John is our realtor to both sell our current home as well as to buy a new one. In this review, I will talk about our experience selling with him first and then talk about the buying experience. We had received so many flyers from John over the years about properties he had sold in our community, so we had no hesitation in reaching out to him when the time came to sell. The added criterion was that we had a month long vacation coming up and we wanted to list and sell the home while we were away with a rent back option. John was very receptive to all our needs. He told us exactly what we needed to do to spruce up the home and make it sellable. While we were away, he entirely managed the painting and cleaning of the home and within a week listed the home for sale with no staging and just our existing furniture. After just the first weekend we had multiple offers and the home was sold! Over the next week, John helped us complete all the paperwork digitally to get into contract and the sale has now closed. For buying, we were lucky that we saw 2 homes that we liked in the first weekend of house hunting that we did. We showed John both and he immediately asked us to drop one of them after going through the termite reports for that home. For the other home, he encouraged us to go talk to neighbors and scout the area a little bit to know more about the neighborhood. Once we decided to bid on the home, John helped moderate the bid amount and eventually helped us win the bid after finding out what the expectations of the seller's realtor were and countering as needed. We closed on time and have now moved into the home! We greatly value John's negotiation skills as well as his judgement as to what works. We highly recommend talking to him if you are on the lookout for a reliable agent who will make the process smooth for you. read more

Selling a property with John is a great journey. Last year when we're planning for sell our condo at River Oaks community in North San Jose, the first agent we thought about was John, since he's AFAIK the realtor who knows this area the best. What happened later proved that again. He even knew our house better than us -- which part is in original design, which part was remodeled, etc. He's also familiar with almost everything in this area: what kinds of people want to buy, who plans to sell, how's offers in most recent listings, etc. We felt that these are extremely important -- so that we could have a good time, a good asking price, and a accurate expectation of how much offers are likely coming. Since he's so specialized we felt pretty confident on the information we got and on the decision we made in the whole procedure. Another thing we really appreciate John is that, he made great efforts and took care almost everything since the moment we moved out till the day close of escrow. We had very good communications and I was pretty clear about how're each things going in every step. Meanwhile I didn't need to spend any extra time on those misc things such as scheduling fix up works, cleaning services, checking works done by contractors, etc. This is pretty valuable for our family so that we could focused on other affairs and enjoy life. As a conclusion, I strongly recommend to choose John Chess as your listing agent in the area. read more

John Chess represented us in selling our San Jose condo. His knowledge and expertise in understanding the local market is unparalleled. He has it nailed, from pricing, to marketing, to follow through. His assembled team for preparing our condo for sale, leaving us free to move on was a huge help. We've sold many homes in Silicon Valley over the years, and John stands head and shoulders above the rest. In addition to being a great people person, John's persistence and patience became key to a successful sale when unavoidable challenges arose that had nothing to do with the scope of John's work during the transition. It strikes me that in the fast moving Silicon Valley market, selling a home is often a simple slam dunk. But what if for some unexpected reason there is a glitch? You need a realtor who will not only stick with you, but who can effectively problem solve and be proactive in working out resolutions. John is that guy! We are deeply thankful for John's expertise, personal support and willingness to make the long distance transaction easy for us. He went above and beyond. Do yourself a favor and check him out personally. read more

I've known John for years as the best realtor selling homes in and around my townhouse complex, Parkside, in north San Jose. We've seen him get excellent, fast results, and multiple offers on the homes. Many of our friends have sold their homes with John. When it came time for me to sell my aging mother's townhouse in Cupertino, of course I turned to John for help. The place wasn't presentation perfect and the location wasn't his usual neighborhood. But John got the home looking so beautiful that I thought my mom would want to move back and not to assisted living. He took care of the renovation and made it so easy for us. It was such a relief! And then he quickly sold the home for the highest price the complex had ever seen when the market wasn't as hot as it is these days. Yeah...John is that good! So no surprise that when my husband Steve and I finally leave our home at Parkside, John will get the sale. I'd buy with him, too, but we'll be out of state, so I'll settle for just his sales and marketing expertise. In my opinion, if you are looking for a realtor, with John you'd be working with the best. read more

I chose John to represent me in the sale of my Campbell townhouse because he came highly recommended by a close friend and he has over 20 years of real estate experience. I started the sale process in June, but eventually sold in February the following year after delaying the decision to sell. I appreciate John's patience throughout the months and not pushing me to sell on his schedule. He kept telling me "you're the boss". Meaning I make the decisions and to do what's comfortable for me. The delay in selling ended up being a very wise decision yielding a much higher selling price. John's expertise and negotiating skills were exemplary throughout the process. After doing this profession for many years, John has developed people skills to help the client stay calm during the very stressful experience of selling a house. I truly appreciated and needed that input during the sale. There wasn't a question that John couldn't answer and he was always very accessible. I would highly recommend John and would use him again for future real estate needs. read more

