So, due to the whole pandemic life we ended up looking for a place with Team Szakos for a year. And to be clear, that was totally our choice, they found us several places a long the way that could have worked but weren't our exact dream house. Additionally, our realtor, Erik, was in no way bothered by our pickiness, champagne taste on a beer budget or texting on the weekends. In fact, Erik went above and beyond at all times. He even hand wrote over 100 letters to appeal to home owners in our ideal neighborhood. He encouraged us to go any house were were interested in with him even if it wasn't a perfect fit. To get a picture of Erik's work ethic, we texted him three houses we liked on Friday night and he had appointments for us the next day at times that were convenient for our schedule. Fun Fact: Erik looks like Gabriel Swann Macht, so "Suits" fans should definitely request him. When we did finally find our perfect place Erik guided us to an offer that fit our budget, appealed to the buyers and gave us buyer's credit to help with closing costs (all during this crazy Seller's Market). And lucky for us Erik was able to negotiate it all a couple days before another buyer made an offer far larger than ours. But by then we were already in ESCROW and picking out paint samples. We are first time home buyers, so we have had a lot of questions. Erik answered every single one for us, including things beyond his official duties, like telling us how to sign up for utilities. Likewise, the lending company Szakos hooked us up with (no pressure to sign with them, but they worked for us) had a loan counterpart that was also there for us for our many questions all year long. We genuinely felt like good friends with everyone on the Szakos team. This process was like looking at houses with an older brother who did everything he could to help us navigate this next big step. I know this is a business, but it is very clear that the Szakos team always places their clients above their profit margin. read more

A year ago my husband and I moved from Las Vegas to Camarillo. We rented an apartment in order to allow us to explore the surrounding areas before deciding where we would like to purchase a home. Six months later, there was no doubt in our minds that the lovely hills of Camarillo would be our first choice. We made an appointment to see a house on Avocado Street, and how lucky that Erik Gladish was the agent assigned to help us find our home. From the get-go we felt as though we had embarked on a flight with first-class service to our dream home! Erik made us feel as though we were his #1 priority, and who doesn't want that? He showed a keen interest in our needs--our likes and dislikes, and the time frame for our move, but we never felt rushed to do anything, so refreshing. Erik is part of Team Szakos who are based in Ventura, and we benefited from their full support and undivided attention throughout the process. This inspired more confidence every step of the way. How wonderful that Erik also happens to be a yogi-realtor, a unique combination of skills where his calm and positive demeanor, coupled with up-to-date information on the local market, had left us feeling upbeat and positive that we would definitely find a home that best suited our needs. If looking for great communication, that too is another one of Erik's great qualities. Every single one of our emails and texts were answered in a timely manner.  He is a problem solver, so once we found the home we loved the process was smooth and painless, and we continued to receive undivided attention until every single issue was resolved to our satisfaction. It's been a pleasure to work with Erik, and a memorable experience to collaborate with Team Szakos. There are many realtors to choose from, but you would be hard-pressed to find someone more diligent and ethical. Our flight has come to an end; the landing was soft, and now the unpacking begins! read more

Team Szakos Has Gone Above and Beyond Expectations I recently moved to Ventura to start a new job and new season of my life. As a first time home-buyer, I wasn't keen on any of the processes and procedures that take place during home-buying. I met with Roger to go over all of the perks that go into buying a home rather than continuing to rent. We went over the area that I was interested in, my price range, and the details I was looking for. I hired Roger and Team Szakos to help and guide me through the process of buying my condo. I ended up looking at 5-10 condos; some that I liked and some that I didn't. This process allowed me to eliminate what I did not want in my home, and allowed me pinpoint exactly what I was looking for. I got a message from Roger in the early week that a home would be available for me to see the Friday coming up. We went to see the place and I instantly fell in love with it. The kicker is that the place wasn't even on the market, so I didn't have to deal with competing bids and other buyers. I was the only one who knew about this home other than the owner and the selling agent. I was able to see the home, a few times to ensure that it was the correct place to build my life and future family. This was quite a process, but Roger (my agent), Sydnie (the customer service concierge) and the rest of Team Szakos was there to proverbially hold my hand through each and every hoop that I had to jump through to make this dream a reality. I was able to get a great deal on my first home, and Team Szakos made this whole process smooth and relatively easy for me. I was able to negotiate some of the closing costs to be compensated by the seller and I am overall extremely happy with my new home. Not only is Team Szakos a great team but they contribute to humanitarian efforts and their local community. God bless you and thank you Team Szakos! read more

