Steve helped my husband and I purchase our home last year. Astonishingly, we were able to purchase the first place we put an offer on after looking on and off for over a year. Steve always had our best interests in mind and didn't try to push us into trying to purchase a house that he knew we wouldn't be happy with. Instead, he got to know us and learned about our wants and needs. When we finally found the perfect place, he was as excited as we were. Steve is not only an amazing Real Estate Agent but he's also a gem of a human being and he has become a great friend. As first time home owners, there's a lot that we don't know and Steve is always very happy to answer questions and introduce us to people that can help us maintain our home. I'm pretty sure this doesn't fall into his job description, he's just an all around great guy and actually cares about his clients. read more

Steve helped us with our starter home in Piedmont. So when we were in the market to upgrade to a bigger space for our growing family, we knew who exactly to call. Steve helped us with negotiating our dream home and selling our existing home. The outcome was truly a win-win for us. We were able to score the home of our dreams within our price range and on top of that he was able to sell our existing home at price that we were truly happy with. He helped us every step of the way and remained in constant communication with us - giving us updates on the daily. He's really great to work with, easy going, and is truly an expert in the area. I would recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell in the area. You can't beat his level of service, attention to detail and expertise. We are so grateful for him! read more

We have known Steve for almost a decade, since he found us our first home in 2010. This year we have bought house #2 and are getting house #1 ready for sale. Thanks to Steve its all been as straightforward as possible. He's very perceptive and cares about keeping us on track. When we veered and doubted our pre-requisites, he'd reel us back in, ask us questions and help us examine and reassess our priorities. We really appreciated that. Currently we are on vacation while Steve works with his trusted people to fix our house for sale. He's been keeping us updated and getting our opinions, but since we trust him implicitly we're more than happy to leave most decisions including list price to him. We got a great rate through the broker Steve recommended too, he took care of so many things for us, and answered all our questions patiently. If you're looking for an experienced, knowledgeable,trustworthy, kind and empathic realtor, look no further. When the sale goes through we will miss our regular communications, he's great company. read more

Steve helped us buy our first home in Montclair, and working with him was without a doubt the best part of this long process. Being first-time home buyers, we knew very little about the market or the homebuying process. Being picky buyers on a budget, we also expected a fairly long search period. At each step, Steve was kind, patient, and insightful. He took the time to explain every aspect of the process, from finding the right house to inspections, making an offer, getting a loan, and insurance. He waled us through many disclosure packages with patience, and put us in touch with the right people (e.g. engineers, insurance agents) when we needed them. Through our 8-month search, we never felt lost, ignored, or pressured. When we were about to make some questionable offers, Steve gently warned us, but let us make our own decisions, which we really appreciated. And when we found the right house for us, Steve made sure we got it with a competitive offer that didn't break our budget or leave money on the table, and made sure the closing process went smoothly. Talking to other agents during our search, any time we mentioned Steve's name the response would invariably be "oh I know Steve, he's the best!" We now know first-hand that this wasn't just politeness, but a very well-earned reputation. Now that we've bought our house, it would be no exaggeration to say we will miss talking to Steve every week, but what we lost in an agent, we gained in a good friend and neighbor. We'll be looking forward to seeing Steve around Montclair, and working with him again when the time comes to buy our next home! read more

Steve provided excellent advice and recommendations regarding the sale of our home. The pre-listing home improvements he suggested added to the sale price of the home. The contractors he recommended were great and completed work on time. Steve always kept us (my wife and I) informed during all aspects of the selling process that included inspections, home preparation, staging, listing the home, the number of prospective buyers and respective offers and the closing process. Steve went the extra mile on many occasions to ensure the smooth sale of our home. If you are looking for a realtor who knows the trade and local markets well and provides excellent customer service, Steve is the realtor my wife and I highly recommend that you use read more

My husband and I recently worked with Steve as our agent to purchase our first home in the Montclair district of Oakland, and cannot recommend him enough! Steve is the BEST professional we have ever worked with, period - he is incredibly well informed, detail oriented, and easy to work with, and we never doubted for a moment that he had our best interests at heart. He has an incredibly strong sense of integrity and we never felt rushed or pushed into an offer that wasn't right for us. We ended up having a very fast search and close (just under one month from meeting Steve to having our second offer accepted) and we truly felt like partners throughout the entire process. We had a complex offer/close period (double counteroffer, timed offer, etc.) and Steve was confident in guiding us through every step, making sure we knew what our options were while gently making suggestions (that were absolutely correct). Since we closed, Steve has continued following up with us to ensure that we're settling in, and providing referrals and connections that go way above and beyond what we ever would have expected from an agent. I honestly can't recommend him highly enough, if you're looking to purchase a home in the Montclair/Oakland area Steve should be your first choice! read more

