I originally posted a longer, more detailed review, but Yelp mysteriously removed it without explanation. Perhaps it was too long or threw some flags. Anyway, this is an edited, abridged version of the original review.
Bottom line: It's impossible to overstate how helpful Heidi and Danielle were in helping my wife and I find, purchase, and do a total remodel of our first home. But I'll try.
First of all, they invested a lot of time in us from the beginning, when we were "just looking," despite the fact that I would have considered us long shots. They were always available (often both of them!) to show us properties that we either found ourselves online or they brought to our attention. Also, Heidi and Danielle were very useful in helping us gauge a neighborhood (e.g. new Berkeley bowl opening soon, sales history of nearby houses, which houses are bank owned), the likelihood that we can get the house at such-and-such price, and what sorts of things we might be able to do to a house to get it nice and livable, and for how much money. When house hunting, there really is no substitute for a great, knowledgeable realtor. Or two.
When we found a house we wanted, well, it was a fixer. And it was a short-sale. Heidi and Danielle helped us navigate both of these potential hazards with ease. First, we actually got our offer accepted by the bank in a week or so, thanks to the good strategy and background research done by Heidi and Danielle. We even got a reduction on the price after the offer was accepted to help with some repairs.
And even before we had an offer on the house, Heidi and Danielle were arranging for well regarded contractors and subcontractors to bid work on the house, so we had a good idea on what repairs would cost. They continued helping us find bids through the escrow process, and when we closed, we had what amounted to an almost total remodel/refurb of the inside of the house ready to go. We locked-in low bids with subcontractors (the market was particularly weak) and got our project done in time for us to move in. This would not have happened without Heidi and Danielle's stellar work.
I can't make an exhaustive list of things they did that impressed me due to space constraints, but I've hit the highlights.
My parents and my wife's parents, who have a fair amount of experience with remodels and buying houses, told us many times how lucky we were to have found Heidi and Danielle. I could not agree more. read more