We met Tom 2.5 years ago at an open house when we were just beginning our house search. We had another agent, so we weren't looking for representation, but he was very helpful in mapping out the areas of La Mirada for us that day so that we could continue our search. There wasn't any of that weird "I'm going to sell the hell out of you and badmouth your current agent so you become my client" that you get from agents at some open houses.
A couple months later we found ourselves in need of a new agent and we remembered Tom. He was definitely a good fit for us:
- *Very* knowledgeable about the neighborhoods in his area (including La Mirada, Whittier, Brea, among others)
- Honest: He never pushed his opinion on us or seemed like he was just trying to close the deal. We knew he was the real deal when there were a few properties/deals where he told us that if he were the buyer he would walk away.
- Expert knowledge about real estate and the process -- he's been doing this a long time and had plenty of experience and insight to share and guide us through a variety of different situations, from locating a property all the way through close of escrow.
- Patient: In the middle of the 2.5 years we worked with him I was laid off from my job and we decided to change our purchase price to one we could afford on one income, so our search changed completely. He stuck with us and kept taking us to see homes, he listened to my venting about the process during the many frustrating parts of it and just always seemed confident that we would find something, even when deals would fall through--and eventually we did.
- Helpful/easy to work with: He would go preview houses for us so that we didn't have to miss work or miss out on opportunities. He got to know our wants well enough that we knew we could trust his opinion of a house.
If I had to list any negatives, I would say:
- Needs to embrace technology more. I would've loved to been able to fire off texts to him instead of e-mails. I understand from one of our last conversations that he'll be buying a smartphone, so this item probably isn't an issue anymore.
- Committed to you making offers that are going to be taken seriously, not "risky" ones. A friend of ours had an agent that would present whatever amount she wanted to offer, no matter how "out of sync" with the list price or market, and not counsel her out of making them. This was occasionally frustrating working with Tom because there were a couple times we wanted to come in low and see what kind of play we could get, but he advised against it. To me, you really never know what situation a seller's in and what they'll accept, then again, there were a couple situations where we got in the game on a house in an otherwise crowded market because our offer was serious.
The positives of working with Tom far outweigh any negatives, definitely. Bottom line, Tom's been doing this long enough that he's not one of these desperate newbies trying to shove any and every house down your throat so they can cash a check, nor is he one of those jaded "rockstar" realtors that treat you like they're doing you a favor by having their assistant give you a minute of their time. He's just a genuine professional who's good at what he does, is committed to doing it well, is a good person in general, takes care of his clients and gets the job done. read more