I was considering moving to the Cambridge area this past fall, so I wrote to Lembu via their web site form. Nick responded within minutes, and a few weeks later, we met at their office, where Nick stayed with me long last business hours, discussing my family's needs and ideal home. Then he set aside an entire day--the day before Thanksgiving, no less--to spend with me and my wife, driving us around the area to show us a few homes, allowing us to get a sense of the different towns and how far our money would go. He did this despite knowing that our plans were very speculative, and that we had no intention of buying anything we saw that day. There was never any sense of pressure from Nick, nor any sense that we were inconveniencing him. We ultimately decided to stay in NYC; had we not, we would have ended up working more extensively with Nick. read more

I often refer new couples looking for new homes in the area to Lembu. Lembu is well versed in everything real estate in the Bay State and can help you find your dream home. They go out of their way to listen to your needs and find a good match to the property you are looking for. It is quite important to take the home scouting process very seriously as this is likely the most expensive purchase you will make and you will be in this home for many years.the process can go horribly wrong if you do not have some one who is experienced and understands the ins and outs of the real estate offer, negotiation and purchase process. From Watertown to cambridge to Newton they can help you find the best home for you. Make sure to ask many questions and feel comfortable they are listening. read more

I'm shocked there's no reviews on here for Maria McFarland -from Lembu Real Estate. We are currently working with her for investment properties. We are experienced buyers/sellers. Can't recommend this agent enough. We were referred to Maria by a developer friend. We were looking for two things: 1.) looking to sell two investment condos and 2.) looking for new investment opportunities. 1.) good time to sell? The best part about this agent is she advised us not to sell. She looked into the building and the condo association (both these units are in the same building). She was thorough and objective. She left the final decision to us. We are dealing with a building that has over 50% renter occupancy. In addition, she found flags with the condo association. She laid out our options objectively. In the end, she had potential ways we could sell if we wanted, and laid those out for us. She put a number on what we could expect to get for sale price. She also put a number on our potential value loss by selling in our current circumstances, and cautioned us to proceed cautiously. She advised we push into some of the concerns to determine if they were real concerns, and if so, to see whether we foresaw change, or would always be in the situation. There was a fellow unit owner who had tried to sell. He had two under-agreement deals fall through late in the game and had canceled the listing. Maria recommended trying to reach out to him to determine what had happened. Boy oh boy did we learn a lot!!! Maria saved us money and months of heartache because she asked the right questions early and pushed us to ask the right questions. Our fellow owner was pissed with his agent after hearing ours had pushed for specifics about condo-assosciation dynamics as soon as she saw the condition of the building. We are now putting our energy in the right place, sorting these issues at the front of the game, instead of being broadsided by them. Even with the benefits of selling right now, our circumstances outweighed them. 2.) investment opportunities We are impressed with Maria's wealth of knowledge. Our interest is broad. The first thing she did was sit us down with a large map of greater Boston and break things down, describing the different development areas within the city. Said simply, she gets things done. She's down to earth. I hate elitist people who act like they know it all. The feeling is, she's working for you, its about you. If she doesn't know something she will find out. What she knows (and if it's relevant) she will bring to the table. The focus is to get you what you want and make you happy. Negatives: I didn't get a christmas card. read more

Maria McFarland is the best real estate agent servicing the Cambridge area, period. Compared to a number of other real estate agents we had worked with in the past, Maria is the most professional, knowledgeable, conscientious, insightful, reliable, and patient person...and a badass negotiator. Before we found Maria, we had worked with another real estate agent to help us find a home in Boston. We had been looking remotely from Nashville and had placed 3 offers on homes we flew out to see in person on separate occasions. Each time our offer was denied. We decided that by the third failure, we needed to change our strategy. We found Lembu through Angie's List and connected with Maria because we liked her profile. Maria was very familiar with the competitive housing market in Cambridge/Somerville and from Day 1, and knew exactly what we did wrong and what we had to do right. While we did much of the initial house hunting online, Maria was always available to swing by an open house or schedule a visit to check out a house if we were not able to be in town. Even when she came down with a bitter cold, she trucked out to an open house and managed to take some pictures for us. She also provided extremely helpful comments on each of the homes that we were interested in. Maria's talent really emerged when we found a home that we were pretty sure was The One. My husband flew out for the weekend house tour, which included this house, and Maria put together an itinerary and strategy that would maximize our appeal to the sellers. My husband was able to develop a rapport with the sellers and Maria helped us create the perfect offer. While the owners themselves chose not be represented by an agent, they were happy to work with Maria. We later learned that our offer was chosen out of about 15 other offers. We successfully closed in early November 2013 and Maria even supervised the move later that month when we were not able to be present. Even months later, Maria continues to be a great resource for all things house-related--inspectors, contractor, handyman. Without Maria, our house hunt would not have been nearly as enjoyable or rewarding. And that is saying a lot for what can be a long, frustrating process. I would wholeheartedly recommend Maria to anyone looking for the perfect home in Cambridge/Somerville. She is simply amazing. read more

