Instructors

Annie Fitzsimmons

Annie Fitzsimmons is a lawyer with both common sense and a sense of humor. As a result, she makes difficult issues understandable and she makes clock hour courses more enjoyable. She is legal counsel to the Washington REALTORS® but is best known as the "Legal Hotline Lawyer." She regularly assists REALTOR® members with resolution of issues that arise in day-to-day sales activities and, along with the Washington REALTORS®, is at the heart of resolving industry issues, as they develop, by formulating policies and new forms. In the mid 1980's, Annie sold real estate in the Tacoma/Pierce County community and gained a real-world perspective on the challenges that REALTORS® face daily. She is a certified instructor through the Department of Licensing. She earned her law degree in 1992 from the University of Washington.


Denise Lones, CSP MIRM

Denise Lones is a National Sales and Marketing Consultant, Trainer, Speaker and Coach. She is dedicated to helping people find innovative ways to increase their business and still have a life. Denise believes that with the right tools every agent can double their income without doubling their workload. Denise believes that marketing is the cornerstone to every successful agent's business success model. She strongly emphasizes the use of unique and innovative marketing campaigns to boost your business and give you quality of life. She draws from her professional and personal experiences and believes that the key to business success is all about people, systems and follow-through. In every class she presents Denise offers a wealth of dynamic and innovative techniques to help people "get it"!

Denise's background in residential Real Estate Sales and management boast an impressive list of awards and recognition for her outstanding marketing and business development systems. She was consistently among the highest producing REALTORS® in her marketplace of approximately 3,000 agents. Denise is also a certified instructor for the Department of Licensing, the Master Builders Association, Bellevue College, The Washington State Housing and Finance Committee and the Washington Association of REALTORS®. She also holds the National CSP designation and was the only person in the State of Washington in 1999 to be awarded the prestigious MIRM designation from the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. Denise's passion is helping others reach their maximum potential. Her systems have been instrumental in helping agents double and triple their business. Denise has helped Brokers and Managers dominate their market and build their business to levels previously never reached. Her training techniques work and her business consulting is thorough and effective. Denise was also awarded the prestigious Hugh Hawkins Instructor of the Year Award for 2004 for the WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS.


Doug Tingvall, JD GRI

Doug Tingvall has been representing residential real estate professionals for over 20 years and is one of the best-known and most respected real estate attorneys in Washington. Doug was the principal drafter of the Law of Real Estate Agency in Washington, as well as several other laws affecting real estate. He also handled the successful appeal in Sing v. John L. Scott, Inc., 134 Wn.2d 24 (1997). Doug’s practice emphasizes residential real estate transactions and brokerage law.

A graduate of the University of Washington School of Business (Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and the University of Washington School of Law (Member, WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW), Doug has served as President of the Washington Real Estate Education Foundation, and on numerous industry committees and task forces. Doug is an instructor for GRI and teaches courses on purchase and sale agreements, agency law, risk reduction, new construction, core curriculum and legal update. He received the "Affiliate of the Year" award from the Seattle-King County Board of REALTORS® in 1984 and from the Washington Association of REALTORS® in 1985, the Eddy Award from the Washington Real Estate Education Foundation in 1988, and the Hugh Hawkins "Instructor of the Year" award from the WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® in 2003. Doug was also named a "Super Lawyer" by Washington Law & Politics in
2001.

Lawyer by day and performer by night, Doug also has been active in community musical theatre and has been seen as a Pirate in The Pirates of Penzance (Bellevue Opera), Marmaduke Poindexter in The Sorcerer (Bellevue Opera), the Grand Inquisitor in The Gondoliers (Bellevue Opera), Sergeant Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard (Bellevue Opera and Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society), Pish-Tush and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado (Bellevue Opera, Bremerton Community Theatre and Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society), Emile de Becque in South Pacific (Northwest Savoyards) and Principal Bass-Baritone in Broadway’s Golden Age (Burien Little Theatre). A native Washingtonian, Doug lives in Newcastle with his wife, Augusta, and two children, Bruna and Bernard.


Gary Wisben

Gary Wisben has been teaching and training Realtors and mortgage loan professionals since 1986. He was admitted to the faculty of the Washington Association of Realtors in 1990. Currently, Gary is the owner and manager of American Pacific Mortgage in Spokane, WA. Gary has written several continuing clock-hour courses including: Solid Foundations of Real Estate Finance, Beyond Basic Finance, Finance Made Easy, Next-Step Finance, Mastering Mortgage Credit, Embraceable Arms, Terms Of Endearment, New Construction Finance, Current Financial Trends, and the Washington state GRI Finance course. Gary is passionate, straight talking, and funny. In 1998, he received the Hugh Hawkins Award for Instructor of the Year


John "JJ" Johnston

A Seattle native and 20 year Realtor, JJ began his real estate career as an exclusive, on-site, new home builder representative. In 1991 he added the listing and selling of pre-owned homes to his business plan. His market areas included Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah and Redmond. Currently about 50% of his business remains builder clients. JJ is an active member of the Master Builder's Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) and has received both regional and national awards for his sales, advertising and marketing programs on behalf of his builder clients. In 1999, JJ received the Associate Member of the Year from the MBA. In 1994, he was honored with the International Visionary Award which recognized 62 elite professionals in North America in the field of residential real estate advertising and marketing.

JJ created and teaches a one day seminar for REALTORS on how to list, sell, market and advertise new home construction for the Washington REALTORS® and for the Building Industry of Washington (BIAW). He frequently does outside consulting work with builders, and is a popular speaker requested at REALTOR events.

JJ played soccer in college and also played professionally in Germany. His hobby is HO scale model trains and his home layout has been published in an international model train publication. JJ is married to Patt Sellen, also a REALTOR® and his business partner. He is a member of the RE/MAX Chairman''s Club and the RE/MAX Hall of Fame.


Pili Meyer, ABR CRS GRI SRES e-Pro

Pili Meyer is a full time associate broker with Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty in Port Angeles, WA. She has been licensed since 1986 and an instructor since 1994. She is a consistently effective agent and loves the fact that there are so many different aspects of the business. Her experience-and success-- in the trenches bring a reality and relevance to the classes she teaches. She is a Master Instructor in Washington and Oregon and in demand as a speaker at state conventions around the country. Besides being a top producer, Pili has been active in the Realtor® Association. She is a past president of the Washington REALTORS®, a National Association of REALTORS® Director, and currently serves as the Regional Vice President at NAR. She has been named Realtor® of the Year by her local association as well as receiving the REALTOR® Achievement Award. In 1999, she was named Hugh Hawkins Instructor of the Year. She has also been honored by the Soroptimist International of Port Angeles with their Woman of Distinction award. In the past Pili wrote a monthly column for the Peninsula Business Journal and is now a regular contributor to the bimonthly national magazine, Real Estate Professional.




Learn and earn clock hours through the Washington State Realtors Audio Education Program!