Mary-Lou McDonough

Contact Us

We'll get back to you as soon as possible!

What Clients Are Saying

"Mary-Lou is the ultimate professional and she knew just what was needed to sell our house. She was able to get our house ready to sell in just three weeks. She helped in every way possible to assure a quick sale. It was such a pleasure working with Mary-Lou. Her expertise and help in every aspect of selling our home far exceeded our expectations. We are so grateful to have worked with Mary-Lou and to have had her for our broker."

S. Caldarella, Lexington Seller

We met Mary-Lou McDonough when we started looking for a house in the greater Boston area in 2017. We knew it would be an up-hill battle given that we would be house hunting while living out-of-state and that it was a seller’s market. Fortunately, we soon realized it would be possible if Mary-Lou would help us. We have worked with a few other realtors in the past and we quickly identified that Mary-Lou is not like other realtors we’ve met. She was extremely compassionate, caring, kind, and warm. We were able to communicate with her any time of the day or night and she would reply to our email or texts within 5-10 minutes. She would preview homes at open houses and do FaceTime with us and would provide detailed feedback on what she was seeing. Mary-Lou is extremely knowledgeable in her area. She would give us price points for the houses if she thought the list price was too high or too low. Based on that information we had a clear idea on what would be an appropriate offer. From the beginning, Mary-Lou continually guided us, using her experience and expertise, which enabled us to buy an excellent house in a highly competitive Seller’s market. We were extremely happy with Mary-Lou’s service, the area and the house we moved into due to her hard work. Mary-Lou is very passionate and dedicated to her clients. She is extremely knowledgeable on many towns, Realtors and Builders in the Boston area. She could tell us so much information about the house and the area. We were amazed how she walked us through the houses calling our attention to details, highlighting all the small things that must be checked, and her ability to assess the house considering the current market. Mary-Lou is extremely patient and detail orientated. She is an extraordinary listener and that helps her in finding the right properties for her clients. She made herself accessible anytime through phone or text. She gave us practical advice, provided data and facts to help us make our own decisions. She helped us throughout the whole process, and even after buying the house. We were extremely lucky to have her as our Realtor. She has become our friend. Mary-Lou is the epitome of what a Realtor should be. She is very honest and trustworthy which is very difficult to find in this Realtor business. Mary-Lou is simply the best and we highly recommend her.

A Happy Client

"Mary-Lou was extremely helpful in the home buying process. Being a first time homebuyer I had several questions and concerns when looking for a home and Mary-Lou was available practically 24-7 to help. I would never hesitate to recommend her to others, I look forward to working with her again in the future."

Andrew Manning

We had a terrific experience working with Mary-Lou to find the right house in Lowell. We were looking for investment property as well as a place to live, but we didn't know much about the town.

Mary-Lou found many houses for us to see and we quickly learned about the various neighborhoods.She was always on the same page with what we were looking for and she never pressured us to buy something that wasn't right. She was always honest, flexible with our schedules, on time and very personable. She was extremely patient and survived 4 offers with us in this crazy and competitive market, which she understands very well.

Sheconsistently offered great advice and she's an excellent listener as well. I highly recommend working with Mary- Lou. She exceeded our expectations and made the whole process a pleasant experience. She evenfollowed-up with us afterthe sale to make sure wewere happy.

We are delighted with the house we purchased and with Mary-Lou. Any future home purchases for us will be made with Mary-Lou.

Alex Abel

We have worked with Mary-Lou to purchase two homes and sell one. Each time, she has shown to be a very knowledgeable, professional agent who works very hard for her clients. Mary-Lou is originally from Lexington and has worked here for over thirty years. As a result, she knows the market very well and virtually every house in the area. Using market research and analysis, you feel confident in the pricing/offer recommendations that are made. Mary-Lou is very accessible throughout the process and also has great contacts should you need a contractor or other service provider. We recommend Mary-Lou highly for any real estate transaction. She is a great person to have on your side.