I am writing from our very recently closed house in Upper Dimond/Lower Oakmore. Steve was a delight to work with! Upon meeting him for the first time, he immediately gained our trust. Throughout the whole crazy, byzantine, house buying process -- it was clear to us that he always had our best interests in mind. Other laudable traits of Steve: Excellent, quick communication, gave great recommendations for various contractors/inspectors, and displayed warm patience with all our questions. He knows his stuff, he is wise, and it is without hesitation that I highly recommend him as an agent. Be sure to ask him to see a photo of his adorable dogs. Thanks Steve! You are the best, good sir. read more

Steve helped us buy our first home, in Oakland, and I can not say enough good things about him and the entire process. He knows the East Bay market really well, explained everything throughly, always had great recommendations for any other professionals we needed (mortgage banker, home inspector, etc.), provided great advice but always made sure we were making decisions ourselves and that he was not pressuring us in anyway. He was always available for questions and made sure to check-in with us frequently throughout the entire process. I would highly recommend Steve for anyone buying or selling in the East Bay but specially for first-time home buyers, since he made what can be a very stressful and scary process feel a lot more manageable and less overwhelming. We already recommended Steve to some friends and they are really happy with him as well. read more

Look no further if you want a great real estate agent in the East Bay! Recommended through a friend, Steve made everything about buying our first home seem so easy. He had the answer to every question and concern we had throughout the entire process, through his personal expertise and endless network of contacts. His work ethic and punctuality is beyond imagination - I could swear he never takes an hour off, always getting back to us within 10 minutes, and constantly one step ahead of us, the lender, and the seller. He tells you you can call him for anything at any time, and he means it. The most refreshing thing I found working with Steve: you can tell he is always and truly on your side. We had concerns with 3rd parties throughout the process, which risked slowing the process down. Some realtors would pressure you in this situation, as their time is money. Steve on the other hand, was completely understanding, and worked with us to ensure we were comfortable throughout. I wish I had known the home-buying process could be so easy, I would have bought years ago. Thank you Steve! read more

Steve is the best! Better than I possibly could have expected. We are a family that was looking to buy a home in the East Bay from 3000+ miles away. Steve walked us through the process from beginning to end. He spent a ton of time asking us questions, explaining the process, referring us to the right people, and educating us so that we would be ready to move quickly. Because of that preparation, we were able to find a house in one weekend (this is the Bay Area where it can take months if not years to find the right home!) and get into contract within days. I imagine that most real estate agents would drop you as soon as they get their check from the closing. Not Steve!! He has helped us with countless move-in logistics so that when we arrived from afar, the house was be ready for us to move in. Buying a home isn't always just a transaction... it can get very emotional. Steve was so patient and so helpful throughout. He totally gets it-- he gives input when appropriate, and is a great listener, but he also knows when to stand back and let you process everything. I honestly can't even imagine what we would have done without him and am so grateful to the person who referred me to Steve! read more

We decided to contact Steve after getting some strong recommendations from my colleagues. Steve was very direct, educative and honest from the first meeting. He did a great job in describing us the process, the current status of the market and what is expecting us. We were looking to buy a house in a short time; and planned a busy schedule to visit many houses. He was always flexible, on time, kind and very informative. He did a great job in helping us assess the houses we were visiting. Before buying our house, we made 3 offers that we missed and he was always spot on when making the price estimates. However, we missed on those houses because we decided to try our chance with slightly lower offers. Overall, we had a great experience working with him and we would definitely work with him again if we look to buy/sell in Oakland region. read more

Steve is the best. He's personable, respectful and high integrity. He supported my husband and I buying our first home and helped us get an amazing deal in a crazy market. 5 years later he helped us prepare our home for sale. Again he exceeded our expectations by providing lots of advice on how to prepare the house, inspections to get and of course, list price. He visited us many times in the weeks proceeding sale and was a great support during the process. Our home sold for a price well beyond our expectations. We truly wish we could take Steve with us to support the purchase of our next home in a different county! Thank you so much Steve! read more

Steve Michaelides is a true real estate professional: knowledgeable, experienced, strategic and great with people. He is super responsive and thoughtful. Steve was vitally important to the successful sale of my home and I cannot recommend him highly enough. I was grateful initially for his professional assistance and am now grateful for his friendship. CP, El Cerrito read more