Once we were firm on making our escape from LA we began pursuing our hunt for a new home in Ventura county rigorously. We eventually landed on Ventura proper as our destination and had even narrowed it down to a few specific neighborhoods. We went through a few real estate agents that promised the world and continuously came up short. Immediately with the Szakos team, I could sense something different when they were willing to accommodate my request for a meeting on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was apparent from that first meet that these were our guys. Both Daniel and Phil, who were the said guys on our case, worked 7 days a week through the holidays to find us a very specific type of home in a specific neighborhood in, most likely, the most competitive price range in Ventura. We went toe-to-toe against several investors and hungry house-hunters and, through no fault of their own, fell short three times with our offers. By the fourth home offer, Daniel and Phil had us trained and primed to come up with our best and most aggressive game plan (as required in today's insane seller's market) and we were able to get escrow started just a few days later. I can't speak highly enough of both Phil and Daniel--beyond having the drive required to make things happen fast, they are on the bleeding edge of field knowledge and market mastery helping their clients to navigate today's competitive landscape. Surely, we must've been one of their more difficult clients, although they never gave an inkling of that notion as their attitude was always high-spirited and positive, constantly reassuring us that they would find and close on the perfect house. I promise that you want these guys on your side. **Stay tuned for an update on what they get me for a housewarming gift. read more

I recently worked with Michael and Team Szakos to purchase my first home, and I couldn't possibly be more pleased with the whole process! It became clear very quickly that I'd made the right decision in working with Team Szakos, as we hit the ground running immediately! Team Szakos worked with me on a plan for home ownership by helping me get pre-approved and set a budget for monthly payments. Michael patiently answered my numerous questions and helped me really understand the ins and outs of the home buying process so that I could make informed decisions every step of the way. Michael and his team took me to view several homes, but never pressured me to buy any of them. In fact, when I had to back out of an initial escrow due to poor seller cooperation, Team Szakos supported me in my decision, and assured me "my house" was out there and that it would be worth the wait! And they were right, as a week later I did, infect, find "the one". Michael helped me quickly put together an attractive offer and navigated all negotiations on my behalf, resulting in over $12,000 in closing costs from the seller and savings over $7000 when the appraisal came in low. After my offer was accepted, Team Szakos successfully closed escrow in only 3 weeks! Michael and his team made the escrow process smooth and painless, and I am so grateful for their guidance. I've heard stories of how stressful the home buying process can be, but I can honestly say it was an exciting and enjoyable journey, and I know that was due to having Team Szakos in my corner. They are extremely knowledgeable, work tirelessly on your behalf, and are just all around lovely humans who I am honored to know. You really can't go wrong with this team! read more

My wife and I are currently in the Navy and were living at the Port Hueneme Naval Base with our three kids. We have lived there for for a brief amount of time, but as soon as we settled in, we came into the realization thatit was time to look for a home we can call our own! We also quickly found that we needed more space and waned to make our next home truly OURS. We were tired of throwing money away by renting, but we were not sure if we were ready or if we would even qualify to buy. We went to Team Szakos' VA seminar, and learned a ton of info abut buying a house with our VA loan eligibility. There, we met Team Szakos agent, the great Warren Livingston. Warren hooked us up with a mortgage company that specializes in VA loans and we got the ball rolling! Warren showed us a bunch of homes that matched the area we were looking for, and homes that had space for entertaining. We finally found our dream home in a fantastic gated community, with a gorgeous living area, perfect for entertaining! We found everything we were looking for, and Warren was even able to get $15k back in closing costs for us as well as a $500 repair credit. Warren made us feel well taken care of through the whole buying process and we are very pleased with how he helped us with our home search, most notably, he was very understanding and patient with our hectic schedule, and consistently went above and beyond to accommodate to us and our sometimes inflexible schedule. I don't think there was anyone better for the job and our situation as VA buyers. Team Szakos is a group of knowledgeable and professional people. We highly recommend them! read more

