Tom Faison -- Real Estate in DC, LLC

Wouldn’t use Tom Faison and his team ever again, even if they were the last agent’s left in DC. Tom is gruff, impolite, impatient, and egocentric. I don’t think there was ever a time when he didn’t talk about himself or some other deal he was working on. I had a friend swear that he and his team were «excellent,» and he presents himself well enough during the first meeting. I guess that’s the reason I stayed put, plus the fact that I didn’t know I was in control and could’ve used somebody else. Tom assures you that he’ll work with you, but after the initial meeting he passes all of his appointments off to members of his team. He hardly even answered his phone or responded to emails. Jesse seemed annoyed anytime I asked a question, and Tim only got interested in my search when I finally went under contract on a house. Otherwise, it was «why don’t you go see some open houses and tell us what you think.»
The worst part was at the end of the buying process (once I was under contract). Tom tells me about 4 days before settlement that, ‘There was an error with the purchase price and the loan amount, and there’s only one way to get this fixed without things getting really messed up. So what we need to do is lower the price, give you a credit on the deal, and then you’ll pay me and my team directly with a check so the whole deal doesn’t fall apart. The credit cancels out what you’ll pay us in cash.’ This was the only time I pressed for an explanation on how this could have happened, and he never gave a straight answer. He kept trying to illustrate with a drawing how the money was going from «Here to Here,» and «It’s really the same thing to you, because the house is costing you less, and you get the credit, and then you’re just paying it back to us.» Ultimately, I asked if I had to do what he was telling me, or if there was another way we structure the deal to get it done. He told me point blank, «This is the only way you’re getting this house. Or else you’ll be backing out of the deal and you’ll probably lose your $ 20,000 earnest money check.» I’m still convinced he and his team used this as a way to skim some money off the top, but I suppose it was better than losing 20K.
Long story short: Tom is a talker, and he is very good at using persuasion to his advantage… but he’s all talk. When it came down to working for me as a client, he always made me feel like HE was doing ME a favor… and I regret not changing agents. So, use a different agent — there are plenty to choose from.

Tim Barley guided us through our first home purchase. We worked with him for over a year to find the right home and throughout the process he was extremely helpful and patient. Since we were in the market for a fixer upper, we often bounced ideas off of him and found his advice to be very helpful during the process. We didn’t feel like he was antsy to sell us a home but instead patiently worked with us to find the right fit. We couldn’t be happier with the home buying process and home itself and would recommend Tim to everyone!

Long story short: There are many nicer, competent decent human beings who sell houses on Capitol Hill than Tom. Tom worked against us and made us feel bad about us & our house once an offer came in.
The worst: He inserted expenses into the closing documents without our approval or knowledge, and refused to remove them (basically forcing us to breach or sell).
My wife and I decided to sell our house after I was transferred across the country for work. Tom struck us as a little off – he say one thing about potential buyers and price, then he’d say the exact opposite – but we needed to act fast, and we figured all the «GONE!» signs around Capitol Hill must mean something good. Big mistake.
We had the nicest house on our block – fully renovated with new everything. People would knock on our door or leave notes asking to buy our house. Really. It was a block from H St. bars and restaurants, a streetcar stop and the H St. Farmer’s Market. A Whole Foods was rumored to be coming less than a mile away (no longer a rumor).
Tom’s listing notes for our house were gobbledygook, and nothing played out the way Tom said it would. He said it was a good idea to list in October even though a government shutdown was in the news (offers rescinded as a result). He said it would be better to sell than rent (it wasn’t – the rental market there was and remains robust). He said we would get at least $ 50K more than our house that we did. And…
First, he made a big deal of being at our second open house himself. Big mistake. During the day, we got calls from friends, neighbors and family telling is to tell our realtor that whoever was showing the house had his head buried in his Blackberry and wasn’t greeting anyone or talking to them. «That was our realtor.» «Oh.» Tom explained it away by saying nobody sells houses by talking to people at open houses.
(Maybe not, but he sure wasn’t going to sell the house by ignoring everyone, either.)
Second, His pricing strategy was to underprice to generate interest and get the escalation clauses to kick in. He actually suggested we list our house for $ 1. But this contradicted his theory about the potential buyers: the one or two people looking for living in the best of what DC has to offer and who could afford to pay top dollar. Are one or two people going to trigger vigorous bidding? Answer: No, they didn’t.
In fact, Tom told us that a house that sold recently for what we wanted was listed at that price because the seller would not listed for less. But Tom thought we could get more by underpricing. We should have paid attention to his other seller’s approach: ignore Tom.
Third, he was mean. We had explained that we had a lot of trouble with contractors in DC (that is everyone in DC). Here is his response:
«You and [your spouse] have claimed being ‘fleeced’ by many vendors, contractors and service providers over the years. I have to ask Rich, have you ever considered the common denominator in all of the fleecings you’ve been a party to?»
Fourth, he stiffed us. Really. He had agreed to pay for cleaning our house (we left it clean when we left, but he wanted it «extra» clean). After closing, we asked him when he was going to pay us the cleaning fee as promised. He refused. Here’s his answer:
«…you’ll remember you were responsible for having the sump pump cleared of trash and debris. I paid out of pocket for many items outside of marketing for your house…»
He scooped a piece of paper out of the sump pump, and he never explained what the «many items outside of marketing your house» were. And:
«…every demand you’ve made has been met with a new scorching demand and I don’t suspect that $ 130, or any amount, will result in your satisfaction…»
Originally, he claimed the cleaning fee was around $ 400, but it gradually decreased with time.
(Side note: My «demands» were for an explanation of his handyman’s bill. His handyman billed us for a lot of work that wasn’t done. And Tom took his side, submitting an invoice to the settlement company without telling us. We picked it out as one of the (many) errors the settlement company made. He refused to remove it, and we were stuck all the way across the country worried he was going to screw up the sale.)
Fifth, he claimed there were all sorts of «defects» uncovered during inspection, such as dampness in the basement and low water pressure because of a water company problem (that we had the water company fix before closing), but that just shows how poor his memory is, or how big a jerk he is. These were all items we disclosed and pointed at during the multitude of walk-​throughs with Tom before listing, and that we asked him about because we were concerned they would affect our the house sale or price.
Tom also did not seem to grasp the sums we were dealing with. For us, $ 1K one way or the other was a lot of money with real implications. Tom did not seem to share that sense of value or what it takes to earn a dollar.