Kristen and Adam Parker

As soon as I met Mary-Lou, I knew she was the perfect Realtor to sell our house. She listened to exactly what our needs were and was flexible and easy to communicate with. We had a house from 1925 and a very large yard. She clearly liked and appreciated house and whole property. She immediately understood the category of buyers who would want our property. She quickly did her research and came up with an exact price range she believed in, while respecting our opinion in setting the final sale price. And, I was quite impressed with the aesthetic of her marketing materials and plan. The brochures she showed me were gorgeous, simple and had lovely writing. She translated this aesthetic in her knowledge of how the house would best show. Her company has a professional and team oriented feel. I felt like our sale was important to the company as a whole, from the owner to the amazing in house photographer and stager Grazyna Kamieniecki. Additionally, Mary-Lou's integrity was so palpable. I felt very comfortable during the entire process. With her professional expertise, not only was she a pleasure to work with, but our house had 3 offers the first weekend, and sold for over asking price. I would highly recommend her team for their local expertise, team approach and pleasure to work with.

Lucy and Charlie Hutchinson

My husband and I worked with Mary-Lou while searching for our first home - a nerve-wracking process. From the beginning, Mary-Lou put us at ease with her caring nature and expert advice. Mary-Lou went above and beyond, taking the time to visit homes that were well outside our initial search area.
She was sympathetic through many failed bids, and when we finally had an offer accepted, was a strong negotiator. Through the entire process, Mary-Lou was responsive to emails, texts, and phone calls. We had no doubt that she was looking out for our best interest every step of the way. I highly recommend Mary-Lou as an agent for both buyers and sellers.

Leslie and Bob LaRocca

Mary-Lou helped make what can be a very stressful time, relatively easy and seamless in the transition of all things related to selling our home in Belmont. From our initial meeting, she took charge of the situation, listened, executed and got us the right deal. I would recommend Mary-Lou for selling, buying and anything else related to real estate.She has years of experience in the field and brings that knowledge to take expert care of her clients.

Marcia Downes

We had been looking for a house in Lexington for over a year and Mary-Lou was very helpful in getting our house. She really understood buying strategies and helped fine tune our offer to get the house we wanted in a very competitive market.

Heeren Pathak

My parents were ready to move to assisted living after 52 years (this change happened quickly) and we needed to get their house on the market quickly because winter was approaching. We had also been notified of an opening in a preferred assisted living situation which provided additional motivation to move quickly. Mary-Lou worked with us to get the house ready for market while also providing us with a variety of support services to get the house in order and staged. She was both flexible and supportive of the massive amount of work that needed to be completed in a short amount of time. Her marketing efforts drew significant interest in the house which yielded a quick sale on the first weekend of listing at an excellent price. This result was very important to all of us, especially my parents. She is a true professional who can handle the business end while also being very sensitive to the situation my parents were facing.

Mark Carota

My wife and I happened to know about Mary-Lou through one of the popular real estate listing websites. Earlier we had looked at several houses without an agent and were not sure what to expect and how to go about placing appropriate offers in one of the most competitive housing markets, Lexington, MA. Our introduction to Mary-Lou was through a private tour of a house in Lexington. Based on her experience she explained the pros and cons of the house. She provided a lot of history about the property and statistics when compared with other houses that were on the market then. She made a lot of calls, collecting information for us that helped us make a decision that was best for us. We felt so comfortable with her approach that my wife and I sent all of our queries about other houses we were interested in only through her. There were several houses that were within our budget that she successfully negotiated the price on but we decided to turn them down. Mary-Lou was very understanding and never showed any disappointment with our approach. All the times we went with her suggested offer range we were successful. She knows her trade very well. She has lived in and around the Lexington area all her life and knows the area well. She communicates well and made herself available to our expectation. We all need an agent who can educate the buyer as to what is realistic and yet go with the flow of buyers, not urging to close the deal in haste. She clearly understands buyer’s emotions for a house after a tour. I consider Mary-Lou as a very reliable buyer's agent and would like to recommend her to any buyer looking to purchase a home.

Shankar Venkateswaran & Radika Thiyagarajan

It was an absolute pleasure working with Mary-Lou! She sold our house in 2 days and helped us navigate the exciting and often overwhelming transition associated with selling a home.

Gardner and Michelle Heaton

It was a real pleasure working with Mary-Lou to both sell our home and buy a new one. In both cases she always had our best interests in mind and gave us very helpful advice on how to proceed. She was very easy to communicate with and was very responsive when we needed her, we felt very informed about where things stood throughout the process. Most of all, Mary-Lou is intelligent and bases her business on a solid set of values that she doesn't waver on. She is very above board in how she deals with both her clients and those on the other side of the transaction. We very much appreciated this quality and felt in good hands because of it.