Our journey to find a great home during this uncertain times has been a memorable one. The main reason to this was the great luck of having Team Szakos on our side helping us thru this process. I had the opportunity to work with them thru a referral from a good friend that had the opportunity to work with Mike when they were selling their home. Once I contact them I was assigned Carol Senff, who was a blessing in disguise for us. First she introduced herself, helped us by answering questions and provided us the mission statement of the firm. During the timeframe of our search she provided us a better understanding of the market, provided suggestions and was very flexible of our request and the amount of houses that she showed us. The most important aspect is they kept their promise of no pressure and honor their guarantees that were offered at the beginning. Team Szakos and especially Carol, has provided me and my family the best possible house buying experience that I could of imagine. We highly recommend their 5 star service and especially for military, their knowledge of the VA process helped immensely in our decision. I look forward to work with them in the future when I decide to buy a new home or sell my current one. Thanks so much for your services. read more

As first time homebuyers, we didn't know what to expect. Luckily we came across Team Szakos! Our rep, Erik, was patient with us taking our time before scheduling to sit down regarding initiating the process. Erik Gladish met with us, listened to our wants and needs, and connected us with a very good lender who got us pre approved! Things have gone fast from there. We were shown properties within the week, and were guided through the current stage of the market and how to submit offers in a crazy hot market. Erik advised sagaciously on how to respond to the sellers multiple counter offer, while beating out the two other highest and best offers, and securing our winning offer. Erik was with us through this whole process; he recommended highly qualified vendors for home inspection and walked us through what to expect through Escrow. He was always willing to answer our questions and meet with us based on our schedules. We knew he always had our interests at heart. Team Szakos fought for us with regards to protecting our contingency removal periods. Team Szakos and Erik Gladish are thoughtful and kind real estate professionals, and we are grateful for the help in getting us our dream home in this competitive market! read more

We needed to buy a house with some tight parameters and we found a gem in Lashelle Harris at Team Szakos. We have purchased four homes and sold four homes prior to this in our many years of marriage. This has been the most caring team of people I have ever worked with, without a doubt. We are moving from Ventura County back to Los Angeles and if we had met the Szakos team when moving up here it would have been tempting to stay! Lashelle exhibited amazing kindness, patience and tenacity in finding the right home for us and always went the extra mile in every way. Rarely do you meet someone in business that really wants the best for their clients but Lashelle has integrity that you rarely see these days. Lashelle connected us to a great Mortgage Company, Sierra Pacific and Michael Quinn. We needed to buy VA and without Lashelle calling Michael Quinn and asking for creative ways to buy VA in Los Angeles we might still be looking. LA County has few condo's that are allow VA loans and she pursued that angle to get us what we needed. She was a wealth of information and answered every question in detail. If you want great customer service and a caring bunch of people don't go anywhere else! Sincerely, Bob and Rebecca read more

Andrew Hughes helped my husband and I on finding a rental in Ventura when we had just 3 weeks to work with. Mind you, Andrew didn't make a penny off of helping us, and we were turned down by other realtors in the area because they "don't do rentals". Andrew, out of the kindness and decency of his heart, took time on a Saturday to meet with us, he videoed a rental for us while we were back in NV so we could see it, and kept in touch with us and helped us as we transitioned into Ventura life. This man is an ANGEL! Not only is he knowledgeable and experienced in real estate, but he is a truly decent and honest person. Andrew is a professional with a great heart. You can feel secure in knowing that any transaction with Andrew will be in your best interest as he truly cares about his clients. When we decide to purchase a home in Ventura, Andrew is the only realtor we'll consider working with. We've owned 3 homes in 3 different states and Andrew is by far one of the best realtors we've ever had the pleasure to work with. We give him our highest recommendation and are thankful to have experienced his high level of care and expertise. Sincerely, Jill W. read more

