Tomson Burnham

Melina and her team are absolutely amazing! She served as the listing broker for a home my daughter owned in the Salem area and I would use her again in a heartbeat with absolutely no reservations. As a real estate broker myself (from a different part of the state), I can honestly say that I have never dealt with another broker as knowledgeable about her market area, or as skilled in her craft (getting a house sold at optimal price in the shortest period of time). Her attention to detail and ability to navigate the process with expertise and skill, while managing EVERYTHING (a lot of which you might not even know needs to be managed) is really next level. Only 5 stars is really not sufficient for Melina, but trust me when I say you will not regret your decision to list with her. Thanks for everything, Melina!

We were so grateful to have Kyle’s guidance and assistance throughout the home buying process. His knowledge of the local market - historic homes in particular - was invaluable!

Between being a challenging market and also new to Oregon, there were so many opportunities for us to make expensive mistakes - but Kyle was always diligent in his research and forthright in his advice. We felt confident having him represent our interests throughout the process. He recommended excellent professionals to do our inspections and handle repairs prior to our closing.

Kyle was a good communicator at every stage of the process. I would definitely recommend working with Tomson Burham. We found the perfect home for us and believe this team saved us money in a tricky market. #TeamTomsonBurnham

I have had the pleasure of working with Kyle Tomson, of the Tomson Burnham real estate firm, on two occasions. I have to say, I cannot speak highly enough of the exceptional service my family and I received from Kyle.

The first real estate purchase was during the post-Covid real estate feeding frenzy, when the most desirable houses sold for above-asking prices, buyers waived inspections and sellers fielded multiple offers.

My son and his wife and two young sons were moving to Salem; my oldest grandson was starting first grade and school was about to open.

Kyle found the perfect house for my son and his family; a charming, newly-renovated Victorian with a large, fenced yard and just a block-and-a-half from the school!

Kyle displayed exceptional negotiation skills and attention to detail and we received a fantastic deal on the house. When unforeseeable problems arose when we were under contract, Kyle made sure issues were navigated and necessary repairs were made. The price was renegotiated and was fair to us as well as the seller.

My family settling in Oregon motivated me to begin my migration from Florida to Oregon.

Kyle found me a beautiful, Tudor house, renovated to the degree that it was practically turnkey, something I’ve never seen before! He was astute in due diligence and found two structural issues requiring the seller to renegotiate our contract, as well as to make a significant repair, and he eliminated the significant costs these problems would have incurred.

I am grateful to Kyle for his genuine commitment to me and my family. He offered valuable insights and advice, guiding us through the real-estate buying process. His expertise and professionalism made these transactions very successful.

I can recommend Kyle Tomson without reservation, to anyone seeking a real estate professional with an astute attention to detail, and comprehensive knowledge of their market.

- Stephanie Shorr, February 2024

I highly recommend Melina Tomson if you want to sell your home quickly and at top dollar! When searching the Internet for a top producing seller's agent, Melina's name consistently appeared on a number of lists as #1 or #2. When I went to the Tomson Burnham website, I saw Melina has a happy list of past clients, a deep understanding of the Salem-Keizer market, and years of experience. When I first met with Melina, she was friendly, professional, a great listener, and came prepared to present her marketing strategy to me. I was impressed by how extensive and unique her approach is, especially her recommendations for a pre-sales inspection and a professional staging consultation (both paid for by Melina!) Her intention is to take as much stress out of the home sale process as possible for her clients. Melina made the sale of my home easy and almost effortless. While I took care of a few repairs found to be needed by my pre-sales home inspection and also changed things in my home based on the advice of the professional stager, Melina got busy posting a 'coming soon' photo and description of my home and immediately talking it up with other agents and brokers. To make a long story short, I agreed to two 'early' tours of my home by prospective buyers and their agents. I was surprised and delighted to receive a full-price offer from one of the prospective buyers - two and a half months before my home was scheduled to go on the market. Needless to say, I accepted the offer! From this point to the close of escrow, Melina clearly explained every step and every document, consistently prioritized my best interests, and responded to my calls, emails, and texts quickly. This allowed me to stay calm and positive. It was a marvelous experience working with Melina and I highly recommend Melina to any seller who is looking for an excellent real estate agent who delivers proactive and better-than-expected results!

When John Kirk with Tomson Burnham moved away, we lost our favorite real estate agent. After interviewing and making offers with 6 other agents, we finally remembered that someone had taught John what he knew. Melina! We ended up going with Melina for multiple transactions where she saved us and made us substantial money. If you are an investor, have a data mindset, and don't enjoy/ need the retail sales aspects of real estate, go with Melina. She tracks details, knows markets, has building knowledge, and is always up for creative solutions on deals while also knowing which ones would be a waste of time. Thank you, Melina!

