I know this is just me but I would never do any business with any lender who is advertising on facebook unless its one of the large 20 to 30 nationally known HML ers. 

Realtors University, run by the National Association of Realtors, offers a Master's in Real Estate.  

There are different markets across this great nation which yield different types of returns.  

Here's what I've been told:- Realtor is your gateway to accurate MLS data (unless you become a licensed agent yourself)- The wrong realtor may speculate and potentially provide inaccurate info, but they should be, in general, one of your stronger resources for things like FMV (fair market value), DOM (days on market) and other details associated with local/current trends- www.irr.com seems to be a great resource for national and local market reportingI hope this is helpful - otherwise, I trust an expert will comment soon enough :) ...Btw - my family and I love to visit your area in the summertime (7 presidents)...sorry for the annoying seasonal traffic from us North Jersians!

@Wayne Brooks  on the left coast there are only national title insurers who are also escrow companies. so this is NOT an Issue they are all interchangeable. 

It seems that everyone in the real estate community across the nation (I've been licensed now in 4 states) has SOMETHING to say about an agents role, knowledge, skills, accessibility, longevity, and most importantly compensation.Here are the facts.

IE a national bank you have an existing relationship with, a smaller local bank or credit union, etc?

They do national eviction searches as part of their rental background check, and they do a criminal and credit check, too.

You're in a horribly inflated market compared with the rest of the nation and would be better off looking outside of Seattle as a beginner.  

I heard the National Bank was good also.