"It was wonderful working with Stephen. We were first time home buyers and we were very picky because of the specific housing needs for our large family. Choosing a realtor: We got introduced to Stephen from our HUD counselor. When we interviewed Stephen (there were three other candidates, all knowledgeable in their own respect), he checked all the boxes. At the time we had to decide, we had no worries signing the buyer-agent contract with him with confidence given how well he matched with our values. Deep experience in real estate market (specifically Alameda for us), no hard selling, conscientious about contingencies, and keen on accessibility features of a house for our needs as a family with small children. The home search: we always received a fair and impartial assessment of each house we viewed. This worked perfectly for us because we don’t respond well to ‘just think of it as a starter home’ or ‘at least you’re starting equity instead of paying rent’ or ‘have you considered other cities?’. We’re allergic to hearing these mostly because of the situation we were in and the objectives we had. So to hear the complete opposite from him, ‘this home might not work for your family because.. so let’s keep looking.’ and ‘but do you LOVE this home? Let’s make sure you do.’ was such a big affirmation that we were working with the right agent. Writing the winning offer: did you know, Stephen conducts classes teaching other realtors how to write winning offers! Once we found a home we loved and wanted to put an offer in, he kicked his skills into high gear and we eventually put in a winning offer for the home we now own. Of course this will be highly relative to your experience: the market you are targeting, the house you have chosen, and the pre approved budget you have from your lender. My takeaway is, Stephen made the best of what we had. He made sure no option or stone under our control was left unturned or left to chance, and even if we had lost the bid, I still would have held my head high knowing we put our best foot forward with Stephen’s expert guidance. Navigating the days in contract: our transaction was smooth since I made sure on my side that we had all our ducks in a row. The appraisal also came in at offer price, and our offer price was heavily influenced based on the comps Stephen ran for us when we wrote the offer. We did discover two items during this time, and Stephen had very tactical steps for us to do. His guidance was deeply based on his professional experience and knowledge on industry standards. Eventually we closed contract on time and without any problems. Overall, we are very happy with our first time homebuyer experience with Stephen. We felt there was no stone left unturned and we know we put our best foot forward. You, dear reader, are probably going through these reviews to help decide if Stephen is the right realtor for you too. And you’re doing the right thing! Continue doing your due diligence. Knowing how Stephen operates and how he handled our purchase, I am confident he will be a dependable, knowledgeable, objective, and effective realtor for you too like how he was for us."
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