Marty Zier

Marty has been a full time broker on Orcas Island for 33 years, spanning a dynamic evolutionary period of the real estate industry from pre-internet typewriters to zoom calls and AI tools. Compass is a natural progression for Marty as the cutting edge company fully committed to technological innovation. This affiliation with Compass is the final step in accommodating the wants and needs of his clients. The first was partnering with Deborah Hansen, a long time co-worker and experienced broker, who shares the quest to learn and focus on first rate service.

Marty's goal is to meet and exceed what is expected from him. Clients put an immense amount of trust into a Broker and a Broker's responsibility goes far beyond the fiduciary duty. He finds himself in the normal realm of advising clients on the aspects of construction, building inspections, locating property corners via hi-tech apps, and meeting San Juan County requirements. But it's just as common to find Marty helping a client move furniture, filling his truck with garbage for a last minute run to the dump or installing smoke/CO2 detectors. Educating a client on the real estate process, eliminating surprises and quick communication response times are key components to Marty's goals.

Trips to Washington State visiting family in the late 1960's first brought Marty to the San Juan's. By the early 1980's he attended high school in Anacortes and by 1982 his mother moved to Orcas Island. Summer trips and college breaks to Orcas began! Upon graduating college with a BS in Finance, he decided to leave a restaurant/bar/club job, move to Orcas with his wife and start a real estate career and island life with a revised set of life priorities. Nearly three decades later, Marty and his wife have raised four children, all graduated college and moved on to their professional careers.

Much of the last 10 years has been devoted to supporting his kids in their academic and collegiate sports, which involved many weekend trips around the country. In addition, childhood woodwork fiddling transitioned into home carpentry and remodeling that Marty enjoys and has spent 25 years altering the functional obsolescence in his ‘super 70’s’ home. Manicuring the yard, tending to 30 or so fruit trees and finding the latest deer proof plant connect him with nature. Old trucks and BMW motorcycles are also a passion that Marty has maintained for almost 40 years.

"Marty Zier and Deborah Hansen did an outstanding job selling our property located on beautiful Orcas Island, Washington.
Marty and his business partner, Deborah Hansen are amazing brokers working for COMPASS
Real Estate, and collaborate professionally to provide the best customer service in Eastsound,
WA, and throughout the island. They both provided invaluable support throughout the entire
process of selling our property on and off for several years. It was a quite a journey!
Marty always maintained a positive attitude despite all the challenges that arose during the
pandemic. Nevertheless, he persisted in finding a buyer. And then, unexpectedly a nice couple
appeared. They were quite motivated to purchase the property. Unfortunately, after 3 years
during the pandemic and frustrating procedures and permits, our buyers walked away.
In early December 2025, we decided to put the property back on the market. To our surprise,
we received an offer almost immediately. Marty called us and said: “ I think you’re going to get an early Christmas present,” and he was right!
We accepted the offer, and we will be eternally grateful to Marty and Deborah. They are
friendly, good nature, and competent brokers. We highly recommend them."

M & R Alexander