While we were selling our home Mary-Lou had excellent advice on how to prepare the home to get top dollar. She was very hands on and rolled up her sleeves to do some of the work with us. She was knowledgeable on exactly what to do the make the house appealing while still keeping on eye on cost, and she was very involved in staging the home as well. She also has a great network of partners to call upon for any repairs or staging needs during the process.

On the buying side we were very pleased with Mary-Lou as well. She listened to what we were looking for and didn't waste our time looking at homes that weren't a good match. She was extremely patient and did not encourage us to buy the first homes we saw, she wanted us to end up in the right home. She was very honest in what we would like or dislike about each listing. This was invaluable as she was able to see ahead to things that we ourselves might not think about immediately in the buying process. She was mindful of our price range and didn't try to up-sell to something we weren't looking for. Her due diligence was excellent and she had very mindful insights for us as we navigated through the process. She also encouraged us to do our own diligence to be sure we would be happy with the home we ended up with. That is ultimately what made us very comfortable with our decision as we put our offer in. Mary-Lou is there with you every step of the way, up until and through closing. We are extremely happy in the home we bought with her as our Realtor. We will definitely use Mary-Lou again should we have real estate needs in the future.

Elyse Douglas and David McNeil

My wife and I began working with Mary-Lou while we were still living out of state before we moved into the area. In spite of that, May-Lou was always available, and spent a couple of days with us house hunting before we had even sold our PA home.

We eventually moved up to MA with our PA house still unsold, but Mary-Lou continued to work with us anyway, and helped us refine our expectations!
Mary-Lou showed exceptional knowledge of what was on the market and understood quickly what we were looking for, which saved us a lot of time and heartache, and always responded quickly by phone, text or email whenever we had questions.
When we finally identified the house we eventually bought, Mary-Lou negotiated on our behalf, provided expert contractors to evaluate it so we knew what we were getting into, advised us of potential pitfalls and guided us expertly through the whole process, explaining each step as we went.
We both felt that Mary-Lou was "there for us”, in spite of our non-standard taste in houses, and that she was prepared to stay in the game as long as it took.

Anne Mason and Simon Andrews

My husband and I were first time home buyers initially apprehensive about the home buying process. We didn't know how to get started or where to start looking for a realtor, our anxiety was high. My dad recommended Mary-Lou and instantly we were set at ease after our first conversation. Mary-Lou was informative, reassuring, and quick to respond whenever we had a question or concern. It felt like we had a close friend or family member there to help guide us through the entire process. We highly recommend Mary-Lou to any person who is looking for a home, especially if they are a newcomer to the process, like my husband and I were. We have just closed on a house in Groton and we are very grateful to have had Mary-Lou at our side.

Monica Terry Simmons and Kevin Simmons

We love our new home and neighborhood -- and Mary-Lou played a critical role in getting us here. We moved from Connecticut and didn't know anyone in the greater Boston area. It was important that we had a partner and advocate we could trust and Mary-Lou was just that person. Professional, efficient, smart. She took the time to get to know our family's needs and played the difficult role of adviser, not just real estate agent. Mary-Lou went above and beyond for our family -- but that's the norm for her... that's just who she is!

Sunny and Jung Lee

We cannot say enough about Mary-Lou McDonough. She is an exceptional Realtor and made every step of selling our home easy, from our initial market analysis andpricing our property appropriately to staging our home to show its best features. She went above and beyond the call of duty, helping to organize and declutter shelves and closets as well as paying final bills before we moved out. Mary-Lou is extremely knowledgeable of the housing market and

what buyers are looking for and how to best showcase the features of a property. Most importantly, Mary-Lou was warm, encouraging and positive through the whole process and we loved working with her.We sold our place for so much more than we expected and were so happy with Mary-Lou's services. We would definitely use here again and highly recommend her to anyone who is selling or buying.

Katie Sears and John Soden

After interviewing three of Lexington's top Realtors, I decided to work with Mary-Lou McDonough to sell my condo. I found her to be the most sincere with an unquestionable willingness to help me throughout the process. Since my husband was living aboard at the time, I appreciated all the assistance and support she provided. Mary-Lou and her team did an amazing job getting my house ready for the market. She coordinated cleaners, packers and with the assistance of her team did a spectacular job staging my home. She was able to generate multiple offers after the first weekend and my condo sold for well above the list price. Her attention to of all the details made an otherwise overwhelming process much more manageable and a lot less stressful. I am happy to recommend Mary-Lou to my family and friends.

