After her third hospital stay in 2 years, it was clear that my mother's worsening dementia meant she could no longer live in her home of 43 years. So I began the search for an agent to sell my mother's home. I sought an agent who knew the El Cerrito market, in particular what buyers wanted. I also knew I would need advice on what needed fixing, what didn't, and what didn't but needed to be changed. And then there would be the task to find competent and readily available help to prepare the home for sale. It was not just one agent, but the team of Maggie Resnick and Alissa Custer who I selected. (Jessica joined the team later.) I was pleasantly surprised to find that their team also included a landscaper as well as a contractor of many talents, both of whom were loyal and trusted members. So after selecting Maggie and Alissa, and after emptying my mother's home, the work began. Some decisions were simple, such as the need to remove the multiple grab bars around the bath tub, but immediately came the hard, aesthetic decisions such as should there be ordinary or special tile above the tub? What shape, what size, what color? While we're at it, do we also replace the original worn and featureless bath tub? I quickly learned that Maggie and Alissa had formed a vision for the home, based on their vast knowledge of prospective buyers, and, having done this sort of thing countless times before. They could easily visualize what the home would finally look like once ready for sale. I found it not just comfortable, but necessary to follow each and every one of their suggestions to avoid having a sale-ready home that is an incomplete vision, or a possible hodge-podge of different ideas. As work progressed, specialized contractors were needed such as a plumber, hardwood flooring contractor, electrician, tree trimmer and so forth. Maggie and Alissa managed all of this so that I did not need to be intimately involved. They already knew who did good work, who was available, and readily knew if a bid sounded reasonable or not, so that the typical process to request quotes from many different contractors, wait for those quotes, and then to decide among them, was not necessary and that so importantly allowed the work to be scheduled efficiently and to move quickly. Maggie and Alissa also spent much time selecting new flooring for the bathroom, a new bathroom vanity, new overhead ceiling lights, and most helpfully, all of the many paint colors for the interior and exterior of the home. I felt that in addition to serving as realtors, they also served as general contractors and interior decorators. As seller's agents for a home in the El Cerrito area, I highly, highly recommend the team of Maggie Resnick and Alissa Custer with Marvin Gardens Realty. I also had the pleasure of working with Jessica Waggoner, who joined their team later. Hank Reekers read more

Another perfect 5-star review for this dream team. In fact, 5 stars are not enough for MAJ. If it was possible to give them 5000 stars, I'd break the internet attempting to do so. This will be a little different from all of the other glowing reviews from everyone who works with these incredible women because I am not only a lucky MAJ client, but Jessica and Alissa are longtime personal friends. It can be a leap of faith to mix business with friendship, but when it came time for our family to level-up from our home in Kensington, we didn't hesitate for a moment. We RAN to hire them. It's no overstatement to say we never would have had the confidence to go after (and win!) our dream home and then turn around and sell our existing house without the wise counsel and experienced encouragement of our friends who lucky for us just so happen to be some of the top-performing realtors in the Bay Area. I know them well enough to know they're brilliant, kind, hardworking humans with deep integrity. At the same time, I've participated in enough family game nights with both Jess and Alissa to understand that despite their fundamental and unwavering kindness, they're both stone-cold competitors who play to win. So it's been a joy to watch and marvel at their well-earned success over the years -- and to celebrate with them when they've worked their particular magic to help friend after mutual friend make their Bay Area real estate dreams come true. We had yet to really start looking at homes when I got a text from Jess and Alissa one night saying "Look at this listing - this house is for you." They took us to see the home, and sure enough, we fell in love. We never thought we'd actually win it, but we soon learned that miracles can and do happen with MAJ on your side. Following MAJ's lead on that text was just the first in a string of moments in which, play-by-play, they would guide us to far better outcomes than we thought possible. We scored our dream home, and then turned around to ready our previous property for the busy spring market. What could possibly go wrong? Enter the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the twists and turns in this period of nail-biting uncertainty -- for the real estate market and the world -- my husband and I couldn't have been more reassured to be working with MAJ. Let me tell you from personal experience, these are the badass women you want with you in your foxhole. They pulled out every stop to bring our home to market, to reach the right buyers, and ultimately to secure a sales price beyond what we were expecting even prior to the pandemic. The whole neighborhood should be thanking them for improving property values. Good friends make life better, and good friends who are realtors can change your life forever. Thanks MAJ, we love you! read more