In a word, Steve is excellent. My husband and I worked with Steve for about a year and half until we finally found the house that checked all the boxes on our wish list. My husband and I were novices to the housing market, and we were looking for our first home. The first house we bid on we made the mistake of not bidding the price Steve recommended (which was actually below the list price) and we went even lower. Steve was okay with this. He told us several times that when it comes down to it, my husband and I need to be comfortable with what we think the house is worth. No big surprise with the Bay Area market, we didn't get the house, but it sold for the price Steve had recommended we offer. Lesson learned. Almost. We had a baby and walked away from house hunting for a while. Time went by and we found another house and again Steve told us what we should bid and again we went lower than that. That house also sold for what he recommended we offer, not the number my husband and I came up with. Lesson definitely learned. Our realtor, Steve, has a very good understanding of the market. With the home we now own, Steve again walked us through the entire process. He has a trove of resources and advice. When I had questions about past permits on the house he went with me to the city planning office and helped clear up any questions. He went pretty much line by line through the disclosures with us (he did this with each house we were ever interested in) and pointed out red flags. This third house was The House. We knew we wanted it. We considered going lower than what he recommended, but we remembered how spot on he had been before with prices. We took his advice and out of 7 bids we got the house. When it comes down to it, you want the realtor who is going to get you into the house you love. He was a pleasure to work with and we'd recommend him to anyone looking to buy a home. He took us to see loads of houses and would always reach out when something we'd like popped up on the market. He's a realtor who actually loves the houses he sees and sells, and genuinely cares about the clients he finds home for. The Bay Area is a tough market, you'll probably like the home buying experience a lot more if you go with Steve. read more

We have known Steve for years and he has been our agent in the purchase of several Bay Area homes. But this time we needed to sell....and as soon as we bought a new home out of the area COVID hit. Steve was very informative and helpful throughout the whole ordeal no matter what was thrown at us. Difficulty in obtaining an inspector, a stager, a photographer...you name it. You couldn't have picked a worse time to sell but we were determined to follow it through. Selling a home is never easy but Steve was with us every part of the way making any and all accommodations to comply with the county shelter in place orders. Once it was time to go on the MLS we were all a bit nervous but I am thankful that we stuck with it and our home sold in two weeks...during a pandemic! He is the friendliest guy around and he is 1000% honest about everything. He has YOUR situation and needs in mind the whole way and never pushes to just try to make a sale like a lot of brokers out there. He is incredibly knowledgeable about the housing market in the Bay Area and is educated in finance so his advice is always spot on when it comes to all the little details in buying or selling a home. We would never use anyone else! read more

After some more searching, and some Covid-related complications, we found our place in Oakland, thanks again to Steve, who point it out to us before we spotted it! He was very patient with our slow search, took the time to explain market conditions, helped us zero in on the area we wanted and the features we were looking for in a house. Throughout this process, Steve was unfailingly responsive and helpful, cheerful and informative. He also has provided a steady stream of solid references for some work we're taking care of before we move in -- plumbing, electric, handyman, yard service -- as well as tips and ideas for us as new homeowners. This has been a really positive and low-stress experience, much thanks to Steve. read more

I can not say enough wonderful things about Steve. My husband and I were first time buyers and we needed a ton of handholding and help understanding the market and what it really means to buy a house. Steve provided all the help and knowledge we needed and he was a joy to be around. He took the time to get to know our family and how we planned to grow and all of the key items that were important to us as we looked for our first home (schools, location, light...). Not only is Steve extremely knowledgable about every step of the purchasing process he is well established in the area and had the great recommendations for other professionals we needed to help us buy our house. Steve also had come highly recommended to us from our close friends, and their families, who all worked with Steve to buy their homes. We would happily recommend Steve to anyone that is looking for a realtor. read more

Meets the Chinese Mom Test! Steve is a dedicated, knowledgeable, clever realtor. He has handled our first home purchase, then our 2nd home purchase, our 1st home sale, and also my Dad's home purchase. I joke about the Chinese Mom test but it's true - my very savvy Mom was curious about why we were using Steve to help us on our first home purchase 15+ years ago, but then she flew over and met him, peppered him with questions, then declared that he was good. And yes, he's that good. My family had to be out of the country during that first home transaction so sent her my Power of Attorney, and my bank wiring, and she and Steve went from there. If I were an incoming home buyer today - I would want somebody who knows the local scene, can find the opportunities, and provide me wise insight as each purchase/each bid is different. And be diligent and helpful to take care of the loads of forms and documents to sign as easily as possible for the client. If I were a forthcoming home seller - I would want somebody who knows how to maximize value, how to help with any fixes, provide a list of people who can help for those, and ease the whole transition and transaction. Steve meets that criteria and more! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! read more