Yuepeng Wan and Yilin Ma

It was a pleasure working with Mary-Lou while selling our home in Lexington, MA. Mary-Lou is exceptional in terms of what she does - right from strategizing the selling process, to providing hands-on help with staging, to taking timely care of all the critical details in the entire selling process. Mary-Lou was incredibly helpful in handling some last minute unforeseen issues by herself after we left our house in Lexington and helped us in a smooth transition. She is thoughtful, hard-working, and a deal maker. We highly recommend her as a real estate agent.

Mukta-Prashant

I was completely satisfied with Mary-Lou's help in purchasing my condo. She was always available with any help or assistance I needed, as well as quickly responding to and moving the negotiation process along expeditiously. I was always able to trust her responsiveness, which was always reassuring. In addition, she kept my best interests in mind. Mary-Lou is very knowledgeable, trustworthy, and hard working, which all make for great assets for a Realtor.

Barbara Heller

Selling a house is a formidable challenge. Deciding to sell a house in a week and selling it that weekend is unprecedented. We attribute our success to the experience and expertise of Mary-Lou McDonough and to her commitment and dedication to her clients. Mary-Lou was able to mobilize the resources we needed to prepare our home for an open house within one week of our decision and worked long hours to ensure that it had maximal appeal to potential buyers. Her hard work and diligence and meticulous attention to detail translated into several offers above asking the first open house weekend. Throughout the entire complex process, we felt confident that Mary-Lou would expertly guide us. She provided the reassurances that made the ordeal of selling one’s home less emotionally debilitating. Even after we secured a buyer, she continued her involvement and worked to ensure that all the contingencies were addressed so that the sale would come to fruition. Mary-Lou’s commitment to her clients is apparent and we attribute our success to her unique combination of experience, competency, determination, and understanding of relationships. We recommend her highly and feel she is the only person we would ever trust in any real estate transaction. Exceptional. Five stars.

Dr. Milo Pulde and Dr. Margot Seligman

Buying a home in a highly sought-after community with a competitive market like Lexington can be very stressful. Mary-Lou McDonough has the experience and professionalism to make the process go smoothly and was available to provide all necessary information and guidance to allow me to purchase the perfect home for me and my family. I would highly recommend Mary-Lou to anyone looking to buy a home in Lexington.

Buyer - 36 Paul Revere Road, Lexington

It is with my highest pleasure to recommend Mary-Lou McDonough. Mary-Lou helped my boyfriend buy his first home. At a very young age my boyfriend knew buying a home and making it his own was one of his greatest life goals. Since the age of 14 he saved every paycheck from his weekend job, and continued to save during his new career as a plumber as a young adult. Mary-Lou understood the magnitude of this goal for my boyfriend and was able to make his goal her own as well. Through the entire process, Mary-Lou made herself available 24/7 via text/call/email/face to face to answer any and all questions and ease any concerns in the utmost professional manner. As a first time home buyer, the road to closing may seem complicated and tedious, however, Mary-Lou made that journey as smooth and painless as possible. It made my heart swell with pride to see my boyfriend in his very own home with the keys in hand looking as accomplished as ever, and we both have Mary-Lou to thank for this incredible milestone.

Patrick C. and Alexandra P.

"My wife and I have moved 14 times and Mary-Lou is by far(!) the best realtor we have ever encountered. She recently helped us both sell our home and buy our next one. As our selling or buying agent she was amazing. Her instincts on how to price and market our house was spot on. She generated significant interest in our sale and we quickly found and closed with a buyer with a great offer in terms of price and terms. On the buy side she listened carefully to our desires, worked hard to find homes that fit our wants, and she found the perfect place for us. Her advice on purchase terms was again spot on and we are now, thanks to Mary-Lou, living happily ever after in our new home. Thank you Mary-Lou!”