My wife and I recently purchased and sold a home with Alissa and we recommend her services with 100% confidence. In May of 2015, my wife and I were looking to upgrade to a larger home in the Richmond/El Cerrito area, in what we consider one of the last caches of relatively affordable housing in the Bay Area. As 13-year residents of Richmond, we knew the market in the area was extremely competitive and that we would need an agent with exquisite knowledge of this micro-market to purchase a home without over-paying. We approached Marvin Gardens real estate agency due to their presence and reputation in the area and were introduced to Alissa. My wife and I immediately appreciated that she is a resident of El Cerrito, and, as a parent of two young children, could understand first-hand the needs of our growing family such as access to parks, elementary and middle schools. During our initial meeting, she took the time to listen to our "must haves" and "nice to haves", and most importantly, our budget. She focused our search on properties that met our criteria, and helped us evaluate each property in light of any repairs that would be needed, giving us an accurate idea of what the real cost of ownership would be. We could only manage a 10% down payment on our home purchase, and as anyone in this crazy market can tell you, this put us at a considerable disadvantage to the other buyers. In spite of this challenge, Alissa was able to structure a winning offer for a very competitive property, a newly remodeled 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in East Richmond Heights. I am certain that her guidance made all the difference in landing the home of our dreams. Once we purchased our new home, we again turned to Alissa for her expertise in the sale of our old house. Having just anted up nearly our entire life savings for the down payment of our new house, Alissa was very sensitive to our limited cash reserve and recommended effective yet economical improvements to pique the interest of potential buyers. Alissa understood our need to quickly restore our cash position and our house was on the market in one month. Two weeks later, we accepted an offer that exceeded our grandest expectations. With our purchase and sale completed, our relationship with Alissa continues. We are beginning a major landscaping project and she has been an invaluable resource for referring architects, electricians and haulers. To us, this enduring relationship that goes beyond the close of escrow is one of the things that sets her apart from the rest of the field. We would not hesitate to recommend Alissa to anyone considering the sale or purchase of a home in the East Bay! read more

I highly recommend Alissa and MAJ realtors. Working with them could not have been better. Alissa helped us sell our house during the pandemic. She made helpful suggestions for minor upgrades to our house so it would really catch a buyer's eye. Once we moved out, she flew into action and was able to schedule floor repair, painters and repair crews immediately. The house looked amazing when she was done with it. When the work was complete and the staging in place, the marketing campaign began. All this, and we didn't have to do a thing. Alissa walked us through the whole selling process, answered our questions, was available via text/call/ email on evenings and weekends. She is so in touch with the market trends. She was able to price the house to get the most views and cultivated a lot of interest for us on all sorts of media platforms. We were so pleased with the offers we received!! Then on the buying side, Alissa was so patient with us. We were not completely sure what we needed and as the pandemic continued, our needs in a new house changed a bit. She directed us to new houses as they came up, got us appointments to see them (no open houses during COVID) and was so flexible with her time. She offered great suggestions for easy upgrades on prospective houses and was able to show us how some of these spaces could really work for us. Once the COVID restrictions relaxed a little and we could pop into see houses on our own, I was constantly running an internal monolog as I would walk through open houses ..."Now, what would Alissa's ideas be for this room? How would she improve this odd feature?..." She was always ready to a revisit to any house we found appealing and discuss her ideas. She, again, knows the market. Her suggestions for offers based on trends specific to the neighborhoods we were looking in were so valuable. Once we found a house we were interested in, she jumped into action again. She was able to get all the necessary players lined up to complete the sale. We even had some issues with the lender and she had the foresight to see this coming. She provided options to solve the issue and steered us through the process. We would likely not be home owners at this moment had she not been so proactive and such a strong advocate on our behalf. We are so grateful for all her work! And still, she is helping us do some upgrades in our new home by providing names of electricians, flooring specialists and contractors and helping line them up before we move in. Alissa and MAJ realtors are fantastic. 5 stars. We are so thankful for all they have done for us. read more