I met Team Szakos and Kelly Sawyer back in February of this year when my daughter and I came into town. I had been wanting to move out of the Bakersfield area and get into a more coastal climate. Kelly hooked me up with several different lenders but that proved a bit challenging with regards to securing financing. Eventually, I was able to secure a hard money lender and I was off and running. After cancelling an existing escrow and obtaining my $30,000 earnest money deposit - which the seller attempted to keep - I was able to purchase the home of my dreams. A gorgeous and newly remodeled Cape Code style beach home in the Oxnard harbor area will be mine - all in the time span of two and half weeks. Kelly has been diligent, hard-working, tenacious (I mean she got me my $30,000 back!!!) and is a Rock Star agent. I should mention that my eldest daughter was so impressed that she joined Team Szakos to learn the ropes in real estate from Kelly and the other team members. If you want someone who knows her stuff contractually and can help you every step of the way, I highly recommend Kelly Sawyer from Team Szakos! read more

Conocimos a Alicia hace más de 1 año y aunque no estábamos listos para comprar en ese momento ella se tomó el tiempo para ponernos en contacto con un prestamista que fue capaz de guiarnos por el proceso adecuado para nuestra situación y prepararnos para nuestro objetivo que era alcanzar nuestro sueño de comprar nuestro propio hogar. Incluso durante el proceso de compra pensamos que la transacción podría haber terminado cuando las cosas cambiaron con mi empleo. Alicia me hizo consciente de nuestras opciones y me di cuenta de que todavía había esperanza. Pusimos nuestra confianza en ella y su equipo y como no lo dijo LO CONSIGUIERON!! El equipo Szakos y el prestamista Juan Jiménez con CMS que nos recomendaron nos ayudaron a encontrar una solución. Incluso consiguieron que la oferta fue aceptada sobre otro comprador que ofrecía comprar la casa en efectivo! Compramos una casa antes de Navidad, ahora podemos decorar nuestra nueva casa a tiempo para las vacaciones! ¡Gracias Alicia y Juan Jiménez y el Equipo Szakos por ayudarnos a alcanzar nuestro sueño de tener nuestra propia casa! read more

It has been a long time goal to purchase my first home by my 40th birthday...I was fortunate to meet Carol Senff and Team Szakos, with less then two months to my 41st birthday! The first 5 minutes into my first meeting with Carol, I knew she was the one to lead me through my journey! Carol and Team Szakos are professional, prompt, and, clear in all communication. Carol guided me in the right direction and helped me to think outside of the box. The strategy Carol suggested brought me to a listing I might have otherwise overlooked, yet turned out to be my dream home! The home buying process was so smooth that I actually asked Carol several times, "when is the hard part coming?" As an added bonus, Team Szakos was able to obtain 6K from the sellers towards my closing costs! Carol introduced me to a lender that was able to close in less then 21 days (just what I needed to reach my goal!) I cannot thank the team enough for their efficient, kind, and, prompt direction through my journey! If you are searching for a home, I'd refer Carol Senff and Team Szakos in a heartbeat!! read more

We met Team Szakos at their high value VA event that showcased all of the benefits of home ownership, and how they can help. Team Szakos continues to support us by providing education to their new buyers by hosting special VIP Master Classes. Our agent Erik Gladish showed us homes in Santa Paula, Oxnard, Camarillo, and Ventura. Team Szakos and Erik helped us make offers in an extremely competitive market. They were patient, kind, and showed expertise throughout the entire negotiation and offer making process. Team Szakos and Erik negotiated hard for us and got $3,000 in closing costs credit and $1,000 in repair requests credit. When we had plumbing concerns, Erik scheduled a time to let us get our plumbers opinion, making us feel safe moving forward, and even got termite repairs covered, as well as holding off on removing contingencies for as long as possible. Luckily, HOA required a new fence, which was covered by the Sellers. Team Szakos and Erik made protecting us a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic, using safety protocols during showings. Thank you Team Szakos! read more