Justin Tanner and Tim Barley guided me through my first home purchase — a lovely one-​bedroom condo in Eckington. After renting for 6 years in DC, I had a strong interest in purchasing when I met the Faison team, and was antsy to dive into the process. During the search Justin and Tim remained even-​keeled and attentive as I discovered what I was looking for. They provided advice that bolstered my internal decision making confidence. When it came time to place offers, they worked with impressive speed. In the end, I ended up with a purchase I’m extremely pleased with. It was great to work with this team and I hope to have the opportunity to do so again.

Tom and his team are fantastic. I have been working with them since 2009 and they always had my best interest at heart. I never felt pushed by him or his team, and I felt that he wanted me to get the best house for the best value.
I have called on them post-​purchase and they have helped me out when I was unable to figure out something with my heater. Great guys, knowledgeable and experts on Capitol Hill.

These guys get the job done! After looking for a year Tim Barley helped us pounce on our perfect house. His strategy and the quick rapport he built with the selling agent got our deal through! Then the Tom Faison team helped us sell our former home for 15% more than we thought we’d get for it! We were completely satisfied with this crew, their knowledge of the market and their savvy choices.

We recently purchased a condo in San Francisco to be near our sons and grandchildren. After that purchase, we returned to DC to sell our home of 35 years. The difficult decisions had already been made. What we really needed was a realtor who could make it happen. Tom Faison filled the bill in every way. He encouraged us as we began downsizing and arranged to show the house in its best light. Sparkling clean windows on a sunny weekend brought in 6 offers after 6 days on the market, but that was just the beginning. When 2 contracts were withdrawn, Tom rose to the occasion, managed the signing and un-​signing of numerous documents, and got us on our flight to San Francisco on time. This sale was a very stressful for everyone, but Tom’s confidence that everything would work out kept us functioning at a normal level.

Tom is the tri-​fecta: smart about the market, responsive, strategic and fun. .. wait that’s four. .. anyway. We were very pleased with Tom as an agent, he did great analytics to tell us how to position the property for the best and fastest sale. He took our stressful situation and provide good humor and encouragement. And — he did not burden us with bureaucracy. We appreciated his work immensely.

Tim represented my wife and me in the purchase of our first home. At every step of the process, he went above and beyond what we expected. He was always responsive and always looking out for our best interests. Simply put, he was a joy to work with — and we love the house he helped us purchase.
We could not recommend Tim any higher.

Tom Faison is a remarkable realtor and friend, who we have known since our first Capitol Hill purchase in 2002. He has an absolute understanding of both sides of the market place. And now 13 years later he once again surpassed our expectations. Because of his marketing skills, our house was under contract within five days and sold above list.
G&W DeLeo