I've actually put off writing this review for several years, but after recently buying another home in a different state with a truly great realtor, I now realize how different our experience in El Paso was and felt it was fair to share.
We worked with Michael when buying our home in El Paso in 2020 and later again when selling that same home a few years later. Unfortunately, both experiences were disappointing.
At the time we were relocating to El Paso due to a military PCS and were living out of state during the home search. We explained the type of house we were looking for -- specifically a four-bedroom home within a certain square footage range -- but many of the homes we were shown didn't match those criteria. Because of this, I ended up flying to Texas during COVID to look at houses myself while my husband had to remain at his duty station.
During that visit, communication and coordination were difficult. On one occasion Michael arrived about 20 minutes late to a showing after I had already arrived, and another time he didn't show up to a property we planned to see until I reached out to ask where he was. Overall the process felt pretty disorganized, and as first-time homebuyers trying to manage everything from another state, it was stressful.
When it came time to close on the house, Michael was not present, so I handled the closing on my own. We also weren't told ahead of time that we needed to activate utilities before moving in, so we arrived at our new home without water for the first couple of days.
Three years later, when we decided to sell the home, we chose to work with Michael again hoping things might go more smoothly since he had more experience at that point. Unfortunately, communication was still minimal and we didn't receive much guidance about preparing or showcasing the home before listing.
When the listing went live, the description used was the exact same one from when we originally purchased the house from the previous owners. After bringing it up, I ended up writing a new description myself and asking that it be added to the listing, which was eventually done.
We did receive an offer and were able to sell the house, which we appreciated. However, just like the first time, Michael was not present at the closing when we signed the final documents.
Afterward, I also noticed that Michael was listed as an administrator in several military spouse Facebook groups for different duty stations where he appeared to be promoting his services. That stood out to me given our experience working with him locally and the limited communication and involvement we experienced during both the purchase and sale.
Overall, our experience involved very little communication and a lack of support during key parts of both transactions. Having now worked with another realtor who was extremely engaged, communicative, and helpful throughout the process, I can see how much smoother and more supportive a real estate experience can be -- especially for military families relocating from out of state. read more