Absolutely fabulous! I would recommend Alissa to anyone looking to buy or sell in El Cerrito, Berkeley, or Oakland. Strengths: knowledge, understanding clients' wishes, on-point advice (no sugar coating), work ethic, communication, personality, and wide-spread connections. Weakness: availability (she is not on call 24/7; she has a family and can't work with too many buyers or sellers at the same time). If you are lucky enough to have Alissa as your agent, you won't be disappointed! Here was my experience: Alissa helped me buy my first home in Berkeley by guiding me through every step of the process. She quickly proved to be extremely knowledgeable about East Bay neighborhoods and knows how to analyze a house to determine if it's the right home for you. She taught me what to look for in foundations, electrical, plumbing, house layouts, and disclosure packets. After a few, short, educational outings with Alissa, I knew what to look for when I went to open houses on my own. Alissa and I probably experienced every situation an agent and a client can find themselves. When I was excited about one house she did not like, she let me know her honest and expert opinion and advised against it (she never sugar coated anything). She listened to me when I said a home she liked was not for me. When I was struggling to decide whether to put in an offer, she had sound advice and helped me make the right decision. She knew when to push for a house that was perfect for me and when to back off when the bidding got too high for my budget. For the home I bought, Alissa uncovered an excellent opportunity that needed very quick actions; and she was up to the challenge! Once my bid was submitted and accepted, she put me in contact with Old Republic Title Company who were fabulous to work with. Alissa has a contact for every task you need accomplished. In the end, it was her quick actions and sound advice throughout that got me into a house that I absolutely adore. When I began this process, I was told I will most likely have buyer's remorse. Only in rare situations when the buyer absolutely loves their home, and knows they made the right decision, will buyer's remorse not come up. I, nor Alissa, cannot guarantee you will not have buyer's remorse. What I can say is that Alissa will work her hardest to find the right home for you. read more

This past year, the "sands of time" caught up with our mother who is now in her 90's. Unfortunately, it became necessary for her to sell her dream home, the house we all grew up, in order for her to receive the care she needed. Through a friend of our mothers, we were put in touch with MAJ Realtors (Maggie, Alissa, and Jessica). We contacted MAJ Realtors this past spring to schedule a meeting. We knew that we had selected the right team from the start. What impressed us the most was how knowledgeable they were about the community, the real estate market, and their ability to develop a plan with a doable timeline that would meet our needs while being very respectful of our Mother and her feelings about selling her dream home. Our mother's house was put up for sale in mid-summer listing with MAJ Realtors. The plan provided by MAJ Realtors along with the timeline gave us sufficient time to support our mother's move to an area conducive in supporting her current situation. After our mother relocated, MAJ Realtors took care of everything else. Any items we left behind in our mother's house, their crew disposed of them and prepared the house for sale. The house and grounds were prepped for the upcoming sale.....all taken care of by MAJ Realtors. This was a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. Our mother's house officially went on the Market as planned with a scheduled close in bids 16 days later. On the 16th day, we received a phone call from Jessica of MAJ Realtors stating that the highest offer for the home was CONSIDERABLY more than expected. As a bonus, the new owners seem to be the type of family that we would want to live in the house where we all grew up. We accepted the offer and 18 days later, closed escrow. Our family greatly appreciates the work, care and concern shown by MAJ Realtors team for our mother. There was no pressure, only respect for a very difficult life change that was about to occur for our mother. The happy ending is our mother is settled in her new life and takes every day as a new adventure, living in comfort and close to family and friends. Thanks for the work that MAJ Realtors did on behalf of our Mother. As a result of their efforts, our Mother can live in comfort for the remainder of her life. read more