Jess Cohen is a fantastic realtor. That much was made incredibly clear throughout the condo-buying process. She quickly learned my style and my wants & needs far better than I could articulate them. She gave us advice for buying in a highly competitive market that ultimately proved essential, and in the end it was her expertise as a real estate agent and negotiator that got us our condo within our budget. Although that alone would have been enough for a five-star review, it is what came in the years after closing that puts Jess in a league of her own. She truly cares about her clients, past & present. Any home-related question I have, she has answers. I need a contractor? She gives me a list. Movers? Best one's I've worked with. Painters? Those too. If you want to buy or sell, go with Jess. She will save you time, money, and hassle--both during the process & long after you close. read more

I started looking for a place to buy near Cambridge areas after lived here for a few years. A friend recommended Mike Park to me. He and John Sanzone turned out to be great agents for me. Competence: One of the most important qualities of Mike is his unique insight in Cambridge's real estate market. His assessment on a property has been accurate almost all the time. Timeliness: Mike is always very responsive in answering my email or phone questions. Sometimes, I felt bad for not responding to Mike fast enough. Impartial: Mike does not push me to make a decision. He simply states his assessment objectively and lays out the fact. Patience: Mike seems to have endless amount of patience. During my buying process, I had changed my target area from Cambridge to Arlington, to Belmont and finally to Lexington. Mike will go to different towns around Cambridge to help me assess different listings. Overall, I would recommend Mike Park to anyone interested in buying or selling houses. I could not have asked for a better home buying experience, especially for a nervous first time buyer. read more

I moved to Boston about 2 years ago and decided I wanted to sell my condo in Annapolis, MD. I randomly met Jess Cohen at Thelonious Monkfish in Cambridge and she provided me with amazing advice on how much to list the property for. My agent in Maryland wanted to list it at $250k. Jess looked at the comps and suggested $265k. I was able to sell my condo in a week for full list price (rare in Annapolis!) and set a new record in my development. She coached me through the inspection process and put my nerves at ease concerning the appraisal. Jess really knows real estate and was great to work with. I highly recommend Jess Cohen for your real estate needs! read more

My husband and I didn't buy or sell a place w/ Lembu but we asked Mike to advise us on the pros and cons of investing a large amount of money to renovate the kitchen and bathrooms of our Cambridge townhouse. We were blown away with Mike's wealth of knowledge and in-depth analysis. Without a doubt he proved that he is an expert on the Cambridge neighborhood and it's real estate market. He was able to give solid advice by comparing our home with other homes in the neighborhood while also taking into consideration the many ways that our home is different from the others. We were most concerned about the resale value of our home after all the renovations and if we would get all or some of the investment back. Mike knows a lot about the type of homes that sell well, the streets in which homes sell poorly and every other little detail about a home that will affect it's resale price. He is also obsessively knowledgable about home repair and construction and how that can apply to buying or selling a home. He even told us what type of siding we should use to put our home into the "luxury category" as well as the dimensions that our above-stove vent should be. I can't imagine any other realtor going into that amount minute detail! What we thought was a simple question, Mike answered with overwhelming knowledge and expertise. There is without a doubt that our decisions to renovate were highly affected by Mike's input and we believe our decisions were the right ones because of him. Lastly, if we ever sell our place, for sure Mike gets dibs. read more

