I decided to buy my first condo in March 2014, in a sellers market. From the beginning it was an…read moreextremely frustrating and stressful process. All the buyers competing against each other offering tens of thousands of dollars over the asking price, never knowing if your offer was good or bad. Luckily I had Blake Sherwood's invaluable help. During our first meeting, he immediately put me at ease for being a first time buyer. He often works with first time buyers although he also has clients who are repeating the process. He was very efficient to help me identify the condo that met my requirements, gave me advise on market prices and came up with a great strategy to be as quick as possible to be the first ones to make an attractive offer to the seller, while keeping my budget in check. Blake always provided unbiased and sound advice. We would go see places and he would always allow me to express what I liked and disliked first and then he would give his opinion. I never once felt he was trying to push me in one direction or another. Once I had an accepted offer from the seller, Blake worked with me very efficiently all through process until the closing date. He explained very thoroughly how the process works, what needs to be done by what date, recommended people I could work with (lawyers, inspectors), and was very diligent with keeping up with all the deadlines and documents that needed to be provided from both parties. Even after closing he was helpful and patient with any additional questions that I had. One of the things that I am most impressed with Blake is how quick he was in returning emails, phone calls and text messages. I would text him late in the midnight and I often get an answer within 30 min. If I don't, I would have the answer in my Inbox early in the morning. Overall Blake was essential in my process to buy my new place in a very difficult market for buyers. He made the process simple, and smooth overall, which I am truly grateful for. I would recommend Blake to anyone looking for a true professional who also understands how nerve-wracking and confusing first time home buying can feel.

When I first met Matt, I had pretty much written off realtors as a profession. When my husband and…read moreI bought our first condo a number of years ago, our first buyer agent screwed us by convincing us that we should waive the mortgage contingency. When the appraisal came in low and the lender denied us financing, I was fortunately able to save the deal on my own by finding a different appraiser who appraised at asking price, no thanks to our buyer agent who had stopped answering my calls. After a few years, we sold the condo FSBO and purchased a several properties using only the seller agents. They were pushy, self-serving people who were primarily interested in getting their commissions. One agent didn't even bother getting us the keys after we had closed on a place because he had to go trick-or-treating with his son that evening. Such was my mindset when I first worked with Matt two years ago. I was selling two condos FSBO, and Matt was representing an investor buyer. The buyer was very interested in the location of one of our units, and Matt was trying to close the deal prior to our first open house. However, although Matt was a strong negotiator on behalf of his buyer, I never felt taken advantage of. He was courteous, very accommodating in bringing items to our house for us to sign, and ethical in his dealings with us. For example, I didn't know he spoke and understood Mandarin Chinese and started what I thought was a private phone discussion with my husband in Chinese about the terms of sale. Matt literally ran out of the room to allow me to have my "private" discussion without him hearing/understanding it. To finalize the deal, he included some terms less favorable to his commission that sweetened his buyer's offer. I was impressed by this. I also didn't know until later on that he had founded his own independent realty company that he was president of. He was always very down to earth and never acted as if he was too good to do the work of a regular agent. After we closed on the sale, we wanted to buy an investment condo near our house. I had pinpointed a newer building I wanted to buy in. After showing us some comparables, Matt notified us immediately when a unit in that building came on the market, helped us negotiate a sales price below asking, and assisted us with the purchase, which was a bit complex as it involved a rent-back to the sellers. Since that purchase, we have had Matt help us with two additional real estate purchases, one for my in-laws and one as another investment. Matt was very tolerant of the long search for the perfect condo for my in-laws, who had many specific preferences. Even when he was sick, he set up and attended showings with us early and late and in all kinds of weather. He was always very objective about the properties he was showing us and never tried to sugarcoat anything just to convince us to buy. Matt is also very skilled in multiple-offer situations and bidding wars. With our most recent purchase, we had pretty much given up hope that our offer would be accepted since there were several other offers above asking. Matt worked with us to adjust the offer price (not excessively above asking) and terms. We were pleasantly surprised when our offer was accepted. While we were waiting to close on this purchase, Matt and his leasing agent David Morganstern helped us find excellent tenants with high credit scores to lease the condo and parking spaces. We agreed to pay half the fee and Vanguard only charged us a quarter fee. On the day of closing, our lender flaked out and wasn't able to have everything ready in time for the signing despite us being on time with all documentation. Matt stayed calm and was helpful with getting things the lender needed to finalize the closing two days later. He is a consummate professional. In short, I am very happy with the services Matt has provided to us and plan to use Vanguard Realty for all my future real estate transactions.

