Mike Panza is a thoughtful, responsive, focused broker who took much of the stress of selling…read more(during a pandemic) from signing to closing with strategy and professionalism. His knowledge and expertise of the market helped to properly price the house over other suggestions that I had received. When we talked strategy, he suggested things I could do to prepare the house. Mike recommended quality help when necessary. Each of his team was a pleasure to deal with. Each professional (photographer, lawyer, inspector etc.) performed their function(s) timely and with minimal disruption. It was a seller's market and my property received multiple offers. He excelled in vetting potentials, presentation and review. He does not "over talk." With much appreciation to Mike Panza, I am moving on into the next chapter of my life.

My wife and I have been looking for a condo for about 1 year. We started to ratchet up our search…read morein the beginning of June. We met Mike at one of our Covid visits. Looked at a few then found the one. Mike is a nice, professional and very approachable guy. He is very knowledgeable of the area and he knows his real estate. I highly recommend his services.

Kathy did an amazing job helping my best friend and I find the best apartment to suit our needs…read more She graciously took us under her wing and helped us navigate the stressful apartment-hunting process. She was extremely professional, but also seemed to genuinely care about our wellbeing and wanted us to be happy wherever we ended up. Kathy remained very communicative with us and made sure to keep us in the loop throughout the entire process. We are beyond appreciative of everything she did for us!

My wife and I recently used Lisa Drapkin and Jenn McDonald to sell our condo in Somerville, and it…read morewas a wonderful experience! Our condo had multiple offers within a week of opening! Lisa and Jenn are highly detail oriented and personable (they loved our dog!), and made this process as smooth as possible for us. This was especially important as we were in the process of moving across the country and much of our communication happened virtually. They maintained excellent communication and were very informative and helpful on guiding us through this process as first time sellers. Highly, highly recommend this team!

Lisa Drapkin and Nancy Dixon (True Home Partners team) did an amazing job selling our Cambridge…read morecondo! It sold the first weekend it was listed with multiple offers. Lisa and Nancy were on top of every detail of the transaction which was especially helpful since we were living out of state. They went above and beyond checking in on our place, providing constant communication and helping us through every step of the process all the way up to the closing. We cannot thank them enough for their hard work and top notch service. There is no one we would trust more with the sale of our home.

Ken has been helping me and my family buy our first home. As any first time home buyer we had tons…read moreof questions, Ken had nothing but patience with us. He makes us feel like he wants to help us more than just make a sale, which is hard to find in most real estate agents, they would rather make a quick buck then to help find the right home. Thank you Ken keep up the great work.

We have bought and sold 3 homes with Josh and his team. Each interaction has been a success and…read morerelatively stress free. I highly recommend them. If we have future real estate needs, we won't go anywhere else.

My wife and I worked with Josh Brett while buying our home. He was available and responsive…read morethroughout the process and provided guidance at each step. The purchase involved a challenging condo conversion, and Josh helped coordinate with our lawyer and the other parties involved to address the various issues that came up along the way. Overall, his support and willingness to stay engaged made the process manageable, and we would recommend him to others looking to buy a home.

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

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

Top notch experience from the start! We had been searching for real estate in the area. One day…read morewhile walking by CL Waterfront Properties, a listing on the window peaked our interest. I went home and submitted an inquiry on their website. It was a Sunday night, so I wasn't expecting a response until at least Monday morning. To my delight, Carmela responded almost immediately and put us in touch with Chris Smith on the team. Chris scheduled an appointment with us to see our property of interest immediately. From there, we worked with Chris to see more properties in the North End. Chris was always very responsive and quick to set up appointments on our behalf. He was always very knowledgeable on all of the properties we viewed (and we ask a LOT of questions)! Although I was regularly searching Redfin and receiving daily alerts, Chris was a powerful 'secret weapon' proactively emailing us properties that fit our criteria. This extra research on our behalf was a real bonus, as the listings/photos don't always tell the full story. Searching for real estate in Boston can be a frustrating process and finding a responsive broker can be challenging (especially in this market!). I would highly recommend Chris Smith and the team at CL Waterfront. They truly cater to the needs of their prospects and their responsiveness always impressed us.