Tom & Beverly Gillett, Sellers/Buyers

I would highly recommend Mary-Lou McDonough to anyone seeking to purchase a home in Lexington or the surrounding areas. Mary-Lou was really easy to work with, even when I wasn't! She was flexible and met my needs, was easy to communicate via email, text and phone, she really adapted to my style of communication, which made me feel very at ease. She was available for me early in the morning, late at night, weekends, she really worked around my busy schedule. Mary-Lou kept me appraised of all of the fast changing inventory in a hot market, and eventually helped us find a great home, before it ever got listed. I truly believe it was Mary-Lou's connections, knowledge of the market and diligence that got us into our ideal new home. Once we found the home, Mary-Lou made the process of offer, purchase and sale and closing a breeze. I really felt like I had someone looking after my best interests throughout the entire process. The purchase of our new home went so well, that I also decided to work with Mary-Lou to sell my condo, it was the first time that I'd ever sold real estate, and Mary-Lou walked us through step-by-step of what we needed to be thinking about and doing, and when it came time to list, she got us a great price and fast, which was our highest priority. I'd work with Mary-Lou McDonough on the purchase or sale of any property in the future and would recommend her highly to anyone seeking a true professional real estate agent.

Gary E.

"My husband and I had a mission: Find a two-family home in East Arlington, Massachusetts; Mary-Lou McDonough made it her mission, too. Mary-Lou was a professional from start to finish. She took the time to really understand our needs, our price range and our expectation. She is very knowledgeable of the real estate process. Her experience as both a seller’s agent and a buyer’s agent is invaluable to her clients, no matter which side of the transaction she is representing. This is because her knowledge of the process and strategies from both sides of the proverbial table help her provide you with the information you need to achieve your goals. She was always available, (even over the Thanksgiving weekend). She valued our time which is very limited. She accommodated our crazy schedule and made this happen. We found exactly what we were looking for and with her advice, our offer, which was one of several, was accepted. She attended to every detail in a truly professional manner. We can not say enough about her and recommend her without hesitation to anyone seeking a first rate Realtor.

Betsy and Frank McGovern, Lexington, MA

"I met Mary-Lou at an Open House. My husband and I were looking for a Realtor but had no luck finding one that understood us. Then I met Mary-Lou and was so impressed! First and foremost, Mary-Lou was professional and knowledgeable She was very nice to my small, impatient children and that meant a great deal to me. I called her a few days later and we began our journey for my family’s first home together.

Throughout our search Mary-Lou was fantastic – always responding quickly to e-mails, phone calls and texts. She gave her opinion when appropriate and never pressured my husband and I in any way. Mary-Lou was so patient, understanding and willing to do whatever it took (scouring hundreds of MLS listings!!) to find a beautiful home for my family.

My family bought our first home in Lynnfield and we are just over the moon delighted! When we viewed the house for the first time Mary-Lou knocked on neighbors’ doors and asked questions to find out about our potential new neighborhood.

I would highly recommend Mary-Lou to all of my family and friends. She is a gem and my daughter and son call "Ms. Mary-Lou” their friend!

Darlene Samikkannu Kumar & Suresh Kumar Venkatan, M.D., Buyers

"Mary-Lou guided us through the process of buying our first house. We felt that she immediately understood what we were looking for and was able to help us identify houses that would be a good match for us. We were all working as a team towards the same goal, which was to find a house that we would LOVE!”

"Mary-Lou is hard-working, knowledgeable, professional, responsive and well-connected. It was truly a pleasure to work with her. We would absolutely recommend Mary-Lou to family and friends looking for an excellent Realtor!”

Bryan & Margaret McQuade, Buyers

"Mary-Lou was enormously helpful to us in marketing and selling our house in Lexington. She was generous with her time, candid in her counsel, strategic in execution, and always encouraging and supportive. She was also extremely helpful in identifying a team of experts to help with preparation of the house for sale – a painter, carpenter, ‘junk’ disposal expert, stager, and attorney, as well as organizing opportunities for many other brokers to see the house and offer their own best advice. Finally, Mary-Lou couldn’t have been more helpful in the negotiating trenches once a potential buyer had been identified. I would recommend her without reservation.”

Charlie Marz, Seller

"If you are in need of a realtor who… will listen to you; make great recommendations to get the best price for your house; be available to you as if you are her only client; is someone who truly cares like it’s her house she’s selling; and… will bend over backwards to help you get your house ready to put on the market; then Mary-Lou McDonough is the realtor for you! Mary-Lou and I worked together last year to sell my 4-bedroom home in Lexington and help me find a fabulous townhouse condo as I was downsizing.”

