We chose Michael as our realtor because of his in depth knowledge of home renovation. We were…read morelooking to buy a fixer upper as that fit best within our budget and, as Michael has fixed up many properties himself, he seemed to be the best choice for us. Michael was very knowledgeable and walked us (first time home buyers) through the entire home buying process. Michael was able to provide his experience and insight as to the amount of work a house would take and we appreciated his perspective. He made himself available to us at all hours of the day, weekends included, and was always able to answer questions that we had in a prompt manner. Michael was quick to get important documents to us and his speed allowed us to purchase our home as the market is quite tight. For example, we looked at our house at 6pm and by 9pm the same day Michael had already prepared and sent over the offer documents for us to sign. Overall, we had a great experience and are happy with our new home and would recommend Michael for anyone else in the market.

I am pleased to recommend Phillip H. Gerstner, CPA, of Lighthouse Financial Enterprises, Inc. as…read moreyour mortgage broker. Phil took our project on a year in advance and helped us worked through some challenges that we could not have figured out on our own. He is patient, intelligent, and presents information in a logical and orderly fashion. You will trust him right away as I did. One thing I really enjoyed is, Phil has a "can do" attitude, and seeks to get things done, i.e., he doesn't let things linger on his desk, and you don't have to push him, or follow up incessantly. When you are in the middle of buying a home and already wading through so much paperwork, this is exactly the kind of broker you want to have. We did interview other brokers from the "Best Of Salem" list in addition to Phil, and my wife and I were both shocked at how dismissive and cold some of them were - they talked down to us like we were nobody. I don't know about you, but people like that don't deserve our time and money. Phil Gerstner is a kind person who will advocate for you, and give you good advice. It was an absolute blessing to find him, and we could not have put this deal together without him. If I saw Phil Gerstner on the street even today even after the fact, I would be delighted to stop and have a word with him.

The only reason I gave a rating of "five" is because there isn't an option to give SIX!…read more My wife and I have had a lot of experience over the last 23 years buying and selling properties. We had been watching property in a very specific part of town for nearly two years. As our country's financial outlook began to turn gloomy, we decided we'd better pull the trigger quickly before rates went to the moon. A friend we trust recommended Phil Gerstner at Lighthouse Home Loans. We reached out to Phil and the rest is history. Understand, we've bought and sold more than a dozen properties in a couple of decades and we have NEVER had such an OUTSTANDING experience as we did with Phil and his team. We thought for certain we'd waited too long and would pay the price through high rates. Phil shopped our loan HARD and found us several options to choose from that made sense and were manageable for us. Phil took the time to teach us about the process, broke each option down into steps that helped us understand potential outcomes BEFORE we made a decision. We have NEVER had a broker take the time and spend the energy doing this before and we have come to VALUE Phil's thoughtful input. I CANNOT RECOMMEND PHIL AND LIGHTHOUSE LOANS STRONGLY ENOUGH. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your future a huge disservice if you don't at least have a conversation with him, talk about your plans, dreams, and options. Thanks Phil and Lighthouse! We LOVE our new home.

If you want a realtor who listens, who is professional and focused, who treats you as though YOU…read moreare her most important client, Liz Boisvert is the realtor for you. She knows the area, she does her homework, she doesn't waste your time. And on top of that, she is genuinely nice and has a great sense of humor! She makes it her business to help you any way she can to get your house sold, and has an army of contacts who can help, from great yard maintenance guys to local companies who will cheerfully haul your unneeded items away. Liz is a treasure, and we feel so lucky that she was our real estate agent! If we were buying or selling in the Monmouth/Independence area again, we would hire Liz again in a heartbeat.

I am Team Liz all the way. In my experience, Liz is the ultimate real estate professional. She…read moresuccessfully guided me through the purchase of my house, in a time where the market and prices are quite frankly, crazy. Liz kept me focused on the reality of what I needed in a house. Pro Tip: when you start house shopping, it's easy to fall in love with a house, and ignore the parts that maybe aren't such a good fit for you. She was quick to point out the potential challenges AND the positive aspects of a property. I felt like Liz worked for me 24/7, with very few breaks and she really knows the market. No question was too stupid and she always made me feel like my house search was VIP: a Very Important Priority. Liz: Professional. Responsive. Responsible. Ethical. And Fun! Liz is the realtor you didn't know you needed. :)

Update:. Scott recommend that I pull money out of my 403b to pay for the down payment on my house…read more Unfortunately, he was apparently unaware that to do so incurs tremendous tax penalties. I ended up with a massive penalty equal to the money which I pulled out of my 403b. This seems like something he should've been aware of it and been able to advise me appropriately about and therefore I have lowered my rating.

