Sandi Friel

House Whisperer

Managing Broker / Rental Property Manager
Certified Negotiation Expert

Mobile : 360-298-5180
sandi@twilliamsrealty.com

Whether it’s hiking raw land to envision the perfect building site, researching existing homes to match a wish list, or ferreting out the hidden potential in a fixer-upper, I love evaluating properties and seeing buyers light up when we locate “the one.”

Born and raised in Florida, I spent a decade in marketing before turning my passion for homes and design into a career. In 1996 I earned my real estate license and began buying, upgrading and reselling homes. I found the renovation process so gratifying that I became a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD) and joined an award-winning residential building contractor as its pre-construction manager, planning extensive remodels and seeing them through to completion. After falling for Orcas and moving here in 2006, I helped launch T Williams Realty and hit the ground running as a Washington real estate broker. I’ve never looked back!

In this business, finding the right property for a buyer or the right buyer for a seller is just the beginning. Every real estate deal is fraught with potential landmines. During the process, my “project manager” mode kicks in and my clients can relax knowing I’m on top of the details and keeping things on track. When challenging situations arise, my skills as a Certified Negotiation Expert help smooth the way to a positive outcome.

For me, being a Realtor goes well beyond writing contracts or overseeing transactions. It’s a lifestyle I’ve chosen because of the personal satisfaction I get by helping people navigate what’s likely one of their biggest decisions and transitions in life. Buying or selling a property is an emotional process, and even more so when you’re moving to or from your Orcas Island dream home. Creating a positive experience for my clients simply makes my heart sing.

Sandi has earned the trust of these clients

Painless Process

Roger Gahan

Sandi made the whole process painless; she explained everything to me in a way that I could understand. I’m almost tempted to buy another house just so I could have Sandi sell it for me. If I am ever in the market to buy a house in her area I will definitely be going through her.

Responsive and Proactive

P. King

Sandi is the most professional Realtor that I have worked with. She is extremely responsive and proactive. The whole process was smooth and the advice Sandi gave us was spot on at every stage of the sale. I would definitely choose Sandi as our Realtor again and can highly recommend her.

Her skill set is vast

C. Allan

We took a full year to do all the homework required to ensure the island property we loved made sense as a purchase. We were not easy clients. Despite the back-and-forthing, Sandi was clear, professional, incredibly efficient at getting us the massive quantities of info we felt we needed, and persistent on our behalf when interacting with the seller/seller’s agent. Her skill set is vast. She could work at a high level in any of a number of professions. We feel grateful to have had her as our realtor.

Fantastic, on top of it

L. McCoy

Sandi is fantastic! She helped us before we thought we were ready to move by preparing a list of things we should do to get our place in order when the time would come to move on. It came sooner than expected by a phone call one day with private offer. We responded and immediately started looking for a place to move. Within a week, we found the perfect place for us. As our home of 58 years was unusual, it took four months to work with geologists, septic designers, divers, the county and most of all the Department of Natural Resources. It involved a lot of negotiations with the party buying our home and the sellers of the home we wanted to buy, who were afraid we might have to drop out and they would lose the summer market. Sandi was on top of knowing what was happening with all of the parties concerned and steered the whole event to a happy ending— the most difficult of her career!! Sandi is the BEST!

A superb Realtor

S. Silva

Sandi Friel is a superb Realtor. Being previous real estate investors, we’ve worked with many real estate agents and my husband even became one. Thus, we are picky when it comes to working with an agent as we are knowledgeable and understand how important a solid Realtor can be. A Realtor can “make or break” a deal. This is where Sandi is phenomenal. Her calm, confident demeanor guided our wishes and wants in a direction that lead to results. She is extremely organized, she’s an incredible listener, and she gives personal attention that had us feeling like we were her only client. Sandi is a high integrity person who gives her all and truly works hard to achieve success. I would highly recommend her.

Thank you for all of your hard work and steadfast guidance

Dan

T Rex: Thank you for all of your hard work and steadfast guidance these past months. Not once did Linda or I feel anything other than peace and a resolute confidence that we had the best help in selling our house or that our personal interest was foremost in your mind. A difficult job well done!! Your Friend, Dan

A great communicator

M. Graves

Sandi was very knowledgeable and on point with the market and market values in my area. I will continue to use Sandi as an agent in my future real estate investments. She is also always the person I direct other clients/ friends to when asked for advice of real estate prospects. Sandi is friendly, honest and a great communicator. A very 5 star person!!

Excellent listening skills

E. Stewart

Sandi, thank you for our beautiful new home. The past year of working with you to help us locate a property that met our ambitious wish list has been fun, informative, and always productive—a result of your knowledge of island real estate, your excellent listening skills, and your sense of humor. We felt you brought a genuine sense of interest and commitment to the process of helping us find the right house; it’s clear that you love the concept of “home” and want to help people find the right match. We deeply appreciated your ability to listen and communicate effectively with each of us as individuals and as a couple. In addition, the breadth of your knowledge of the island, the market, local regulations, and real estate law brought us a great sense of security as we made our decisions. Your management of the transaction; the timeline; and communications with us, the sellers’ agent, the bank and escrow was flawless. In summary, you’ve raised our experience of buying a home to a new level—it was the most pleasant real estate transaction my husband and I have ever made, and we’ve made a few!