I want share my personal 5 star experience with this 5 star business. Most notably, the companies…read morepresident (our broker) Carmela Laurella along with two of her teamates that were of great help, Travis and Vito. It was August first this past summer when my wife and I decided we'd had enough of the sleepy suburbs and were ready to reconnect with the city we loved and spent most of our free time. We listed our home of 27 years and bingo, it sold in one day. Panic stricken, not prepared for such a quick sale, I contacted Carmela (I met her a year prior at an open house, liked her style and did some research on her and her company) and asked if we could meet as soon as possible. Long story short, she recommended that we look into short term lease options while we took our time finding our dream home. We followed her advice and wound up renting at Park Lane in the Seaport District-great place that deserves two thumbs up- on a short term three month lease that could have been extended if needed. We didn't need to.... Carmela sat my wife and I down at our initial meeting and listened as we described to her our 'must have' list in our soon to be dream home. Fast forward, we waited until after Labor Day to start our search as we needed time to pack up the old house and move into Park Lane....Carmela wasted no time finding four properties that met our requirements...........we bought the first home we were shown. We new it was to be as soon as we walked into the front door. She nailed it! Amazing! I thought we'd be looking for months as our criteria was not going to be an easy task for her to accomplish. The story continues.....I asked if she could recommend a mortgage broker..she said "I've got the best...Paul Sapienza of Drew Mortgage Associates"....he was dynamite! I also asked her if she could recommend a real estate attorney...she did, John Iacoi....a complete professional that made the headaches of real estate passing simplistic for both my wife and I that are just way too busy to be tied down to legal jargon. ***Do I add her recommended designer, painter and contractor? YOU BET!!! 5 star businesses have customer satisfaction down to a science, Carmela and her team get it and most importantly follow through....I could not have been more satisfied. My email that I sent her and her associates as we finished passing the papers read as follows: "Your high level of professionalism throughout this entire process was greatly appreciated. Together, you're quite a team!" Take my word, if you're looking for a new home along Boston's Waterfront, in my opinion, the only choice is Carmela's CL Waterfront Properties.

When I worked with Linda a little while back to sell my home in Boston, she was amazing. To be…read morehonest, I was intimidated by the process. But she explained in detail everything I needed to know. Real estate transactions can be highly stressful, but I can't imagine having a better experience. Thanks, Linda!

Buying or selling a house can be incredibly daunting and having an agent who is an energetic,…read moreinformed and most especially "on your side" makes all the difference. Last year a friend recommended Linda to us when we were seeking to sell our home in Roslindale and we have counted ourselves very lucky since. Linda is incredibly knowledgeable about the real estate market in general - she was a source of incredible insight into the market, the psychologies involved and how best to showcase our home. She also is a really vital part of the community as well. She knows the shop owners, florists, restaurant owners nearby by name. It's clear hers is not just a "market area" but a community of which she is an active and involved part. Linda was an astute professional knowing all the ins-and-outs of the regulations and processes and presented us with updated market comparisons as we went through the process. She helped us to be informed as to the market fluctuations (in a very topsy-turvy time). We put ourselves entirely in Linda's hands and she and her Team helped polish our modest house into a showpiece and walked us through every step to the happy sale. At the same time we were selling a house, Linda also helped me to get my next place, which I adore! Trying to sell one house and buy another is incredibly stressful and I was having difficulties on my own but then Linda helped steer me through beautifully. Even though it was outside her normal area of Boston she had a great grasp on the market there as well. It was her sage advice and guidance that enabled me to swoop in and get this new place in very competitive circumstances. She was invaluable in dealing successfully with somewhat antagonistic seller agent, recommending an incredible lawyer and knowing the best contractors I've ever had the good fortune to work with. To say Linda was there as a positive, supportive and knowledgeable advocate in a way that changed my life for the better is not an understatement. Linda was incredibly active, involved and committed as well as being a warm and generous advocate (unlike other real estate agents who might be passive or seem only interested in their cut). She is also a delight to spend time with - friendly, funny and kind. My Christmas card list is not big but Linda is on it! It can be scary to put yourself into a "dog-eat-dog" competitive and confusing real estate market but if you are looking for a warm, energetic, savvy agent who values community and has great knowledge and integrity, look no further than Linda. She is a jewel!