Paul recently sold my home in San Ramon. He was referred to be by my sister and brother in law as…read morehe had helped them with the sale of their home. I was impressed with how he negotiated that deal, and with their solid recommendation, I felt confident hiring him. One thing I learned about Paul is he is very detail oriented, he really takes ownership of the process and cares that everything be done in an optimal manner, very hands on. I appreciated the amount of time he devoted to this. Selling a home and moving is a stressful process. To his credit, Paul tries to keep it light and fun, and be helpful in any way he can. One thing he did that was particularly helpful was helping me design the home to present it best for sale. We had quite a lot of deferred maintenance and some dated items. Paul personally went to two different stores with me to help me select new light fixtures and also new hardware for the kitchen cabinets. Then later, he found some better hardware options for the kitchen cabinets and told me to exchange the hardware if I could. Gives you an idea of the amount of focus he puts into his projects. He also recommend some good contractors that I ended up using, and a phenomenal stager. Well, it was an incredible end result! The home was totally transformed, so much so that we kind of didn't want to leave. But we did, and I am happy. I'm actually posting this review from Chicago as we are taking a beautiful vacation, house is sold, hopefully being enjoyed by the new owners, but it doesn't matter, they got a great home, we got a great sum of money, and life is good!

Loved, loved, loved working with Paul! I cannot emphasize enough what a fabulous realtor (and…read moreperson) he is! Paul is a true professional. He is reliable, timely, and his attention to detail is remarkable! He is the most versatile realtor you could ever ask for! He will find you the house of your dreams, guide you through the process flawlessly, recommend other wonderful people from mortgage lenders to locksmiths, and be there for you when you need him. His incredible design aesthetic, makes you take his suggestions to heart. And, on top of all of this... he is really fun to work with! It took my husband and me a few months to find a house with a view, in a certain neighborhood, in our right price range and I cannot thank Paul enough for his patience through our whole process. We are so incredibly happy with our new home, and feel if it wasn't for Paul, we might not have gotten so lucky. I have bought and sold a few homes over the years with other realtors, which makes me know how very special Paul DiLeo is. He's just the BEST!!!

I have worked with Michael Santich at Preferred Financial for 20 years. He has handled many…read moretransactions for me personally. Michael is very knowledgeable, quick to respond to questions you have and helping you every step of the way through the loan process. He makes the loan process very smooth for his clients. Michael is respectful, responsible and takes pride in his work. You are in good hands with him and can relax and know you have someone looking out for you. Matt & Des

Lauren and team are amazing. Twice they reworked my loan to decrease my interest rate and lower my…read morepayments. All with no fees!! Just incredible work. I highly recommend them.

15 years ago I bought a 400 square foot condo in Emeryville for $104,000 and Jim Aron of Pacific…read moreWestern Mortgage Group got me the loan. Neither my wife nor I had any real credit history (having just graduated from college and moved to CA) and only one of us had a job ($10 / hour). Jim helped us work with Emeryville's First Time Homebuyers program which helped us with our down payment and he also taught us how to "season" our gifts from our folks so we could get a better rate on the loan from lenders. I have probably used him myself for 12-15 mortgages, refinances and home equity lines of credit since then and he has probably talked me out of 4-5 others that were truly not a good idea. Today, my financial picture is substantially different than it was when I got my first mortgage, but I would never go anywhere else for a residential mortgage. I have referred 8-10 friends and numerous clients to him over the years and I have done so for one reason and one reason only... I trust him.

Jim Aron is one-of-a-kind. He finds solutions when others give up, and they are always completely…read morereliable, ethical solutions! What a shock... I know many people who credit Jim with improving their lives (and saving them money). He's also famous for talking people OUT of refinancing when he doesn't feel it's in their best interest. Just a wonderful source of unbiased information and assistance. Their web site includes an editorial Jim authored on predatory lending. Pacific Western Mortgage Group also has a great resource in Christiana Tran, who offers bilingual services in Vietnamese.

