About Austin Hellickson

I’m Austin Hellickson, a Managing Broker with LPT Realty, working from an office in Sumner, Washington. I help homeowners who are behind on their mortgage understand where they stand and, when selling is the right call, sell before a trustee’s sale. I’m not an attorney, a housing counselor, or a lender.

Updated September 29, 2026

Why I built this site

When someone falls behind on a mortgage, the first people to reach out are often strangers. Once a notice of trustee’s sale is recorded, the letters start: postcards offering cash, flyers promising to “stop foreclosure,” calls from numbers you don’t recognize. What’s missing from that pile is an explanation of what is actually happening and what the choices are.

This site is my attempt at that explanation, written for someone holding a notice they don’t fully understand. It won’t tell you what to do. It lays out how the Washington process works, what each option involves, and when a sale makes sense, so that when you talk with your servicer, a counselor, or an attorney, you already know the terms.

What I do, and what I don’t

Here is where my role starts and stops.

The line matters because the decisions in a foreclosure are partly legal and partly financial, and a broker sees one slice of them. My slice is the house itself: what it’s worth, and whether a sale can close before the dates on your notices. If we talk and selling isn’t the right move, I’ll tell you, and I’ll suggest who to call next.

What a first call is like

It usually starts with the letters. You tell me what you’ve received, and I explain in plain terms what each one means and where it sits in the Washington process. Then we talk about what you want, which can be as modest as understanding the choices before deciding anything.

If selling is on the table, I’ll look at recent sales of comparable homes near yours and, with your permission, request a payoff figure from your servicer, so any estimate of what a sale would leave you rests on real numbers. Some people call once, get their bearings, and go on to work things out with their servicer. That’s a good outcome too. If you hang up knowing which letter matters most and who to call next, the call was worth making.

How I’m paid

Talking with me costs nothing. If you decide to sell and hire me, my brokerage is paid a commission out of the sale proceeds at closing, under a listing agreement you read in full before you sign it. If the sale is a short sale, the lender reviews the brokerage compensation as part of its approval, along with every other cost of the sale.

Where I work

My office is at 1230 Fryar Ave in Sumner, just east of Puyallup. I work with homeowners across Washington, and most closely in Pierce and King Counties: Puyallup, Sumner, Tacoma, Lakewood, Spanaway, Graham, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Renton, and the neighborhoods in between. The nonjudicial process described on this site works the same way statewide, so the explanations hold wherever your home is in Washington.

I’m also part of Homexa®, a network of 300+ agents across 25 states. If your situation involves a property outside Washington, such as an inherited house in another state, I can check whether the network has an agent there and introduce you.

Talking with me

Calls are private. I won’t contact your lender or anyone else about your situation without your permission. You’re welcome to bring a family member or your housing counselor into the conversation, and you’re welcome to take as long as you need to decide anything.