Steve helped my husband and I buy our first house a month ago in Montclair. He was incredibly patient, knowledgeable, and communicative. Buying a house is stressful, scary, and frustrating. Steve walked us through the process step by step, celebrating the wins and sympathizing when things were tough. I will recommend him to anyone I know looking to purchase in the East Bay and will definitely use him again in the future if/when we decide to sell. I couldn't have asked for a better realtor! read more

Having spent 8 years as a Realtor in the area where I lived, when it came time to sell our home and purchase a new one I knew a lot of agents who would do an excellent job representing us. That was both a good thing (lots of great choices) and a bad thing (how could I possibly select just one?). I put together a list of the qualities I wanted that person to have. Someone who had been in the business for a long time and would not be having us as their teaching tool, someone who had an excellent reputation within the Realtor world, someone who worked for a company well respected, and someone I knew and personally liked. There still were a lot of individuals who met those criteria but Steve from the start was an early favorite and ultimately my first choice. In hindsight I must say choosing Steve to represent us on both the buying and selling end was one of the best decisions I have ever made. We were fortunate enough to be able to buy a new place before selling our existing home. Even though where we bought was not in the immediate area where we lived (about 20 miles away) we asked Steve to represent us on the purchase. Fortunately for us he did. Though not the area where he did most of his business, he guided us very wisely throughout and helped to make our 3 week close of escrow very smooth. He lined up all the key people to do inspections, negotiated very effectively on our behalf and always quickly responded to any questions we had. The seller's agent mentioned to us that in all her time in the business, Steve was one of the most hard working and effective agents she ever had the pleasure to work with. As excellent a job as he did on our purchase, he outdid himself when it came time to sell our existing home. He counselled us pitch-perfect about when to sell the house, at what price and everything we needed to do prior to putting it on the market. Having been in the business I know oftentimes sellers do not want to have to spend money on inspections, painting, carpeting, landscaping and staging knowing that unlike the purchase end when they sell they will need to pay both agents their fees. Following Steve's advice paid off big time. There was an incredible amount of interest and excitement from agents and buyers about our place and just 13 days after going on market we had 12 offers. The house eventually sold for $170,000 over the asking price and the terms of the deal were very sweet as well. We closed escrow in less than 3 weeks and the transaction was painless and stress-free. Besides having all of the attributes one would want in a Realtor, Steve is an all-around friendly, amiable, courteous, diligent, hard-working and sincere person and a genuine joy to work with. On a scale of 1 to 5 Steve is a 10. All I can say is if you are thinking about buying or selling a home in the Oakland/Berkeley/Piedmont area, you need look no further than Steve. And follow his advice to the letter. You will not regret it. read more

Steve is the best! We bought our house in Orinda over a year ago so this review is long over due. We were introduced to Steve by a mutual friend and we are so very thankful to have met him. He tirelessly showed us around multiple houses in Oakland, Piedmont and Orinda. After looking for a long time, when we were ready to put in an offer, he guided us expertly through the offer process. He had the best people lined up to do the various inspections and made sure that we understood any extra work that the house was going to need at the time as well as in the future. We have contacted Steve multiple times since buying the house for recommendations on various things and he is always prompt in getting us the information we need as well as following up to see if we need any additional info. We can't recommend Steve enough!! He is a great guy who made our house buying experience great. read more

If you are looking for a realtor, look no further -- Steve is your guy. Steve provided invaluable assistance, advice, and support when my wife and I bought a home in Oakland, guiding us through the process every step of the way from beginning through closing. He helped us in our search by talking us through neighborhoods and key home features to look for. He explained each step as it happened, and his advice through the whole process was candid and helpful, which made a very stressful purchase more bearable. Steve served as an extra point of contact to chase down our loan officer and title company, and did an amazing job negotiating with the listing agent. We have been telling anyone considering buying a home that working with Steve will set you up for success. read more

