Michael is a great realtor - and we have worked with quite a few in the past 10 years to recognize…read morea true professional when we see one! He made the process of buying a home very smooth for us. He kept us very well informed with frequent updates through the "bidding" process for our house. Prior to that, he was great about sending us many, many choices when we were still not focused in our house hunt. After the offer was accepted, Michael continued to follow up with the seller's agent to ensure we got the house in top condition. He knows the area very well and what he doesn't know, he makes sure he finds out from other agents and his network - very diligent and very thorough! He was also very thorough in following up with comps etc. to help us come up with the "right" price for our place. He made the whole process for us as stress-free as anyone possibly can in a seller's market!

Biggest con out there along with his partner Chen chao quan. They did faulty constructions and half…read moreass work. Their prices are cheap, but it comes with a cost. Stay far away from these 2 folks.

Patrick Ma is perhaps the cheapest person and biggest scammer I have ever dealt with. He flipped…read moreour home, and sold it to us in 2018. He went on vacation in the middle of escrow, couldn't be reached for almost two weeks and then proceeded to find some rule where if escrow exceeded a certain amount of time the buyers would have to pay $100 a day until the closing date! We paid $1000s of extra dollars because he decided to go on vacation and we could not reach him for weeks and got away with it. Not to mention he used the cheapest possible materials in this flip. In the last three years our kitchen faucet had to be replaced, our "brand new" refrigerator broke within less than a year, we had to get the garbage disposal replaced, the "brand new sprinkler system" upon further inspection wasn't even hooked up to any sprinklers, within 2 weeks of closing our entire upper lateral failed (which he knew and did not disclose) and we had to pay 10k to get it fixed 2 weeks after closing. Half of the heating system wasn't hooked up (no ducts) but inspection passed anyways because the heater itself works. There was a second water heater in the house that I made him pay to replace and when we went to replace it WASNT EVEN HOOKED UP, it was just down there as a dummy so people would think there was hot water going to that side of the house, which there wasn't. Every single thing he could skip out on without it being noticed was done. I will never forget his name because he is the cheapest, snakiest person I've ever done business with!!!

Incredible realtor. Jeffrey led my spouse and I through our first home purchase in a difficult Easy…read moreBay market. We found a home we love and felt confident about our purchase. Jeffrey also expertly walked us through the many activities that accompany buying a home: purchasing earthquake insurance, making sure the sidewalk is up to code, etc. We really felt like we had a wise, experienced, kind, and sharp expert in our corner. Strongly recommended!

When we enlisted Jeffrey's services my wife and I knew we wanted a house but not much more than…read morethat. Jeffery guided us through intricacies and minutia of the competitive Oakland housing market. Jeffery was a good councilor after a few failed bids on competitive properties. He eventually got us into a duplex with income properties that puts the rest of the places to shame. Without Jeffery's knowledge, patience and no nonsense honesty we never would have gotten our home.

If you're looking for a great realtor look no further than Adam Shoop. He definitely goes above and…read morebeyond for his clients. I've had the pleasure of using him on several occasions to find rental properties and referred him to friends and colleagues who have had nothing but positive things to say about him. He does his research, understands the nuances of the markets he's looking in, identifies risks and opportunities with each house or property, and makes informed honest suggestions on how to move forward. He's not just looking to make a sale, he's looking to make sure his clients are going to be satisfied with the transaction. At the end of the day, he's an honest and reliable realtor who takes care of his clients best interest.

Adam is awesome! We were super anxious and nervous about being first time homebuyers. Having Adam…read morewas a huge relief. He was patient and went above and beyond in our search. He spent countless of weekends with us, going all around Marin County. What's really great about Adam is that he's truly an expert in real estate. He wasn't afraid to keep it real and tell us what to expect in our price range. But he also was a tough negotiator, knew what we wanted, and ended up getting us our dream home in Marin! Even after we signed for the house, Adam walked us through our inspections and answered all of our millions of questions (lol). If you want someone who knows the market well, willing to do what it takes, is kind and honest, and makes the process easy, Adam is your guy. We've even been recommending him to our friends, one of whom just bought a home through him too!

OUR EXPERIENCE: FROM FIRST-TIME BUYERS TO FIRST-TIME BUYERS…read more First of all, we changed four different agents and worked with each agent for 2 weeks minimum to assess them. You get it: we are a picky couple with very different tastes and preferences, we change our minds a lot, we are obsessed with details, and we want to be absolutely sure that we cross all ts and dot all is on the most important purchase in our lives. Alex is THE AGENT we found to be the perfect match for us: we worked with him for five months, he managed to harmonize our priorities and as result we secured a deal on our dream home and could not have been happier. We found that a lot of agents are competent and capable of making you feel heard so you may wonder: what's the difference between an excellent agent and a truly extraordinary one? One aspect is area coverage. Most agents we found specialized in certain areas, so you are going to need many if you are not sure where you want to buy. Each agent will then try to sell you their area which, as a buyer, is going to give you a headache. Luckily, Alex covers a vast area - 2-3 times larger than other agents we worked with. We found that working with a single person is way simpler, as you can get unbiased opinions on where to buy. Your agent needs to take care of you and educate you about the market. This is by far the most important skill an agent needs to have, and is also the trickiest because it requires a lot of your agent time. You'll learn that there is no such thing as a good/bad house, as rather, what you can buy with X money in area Y at a certain moment in time. As a buyer, you won't know what the market looks like when you are looking, as you need to learn before you buy. We really appreciated that Alex patiently spent dozens of hours with us - essentially all weekends + several days of the week - visiting over 50 different houses, until the right one came to us. He never rushed us to make decisions we were not sure about. Competence. Yeah, every agent seems to be super smart about noticing things about the house but after a while you notice that there is diversity in their level of expertise. Alex really brings these skills to the highest levels. He's truly knowledgeable on constructions, interior/exterior finishes, appliances, anything you need to know about a property. We quickly noticed the stunning difference in comparison to other agents. Bottom line: to a non-pro like us, everybody seems an expert initially, but only a few really are. Cherry on the top: Alex is an excellent negotiator and he makes sure you get the best possible deal on your purchase. He always gave us suggestions and second opinions on when to bid more aggressively or when to back down. In the crazy market of the Bay Area, this is a most valuable skill.

