As a real estate investor in the Dallas Ft. Worth area, I have many years of experience and a team…read moreof people that help me in my home area. But when it came time to scale our business and buy an investment property out of state in San Jose California, not just any realtor would do. Because of the over-inflated home values, the enormous property taxes and the fact that we live out of state, the stakes and our risk factor couldn't have been higher.
Darcey Arena came recommended by a really good realtor I knew in San Francisco. After a long conversation with her, I quickly learned that she was everything I was looking for. So we moved forward together. As the process played out, and in the heat of battle, I came to learn a lot about Darcey and her partner, Lisa Dorcich. First, between them, these two have a wealth of experience. They know the ins and outs of every aspect of the contract, the rules, the loopholes and had a knack for knowing what they could make work and what they couldn't make work. So many decisions that should have been very stressful were easy with Darcey and Lisa, because they presented the options and the most logical solutions and everything always played out exactly as we hoped it would.
Because we were out of town, Lisa went to several different properties, "Facetimed" with us, and walked us through properties. As we were watching her FaceTime on our computer screen, she was giving us expert insight on what she was seeing, smelling, sensing, etc. She even went into the nasty unfinished basements! Lisa also met us on weekends and at difficult times, arranged for inspectors and contractors to walk through the property and give us estimates. In that regard, she did a lot that for us that was above and beyond.
Their knowledge of San Jose was also very impressive. Darcey grew up in San Jose and as a result, was able to match our criteria with the neighborhoods we should be looking in. When I suggested a home that looked great in an area that was not so good, she let me know and told me why. Even if she knew I was excited about the home, she told me the truth. And every time....she was right.
Maybe the most important skill a realtor possesses, especially when it comes to actually working in the best interest of the client and getting the client the best deal possible is the realtor's negotiating skills. These skills can't be taught. These are natural born skills that are developed over the course of many negotiations. As a prospective buyer, often times, your realtor's negotiating skills are the difference between closing the deal and not. Between getting the best price and way overpaying. Darcey.....is good. REALLY good. There were some difficult negotiations that had to take place during our buying experience. Inventory was incredibly low, which drove prices way higher than seemed normal. Demand was through the roof and so many people were making offers 100s of thousands above asking price, and getting rejected time after time. On our home, we were not the highest offer, but we had Darcey. She came up with a multi faceted plan, told me exactly what we should do and what we should offer. And we did some outside of the box things. But we did what she said and she got us the house we wanted at a price that was more than fair. Not only that, in the post covid-19 sellers market, got the sellers to agree to lower the price and got us some concessions that were important to my wife and I. Concessions I was SURE the sellers would not agree to.
Darcey has mastered her craft and operates at the highest level. And with a housing market like San Jose, you can't afford NOT to let Darcey represent you. Lisa Dorcich and Darcey Arena have helped me and my family in a monumental way and throughout the process, have become like family themselves. They have my highest respect, admiration and recommendation.