My husband and I had a great experience working with Mike Park and John Sanzone to buy our two-family house in Somerville. Mike did most of our showings. He is the owner of a multi-family himself, so he was able to provide us a lot of relevant information on being a landlord as well as renovation advice. The market was very competitive and there were several occasions where we requested to see a house the day it was listed. Mike and John were always extremely accommodating about this - if Mike couldn't make it, John would fill in and show us the house. John was also our numbers guy - he did the majority of the market analysis for the houses we were considering. He was always happy to pull together any info we requested, including rents for the area and data on comparables. He often worked late into the evening to provide thoughtful, detailed answers to our questions or to finish an analysis. We never felt pressured to buy. These guys really cared about finding us the house that worked for us. We found them both to be extremely capable, professional and hard working. We highly recommend them! read more

No matter how well-researched I thought we were, buying a condo--especially for a first-time home buyer--is a nerve-wracking experience. Lembu's team really made the process accessible and, amazingly, really enjoyable. They were very cognizant of the fact that we weren't just buying a condo, but we were starting a completely different life. This is cliche, but I didn't realize how much I appreciated Lembu's approach until they started walking me through issues I never considered. How much would having parking impact resell value down the line? What're the benefits of a little more square footage in exchange for a longer walk to public transportation? How much do I really save if I end up buying in a cheaper neighborhood with a weak school district? These are all issues I never considered until the Lembu team (gently) brought them up to my fiance and me. And while they didn't try to answer these questions for me, Mike & co. definitely provided me with enough hard data that I could feel confident making these decisions on my own. There was no issue too minor that they didn't try to answer, not from some anecdotal evidence but from a systematic review and analysis of all the available information they could get their hands on, presented in personally tailored and easily-understood reports. Lembu focused on me as an individual. After every condo and house we looked out (and good god, did we look at many, often with only one or two days' notice to Lembu) the Lembu team asked us what we like or didn't like about each place. Within a few visits, they knew how to be on the lookout for properties that fit our needs and what potential issues we should consider in each new house. As our needs and goals evolved, so did the homes and areas Lembu helped us find. The Lembu team is also focused with physical structures and unafraid to ask other agents blunt questions to get as much information as possible. Mike routinely brought out measuring tapes and levels during open houses to get a sense of how construction quality (much to the chagrin of a few selling agents). At every home visit I feel like I learned more about what to look for myself. Lembu never pressured me but they were always straightforward when I asked them about their perspectives on different properties--no matter how enthusiastic I seemed, they always pointed out potential flaws to consider, which is something I really appreciated. Rather than just an agent working for his commission, I feel like I had an ally in my search for a home. Lembu is also very well versed on the purchasing process and insulated my fiance and me from anything we didn't have to be involved with. After we made the offer, Lembu made a cumbersome process seem very streamlined and even after closing were very patient with last minute questions and inquiries. Highly recommended. read more

My fiance and I had a wonderful experience working with Maria McFarland in our search for our first condo purchase. Maria was super-responsive, organized, energetic, and competent. She really went the extra mile to provide us with the best possible service. For example, only a day or so after we started working with Maria we found a property that we wanted to see but that had already had it's open house and had an offer deadline of 7pm that same day. Maria convinced the listing agent to let us in and then sat down in a local park with us to write the offer. We didn't end up getting that condo, but we were so grateful that Maria put no pressure on us to bid over what we were comfortable with or to waive important contingencies in the many-offer situation that ended up happening with the sale (typical of the market in summer 2013). When we told Maria we were interested in looking in neighborhoods outside of the areas she focuses on, she generously encouraged us to work with agents who specialized in those areas while continuing to work with her. We ended up buying our condo through another agent, but we would have been just as thrilled to buy with Maria if the Cambridge/Somerville market had worked out for us. Even after we let her know that we were going to close on a property with the other agent, Maria was incredibly gracious and helpful, offering her congratulations and encouraging us to reach out to her if we needed referrals for any purchase-related services. All in all, I could not recommend her more. read more

Mike Park was an excellent resource, guide, and real estate agent when we bought our Cambridge condo from across country. We contacted him from our west coast homes and let him know we were considering buying a home/condo to move into in Cambridge in just a few months. He educated us on the local market, the specifics/unique aspects of Massachusetts real estate law, and helped devise a game plan. We followed the market and researched properties for weeks, and then picked a week to come out to Cambridge ourselves. He had a whole itinerary of places for us to see. He worked nonstop to help us evaluate each of approximately 20 places we looked at. That week we made three offers: we were outbid on two and won one of them. He then kept in touch and helped coordinate the remainder of the buying process with the local seller while we were back on the west coast. It was an extremely pleasant process. Mike's definite strengths are analytic evaluation, attention to fine detail and prompt communication. He has a thought process and communication style that worked very well for us. We would strongly recommend him to others who are looking to buy in this area from a distance. read more