My wife, Lyndsay, and I worked with Guy and Monica from Fairway Mortgage and couldn't have asked…read morefor a better experience. We were first time buyers, and from start to finish, we were educated and guided to make sure that we felt comfortable with each decision. They worked hard and fast to get us a great rate with a great experience. We will definitely work with them again!

I could not be happier with Call GMS-Fairway IMC! This is the third transaction I've done with…read morethem, and every time I have been equally impressed! I truly credit them with us being able to close escrow on our home 8 years ago and on our vacation home in August. Someone once told me if Guy Schwartz can't do it, nobody can! I truly believe this! They are always available to quickly and calmly respond to any of my concerns, questions or problems that of course arise in any escrow/loan process. I have referred them to family and friends, all of whom are equally happy! I highly recommend them!

Evelyn Freitas and her team made refinancing our VA mortgage smooth, straightforward and easy to…read moreunderstand, unlike experiences we have had with other brokers in the past. Guaranteed Rate stayed on top of the process, even guiding us through solving a frustrating problem with one of the credit bureaus. We are now saving more than $500 on our monthly payments. We are delighted to recommend their superb customer service to anyone seeking a mortgage. Pam Condie

Evelyn is the best. She handled our refi years ago. She helped us with our mortgage on a new home…read morein 2024. She was with us every step of the way while we searched for our home in 2023-24 (aka The Dark Times). She and her team were knowledgeable, transparent, and quick. When we finally found the house, we successfully closed in 15 days! On top of that, our application was more complicated because I'm a business owner and don't have W2s. But it was no sweat for Evelyn and her team.

Tom responded our request quickly and helped us through our whole mortgage application process,…read moresecured competitive rate and got our home loan approved right on time. Much appreciated and will recommend Tom to other home buyers!

om was incredibly thorough and patient throughout the entire process. He carefully organized and…read moreprepared everything, which gave me a lot of confidence in leaving everything in his hands. When the time came, everything was ready exactly as expected. The whole process was very smooth, and I didn't have to go back and forth with him with a lot of unnecessary discussions. He made everything easy and stress-free. I very appreciated for his help!

I've worked with Kim on multiple loans for home purchases. She's a go-to for any client of mine…read morelooking for an honest, reputable, professional, and competitive loan officer. She and her team always take the time to understand the client's situation and with her background in real estate sales, she's able to provide the right information to make sure my clients' offers are the most competitive and have the best opportunity for acceptance. Throughout the loan process, her customer service is top-notch. She's very communicative and she always delivers. I know that if I recommend a client, friend, or family member, they are in great hands and she will handle it with the utmost care.

Kim was knowledgeable, professional and trustworthy. Kim and her team provided excellent customer…read moreservice and were always available to answer any questions. I highly recommend using Kim to help you with all your mortgage needs.

This firm was referred to us by numerous retirees, but they did not live up to anything we were…read morepromised. During the 2008 real estate downfall, this company lost us $65K in less than 3 months and didn't even bother to call us or mover our money - no risk management and no financial planning involved here. We had to contact them to ask them what was happening and since then had to make sure they were managing our money for the remaining time period. We had thought it was the market, but after the last few years where the market has been recovering, our money here has not been. We finally left Certified Planners earlier this year after about 5 years and losing more money than making any or keeping what we had. Our rate of return this year was less than 3% minus their fee of 1%, leaving us less than 2%! Current Nasdaq return is 24.9%, S&P is 19.79% for the year. Their one size fits all planning does not work for everyone and not worth your millions (or hundreds of thousands)! Very disappointing firm!!

I have been a client for a long time and this review is overdue. What I like most about CP is how…read morethey have a small team of advisors that work together. Reassuring to know there is always someone looking at my stuff or to help me when I call or go in for my portfolio review appt. Not just one person running the whole show. They also have a strong support staff who is effective and friendly. I think their investment approach is more on the conservative side. They tend to go less risky to protect my capital instead of chasing higher returns, but that's what saved my portfolio in 2008-2009. I recovered from losses in 1-2 years versus my friends and family. My experience with CP has been positive overall.