I chose John to represent the sale of my townhouse because he was familiar with the local market and had solid expertise in the real estate business. I wanted someone who can represent me, understand my needs, and put my best interest first. He listened to what was important to me, gave me marketing advice that was invaluable, and helped to price my unit appropriately. Everything went smoothly and quickly and he kept me updated throughout the whole process. It was a wonderful opportunity to work with John and I would work with him again. John is real, a great people person. I am not a person who writes reviews, but John exceeded my expectations and deserved a great review. If you're looking for a great realtor in Silicon Valley, John is the guy; he knows his stuff. In a nutshell, he is personable, professional, extremely knowledgeable, responsive, patient, and effective; everything you want in a realtor. I've seen he has a great rapport with everyone he interacts with and I highly recommend him. read more

Working with John was an absolute pleasure! After interviewing 3 listing agents John was our obvious choice for his comprehensive knowledge of the local RE market, overall RE trends, advertising strategy, and understanding our goals for the sale. The timing for sale was perfect and so were all services provided by John and his team to complete necessary repairs and upgrades. The staging and photographs were exceptional and received many compliments from our friends, former neighbors, and other interested parties. We relocated out-of-state and John ensured that every step in the closing process is well understood and communicated in timely manner. It was a smooth ride to the end for which we are very grateful. All in all, John went above and beyond making the entire process smooth and stress-free. We highly recommend him to anyone looking for a reliable and knowledgeable real estate agent. read more

John led us through a very challenging sale with skill and patience. Our first offer fell through after the inspection revealed a significant problem, which required extensive repairs that took months. John not only remained fully engaged during this 'down' period, he worked to find another buyer while the home repairs were still underway. Due to his diligence, we were able to literally close within 24 hours of the repairs being completed. A stunning accomplishment. Along the way, John displayed a consistent demeanor, and thoughtfully managed an extended seller group (this was a family transaction). This was simply the most challenging real estate transaction I've ever been involved with, and he could not have been a more solid performer. He is extraordinary and you would be well served to bring him in to your transaction. read more

We chose John Chess to market our condo because he has represented many sellers in our North San Jose community (River Oaks Village - Villagio, Galleria, Parkside, Millbrook, Crescendo) for at least 20 years. He really knows the properties and the market. He helped us select the best time to list and show our condo and was able to generate a lot of interest because he not only markets his listings like most other realtors (MLS, Zillow, open house) but he has his own extensive realtor and buyer distribution list and he knows many of the other realtors, all of which was key for us. The process of responding to offers, obtaining inspections, and closing was super easy. He even referred us to a mover to help with our move. We couldn't be happier with his service! read more

Before meeting John, we had no idea on how to proceed in demanding bay area market. He helped us buy our first house within few weeks of search. Came to know about John from a friend and John from the very first call seemed genuine, very quick in responding. He understood our requirements on location, schools and work commute very well. On our winning bid, he made sure he was constantly keeping track of the things behind the scenes and made sure things go our way. Not only with buying formalities, John also helped us quickly through his contacts renovate kitchen and fix minor things in time. His vast experience in bay area market really benefits any seller or buyer. Will always recommend him anytime read more

John recently helped us sell our town home and we couldn't be happier. The process was smooth as it can be. After deciding to sell the house, we left for vacation for a couple weeks and he took care of several open house events, communicated with us frequently about them, and he even took care of the plants in the garden of our patio. His suggested price for the house was spot on, and his help in selecting the offer and negotiating with the buyers was invaluable. If you're thinking in using John's services, don't doubt it, you won't regret it. If we had the opportunity to work with him again, we would do it without even thinking about it. read more

I met John at an open house. He seemed to know that particular market really well. I ran into John at a second open house and I let him know what I was looking for and the time frame that I was looking at. John followed up with me in the timeframe and located the perfect unit for me. He was totally professional handled the closing process extremely well. After the closing he has kept in touch with me and whenever I needed advice or assistance he has been there to help me out. If I need a broker in the future he is definetely the real estate agent I will use. read more

I just completed my third transaction with John Chess. I bought my townhouse from him, he sold my condo, and he just sold the townhouse I bought from him! Really easy to work with. He checked in with me weekly for months while I was getting the house ready for sale. He gave my excellent advice that resulted in a sale way over asking. He's a great business partner! read more