Mike and John were great. Very smart, good at negotiating, and supremely professional. Mike was always like 5 minutes late to appointments, but that was okay, I heard it was a busy season. I also felt like after the P&S with Mike that I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but John was very responsive and between the two of them they answered all my questions. They also referred me to a loan officer and attorney who were fantastic. read more

Nicholas Mescia is such a helpful reliable agent to work with. I bought my first apartment with Nick, I was very nervous at first, but unlike other agent Nick is not just focusing about closing the deal, he is actually care about my benefits. Even after closing the deal, he's still willing to help with all kinds of question. I feel luck to be able to work with him. read more

When my wife and I were looking for investment property in Cambridge, we were lucky enough to get Mike Park and his associate John Sanzone . Mike is especially knowledgeable about the Cambridge area. He uses a data based approach to determine how much a property is worth . John, his associate , generated detailed reports on rents in the area and comparables. Mike's strength is his passion for real estate. He is able to see the potential in a home and the possible costs for renovation to maximize rents. His team expedites the sometimes difficult process of buying and selling a home and he has many contacts in the real estate industry. Buying and selling a home is sometimes a very emotional endeavor but Mike, is always very professional. He gives you your options but doesn't tell you what to do. His client focused approach contrasts with some other realtors out there. Two thumbs up!!!!! read more

Great guys. Super knowledgeable about the Cambridge market. Very smart.

Sylvia Tucker is by far the best realtor we have ever used. She is smart, hard-working and knows how to think outside of the box. Like her, the vendors she recommended were all professional, efficient and a pleasure to work with. She is a real delight to interact with and made both our buying and selling experiences very productive and fun. Her recommendations enabled us to purchase a property we thought was beyond our reach at a fabulous price. She also helped us sell our property within a week at a premium. In addition, she went above and beyond in helping us organize contractors before our move, and even supervised our washer/dryer delivery while we were out of town. We would highly recommend her to anyone entering the real estate market. read more

Sylvia Tucker helped me buy a 2 family house in Watertown few months. Her attention to detail is impeccable. She was very thorough in communicating with me, lender and the attorney throughout the entire process. Her passion for real estate comes through her bubbly personality. She is very fast, efficient and organized. She is not a pushy real estate agent and is very attentive to her client needs. I recommended her to all my friends who are looking for a professional and motivated real estate agent. Thank you Sylvia! read more

I found Lembu from Yelp's great review and hired Mike as my agent to sell my condo. Later on I found that I did not just hire Mike. I hired his entire team to work for me closely to sell my condo! In the end, I was happily signing my P&S THREE WEEKS after first open house!! I was first-time seller and needed a lot of help about the process. Mike is very knowledgeable, open and straight forward about every question I asked during our first meeting. His team and I worked together through staging and open house to highlight the best features of my condo. Mike always responded my emails promptly and kept my updated with status of potential buyers/buyer's agents. On strategy of selling my condo, Mike is data-driven in explaining current market condition and helped me to set right expectation. He constantly updated me with the market, and we will discuss about whether to adjust our strategy to be more aggressive or wait-and-see in responding to potential buyers. I never felt left alone and appreciated with Mike's openness in communication. Being first time seller, I would hope that Mike could have helped me more in making decisions when negotiating final price. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed by the information from Mike and not really sure how to make a good decision. I will definitely recommend my friends to go to Mike for selling houses. Can't really complain much about selling mine in three weeks!! read more

Nick Mescia was fantastic to work with through the entire process of buying a condo in Charlestown - I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell in the Boston area. He was responsive and communicative throughout, providing as much information as I needed/wanted about the various steps. Nick is an amazing negotiator - I think this bit is one of his strongest skills, and something that people looking for an agent might really want to know about. Based on his negotiation with the seller's team, my offer was accepted at less than asking price. I was thrilled when the property then appraised higher, so basically, he talked them down to save me $10,000. He also has a lot of knowledge, which helped me feel really comfortable about the place I was buying. Even after the sale, he's been a great resource for house-related things like inspectors, contractors, etc. Nick definitely goes the extra mile to make the process easy and streamlined on behalf of his clients, always available to answer questions and smooth out the small stuff before anything becomes a problem. Thanks Nick! read more