Scott is a miracle worker. The day before I was to close with Freedom Mortgage a title discrepancy…read morewas found and Freedom needed to delay the transaction. It was an absolute nightmare as our home was packed and movers were scheduled. I called Scott the following day and he immediately had his underwriters scrutinize the title and there were found to be no issues. Scott and his team (Selisha and Melissa) went to work on my loan immediately. Time was of the essence. Scott was able to close on my loan just a few weeks later. He answered very late night texts to my questions. His knowledge, effort, professionalism, directness and customer service is excellent. I can't recommend him enough! THANK YOU SCOTT!

When we first decided to buy a home, we went with the "in-house" guy. Scott came recommended by a…read morefriend and he looked over what we had going and told us that he could save us lots of money - and he did. More than saving us money, Scott was there to answer every question and explain things over and over with patience and understanding (we were needy first time buyers). He replied to every call, text, and email very quickly. He even drove up from Salem to meet my wife at night after we got off of work to go over paperwork and have our face to face meetings. I'm so glad we had him buy our sides on our first purchase. I will use him for future purchases and I recommend you do the same. I guarantee you will not be disappointed with this guy.

Not on your side. Took vreative liberties with my property and rendered no results except devaluing…read moreit. Horrible experience, but never do business with them again.

We could not have asked for a better agent than Frank…read more With Frank's help, my wife and I just purchased our first home. We were nervous about the process, but Frank helped us through. He was always available to answer questions, no matter what day or time of day. I just can't say enough how much we appreciated this quality in Frank. He would either pick up the phone or get back to us immediately (typically within minutes). Same with texts and emails. And I never felt like Frank was trying to get off the phone; he was great. We also benefited from Frank's experience and knowledge of the area. We're not originally from McMinnville, so Frank really guided us and helped us a find a house in a neighborhood we love. He also gave us a lot of guidance negotiating price and conditions of the sale. This was a grueling process buying a house in this market. It took us eight months to finally get the house we really wanted, but Frank stuck with us the whole way. He was always positive and ready and willing to work. I highly recommend Frank and would recommend him to any friend or family member. Thanks Frank!

Over three years ago, Sean helped us find a home and was able to get us in shortly after our son…read morewas born. Now that we are expecting our second child, we knew we needed additional space for two kids as well as our two large dogs. Once that decision was made, there was no doubt in our mind that Sean was once again the right person to help us. As my husband and I had never sold a home before, he was very patient in explaining what the market currently looked like for selling a two bedroom home in South Salem. After viewing several homes and finding one that fit our new needs, we were able to quickly put our house on the market thanks to him and received an offer the day it was listed. Throughout the whole process of the sale of our house (during which we found out the sewer line needed replaced) and purchase of another, Sean was available for our myriad of questions (trust me when I say I had a lot of them as I was stressing myself out over everything going smoothly!) to talk us through everything. We closed on both houses this past Friday with just over a month to settle in before our daughter arrives and I take a two-month maternity leave. For us, that meant it was just over two months from the time I met with Sean for a market analysis to us receiving keys to the new home. Just like the first time, Sean was honest and professional with a sense of humor. It was a pleasure to work with him again and we will certainly be calling him if/when we decide to do this again.

Agent Sean Keene failed to contact me prior to removing my listing from the MLS! I found out…read morethrough an agent who was trying to get in to show the property! I am a seller who had just lost my husband and was moving from Oregon to Pennsylvania. I left my home in his hands! He had decided to not renew the listing but had failed to notify me. He took an offer yet never presented it then disregarded text and phone messages for 24 hours! So unprofessional!

Evan was incredibly helpful throughout the entire process. He is incredibly trustworthy and…read morewonderfully pleasant. We were able to close before our original closing date too! Thank you for all of your hard work.

Evan helped my girlfriend and I finance a home out in the Sacramento area. We did everything…read moreremotely, which was awesome and sped up the process. He was extremely helpful and answered our many, many questions, and explained everything along the way. He works quickly, and we appreciated that. Overall a good experience.