Testimonials

Under constant harassment from our landlady we finally decided to try and buy our first house. Serious recommendations lead us to Richard, and let me say up front, he is remarkable. He worked tirelessly to help us find a home for our family and has continued to help us as we figure out home ownership.

In the beginning, he sat down with us, listened carefully and patiently to our hopes, fears, confusion, and uncertainty, and then helped us start taking those terrifying steps forward. In retrospect, I think Richard knew what we wanted and needed long before we did, but despite that he tirelessly and graciously took us on tour after tour without pushing, being straight with us about each property, and heping along our way to find a home and figure out what was really important to us in a home.

When we found it, he worked some serious magic, got us the home in a competitive Bay Area market, and then did all the closing work for us while we were out of town. After we moved, I figured that was it but Richard goes the distance and then does another lap. He checked in with us, helped hold our seller to a list of promised repairs, and took care of a few minor things that he definitely did not have to deal with. He has answered all our questions about taxes, ownership, pros and cons of solar and the list goes on.

If I had to sell or buy a house again I'd call him in a heartbeat.

You responded to questions/inquiries quickly: offered appropriate input and information: humor, easy-going, respectful, patient, honest, provided trustworthy recommendations, present when looking at properties, flexible with our needs and schedule, engaging and humorous. You guided us through the process and explained parts that I didn't understand or with which I was familiar. 

You showed up with a proposal and had done your homework. You gave us a plan and timeline for the sale. We were skeptical after our first bad realtor experience but were amazed that everything followed the plan and timeline!

About a year ago I assumed responsiblities for three family-owned income properties in Oakland. I walked into the Grand Lake office of Better Homes and Gardens and started interviewing people to see if I would be interested in any of them to handle our deal. Not finding the person I wanted in the office that day I left my contact information and asked that someone with experience selling the kind of properties we owned to call me. Richard not only passed that first phone interview when he called me later, but over the next several months exhibited the patience and the tenancity that we needed to handle our special situation.

I am not local anymore so Richard had to deal long distance with me (the guy making the decisions) and still keep the locals happy (the guy with no authority but with all the keys). After a few delays that we caused, Richard stuck with us and assisted us in many ways that go far beyond the normal realtor duties. He became a trusted advisor dealing with significant on-location issues that I could not handle on my own from afar.

Right from the start Richard recommended a marketing plan that fit perfectly with my own thinking and he proved many times over that I had chosen correctly when we signed the listing over to Richard. We could not have been more pleased with the end result. When the serious marketing efforts started, we had offers on three old, deteriorating, large income properties that far exceeded our list prices by a combined total of several hundred thousand dollars.

I firmly believe there are only a very few agents who could have pulled off the same result. I highly recommend Richard for any real estate needs in the East Bay.

Richard was incredibly easy to work with. We had worked with two previous real estate agents prior with nothing but frustrating results. Third time is a charm because once we found Richard, everything fell into place. He found our home for us, which in other experiences I was the one doing all the house hunting with not a lot of help. 

You were very patient and attentive during the process. We made multiple offers that we didn't get and you never seemed put out by the extra work. I really appreciated the way you stayed calm, even when things got very complicated. You were smart and thoughtful about how we should proceed when the other side was acting unprofessionally as well. You were very flexible and able to meet at locations with limited advance notice.

Richard removed the stress out of buying a property in the Bay Area. Not an easy feat in this market! What impressed me the most was when he actually talked me out of buying a property because of some building issues I had not thought of. He decided to advise me to do what was best for my future, instead of looking for a quick sale for himself.

People know this guy. When I mentioned who I was working with to other agents, they knew I was already in good hands. It's very impressive to see such respect for someone like that in this industry.

You've heard that real estate is about, "location, location, location" but working with Richard is a reminder that it's all about, "relation, relation, relation". 

Richard has the perfect balance of knowing when to be relaxed and knowing when to push. Just to clarify, he was 100% relaxed and helpful for me in choosing my home and walking me through the process. He was gentle but firmly "pushy" with the other parties to make sure the deal got closed and that I would be in the best situation possible. 

I'd like to call him the "Rock Star" of real estate but it doesn't quite match his personality. He's more the "Thich Nhat Hanh" of home buying or the "Mother Theresa" of transactions. 

I was not a fan of real estate agents - I never felt I could completely trust them until I worked with Richard. He is a phenomenal agent and one I would highly recommend. You showed up with a proposal and had done your homework. You gave us a plan and a timeline for the sale. We were pleased that Richard was so helpful at every turn, patient, a good advisor in the midst of decisions, and a steady advocate to help us get the deal finished. 

You should know, up front, that I have had some bad experiences with realtors in the past, and I approached my most recent real estate sale with gritted teeth and resignation. I called Richard because he had sold other units in my building without a lot of drama.

What a nice surprise! He was efficient, organized, and low-key.  He was very knowledgeable about the market. He listened to me well, understood my priorities, and set to work selling my condo. Basically, I didn't have to worry about anything, the condo sold for a good price, and I am happy.

On top of everything else, he's a genuinely nice person. Give the man a call.  You will not be sorry.

We can't say enough good things about working with you. You are not only extremely knowledgeable about the market and Alameda specifically, you're also well-liked by other people we had to deal with in purchasing our home. From the guys at Prospect mortgage, to the people at the title company, everyone had great things to say about you, and we think that made a big difference in the deal going through. If it weren't for your good relationship with the seller's realtor, we don't think we would have gotten this place. And your kind and easy going manner was a huge help to us, as we were feeling kind of stressed out aboout the whole process.

Explained the processes of selling the home clearly, gave a realistic expectation on home value, gave home comparables in booklet form to explain to spouse, gave great recommendations for home staging company, did a sensational job on the internet website with professional photography, enlisted a thorough home inspector resulting in the most detailed report I've ever seen. The result was multiple offers with a final sales price higher than the asking price. Also, at one point, Richard was asked to be a representative for a buyer as well. He declined and sent the buyer to another agent.

We met Richard at an open house he was hosting and was immediately impressed by his calm, friendly and confident demeanor. We took his business card and looked him up when we decided to sell our home in Oakland. He took control of the whole process of selling our home in an efficient and professional manner and kept us apprised of all the details as they unfolded. After two weekends of open houses, we had half a dozen or so offers - all well over our asking price. Although the first contract fell through, Richard had a backup ready to go. The lag time between the two was minimal, and we were again kept in the loop of all the details in a professional manner. We highly recommend Richard for your real estate transaction needs! We couldn't be happier with the results secured through his excellent efforts.

Your calm manner, openness to suggestions and ideas, always returned calls promptly, your experience and knowledge of the greater Easy Bay area - and once the sale was made, we recieved a considerably higher price than what our earlier realtor tried to get us to accept.