This was our second experience with Tomson Burnham. The customer service was exceptional the first time so we knew the second time would not disappoint. Kyle Tomson exceeded our expectations. We truly appreciated his advice and guidance. The sale of the one house and purchase of the new were unbelievable.
You feel like you are part of the family and not clients. Thank you Kyle!

I worked with Melina and had a great experience. I am a young, first time home buyer and she made sure I was understanding what was happening every step of the way while working with me to find good home options within my budget. With Melina's help the process became significantly less daunting and I ended up finding an amazing home with her help. I highly recommend going to Tomson Burnham if you are looking to buy a home.

I can't recommend Melina highly enough. She helped us with 3 real estate transactions in one year, and with each transaction we benefited from her competence, organization, and expertise. She helped us navigate a complicated purchase and her knowledge of construction and easements made the deal go much more smoothly. I wish I had more real estate transactions in the near future so I could work with her again!

Kyle helped us find the perfect house in Salem! We moved from MN and started working with him a few months before our house hunting visit. He was extremely responsive, listened to what we wanted, gave honest feedback about what to expect about the market, speed, prices, and helped us set realistic expectations. His knowledge of neighborhoods, the info on the area, the schools, and ability to help us narrow our list to the houses that worked for us was exemplary. When we did visit the area, he was there for 2 full days to show us as many houses as we could fit in (I think we broke a record!) and put up with our toddler! And when we didn’t find the perfect spot that weekend, he continued to look and sent video walkthroughs of the house we ended up buying so that we were able to make an offer as quickly as possible. He then went to work in negotiation - all the way through the time of closing due to inspections and an appraisal concern that came up. From mortgage brokers to inspectors to repair recommendations, he knows his stuff! I would highly recommend Tomson Burnham (Kyle, Melina and others on their team!) if you are considering a move to the Salem area. Thanks you guys!! Ann, Pete & family

Kyle Tomson provided us with exception assistance in the sale of our Salem home. His communication was excellent, and frequent, and he was good at providing education around the real estate market and the sale process. He assisted in finding contractors to correct some things from a pre-inspection report and was present for the repairs when possible. Additionally, since we were already moved out of Salem at the time of the house sale, he was conscientious in monitoring the property and even switching the house from AC to heat when the season changed.

Our house sale was prompted by our move out of state. We had no contacts in the area where we were moving, and Kyle researched the area and located the perfect realtor to help with the purchase of our house in New Mexico. This was above and beyond and a wonderful service to us.

We have used Tomson Burnham for the purchase of and sale of two properties in Salem. They are exceedingly courteous, quick in their replies to emails or calls, honest in their information and in short the best realty company in Marion County in our estimation. I would recommend them without reservation to anyone needing to buy a home in the Salem area.

As first-time home buyers, my wife and I were looking for a realtor with experience and knowledge of the Salem area and market. We came across Kyle from Tomson Burnham and were blown away by his expertise and ambition throughout the entire process.

Kyle went above and beyond for us time and time again, from securing contractors to attending inspections and walk-throughs, to checking in with our lending process to ensure a smooth sale. His dedication and hard work helped us find our dream home sooner than we anticipated.
Kyle's expertise in home renovation and knowledge about home defects and repairs was very helpful, and he saved us from buying a few homes that needed more work than we were prepared to handle. He also thoroughly investigated each potential property we considered for flood plains, schools, crime, and more, which gave us confidence in our final decision.

What stood out to us most about Kyle was how much he truly cared about our best interests. He listened carefully to our wants and needs for our first home, and his recommendations were always tailored to what we were looking for. He suggested reputable lenders based on our needs and has great relationships with home inspectors and contractors in Salem.

Throughout the process, Kyle's communication skills were excellent. He was always fast to handle documentation and research and provided regular updates and check-ins to keep us informed and confident in the process. At no time did we ever feel pressured or rushed.

Overall, we are thrilled with our experience with Kyle from Tomson Burnham. He exceeded all our expectations and made our first home buying experience a smooth and enjoyable one. We would absolutely recommend him to anyone looking for a home around Salem.

We are so happy in our new home and Melina made it all possible. Her knowledge and years of experience with vintage homes helped us make our home buying decision. Melina helped our home search results exceed our expections.

Buying a new house is not something you do every day! We had only bought a house one other time in our lives, and we were nervous about how to proceed. Kyle was recommended by a relative and we were grateful to have someone immediately responsive and asking key questions to determine the most important qualities in our new home. We were in and out of town searching neighborhoods and looking at houses and Kyle was very flexible and transparent about his schedule and seemed to bend over backwards to respond quickly to our inquiries and to comment on our freshly selected homes. Through phone conversations and touring houses, Kyle quickly came to understand what was most important to us and we quickly trusted his opinions about the neighborhoods and house characteristics.
Although we all agreed that we could never buy a house sight unseen, that is exactly what happened. Kyle walked through the house with us on zoom and looked at every detail. He knew the house met most of our desired qualities, but he pointed out where it might fall short. He helped us prioritize our list of desired home characteristics and helped us feel comfortable with the eventual purchase. We couldn’t be happier with our final decision. Kyle is forthright, affable, and very knowledgeable about the region and home values. We are so grateful he was available to help us find a home in Salem.