We were out-of-towners buying in an overheated Cambridge condo market. Mike Park was just what we needed. He understands the Cambridge market thoroughly, and he was able to bring us up to speed so that we could make reasonably intelligent decisions. He gave us plenty of facts, insights, and strategic advice, and he skipped the platitudes. I don't know if it's his MIT engineering background, but he brings an analytic and reasoned approach to the often emotional decision-making process. He was also tireless in showing us around dozens of open houses. We came to trust him so much that we ended up buying a place that we had not even seen ourselves, but that he and our student son had looked at. Mike's pictures, measurements, descriptions, and advice were all we needed. read more

I have known Ryan for years in a totally different capacity. Knowing his strive for excellence and his awesome work ethic, I trusted my instinct and went to him when I needed a broker to purchase my first home. I am so glad I did. Ryan was great to work with. He was easy-going, patient and attentive to my needs. Most importantly, I felt like I could trust Ryan during the whole process, from negotiations to recommendations for inspectors and lawyers. He is honest and knowledgeable in the art of negotiation. I made only one offer and was accepted. Right off the bat, he was able to knock off $9000 but still high enough to beat my competition. If you want someone who is honest and who works hard for you, Ryan is your guy! I am very excited about my new home and I cannot thank Ryan enough for making this stressful process so much more manageable. read more

Mike Park was my buyer's agent in an investment property purchase. As interest rates were low and properties more reasonably priced, I thought that it might be a good time to look into purchasing an investment property. At that point, I didn't really know what I was doing but after seeing a beautiful condo online, I contacted Mike. With his help and advice, I saw the property and put an offer down. For various reasons, the offer didn't go through and at that point, I thought that it was not the right time to purchase a second home. Several months later, Mike sent me a listing. It wasn't something I thought I'd be interested in, but we went to see it anyway. Within a few days, Mike was able to negotiate a very reasonable price for me and we had an accepted offer. Even though I never imagined myself buying a 2 family home, it seemed like a perfect fit for me. Mike was able to help me clearly define and understand the potential of an investment property. As a landlord himself, Mike gave me great advice on leases, rental units, maintenance, etc. With his wealth of contacts, he was able to provide me with recommendations to contractors and others in the business. Even if you are not a first time home buyer, the process is extremely confusing and there is a ton of paperwork to manage. And when you are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars, anxiety always comes into play. Although Mike was always responsive and communicated clearly, I feel like he could have alleviated some of the uncertainty by taking initiative in providing more details about the process, especially with 'next steps'. But even as I mentioned this critique to him, he took it very well and is clearly working to streamline and improve his business for the benefit of his clients. Even as the process was stressful, with Mike as my broker, I always felt like I had a partner and ally. He always represented my wishes and intentions, regardless of how he felt. He also encouraged me to be patient and talked with me until I was calm, both of which I really appreciated and helped in the end. I had a very positive experience with him, and I would recommend anyone to work with him. I had always heard from friends and professionals in the business that Mike Park of Lembu Real Estate was the best in Cambridge. But after working with him, I can say that he is simply *the best*. Mike is extremely thoughtful in his representation of clients, is intelligent, honest, and loves what he does. read more