Not only did she do the things you expect from a realtor, she helped me clean out my basement! Yes, she did that and she made the unpleasant job fun! When I was stressed, she calmed me down. When an enormous tree fell against the back of my house 3 days before the buyer was coming for final inspection, she made sure that tree was removed in time. She kept me informed every step of the way. As we all know, selling your home and moving is a very stressful task. Mary-Lou got me through it and if I have to do it again, she’s the first and only person I will call.”

I recommend Mary-Lou to my friends, family, professional contacts and anyone who needs a truly honest, professional, detail-oriented, thoughtful and delightful person to sell your existing home and help you find your new home.”

Pat Magrath, Seller/Buyer

"Mary-Lou was professional, knowledgeable and dependable throughout the entirety of our selling process. She exceeded our expectations, and we highly recommend her.”

Eric & Jessica S., Sellers

"I chose Mary-Lou as our agent because I attended several open houses in Lexington and met many realtors at these event. Mary-Lou was the only agent that I met during this process who offered specific information on the community and schools as it related to my family.

"Mary-Lou helped make our relocation process from the west coast to Lexington very easy. Mary-Lou is professional, efficient, easy to work with and nice to spend time with. She exceeded my expectations for a real estate agent. She was available to show me homes based on my very limited schedule. She listened to our needs and helped me find a home that is perfect for my family. Mary-Lou is very knowledgeable about the area. She helped us get information on the public schools for my 3 children, recommended several contractors to work on our new home home, and recommended bankers and attorneys to help our transaction run smoothly. Her long term commitment to this community was very obvious to me and her years of experience saved us a lot of headaches and extra work. Mary-Lou went above and beyond in handling many of the transaction’s hassles and helped keep our end of the process and closing easy and as stress free as possible. I would highly recommend Mary-Lou to any family or friends who need to buy or sell a house.”

Barbara & Andrew White, Buyers

"Mary-Lou is a highly responsible person. She has tried her best to work towards our benefits and protect our interests. I really appreciate that she has been very patient with us. After working with her for 3 years and 3 transactions, I feel she is not just our agent, but she has become a friend. If I have future opportunity to purchase a home again, I will not turn to anyone else but Mary-Lou for help. I definitely highly recommend her to any of my friends who are ready to purchase a home.”

Sally Suen & Qiao Zhou, Buyers

"Mary-Lou was the listing Realtor for our home in Lexington. She helped us prepare our house for sale, using her knowledge and loyal resources – who were available within days to paint or repair whatever was needed to make the house sparkle for showings. The selling strategy worked effectively and we received several offers. Throughout the process, Mary-Lou was informative, available and understanding of our needs. I’d describe Mary-Lou has a Realtor who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of her clients. She’s also a very kind, empathetic and warm person to guide you through the process of selling your home.

"I’d highly recommend (and have recommended) her to friends selling or buying a home.”

Rochelle Sharit & Wayne Pastel, Sellers

"Mary-Lou McDonough is so much more than a real estate agent. My sister and I recently sold my elderly parents’ home in Lexington. Mary-Lou made this stressful, daunting task so much less difficult for us. She is experienced and knowledgeable about all aspects of selling a home. She provided staging advice and recommended many people who were able to quickly and competently fix the multitude of issues that had been neglected in my parents’ home. I lost little time from my workday because of her willingness to help with all the details. She responded very promptly to calls, texts and emails. It was a pleasure to work with her and I’d recommend her to any friend or relative buying or selling a home.”

Anne Ingard, Seller

I must admit I am one of those people that have heard it’s a sellers’ market and took that to mean I could stick a sign in the ground and people would flock to me waving their check books. After meeting with Mary-Lou I realized there was a lot more to it than that. While I may not have been receptive to her suggestions at first I’m grateful she was able to demonstrate how important it was to leave the marketing to the professionals and Mary-Lou is the quintessential professional. Mary-Lou showed us exactly where it was worth spending some time and money to showcase the house, guided us through the negotiating process and brought us a great buyer. I can’t thank her enough for all she did for us to get our house sold quickly and for top dollar. We owe it all to Mary-Lou!

Paul T - Arlington