Without Steve as our realtor, it's more than likely we wouldn't be living in our forever home right now. He came highly recommended, and off we rode into the wild frontier of Oakland's gold rush, aka the summer of 2016's real estate market: low inventory, high prices, and open house that buzzed with hipsters, expecting couples, and techies ready to pull the trigger with their all-cash offers. Steve guided us expertly. It wasn't just his book knowledge that won us the house (transactions, market dynamics, neighborhoods' ins and outs), but his street smarts. He's respected by his colleagues, he fights for his clients, and he's honest--even if you don't want to hear that your bid of 15% over asking isn't going to get you that house in Grand Lake (he was right). Steve also will give you tips on which houses will go for asking. Steve also possesses a sixth sense. Like, he knew when our mortgage lender, Sterns, was falling down on the job just like animals know when an earthquake is going to hit. He started emailing them and calling them daily. Steve expended time and energy to put the train back on the track and give it a good push. He's also responsive to emails, texts, phone calls; that was important to me. The best part of Steve, though, might be "Post-purchase Steve." He's full of surprises: he sends cards, emails advice on the neighborhood, he mailed our closing doc for reference during tax season, he met a painter for me since I got stuck in the city, he checks in on our progress to see if we need any recommendations on tradespeople. All of this makes my husband and I feel less like a transaction/commission and more like his friends and neighbors. Steve is 100-percent genuine. read more

We are writing this review snuggled up in front of a crackling fire in our new home, realizing how fortunate we were to have Steve Michaelides as our real estate agent. Thanks to Steve, we are living in our dream home. When we started the search for our home, we knew nothing about the process and didn't really even know where to start. We interviewed a number of real estate agents but Steve stood out from the rest. He struck us with his honesty, knowledge, professionalism, and charm. Over the past year of going to open houses every weekend we learned a lot about the housing market and what we were looking for. Steve was right there whenever we needed him to look at a house or answer any questions, but he also gave us the time and space we needed to make decisions and he never rushed us. Throughout the whole process, he revealed insights and made suggestions always at exactly the right time when the information was the most relevant. The information he gave us and suggestions he made were always really helpful and showed how much he cared that we not only found a home that we really loved, but also that we knew what the state of the house was so that there were no surprises. After a year of searching, we finally found a home that we fell in love with. And then like a superhero, Steve switched modes and walked us through the overwhelming process of preparing an offer. There were twelve offers on our home, many very competitive with ours, but the final decision to pick our offer was based on suggestions Steve had made. Steve is extremely knowledgeable about the housing market in the bay area. He is patient and responds to our questions usually within minutes. We grew to like Steve very much as a friend and look forward to continuing our friendship. We highly recommend Steve Michaelides, he makes the process of buying a home a wonderful experience. read more

If you are looking for an extremely professional, caring and all around lovely person to work with you will find that with Steve. Steve listed and quickly sold our home this past spring; our experience with him was a ten plus! There are always bumps in the road when you sell or buy a house and Steve's intellect about the market and even temperament was ideal and made the process extremely easy on us, we are forever grateful. He is a master at working with couples (we often wondered if he might have been a therapist in a previous life) and navigating through all the decisions that must be made before, during and even after the sale. We enjoyed working with Steve so much we will be working with him to find our next home because we know we will get service beyond reproach! We highly recommend using Steve Michaelides at the Grubb Co. read more

My husband and I met Steve through my brother, a commercial broker, and worked with him for a few months this year. Steve was fantastic, and ultimately helped us to find, close and move into our dream house in Crocker Highlands. We came from the city, and knew of, but not a lot about, some Oakland neighborhoods. Steve helped to introduce us to many good neighborhoods, including giving us information on my husband's commuting options to his job in the city. He's from Oakland, and clearly knows his way around - as well as the other brokers and agencies in the area! He previewed houses for us, and (as I requested) only contacted us about nearly perfect properties. (We were a little fried by the numerous open houses and other efforts we made before we connected with him!) For each house we considered, Steve came to the discussion with information about the disclosures, inspections (if any had been done), neighborhood, schools, commute, and recommendations for any work we may want or need to do to make the house perfect for us. He never tried to convince us to do anything we didn't want, and was gracious as our "checklist" changed during the process. He was thoughtful, responsive, available and fun to be around! Once our offer was accepted on our new home, Steve stayed highly involved, checking in with us, meeting contractors for inspections with us, and accompanying us to sign our documents. He even dropped by on our move in day to wish us good luck! My husband and I highly recommend Steve! We love our new house and neighborhood and couldn't have done it without him! read more

Steve is simply the best real estate agent around. He knows the market and makes his knowledge work for you, whether you're a buyer or seller. He has represented many members of our family and all of us have had the same experience: Steve's energy, commitment and attention to detail lead to fantastic results. Most recently my wife and I sold our home in a lightening-fast transaction that enabled us to move and close the deal less than a month after we made the house available for sale. A smoother, quicker selling process would be impossible for anyone to achieve. Thanks again Steve! read more