Mike Park and Lembu Real Estate were wonderful to work with. As first time homebuyers, my husband and I had lots of things to be anxious about. But Mike and his team put us at complete ease from the start. Mike's been in town for years and knows the neighborhoods like a local - the pros and cons of each neighborhood block, the culture of particular city streets. He knows the market, when a property will be quick to go, and you should act fast. Or when it's better to wait it out. Trained as a mechanical engineer (at MIT), Mike can see the potential of a fixer-upper, and even estimate the costs for the project on the spot. And he taught us to tell the difference between quality renovations, fixtures, and appliances from all the rest. And with flashlight, tape measure, compass in hand, he was prepared to explore basements and attics, and all the nooks and crannies of buildings. All very helpful when dealing with an old historic city like Boston/Cambridge. Plus, he has an incredible amount of integrity and was always looking out for our best interest. He was happy to show us properties multiple times, and never put any pressure on us to make a decision. He was a great sounding board with each property we visited, asking and answering questions we hadn't even thought to ask. He was honest about both the pros and cons of each property, and he went out of his way to gather the information we needed to make our decisions. Along the way, finding the right home always felt like the priority over getting the best commission. Moreover, the Lembu team was always accessible and available. We would email questions and ask for comps late into the night, and be surprised to find thoughtful, detailed responses by the morning. Being academic types, we especially appreciated the spreadsheets and the detailed market analyses. The Lembu team accommodated all the showings we were interested in, often with very short notice. They were also great at educating us about the many steps to homebuying, which we appreciated as first time buyers. Most of all, Mike is passionate about real estate and building communities. He genuinely loves what he does, and cares about your finding the right place to call home. We felt we were in good hands the entire time. If you're looking for a realtor who knows Cambridge, give Lembu a call! read more

My wife and I were looking to sell our Cambridge condo and met with Mike and John to discuss. They were great. The pricing report they gave us was incredibly detailed and thorough, and really helped me understand the market we were selling into. They really seemed to know the Cambridge market well, and their analysis seemed to be quite comprehensive. We ultimately listed with another realtor, but I greatly appreciate the time and attention Lembu gave us. read more

Another review from someone who did not end up buying through Lembu but would love to because of the superb service: Mike Park was extremely helpful in explaining the basics to a first time homebuyer. He was great in thinking through all options for a family with small children and an also relatively small budget. Even though we were looking in the area outside of Cambridge/Somerville, in which Lembu specializes, Mike was willing to travel farther to accommodate our preferences. When showing places, Mike was very competent in providing rough estimates for potential repairs. When talking to Mike, I really appreciated the rare combination of being polite and responsive to our ideas but at the same time clearly showing his opinion and providing direction. read more

Worked with Maria McFarland for several months trying to purchase a home in the Medford area. After several properties and offers, we were able to land a home with Maria's guidance. She was always responsive and offered us as much help as we asked during the process. read more

Mike was my buyer's agent, helping me to find a house in Jamaica Plain to be shared as a co-op house for myself and five of my friends. He walked us through the whole process from the initial showings to the final closing. As a first-time home buyer, I definitely could not have navigated the whole process without Mike's help and guidance. He set up Google Docs pages so we could collaborate online on everything from planning the schedule to brainstorming renovation ideas, and even helped me take measurements for floor plans a few days before closing. He was flexible enough to be able to meet me at work or at other convenient locations when there were documents I needed to sign. Because there were six of us looking at houses together, scheduling showings was often difficult, but on the few occasions when Mike was not free at a time that worked for the rest of us, he was able to send a different agent from his office instead. During the process, Mike's advice helped us to better define what we were looking for in a house, including pointing out the flaws of a few houses that seemed exciting at first but would have been a nightmare to maintain. Once we found a house that fit, with Mike's help we were able to negotiate a deal and close on the house in under a month. I was so excited about the place that I moved in the day of the closing, and four months later the whole group of us is happier than ever about the house and the neighborhood we ended up in. read more

My fiancee and I were extremely pleased with and grateful for Nick Mescia's help and guidance throughout the crazy process of buying a condo in Cambridge. Nick was extremely generous with his time and energy and gave us wonderful advice throughout the process, which helped us be succesful in an insane market. If you are looking for a realtor in the Boston area, we highly, highly recommend Nick and Lembu. read more

Sylvia in Lembu Real Estate is terrific! She just helped my fiancé and I buy a beautiful condo in the best part of Cambridge. Since we met her a few month ago, we find her honest, trustable and professional. Along the process, she really keeps in mind about the features of houses that we like or dislike and gives us advise during showings accordingly. And she is very easy to communicate, in fact, she always thinks ahead of us and reminds us of all kinds of details that we would never think about. She never ever pushes us into anything and she can sense between the houses we sort of like and the ones we really love. When after not long, we find an adorable condo, she becomes quite determinate and strategic to help us win it with a price comfortable for us. And we get it beating 15+ offers! Besides, she really helps us setting in, like recommend good handymen, etc. She even gifts us a spare AC unit! With her, our house buying and moving-in process is much more smooth than we imagined! read more