We started our home search on our own by looking at houses on the internet and keeping our eyes peeled for open houses and "For Sale" signs in people lawns. Along our search, we met Giuliano from Team Szakos. He was attentive and helped us gain clarity on what was important to us for our future home. Team Szakos even connected us with a great lender, Sierra Pacific Mortgage. They helped us set a plan in motion to get our finances in order, with the goal of purchasing in early 2019. Giuliano was in constant communication with us and always available when we needed him. Keeping our ideal home in mind, he found us the best home in our price range and made it possible for us to buy much earlier than we expected! We close on our home this month and we could not be more thrilled! We have peace of mind knowing that we are going to be in a safe neighborhood near our daughter's school. Our son, who is in the Navy, now has his own room to come home to. We look forward to spending the holiday seasons surrounded by family in our new home. Thank you, Giuliano and Team Szakos! read more

Great experience working with Team Szakos! I liked that they work as a team and you get several people helping you throughout the transaction. They helped me to complete a 1031 exchange. In this crazy seller's market they got my offer accepted on the third try. They got quite clever ideas on how to get your offer beat all others and it worked! They work really hard. I was on a tight deadline and my offer was contingent on selling another property. They made it happen! Also, my agent was on top of the whole process and worked really hard to get my appraisal results come back in 3 days in order to fit our contractual deadlines. Normally, people wait for weeks to get them. The communication was great and I could see my agent established a very good professional relationship with the seller's side. So much so that the seller volunteered to complete a certain repair at their own cost, without us even asking! I'm really happy I hired them. I would not have the property I got now without their teamwork and smart negotiation they did on my behalf! read more

As a first time homebuyer, getting started with the process was very intimidating to me. I was not in a rush, rather wanted to find just the right place. Warren Livingston with Team Szakos worked a perfect balance of showing me options, minding my "wants/needs", but keeping it low pressure. He knows how to respectfully help you see different sides of things that perhaps weren't clear to you at first. Warren did a perfect job of listening to each of my concerns as they arose, and addressing them one by one. From my specific inquiries about statements in documentation, to my stream of conscious ramblings when I was over thinking things. Once I finally found the perfect home for me, he worked quickly and efficiently with the seller to make it happen. There were definitely issues through the escrow process, but Warren his with professionalism and poise, helped me navigate them. I really felt the Szakos team was working for me in my best interest. I'm completely satisfied with my first home of my own and the team that helped me make it mine. read more

In the last few years the real estate industry has gotten a lot of bad press, but Mike and his team were very straight-forward and honest. With as stressful as we have heard the home-buying process can be, we were relieved to experience their thoughtful, no-pressure approach. It immediately put us at ease. We had assurance when working with Team Szakos that they would negotiate the best deal possible, or pay us $500 with the www.SaveWithSzakos.com guarantee. They lived up to their guarantee and saved us over $5,000 off the purchase price of our mid-town Ventura dream home. Team Szakos negotiated the price into the range we were wanting even amongst the other buyers interested in the property. They listened to what we wanted and were always willing to explain things and answer our questions (of which we had many). They made sure all repairs were done satisfactorily and on closing day we were ecstatic. We would recommend Team Szakos without hesitation to friends and family. Thank you for everything, Team Szakos! read more

After living 26 years in Moreno Valley we decided it was time to sell our home there and move to Ventura County to be closer to our daughter and new grandson. We hired Carol Senff with Team Szakos to be our real estate agent and we are so glad we did. It's been an awesome adventure hunting for homes with Carol. Not only did she take all of our needs into consideration with each and every home she presented to us, Carol went above and beyond, she was always there for us to answer our questions no matter the time of day, Holidays or weekends. A true professional, patient, understanding and reliable, we could always count on her. With her help we found our forever home, a home that was not even on the market at the time. As soon as we walked through the door we knew it was the one. We have truly enjoyed working with Team Szakos, it's been such a fun and exciting adventure for us to work with Carol and the whole team. Love them as family and will always come to them for any future real estate needs. read more