I moved from Michigan to CA at the end of 2021. Alex was introduced to me via the company's…read morerecruitment. He was very professional and patient. He spent quite a lot of time driving us around the Bay Area to show us different flavors of the houses on the market at the time so that he could understand what we were looking for. He was never pushy and gave his honest opinions when being asked. He also helped me in the process of getting a mortgage loan and house insurance. I am happy with his service. I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone.

A good friend of our referred us to Sheila and Dave, and we met to discuss their acting as the…read moreselling agents on our SF condo. They were professional, direct, and honest, but, I have to admit I was skeptical at firm, primarily because some of their advice about the correct initial asking price for our condo seemed off base. Well, frankly, I was wrong (and should have known it, since I have minimal real estate sales experience). Their advice was right on target, as the number of potential buyers that saw our condo was much higher than I would have expected, and we believe it was higher primarily due to the asking price we used. From the beginning of the process, they walked us through all that would occur. They coordinated all inspections, forms, docu-signing, offers, and the final sale. They also really seemed to be focused on proactively getting our condo out to the market, rather that sitting back and waiting for buyers to come in (as you'd think sometimes occur in the SF market), so they really earned their sales commission. I was surprised when I heard about the numerous events they set up for agents and buyers, certainly more than I expected. Then when the offers (!!) came in, they walked us through them logically and clearly, so that we could make our decisions. Frankly, it couldn't have gone more smoothly. My thanks and respect to Sheila and Dave; and I encourage you strongly to consider them for your real estate sale.

Awesome, yin-and-yang husband and wife team.  (Relationship goal?)  They really listened and were…read morenot pushy or obtrusive.  They shined at structuring the offer to close the deal - not easy in a tough market with such low inventory.  I purchased a condo in South Beach, SF from out of town.  I couldn't have done it without their help. I'm ever so grateful I was referred to Sheila and Dave.

This was our first purchase, and we're glad we had John Clark guiding us through the process. From…read morethe very beginning, he was patient, approachable, and never pushy. He worked around our schedule, always making time for showings and questions, as we learned our way through the process. When we found the right house, he fought hard to negotiate a fair price and made sure we got a great deal. Behind the scenes, he stayed on top of every detail with the escrow company and the selling agent, which gave us confidence that nothing would slip through the cracks. Even after closing, John has continued to be a resource, connecting us with his extensive network of contractors and service providers. His professionalism, dedication, and genuine care made our first home-buying experience much smoother than we ever expected.

I've worked with many realtors over time and John is the best. I live in the southern part of the…read morestate and for a year I tried to relocate to San Rafael. Since I couldn't see every home in person, John and a friend went to several homes to check them out. Connecting with me through FaceTime, John investigated each home with a contractor's keen eye and although it wasn't in his own financial interest, he repeatedly advised me not to buy. He is honest and skilled. When he says, he puts his clients first, he means it!

Mark provides both quality and value for the service you get. Word-of-mouth is always best and…read morethat's how I found Mark when I did a service requested assistance. He has experience in the industry and knows how to negotiate the best deal for the buyer. I purchased a house in El Cerrito in June 2025. I started working with Mark in October 2024 and he patiently showed me around the area and continued to allow me to find the best place and work through the bidding process that goes on in the Berkeley El Cerrito area. I give him five stars plus and recommend him highly to all those that are looking for a good Realtor, who has their back and knows what he's doing

Mark Playsted of Compass Realty is a one of a kind realtor who did an incredible job handling the…read moresale of my sister's condo in the East Bay. My sister was hospitalized and in very poor health. She asked my husband and I to handle the sale of her condo unit. We live out of state so the sale was a more complicated transaction and due to my sister's poor health, time was of the essence. With Mark's expertise developed over years in the real estate business, he coordinated the work of his talented team of contractors, inspectors and stagers. He held one open house which yielded multiple offers, and worked closely with the title company to complete this sale in three weeks time. He is truly a miracle worker. Mark handled all the details and put our minds at ease during a very difficult time. Mark guided us through this transaction with patience and compassion. He is very easy going, incredibly efficient and very knowledgeable about very aspect of real estate sales. In our 40 years of marriage we have bought and sold two homes in California and three in New York State. We felt all realtors did a great job. However, none were even close to the quality, professionalism, attention to detail and talent of Mark Playsted. We highly recommend the work of realtor, Mark Playsted. He quickly assessed our needs regarding this sale and moved at lightening speed to accomplish this very difficult job.