Mike was definitely worth every penny for helping us sell our condo in stoneham! We had a really bad experience with our PREVIOUS seller's agent from a well known larger company. In the beginning they gave us the warm fuzzies to make us feel better, but after that they basically didn't give us the time of day, didn't help us stage our place, and in the end our place sat on the market for months, despite everything that he did. He would randomly schedule showings without our knowledge (the very few we had) and just was not good about communicating despite his constant reassurances that it wouldn't happen again and that he would let his people know. Mike, on the other hand, was completely opposite and was quite a breath of fresh air. From the beginning he was very clear about the process, his expectations for our place, and great at communicating things without putting extreme pressure on us. It truly felt like he was working FOR us and not trying to just work us. From the pictures he took of our place, to the tips on staging our place, to even having shoe covers for people when they walked in, everything was very professional and clearly communicated. Granted, there was a lot of work and information that he needed for everything to come together with the staging, condo docs, drawings, etc but everything was explained very well and we knew what to expect. His work in marketing our place definitely showed, as we had so many more people come to see our place than before. Even better than all his preshowing communication with us, was how he really took the time to follow up with potential buyers and get concrete feedback from them to help us know what issues they had, and then help us address those issues in the future. The competition in stoneham for places like ours was pretty high, and my wife and I were getting worried a bit, but Mike really stuck with it and in the end we sold our place in less time than we were expecting! My experience with Mike and Lembu was nothing short of awesome. It completely redeemed my previous experience. Most importantly, I feel like they really understood, not only my needs and concerns, but the buyers needs and concerns. Mike did a great job of managing both with care, honesty, and integrity. We are very grateful for him and his team. read more

I didn't even hire Lembu because what I need is not a service they provide (tenant mediation), however Phil spent over 30 mins on the phone giving me advice on how to diffuse my housing situation, gave me recommendations for sound proofing, offered names of inspectors. He could have said "Sorry, not us" but he went out of his way to listen and help where he could. He does that any more? If I need an agent in the future, I know who I'm calling. read more

Mike Park was my buyer's agent for the purchase of my first home. (a condo in Cambridge). When I first contacted Mike, I wasn't sure if I was going to buy a place or not, but he didn't put any pressure on me at all. He patiently showed me properties in the areas that I was looking in, and was really knowledgeable about homes and market trends. Mike was really pleasant to work with, very professional and punctual. When I finally found a place that I liked, Mike was really helpful in walking me through the process of the purchase and sale, and closing. I would recommend him to anyone buying their first (or second) home. read more

The cadillac of real estate agents in boston! Am a transplant here, mike was superbly patient in helpong me to find exactly what I was looking for. Listen to his advice on referrals on attorney, lender and everything, you will close escrow smoothly and quickly. He isn't about selling to sell, he is out for your best interest. Rarity nowadays to find that broker who is truly on your side. Fast, instant replies to any queations and issues. Pure pro. read more

Overall, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience working with Sylvia. We had a relatively brief time window to sell our condo and, as a result, Sylvia's strong communication/ organizational skills and careful attention to details were useful every step of the way. She is a tireless worker with reasonable expectations and has a keen understanding of the Metro Boston real estate market. read more