If you are looking for a real estate agent, we enthusiastically recommend Lissa Moon LaCroix from MAJ Realtors. Lissa Moon recently helped us to buy our dream home in Kensington, CA. As our buyer's agent, she was dedicated, resourceful, caring, and creative - just an absolute delight to work with. Here is our story. We live in Seattle, but our daughter and son-in-law live in Berkeley with their two young children. Wishing to be closer to them, we started looking in the Berkeley-Oakland-Kensington area for a house that would be retiree friendly (preferably with level-in bedrooms) but still had a nice view. After more than two years of on-line searching, we finally found a house that was exactly what we had been looking for. But we were at a loss as to how to proceed. Many factors were against us. First, as out-of-town buyers, we had little knowledge of how the local real estate market worked in this area. Second, this is an older house (mid-century) and we needed to do a lot of due diligence, but we did not know any seismic engineers, contractors, or local inspectors. Third, this house had an amazing view and was clearly going to attract multiple offers. Fortunately, Lissa Moon was there to help us through the process. Deeply knowledgeable and well-connected, she quickly linked us to all the people needed to check out this property (sometimes more than one person, so we can get multiple perspectives). As we approached the bidding process, she helped us to understand market expectations and craft an attractive overall offer. We were thrilled when our offer was eventually selected. Our experience with Lissa Moon was enjoyable throughout. She is articulate, candid, cheerful, creative, down-to-earth, and big-hearted. She has a flair for life and a great eye for architectural and interior design. But perhaps most important of all, she cares deeply about her clients and is completely dedicated to their well-being. We truly enjoyed getting to know her and even learned a little about her family. Throughout this journey, we never felt rushed or pushed. Smart. Dedicated. Candid. Big-hearted. Cheerful. Creative. And a great sense of humor too. Lissa Moon LaCroix is the best! read more

My partner and I worked with Jessica Waggoner of MAJ last year to buy a house in Richmond. Jessica came highly recommended to us, and she was AMAZING. She truly went above and beyond to support us through our first home purchase. As I've talked with others about their home buying experiences since then, I've realized that MAJ provides A+ service that is not typical for most real estate agencies. Jessica's expertise was invaluable. She helped us understand what was typical and expected when looking through home disclosures, actually walking us through our first one from front to back. She was honest with us when she saw red flags in inspection reports. She has a very good sense of the current market and encouraged us to bid more competitively on certain homes and actually bid LESS on other homes. The home we wound up purchasing was one where she actually encouraged us to bid less than we were expecting, so we got it at an incredible "deal" that we felt very happy with. Jessica worked with our preferred mortgage broker with no issues at all. She was incredibly available for all our phone calls and "emergencies." On the rare occasion she wasn't available, she tapped another member of her team to step in when needed. In addition to all the logistics, Jessica was very patient with the emotional aspects of buying a home. She didn't pressure us at all and we always felt like she was truly our cheerleader. Lastly, the home that we purchased needed a few upgrades (hardwood floors, fresh paint, etc) after we closed, and Jessica put us in touch with all her favorite contractors, which was incredibly helpful. The people she suggested we work with were FANTASTIC. This was assistance she was definitely under no obligation to help us with, but it made a huge difference in our stress levels. We still work with the handyman and plumber she recommended. I recommend Jessica and her team to literally everyone I know. When it comes time for us to buy or sell in the future, she will definitely be the person we work with again. read more

