity of service throughout the entire transaction, and to safeguard the high standards and goals of the sale. Homes sold through SASH Realty typically sell faster and for higher sale prices than the market averages due to our experience, expertise, and the quality of work we put into the marketing and presentation.
SASH Realty serves buyers and sellers of all ages, in almost every kind of real estate transaction. We have assisted first-time homebuyers, and sellers downsizing after owning their home 60+ years. From efficient condos to new construction, from urban bungalows to sprawling country acreage, SASH Realty has been there each step of the way for clients. Waterfront, multi-family, luxury, investment property, vacation homes, custom homes, and century-old homes… we can do it!
What is SASH Realty?
We encourage you to explore all of the information we provide about our home sale services! You can do this by visiting our website, or calling our main office at 206-501-4375 / toll free at 1-888-400-SASH (7274). You can also reach us at info@sashservices.com. All inquiries are confidential, with no obligation. If you would like to schedule a home visit, we’ll connect you with one of our outstanding Client Service Managers who can answer your questions in depth. We look forward to serving you!
You can invite family, friends, advisors, or other decision makers to be a part of the process as you evaluate your home sale options. At SASH, we encourage our clients to learn all they can, asking questions along the way, so they can be confident about the home sale option that is right for them.
The first step is to contact SASH. We’ll gather some information from you, and will have one of our trained and experienced Client Service Managers call you to schedule a home visit. During the first visit, they will assess the home and learn about your specific needs and goals. The Client Service Manager then does a full property and market analysis. A second visit is scheduled to go over the market analysis, home sale options, and specific transaction numbers together. There are many opportunities to ask questions throughout this process, and we proceed on your timeline and at your pace. When you’re ready to begin, we are too!
That’s no problem. At SASH, we frequently work with clients who are planning ahead. It’s a great idea to become an informed seller, to learn about your home sale options, and to let that information guide you as you make decisions in the coming months. We’re happy to meet with you anytime, even if the sale date is still a year or two away.
This is a situation in which SASH can be of great assistance. Among the options that we offer are ways to access funds from the home in a short amount of time (21 - 30 days or less), either by a SASH Purchase or from a cash advance in a SASH Managed Home Sale. Each sale depends on many factors, so we encourage you to contact us to learn more about your options.
How To Begin
SASH has worked alongside many attorneys who provide legal guidance to Powers of Attorney, and we can certainly work with yours as well. For legal advice, it is always good to consult with an attorney. The Power of Attorney document usually contains language allowing the POA to sell real property. Once you have confirmed that you are authorized to move forward with the sale, give SASH a call and we can provide guidance for getting started.
Yes. In these situations, family members are grieving from the loss of their loved one, but they also have to sell the home that was owned by the deceased. There are a few legal steps to take to be able to sell the home, which you can do with the guidance of an attorney. But once these are completed, SASH can provide home sale options that relieve this burden, yet can still maximize the net proceeds from the sale.
We sure can. SASH is familiar with working with trusts and the attorneys who create them. One of our Client Service Managers can meet with you, and answer any questions that you or your attorney has. All of our home sale options are available to homes that are owned in a trust. Give us a call to find out more!
POAs, Estates, Trusts
Every client’s home sale is as unique as his or her own life story. The home, its features, and its history are unlike any other. In the same way, the homeowner’s specific needs and goals for their home sale journey are unlike anyone else’s.
It’s for this reason that SASH designs a home sale for each client. We listen, we design, and we deliver. We’ve never provided the same home sale twice. Call SASH to benefit from our client-focused mission and services. We look forward to serving you!
Contact Us
To learn more about SASH Services and our customized home sale options, you are welcome to call or e-mail anytime. Or, fill out the simple form below. We look forward to the opportunity to provide you with outstanding service, from “start to sold.”
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