Over the years I have had them apts and still have two of the tenants 10 years later! My kids enjoy…read morevisits with Dad at work!

Gene helped me and my family find our perfect dream home. It took months but he was very patient…read moreand no pressure. Thank you Clements Realty Group!

My siblings and I needed to sell our mom's condo. David was recommended by a family member. We…read morecouldn't have been happier. He made an appointment to view the property, was on time and didn't rush. At that time he went over the process with us and made suggestions. When we needed someone to make minor repairs or take care of small issues, he was able to recommend someone which made the task easy. The entire staff was easy to work with and could always be reached. They answered every question, and there were a lot of them, which made the entire process less stressful.

Hey everyone, just wanted to say, that if anyone is thinking of buying or selling, our realtor is…read moreAMAZING!!! I cannot emphasize enough how great he has been throughout the entire process. He actually knows about houses, not just sales, so he was able to give us great advice along the way about the houses themselves. He is on top of EVERYTHING and never made us feel bad for being choosy buyers. Now that we're actually going through the process of buying a place, I realize that how the realtor is during this process is possibly even more important than looking for a house! David has been on top of everything. He is politely pushy when needed when dealing with others, but has never made us feel pushed into any decision. He is just generally a great and honest guy, someone whom I'd be friends with if I'd met him randomly, definitely someone I trust! I highly recommend him. I recommend googling for his facebook and linkedin profile too, to learn more about him as a person.

I can honestly not think of one bad thing to say about Marcella. I am the seller of the condo…read morereferenced in the review made by "Brenda S." While I can certainly understand Brenda's frustration in losing out on a property in a tight market, I was not "coached" by Marcella. She simply laid out the facts of both offers. I went with the offer that felt better to me. Their pre-approval and deposit check were provided at the time of the offer, both of the buyers had seen the property twice and they also currently live in the neighborhood and were looking to upgrade. I do not question Marcella's ethics. She did what I am paying her to do by providing the facts and letting me make the decision. Aside from that specific issue, I have felt in the loop at all times throughout this sale. Marcella is easily reached by phone, text message or email at all times. If I ever have a question, the answer is provided almost instantly. She has an easy-going nature and personality that completely put me at ease. Marcella also referred me to a buyer's agent who I have truly enjoyed working with. She really seems to go above and beyond. I would refer her and/or work with her again in a heart beat.

Recently my husband and I made an offer though another agent on a condo in South Boston. Marcella…read moreSliney was the listing agent. My husband looked at the condo on Thursday, I was out of town traveling. But I looked that all of the photos for the listing. On Saturday, we contacted our agent and made an offer for close to the asking price. And, on Sunday we sent of pre-approval letter. There was an open house on Sunday and one other offer came in. On Monday, we were quite surprised to find out that the "listing agent" had coached the seller to go with the other offer. Why you might ask - because I didn't see the unit. I know that it is not illegal but it is ethical? We were willing to pay asking price.

Stephanie has been nothing short of superb in every way as our broker. The person who gave a bad…read morereview was someone trying to purchase our condo in Brookline. They were aggressive to the point of being predatory, and dishonest in their negotiations with us. We ultimately chose not to sell our condo to them. Their dishonest, negative review of our realtor is yet another reason why I am glad we did not.