Kyle was amazing throughout our whole home buying process. My fiancé and I were first time home buyers and knew next to nothing about what to expect. Kyle talked us through every step. We knew what every term and bit of paperwork meant before we even thought about signing. Without Kyle, we wouldn’t have been even 1/10th of confident that we were when buying our house.
My fiancé and I also have conflicting work schedules so that only left us one day a week where we could both view houses. Kyle was awesome with working with our schedule and packing that one day with houses for us to view. Even going as far to view the houses for us and do a video walkthrough when we couldn’t make it.
He was always available for questions and constantly gave us updates during offer negotiations.
Kyle made sure that we weren’t just buying a home that would work for us but that would also be a good investment and would hold value in the future. He looked out for us every step of the way.
I cannot recommend Kyle enough. We also met and worked with Melina on one occasion when Kyle was out of town and she was amazing as well! You cannot go wrong with this company. Will recommend to all our friends and family!

I had the pleasure of working with Kyle and I have nothing, but the highest praise for the services he provided. Through the entire process, Kyle went above and beyond my expectations to ensure that the experience was not only successful, but enjoyable.

Kyle had unparalleled expertise in the local real estate market with experience in carpentry and investment real estate. He took the time to understand all of my needs and preferences, in order to find the perfect property that met every one of my requirements. The amount of insight and guidance that he provided was invaluable.

Outside of his expertise, Kyle was an extremely personable and nice person to work with. They answered every question at all times of the day and their communication skills were top-notch. I was informed with every step of the process.

I highly recommend Kyle to anyone looking for a realtor in the Salem area, he is knowledgeable, personable, and dedicated to his clients.

Thank you, Kyle, you truly are outstanding and this was one of my most positive home buying experiences.

Kyle helped us buy our first house. He thoroughly answered questions, and was always easy to reach when needed. He's knowledgeable and was actively involved throughout the entire process. We were very happy with his service and would definitely work with him again.

If your lucky enough to get Kyle for a realtor you are very fortunate. I first encountered him 2 years ago when I was considering a move to Salem. He spent time showing me various neighborhoods that matched my price range and amenities (I recommend taking the survey on the website so he has a reference to start from). I recently bought a small 70 year old bungalow that is pretty much a time capsule in need of some updates. I can honestly tell you that Kyle is highly respected in the local real estate community and contractor industry. He holds esteem among his peers for his integrity, experience and savvy, know-how, professional ethics, and his kind nature. Even my mortgage lender complimented him. As a result, closing on my house was amazingly easy and matched the timeline Kyle set up at the beginning of the process. He also set me up with contractors to do the updates. I can't express how grateful I am for his steady pace, competence, availability, and willingness to show me the ropes to home improvements. Thank you, Kyle!

Kyle is a killer agent and the only one I would recommend in the Greater Salem area.

He is knowledgeable, dedicated, honest and extremely hard working. Kyle does one of the most important things for his clients that no other agents I have worked with do:

He will not push you into buying a bad home and he will ENSURE that you only purchase a good home. A home that is not only good for you now, but that will stay good for you 30 years down the road.

Can’t recommend him enough, I would buy another home today just to get the pleasure of working with him again if I could afford it!

You rock Kyle :)

Kyle was so helpful in helping us buy our home! We were first-time homebuyers, and we were moving from a different state, so it was definitely a stressful situation for us. However, Kyle did such an amazing job at helping us identify what we wanted, where we wanted to be, and making us feel comfortable with the whole process. He set up Zoom home tours and told us everything he saw that didn't quite translate from a computer screen. We always felt like we were a priority. And he was able to help us negotiate a great deal on an amazing house! We will absolutely be reaching out to him again the next time we're looking to move!

I would highly recommend Tomson Burnham to anyone looking to buy or sell. Kyle was a true professional and expert, regarding both real estate and making meaningful relationships with the people he deals with. We started looking to buy in October of last year. He started by giving us suggestions of fun places to visit in Salem, since we were from out of the area. Going forward, Kyle made it a point to follow up with us every couple weeks just to check in. (By December, every other real estate agent we were dealing with had completely forgotten about us). He even gave us suggestions of where to rent on multiple occasions, even when there was nothing in it for him. When we went to go look at properties we were interested in, he was there with his hiking boots on (for land in the woods), and with his level for a house on a cliff. He was honest with us when it wasn’t a good decision, and patient when we weren’t ready to move forward at times. He made the experience truly fun for us, and we trusted his opinions and valued what he had to say. We ended up buying a house that we are so excited about. Kyle worked really hard to get us a winning bid (out of 13 bids), and also negotiated to get us the very best deal at the end. Thank you for being great at what you do. Tompson Burnham will be the first number we call when we buy or sell again.