I can't say enough good things about MAJ Realtors! My wife and I worked with Alissa to purchase our first home. The level of service was above and beyond. From the very first interview, Alissa put us right at ease. She was approachable, easygoing, and knowledgeable - and on top of that, she truly listened. We immediately felt we could trust her. Alissa toured a number of houses with us, watching and listening for our reactions to each place. At each house, she taught us to look for the small but important details: roof design, drainage, presence of cracks, temperature in each room. She would get under each house with her phone flashlight and show us whether the pipes were made of copper or other metals, and how recently the seismic retrofitting had been done. Perhaps most importantly, Alissa helped us tune into our feelings about each place. She asked open-ended questions of us, and truly listened to our answers. This helped us formulate what we really wanted in a home. We learned so much from these visits and they increased our confidence as we continued to shop around. After touring a few places with us, Alissa watched the market and suggested homes that fell within our means. Her eye was sharp - we absolutely fell in love with a house that she suggested. Once we decided to move forward, Alissa helped us through every step: setting the offer amount, drafting a letter, and advocating for us to the selling team. Our offer was accepted, but Alissa wasn't done. She continued to help us with the escrow process, and saw us through to our close date. We are now the proud owners of a dream home, and we're moving in just over a week. We are overjoyed and can't believe our good fortune. I am not exaggerating when I say that Alissa, and by extension MAJ Realtors, made this happen for us - and on top of that, made the process feel easy and understandable. We would recommend MAJ to anyone. If you're thinking of buying a place, trust them to work their magic. You'll be happy you did! read more

My sister and I recently worked with Alissa to sell a house we inherited and we couldn't be happier with the process and results!! We got multiple strong offers and closed in 2 weeks for 26% over the list price. And we felt great about the path to get there! We feel extremely lucky to have worked with Alissa and to have gotten these results in what seems like a softening market. Many other similar homes in the area are still on the market, more than a month after we closed. Alissa is a real gem - incredibly competent, ethical, and a joy to work with. I would hire her again in a heartbeat and will recommend her to everyone I know who plans to buy or sell a house in the area. Having never purchased or sold a home before, we really needed someone we trusted to guide us through the process. After interviewing several agents we chose Alissa for her excellent track record in El Cerrito, her thoughtful proposal for preparing and marketing our house, her no-nonsense communication style and her down to earth personality. We had extremely high expectations and Alissa far exceeded them all! My sister and I wanted to be more involved than the average sellers, due to our personalities and our emotional feelings about the house our parent left us. Alissa met us where we were - she facilitated our involvement in the process while at the same time guiding and advising us on the best decisions to ensure a successful sale. She was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the sales process (and has the contacts and confidence to reach out to other experts when needed); she was thoughtful, communicative, collaborative, and strategic throughout and a very good listener, which is part of what made her an extremely capable and level-headed problem solver whenever an issue arose. She also has a great team of folks to help prep the house and excellent relationships with other agents, all of which helped us secure such strong offers. Thank you Alissa - we could not have done it without you! read more

First time sellers, we had lived in our first home in El Cerrito for 16 years, and wanted to take the opportunity to move to another Bay Area community closer to work. My wife picked MAJ because of their solid reputation in our area. Jessica Waggoner was our representative, and she did a spectacular job, we were so pleased with the outcome. As soon as we were vacated from the house, Jess went into high gear and brought in her team to get our house and landscaping spruced up for sale (including painting, refinishing floors, etc.). The end result was impressive, and when her team was finished, my response to their choices, again and again, was "why didn't I think of that?" Afterwards she brought in a staging team that took it to the next level. We had the whole house staged, and in my mind, the extra expense was worth it. Our cluttered old house was transformed into eye candy, and in this difficult selling season, a lot of my concerns and fears about selling our home at a good price disappeared. In short, they brought out the best of what we had to offer. She put together a slick multimedia marketing package, scheduled a lot of showings and evaluated quality multiple offers within a short amount of time. And bear in mind, all of this during the Covid-19 crisis, working in a challenging market with a new restrictive set of rules for the first time, with no more "open houses" as in the good old days. Throughout it all, Jess communicated with us promptly, addressed all of our concerns, and worked as a vigorous advocate for our best interest throughout the entire process. Thank you for your efforts, Jess. read more

