Seth O'Byrne, Realtor Review

I've had the pleasure of working with Seth O'Byrne in a partnership/vendor capacity for over 3 years now.  I work with hundreds of Realtors on a monthly basis, and I can honestly say that Seth's energy, enthusiasm and commitment to his clients is high atop my list of preferred Realtors to work with.

His knowledge of the market, the relationship building he is able to do is a short amount of time with the "other side/other Realtor" is critical in his high closing ratio.  In a market when so many properties fall out of escrow because of missed details or strenuous lending conditions, Seth has outperformed his peers in so many ways.  He's aligned himself with a great team, both inside Troop Real Estate, as well as with solid affiliates like Title Insurance, Escrow, and Lending.

I wouldn't hesitate to trust Seth to help you buy or sell your next home!

409 9th Ave
Ste 309
(between J St & Island Ave)
San Diego, CA 92101
Neighborhood: East Village

(619) 231-7439

Kimberly Schmidt - Allison James Estates & Homesn Review

We started working with Kimberly this summer (found her on yelp) - and have been super impressed with her professionalism, knowledge of the market, great communication skills and readiness to work with us even though we had just started dipping our toes in the Real Estate market and weren't sure how ready we would be to buy and when!

Although we didn't end up buying a home this time around, for our own financial reasons - Kimberly was super patient and helpful - never pushing us and allowing us to take our time every step of the way. She provided us with the information so we could make our own decisions - a quality that I feel like is pretty rare these days.

I rarely hear of realtors that are this awesome, and would HIGHLY recommend that you work with her; wether you are looking to buy or sell - she will work hard for you and never make you feel like you are not worth her time, no matter what stage you're in.

Thanks, Kimberly! We will be back when we are more ready and can't wait to work with you again to buy our first home.

2650 Camino del Rio North
Suite 353
San Diego, CA 92108

(619) 249-7016

Best Chicago Properties Review

To give you some context about myself, I work in the Market Research industry. By nature, I'm a detail oriented person who likes and needs to ask lots of questions before I feel comfortable making a decision. This is my first time buying a place, so I have made it my business to research whatever I can about the Chicago real estate market so that I was prepared to go to a Realtor and buy a place without feeling like I've been scammed.  I get it. I was going to be one of *those* customers, but still didn't quite feel guilty about it since signing up for the biggest debt in my life just wasn't going to be something I was going to do easily.

I went through two other realtors before I met Jeff Payne, owner and Managing Broker of Best Chicago Properties.  Jeff has been absolutely incredible for me.  He really took the time to listen to and understand my decision making process so that he could help me get through the real estate buying ordeal calmly and confidently.

When I finally decided to put an offer on a place, he spent almost two hours on the phone with me the night before we started negotiating walking me through his entire thought process for our strategy.  If I had questions he answered me honestly with the pros and cons but still held back so that I could make my own decisions without feeling like I was being pressured in one way or another.

Unfortunately that deal fell through during attorney review.  I had such a fantastic experience with Jeff, though, that I am committed to working with him until I do find my new home..  And I really want the rest of Chicago land to know what top notch service he offers!

847 W Monroe St
Ste 1A
(between Green St & Peoria St)
Chicago, IL 60607
Serving Chicago and surrounding area
Neighborhoods: Near West Side, West Loop

(312) 563-5300

Saffron Realty Group Review

There is definitely not much to add about Ron and Co. that has not been mentioned in the previous zillion laudatory reviews - and the positive yelp review count is obviously high enough to indicate that Saffron is the clear realtor winner in the city. To try to summarize quickly why you should go with Ron:

1. Unparalleled patience. I have friends who were working with other realtors envious of our relationship with Ron as he talked us out of pricey places and stayed consistently attentive and detail-oriented through a dozen-plus viewings. In fact, our friends switched realtors and asserted that working with Ron was a world of difference. Though anecdotal, it's direct evidence of a sort that, in immediate comparison to other realtors out there, Saffron's stronger.

2. The beginning-to-end expertise and care. From helping us set smart parameters to restrict what was initially a wide open search, to exercising caution in the middle stage, to streamlining the paper-based nightmare that could have been our closing, Ron made sure our experience was a breeze from start-to-finish.

3. Responsiveness. Ron always got back to us by phone or e-mail - per our preferred contact method - within 24 hours.

4. Personability. Ron got to know us and was friendly throughout. This led to a trust relationship that was sincere, making us more forthcoming of what we really needed in our new place, and making everyone committed to a good result in the end.

Look at the other positive reviews. Go with Ron and Saffron.

2538 W Chicago Ave
(between Rockwell St & Maplewood Ave)
Chicago, IL 60622
Serving Chicago and surrounding area
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park

(773) 496-4111

Burt Tsuei Review

A big "thank you" to the fellow Yelpers who took their time to write such glowing reviews for Burt Tsuei.  We decided to meet with Burt based on your reviews.

And so glad we did!  Upon the first meeting, we knew that he was... the one.

Months later, when we were finally ready to make the move, we hired Burt to assist with the selling of our old house and purchasing of our second home.  As second time home buyers, I can't begin to tell you how grateful we were to have him on our side during the two transactions.

To start, Burt paid us an initial visit and analyzed our house giving us suggestions to improve its appeal.  We took his advice to heart and de-cluttered the heck out of it.  Following the purge, we hired a contractor to paint the interior and exterior, which gave the house a facelift that was much needed.  I then Yelped a decorator who did an excellent job of staging the place.  (I'll review her in a separate entry.)  The day after the house was staged, Burt came out with a photographer to capture the Pygmalionesque transformation on digital film.

Burt did an incredible job of marketing our house.  We had a double-sided COLOR flyer and an online virtual tour.  We were thoroughly impressed with the results.  Consequently, our house received not one, but two offers in less than a week; and sold by the end of the week.

In the world of real estate, there are factors that you can control and those that you can't.  The difference between Burt and other agents is that he didn't make promises that he couldn't keep.  He never told us that our house would sell in a week for x amount.  No one can predict that, especially in this climate - yet I personally know of two agents who have promised our friends just that; and both of their properties are still on the market... two months later, without an offer.

We appreciated Burt's honesty, professionalism, intelligence, and level-headedness.  As other reviewers have mentioned, he never pushed us into making a decision.  He offered advice only when we asked and did not sway us into making a decision that we weren't completely happy with.  He patiently dealt with my husband and me - often times separately because my husband was out of town a lot.  And he never missed a beat, even while he was on vacation in Yellowstone.

I could go on and on.  But bottom line:  "Burt is awesome!" was a mantra that we kept repeating to each other the entire time.

Prudential CA Realty
180 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94096
Serving San Bruno and surrounding area

(650) 871-3634