Alex is an amazing realtor. He's so good that I sent the president of First Weber (who knew my…read morefather) this message. Is Alex Saloutos real? A realtor who thinks about us first, and not him? Let me explain. You already know the first part of this; but the latest chapter is new. We want to buy a lot. Alex spends a lot of time showing us lots and does an electronic mapping thing that works great with my personality. After a long search, we find one we love. It is, I forget maybe $99,000. I suggest an offer around $91,000. Alex builds a spreadsheet of golf course lots in Dane County and notes that this one started on the market 3 years ago at maybe $109K. He thinks it can be had for under $80K. We make an offer below $70K, and settle at $71K and make the purchase. We are ecstatic. Melanie, though, really wants to live IN Madison. After completely designing a house for the lot in SketchUp (OK, I can be psychotically driven); I say, "If that's where you want to live; let's expand/remodel your old house". $300K later it is great. But we still own the lot, which is listed at $79,900 to be virtually the same price as the adjacent lot. Early this week we get an offer of $74K. Alex researches the offer and talks to the seller's realtor. He learns that they want to build a BIG house on a golf course (like the neighbor's house), and need two lots to do that. He learns that they have an accepted offer on the adjacent lot, contingent on closing with our lot. There are only three lots in our subdivision left, and only two adjoining. Alex advises holding on our price, and countering at full price; but offering them a copy of the detailed survey that we paid for ($925), which costs us nothing now. That's gutsy! His best interest would have been served by saying, "take it!" You understand better than anyone that one way to get easy commissions is to get your clients to underprice their homes, or advise them to buy at premium prices. The next day they accepted the full price offer Between the two transactions; Alex took us from a loss of around $20K (plus taxes and transaction fees), to a net profit even after fees and commissions. I can't recommend Alex too much. We will sing his praises to everyone interested in a realtor. I have a vCard for Alex that I send to anyone interested in a realtor. You really can build your business by serving clients' interests, and not going for the quick gains. Jeff Boldt, PE

I greatly enjoyed working with Alex. He takes time to understand what his clients are looking for…read morein their new home, helps to establish realistic expectations and focuses on finding the best fit for his clients, rather than just on completing a transaction. Alex impresses with his knowledge of architectural style, neighborhoods, construction quality and patience for clients who have very particular needs. I recommend Alex to anyone that is looking to buy or sell a home without reservations.

Working with Accord Realty has been one of the most stressful and frustrating experiences of my…read morelife. I was looking for a starter home in the Madison area and had the displeasure of working with their agent, Greta Drammeh. What I was looking for was an advocate that could help me through the complex and confusing process of buying a home for the first time. Greta advised me to make higher and higher bids on a home I was looking at. After an inspection it turned out the home was a real dud, there were a massive number of undisclosed defects that adversely impacted the value of the home, not to mention the time and stress required to deal with them. Over the course of the next week Greta failed to negotiate any real solution to the defects, coming back with only a token $1000 credit from the sellers as a "win" despite the defects costing far more to fix. I was never able to learn the actual extent of the defects as Greta never got the inspectors we requested in the house to look at the issues and get in person quotes despite our insistence. This whole process has left me distraught and in my opinion Accord Realty did not prioritize me as a client over getting their commission as soon as possible with minimal resistance. I needed a fighter for this difficult transaction and that is NOT what I got with Greta and Accord Realty. If you are looking for a home around Madison my advice would be to find a representative and advocate elsewhere.

Our current and ongoing experience with Accord Realty has been an absolute disaster. I feel that my…read morerealtor (Greta Drammeh) has let me and my partner down in what should have been an exciting first time home buying experience. The house in question had over 10 undisclosed defects (which are defined by Wisconsin law as a "condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the property") that only arose during the inspection process (including two active water leaks, mold, a broken rafter, and a dead animal in the chimney). While we expected some issues to come up in the inspection given the age of the house; however, we were flabbergasted at all of the defects, but we were more stunned when we realized that Greta did very little to advocate for us in negotiations with the selling party. We requested multiple times from Greta that she get certified contractions to get into the house to provide us with quotes to repair the defects, which we feel she failed to do. Additionally, once we made it clear we were no longer interested in the house, she did very little to help us get out of the deal with any of our earnest money. We believe that she wanted to settle the matter as quickly as she could instead of advocating for us like a realtor should have done. We also saw a noticeable shift in her behavior once we made it clear multiple times that we did not want the house as there were too many unknowns and did not feel comfortable going forward with the purchase (she stopped responding as quickly to our emails, and delayed sending us communications from the selling party). The whole situation has left a bad taste in our mouth, and a significant amount of disappointment with Greta and Accord Realty. We will be looking for a different realtor in the future to meet our needs.

Fair Oaks Apts. have become too party-like and noisy after 10 pm. No concern about the noise…read morelaws....at least on the 4th floor. Not an ideal spot for someone beyond those college party years.