Focused, knowledgable, organized advocate

A. Macfarlane

Focused, knowledgeable, thoroughly organized, great buyer’s advocate. Sandi was fantastic to work with throughout the property search and buying process. She guided us seamlessly through, at times, a challenging home purchase due to several “surprises” caused in large part by a lack of full disclosure on certain issues and poor legal contract management by the Seller’s agent (IMO). Through it all, Sandi maintained an even keel and was an absolute pleasure to work with. Great person and well respected in the Orcas and San Juan community at large based on feedback we received during our due diligence and our overall experience.

Skilled negotiation, insightful ways

K. Kimball

Our particular sale had some unexpected curves. Without Sandi’s skilled negotiation, level-headed thinking, and sense of humor, those curves would have led to a dead-end. She worked many hours developing creative solutions to new challenges and used her talents to show us possibilities where we saw problems. The result is that we are in a home beyond our dreams, still pinching ourselves at our good fortune.

We’ve been involved in nine real estate transactions. Some of the agents were above average, but none came close to matching Sandi’s skill, intelligence, diligence and insightful ways. We hope to live in our house for many years to come, but should we decide to sell, Sandi is unquestionably the Realtor® we will call.

You want Sandi to represent you

J. Suthergreen

Sandi’s extensive knowledge of the local real estate market and of county rules, her willingness to do thorough research and thoughtful analysis before making recommendations, her experience and no fear in negotiating, her talent for finding the right words to express the rationale for your point of view and actions, her tact, her diligence and hard work ethic, her attention to detail, her background in home design … combined with her grace and kindness … make her a realtor you want representing you.

Our first choice

C. Fleming

We had an incredible experience working with Sandi Friel! She made a complicated, long distance purchase smooth from showing to closing, and beyond. We were so impressed. Sandi took initiative, and helped solve any problems which arose along the way. Her communication skills were so helpful in documenting the conditions on our site, negotiating the sale, and keeping the process on track while we were living in a different state. On the island, Sandi has proven to be an excellent resource, knowledgeable about local designers, trades and craftsmen. She is our first choice for any future real estate needs!

One-of-a-kind and truly a master

R.W. Spreen

Following our first contact we sent Sandi a detailed list of what we were looking for in a home. She did her homework, and showed us a number of potential fits for our needs, even though we were not ready to make a purchase immediately. The fact that we did not find anything that was “just right” did not deter her in the least. Properties like we sought are few and far between on Orcas Island, but Sandi never lost sight of our original goals list during our 3-year search. When we finally found the perfect place we knew it, and so did Sandi. She was like family, always keeping our desires in sight, and always watching out for us. During the pre-purchase inspection and evaluation period Sandi was a priceless resource for getting the very best people to help us in a critically timely way, and provided the much-needed voice of reason and calm. Incredibly detail-oriented and focused, she handled the inevitable surprises with skill and creativity, and made the process infinitely easier for us. Her negotiation skills are superb; she always seemed to know what would create success. Since our purchase, she has continued to connect us with creative, talented people to help us customize our dream home. Words truly fail us to describe the impact Sandi has had on our experience. She is one-of-a-kind, and truly a master at her craft. Potential clients should look no farther to find the ultimate professional and advocate in finding their island home

Integrity, energy and professionalism

Eric Paerels and Laurie St. Aubin

Our utmost respect and admiration go to Teri and Sandi at T Williams Realty for helping us realize the purchase of a spectacular lot on Orcas Island. The purchase of raw land is not easy and particularly so if it is done long distance; we reside on the opposite side of the world, in Australia. The integrity, energy and professionalism at T Williams Realty gave us the confidence and comfort that nothing will be left to chance. T Williams Realty followed the letter of the Sale Agreement and worked tirelessly to insure that the selling agent did not deviate; there were plenty of opportunities to take the “easy” road. Teri’s depth of experience in real estate transactions combined with her many years of construction permitting gives her an edge in the real estate market that not many can match. Her experience in this combined arena allowed us to ask the right questions and request the necessary documentation to insure we can build our future home per our expectations. Congratulations to a superb team!

Realized our Orcas Dream

N. Henegan

Sandi was instrumental in enabling us to identify, assess, and close on our property. As an out-of-state buyer, Sandi provided us with her local insight and referrals to assist us through negotiations, financing, and due diligence phases of our purchase. We would not have realized our Orcas dream without her support and coaching. Thank you Sandi!

Recommend Sandi without hesitation

J. Kraft

Sandi is not only a great knowledgeable hardworking agent, but also a genuinely good person. From the beginning of showing us properties, through the ups and downs of negotiations with the sellers to the end at closing (and beyond), Sandi was there for us. Sandi knows the local market and the issues to be concerned about; and issues that really weren’t. During the due diligence phase, Sandi was a font of knowledge with a network of service providers that helped us assess geo tech conditions on the shoreline, the health of the trees, the water system, the house itself, and even the buoy out in the water. All in all I would recommend Sandi without hesitation.