What do you get when an MIT engineering grad becomes a real estate agent? Mike Park from Lembu Real Estate, that's what! Mike is smart, dedicated, professional and very, very thorough. I consider myself to be a very high maintenance customer who was looking for someone who would not just show me different homes, but also have a thorough understanding of the Cambridge market, talk knowledgeably about construction and renovation issues and offer me hard data to back up pricing. In the summer of 2010, we were looking to sell our 2 bedroom condo and buy a new 3 bedroom condo because of our growing family. Mike and his team really helped us in terms of giving great advice about staging our home for sale. After we had put in a few weeks' worth of work, our condo looked fantastic and buyer-ready. They had given us an analysis of what he thought we should sell our condo for. We pushed back a bit and we ended up settling somewhere in between. Turns out, our condo was very desirable, we got several bids even before the 1st open house and ended up getting just $5,000 less than our asking price, just three days on the market. The downside was that we still hadn't found a new place to buy. Mike and his team bought us some time between the buyer's offer and the closing, about 6 weeks, and MIke worked pretty hard scouring the Cambridge market for us. If you were looking for a property in 2010 or 2011 in Cambridge then you know the market was very difficult for buyers and sellers alike. The market was so depressed that no one wanted to sell their home unless they absolutely had to so the inventory was very sparse. However, it being Cambridge which is very transient, random properties would still pop up. When Mike would take us to different properties, he would always pay close attention to our reactions to different homes and ask us questions about what we like and didn't like. He would watch our faces and interpret our remarks. He didn't seem like he was taking us to properties we wouldn't want to see just so he could see them for himself. He didn't talk about what he liked, or try to sell us on anything. Pretty soon he would just know what we would love and what we would hate when he'd look at listings. He studied us and what we would be interested in so he wouldn't waste our time. Given the challenge of the market, we had found two properties which would work for us but were overpriced. Mike and his associate Tim worked like mad to put together analysis after analysis and negotiate with the sellers. In the end, the first seller decided to pull their home off of the market and the second seller did not disclose a major defect in the home, which was a deal killer for us. Through it all, Mike spent a considerable amount of time helping us to externally process our thoughts and anxieties about it all. Mike was calm, objective, never discouraged and really stuck by us. Maybe, in the end, your real estate agent should also be your therapist!! Thank you, Mike, for your patience and for helping us to get through all of that heartache. We ended up having to rent an apartment while we waited for the spring market. Once more properties came online, we found the perfect home, but again it was overpriced. Mike was again extremely attentive to all the details and in helping us to strategize on an offer price. Mike made some great calls and gave a very thoughtful and detailed offer letter to the sellers (complete with his own comparable housing analysis). Because of his thoughtful offer, the sellers came down almost $50,000 so we were in the ball park of making a deal work out. One small conflict came up between Mike and us when we were down to the final round of negotiations. We worked it out very amicably, which speaks again to the kind of realtor Mike is, a man of integrity who takes the time to hear out his clients all the way to the end of the transaction. The back and forth between us shows that he is not condescending towards his clients. He really does take your input into consideration and while he offers good professional advice, he is never pushy or arrogant about it. All throughout the sale of our condo and the purchase of our new one, Mike seemed to love educating us about real estate and we learned so much from him. You can tell he loves his work! So if you're looking for a smart, dedicated, patient, honest agent, then look no further than Mike and his team at Lembu Real Estate. read more

Bernadine Tsung Megason was recommended to us by a friend in Boston when we were looking to buy a condo last year. She did a fantastic job in finding and securing a property we wanted in a competitive buyer's market. Her knowledge about Cambridge, Central Boston and Brookline was second to none. She was proactive and instrumental in communicating with us and the buyer to secure the purchase. Since we were living overseas, she also helped with the mortgage documentation, closing, repair work etc. She was all in their for the client. We were very happy and would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell in Boston and surrounding area. read more

Sylvia Tucker was instrumental in helping my wife and I guide the narrow waters of Boston Real Estate. Her delicate approach to sourcing the correct property has enabled us to find success in securing the right properties that match our detailed criteria. She came highly recommended from our lawyer. We couldn't be more happy having Sylvia as our real estate agent. We are close to securing our first property in Cambridge. Thank you Sylvia. Keep up the good work that you do! read more

I would give Bernadine Tsung-Megason 10 stars if I could. She is wonderful! She helped sell my condo and purchase my new home. I had originally listed my condo with another agent and had only 2 people come look at it. Bernadine came in made a few minor changes to stage it, listed it, and sold it the first weekend of open houses at $30,000 more than what the other agent had it listed for. She is extremely knowledgeable and goes above and beyond for her clients. She helped me every step of the way with the purchase of my new home. She is a tough negotiator but at the same time always cheerful and kind. There are so many ups and downs with buying and selling real estate and Bernadine was calm and level headed throughout. I am thrilled with my new home and so happy with my experinces with Bernadine and Lembu Real Estate! read more

We really enjoyed working with our agent Jessica Cohen. She was professional, easy-going, knew what we wanted, and highly responsive to emails/texts/calls. She has become our new friend. We found a great condo in JP and our offer was accepted with her assistance. She made sure that we did not overbid, but also remained competitive. I loved this agency and more importantly, I loved working with Jess Cohen. read more