Irina Bugariu

You need 20% down

You don't. There are programs with far lower down payments, and Washington has down payment assistance too.

You can't afford it

Maybe, maybe not. Neither of us knows until a lender looks at your actual numbers — and if you're not ready, I'll tell you plainly what to work on.

Find the house, then get pre-approved

Backwards, and it's the one that hurts. Lender first, always.

The longer version, plus my free classes →

Staging is normally something a seller pays for separately, and professional photography on top of it. I do both.

Before any of it happens you get a written plan — staging, photography, which repairs are worth doing and which aren't, landscaping, and when to list. Then an honest price based on comparable sales, even when it's lower than you hoped.

How selling works with me →

Federal Way — where I live. Seventies and eighties houses on big lots, and a plateau that holds groundwater in ways a flood map won't show you.

Auburn — two different cities sharing one name. The valley and the hills fail in completely different ways.

Puyallup — a walkable downtown, a big-box corridor on the hill, and a lahar map you need to look at.

Tacoma — the oldest houses by a wide margin, and the only place here you can genuinely walk.

I also work in Kent, Milton, Edgewood, and Spanaway.

A 15-minute question call

You have two or three things you want answered and you don't want a meeting. This is that.

A buyer strategy session

Longer. The whole process start to finish, what your timeline realistically looks like, and what to do first. This is the one most first-time buyers want.

A listing consultation

I come see your house, and you get my honest read on price, what's worth fixing before it goes on, and the staging plan — which I do myself.

Tell me which one and I'll set it up →

What you can borrow is a lender's answer, not mine, and I don't guess at it — that's a line I take seriously.

What I'll do is make introductions, then sit with you afterward and go through what they've sent you line by line, so you can actually compare two offers instead of taking the first one.

Ask for introductions →

Before you write an offer — fourteen things to check on any house in South King or Pierce County. The one I give my own clients.

Neighborhood write-ups — Federal Way, Auburn, Puyallup and Tacoma, in more detail than a listing site will ever give you.

Straight answers to the questions people feel silly asking.

[[PLACEHOLDER: guides still to build — (1) first-time buyer guide, from Irina's class content; (2) seller's prep guide, from her written pre-list plan; (3) a Romanian-language buyer guide, which no competing agent here can make.]]

Your name

Their name

How I can reach them

Anything I should know?

Send the referral

Please make sure they know you're passing their details on.

I'll explain the whole process before you sign anything with me. If you're not ready to buy yet, I'll say so and tell you what to fix first.

You'll know what a monthly payment really includes — taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance, HOA — not just principal and interest. Closing costs in writing before we make an offer. I'll introduce you to two or three lenders so you can compare.

And if a house is a bad idea, I'll tell you, even when it costs me the sale.

More about how I work →