Who doesn't like knowing what they're doing? As first-time home buyers, we tried. Lots of research, lots of open houses, and we thought we were prepared. But when 300-page disclosure packets started landing and Google no longer had answers, we understood what a good agent really means. In hindsight, we didn't just need an agent - we needed Alissa. Alissa was calm, decisive, and incredibly communicative. She knows the East Bay neighborhoods and market so well it's almost eerie. She can recite facts to the details, and she reads minds! She has this ability to take our scattered ideas and turn them into clear home criteria. When unexpected plot twists derailed our purchasing process, Alissa was always steps ahead - gathering intel, tapping her network, and walking us through options with clarity and confidence, but always leaving the decision to us. We found a home we truly love, within budget and below appraised value. Looking back, there were so many moments that could have become overwhelming without Alissa in our corner. We've always prided ourselves on figuring things out ourselves, but this experience reminded us that true expertise makes someone irreplaceable. The Internet has its place, but when buying a home, there's no substitute for a sharp, grounded expert like Alissa. p.s. We also had the fortune to work with Jessica when Alissa was on a long-due vacation. These two make a tag team! read more

They are the greatest realtors in California. I had to move to Oregon on 3/30/2019. This was when we all were just beginning to recognize the Covid issues. My home was not really ready for showing, but I had to leave because my husband was ill and I needed family help ASAP. I had thought I would move in 6-8 months after finishing my list of projects. Alissa took on getting my yard updated, about 1/3 of the painting inside of the house, the main oak floors on the upper level sanded and varnished, the kitchen updated, and besides staging/final cleaning, a lot of other big jobs. I never expected to not be able to finish everything on my list. When I left I believed that my home would not sell until the Covid mess was taken care of. I thought that the timing would be 1-2 years after I left. Alissa disagreeded and dug in to get everything ready to show. She called me and emailed me twice a week and sent pictures. she talked various businesses into working in my house because no one was there. She was optimistic, hard working, checked on my home morning and night to make sure the jobs were done correctly. Four months later she SOLD my home at the price she had suggested before all this happened. It was a miracle. Call these realtors and beg them to sell your house. You will be so glad you did! They are honest, extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of selling homes, and hardworking. read more

Alissa was the best real estate agent we've ever had or could possibly imagine. We were new to the Bay Area and not at all familiar with the ins and outs of the East Bay housing market; but we had heard enough about how competitive the market is to be completely daunted at the prospect of jumping in. Alissa was very well informed, and provided us data about the market and her analysis of how it would behave. She helped us set realistic expectations about what types of houses we could realistically compete for in various areas, and also provided suggestions for additional neighborhoods to consider. Most essential for our eventual success is that she helped us to understand what it would take to make a competitive offer in this market and helped us determine which houses really warranted being aggressive with our bidding. But what we valued most about Alissa was her patience, her willingness to be available for (frequent) pep talks, and her responsiveness whenever we had questions or concerns (which was a lot of the time). She's just great, and the only downside of successfully closing on a home we love was that it meant no more Monday night strategy calls or house hunting tours with her. We highly recommend Alissa; you could not find a better agent. read more

My wife and I were lucky to be introduced to Alissa after visiting an open house. She quickly learned what we were looking for in a house. She was always available and accessible. We had lots of questions and whenever we did, she was quick to respond and addressed our concerns and answered our questions almost daily. She is also a great problem solver. On one occasion, we had concerns about permitting issues and the cost of it. We had to act fast as the offer date was approaching. She was able to provide us permit information and even helped us find a contractor to assess the cost. This information helped us greatly in deciding the amount to offer. She has many connections in the business and knows properties before they come onto the market which is very important in today's market. She is knowledgeable and provided solutions for us every step of the way from searching for our ideal home to purchasing and closing of escrow. The process was long as it took several months. She was super patient which is one of many qualities we appreciated about her. She understands the market well and the customers' needs. Thank you Alissa for helping us find a wonderful home. read more