This is a beautiful, new building with nice apartments. I got to see the roof, and wow what a view!read more

Things that Darcy Haber and the Solidarity Realty team don't have time to do:…read more 1. Read the laws that govern their business. The Wisconsin administrative code clearly indicates that landlords are responsible for repairing wear and tear and that tenants are responsible for unusual damage caused by tenant abuse. Darcy and the Solidarity team don't know this or choose to ignore it. If after 20 months of using the shower every day the low-quality paint on the ceiling starts to peel a bit, they'll regard that as abuse. That's right: Bathing is abuse. If after 20 months of placing a couch next to a wall there is the slightest little tinge of discoloration on the wall, they'll regard that as abuse. That's right: Sitting is abuse. 2. Hire a competent maintenance staff You won't get a professional. You'll get David, the guy who owns the unit and who wants to save a few bucks. He's pretty good at shuffling around the unit staring shame-faced at the floor as you point out the issues with his "repairs." Actually fixing things? Not so much. 3. Respond to simple maintenance requests. Let's say that they rent you a condo with large windows facing the lake. Now let's say you request that someone wash those windows during the 20 months that you're paying them large sums for this apartment. They will not have someone wash the windows. They will not even respond to your emails. It doesn't matter how many times you contact them. It's not that there isn't a company that cleans windows. There is. An employee of that company will magically appear just as you are moving out. Things Darcy Haber and the Solidarity Realty team DO have time for: 1) Cashing rent checks. They're very good at that! 2) Setting up shell companies. Everyone we dealt with works at Solidarity Realty. They all have Solidarity email addresses. We dropped our checks off at Solidarity's office. But apparently we weren't dealing with Solidarity, but with a company set up by Solidarity's owner for the sole purpose of renting this particular condo. 3) Removing negative reviews Don't ask for competent, timely repairs. Darcy and her team are too busy having accurate reviews taken down.

I had an appointment to view an apartment with Susan on Easter Sunday. I was very excited about the…read moreproperty but unfortunately Susan never showed up, nor answered the phone when I called her, or ever called me back. I never heard from her or anyone else at Solidarity Realty as to what happened. Very disappointing to take time out of my day on a holiday to be ghosted by the realtor.

Mercedes Lewis was absolutely wonderful to work with! She promised to find me a house and she did…read more She never made me feel like she was anything less than enthusiastic about showing me properties even when they were unlikely to be the perfect fit. She patiently guided me through looking at multiple types of property until I found the right one for me. I feel it gave me the knowledge and confidence to make a decision when we finally did find the right one. I would highly recommend Mercedes to anyone who wants to find a home in the crazy Madison market!

Tracy Tompkins is the least professional realtor I have ever worked with. She made appointments…read morewith me and canceled last minute twice. Her communication, scheduling habits and consideration for others need attention. She is rude with a smile which is still rude-- and I recommend going with any other agent.

Paul was very responsive to my questions, and took the time to not only survey the lot line but…read morealso walk me around on my large and weird property line. He gave me great suggestions on the best line for my fence at a fair price. Isthmus surveying is a trustworthy, friendly and professional company. Highly recommended!

I have tried multiple times to get a response from Paul for a survey. I've left two phone messages,…read morea text, and have filled out the online form with no replies. I do want a quote from this company and am frustrated with the lack of response.

Gabriel is a hard working and responsive agent. He answered a lot of questions for us regarding…read morere-financing our mortgage, and followed up on the status closely. We are located in Southern California, and Gabriel is located in Wisconsin, but Gabriel still worked very closely with us. We never thought an out of state agent would do such a good job for us. We highly recommend Gabriel to anyone needing assistance with all aspects of financing your home.

From the owner: Whether you are looking to buy or sell your home, or find the best deal on financing, I am your…read moreone-stop shop. As a residential loan officer with Van Buren Home Loans and Omni-Func, Inc., I am able to provide financing opportunities from over 50 different wholesale lenders. This means that I can get you the best rate, as well as do loans that others turn away. Low-cost and no-cost options are available. Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, Jumbo, and non-conforming financing options are available as well. As a full-service real estate broker associate with Elite Realty, I am able to find you the home of your dreams or help you sell your property for top dollar and no hassles. I am selective with the clients I take on, which allows me to maintain a consistently excellent level of service. Real Estate: WI DSPS #58010-90, CA BRE #01839507, Mortgage: Personal NMLS #868717, Omni-Fund, Inc. NMLS #4869 (CA, CO, FL, TX), Van Buren Home Loans NMLS #272189 (WI)

If you're looking for an honest caring real estate team in the Madison area the Buell Group is the…read moreticket! From the initial prep and listing of our house for sale, to closing with Preferred Title, the people involved have been amazing. Brandon and team were responsive throughout, offered educational guidance every step of the way, helped us through some unexpected hurdles. He also provided solid referrals; from handymen and garage door specialists to title companies, the Buell Group partners with the best.

Brandon and his team were great to work with! Brandon responded immediately to all of our questions…read moreand when he wasn't immediately available, he made sure his teammate, Amanda, got back to us with answers to our questions. We felt Brandon was extremely knowledgeable of the market but as an added bonus, he is also very knowledgeable about construction in general and was able to point out flaws or positive attributes of each house we toured. Brandon was our advocate throughout the entire process and made sure we got the best price and timely responses from the sellers. Before closing, Brandon's team contacted our mortgage lender directly to handle details and they followed up with us to make sure we had everything ready and were prepared! On closing day, Brandon came to the closing with us and explained anything that we didn't understand in the sea of paperwork presented to us. We highly recommend the Brandon Buell and The Buell Group! They were fantastic to work with!