Liz is truly one of a kind! As first-time homebuyers, my husband and I could not have asked for a better guide and partner on our journey to finding our first home in Redwood City. From day one, Liz went above and beyond--not only as a realtor but as a trusted friend and confidant who made the process feel exciting, personal, and stress-free. Here's what stood out to us about working with Liz: * Deep understanding of our needs: She took the time to get to know us, our lifestyle, our priorities, and even the little details that mattered most. Every home she showed us felt like a thoughtful match. * Above-and-beyond support: We didn't have a car during our search, and Liz never hesitated to pick us up and personally take us to every open house. That gesture alone speaks volumes about her kindness and dedication. * Expert knowledge and emotional presence: Her insights about neighborhoods, disclosures, and the entire buying process were spot on. She made everything easy to understand and always ensured we felt confident with each decision. * Patience and responsiveness: No matter how many questions we asked (and there were plenty!), Liz was always patient, quick to respond, and genuinely happy to help. * A true partner through and through: Even after closing, she stayed in touch, guiding us toward trusted local professionals for contractor and home improvement needs. Liz made what could have been an overwhelming process feel warm, smooth, and even joyful. We started this journey looking for a house, but thanks to Liz, we found a home and a lifelong friend. Thank you, Liz, and the entire Veritas team, for making our dream of homeownership a reality! If you're buying a home in the Bay Area, go with Liz- there truly is no better option. P.S. If you'd like to hear more about our experience, Liz is welcome to share my contact info. I'd be happy to chat and personally share why we think she's amazing. read more

Vandervort Group - Veritas Homes - Real Estate Agents Near Me - San Carlos, California

Liz at Veritas Homes is an amazing realtor and helped us find our home in San Carlos. She is patient, kind, and non-judgemental but will share her opinion when prompted. As first-time home buyers, we had a lot of questions and she guided us through the entire process with calm and ease. We felt completely comfortable and trusted Liz's judgment throughout the process. She remained open to our ideas and understood our constraints. Not only did Liz support our home buying process but she has also served as a trusted sounding board for our home renovations and has recommended a number of local experts including our general contractor and our pediatrician. Thank you Liz and the entire Veritas team for helping make our dream of home ownership possible! read more

When my dad died, I needed to find a Realtor familiar with the market in his area of Redwood City (I live over 3 hours away.) I scoured Yelp and set up 6 back-to-back appointments with Realtors in the area to meet me at the condo on a Sunday afternoon. Val Vandervort and her assistant, Liz, knocked my socks off at the interview with their knowledge of the area and proposals for what could be done with his condo. I had requested 3 scenarios and wanted estimates of costs and sale prices for each one: 1) Doing just the bare minimum to get the place ready for sale; 2) taking a moderate approach and cleaning the place up but without any major remodeling; and 3) doing a full remodel. They gave me written estimates of each one and comparison prices for other homes in the area, all with a friendly -- NOT pushy -- approach. I was impressed that they had done all their homework (not surprising for a former teacher -- haha!) and that they had crews ready to start whichever project I chose. I had no idea Realtors in the area had people who could come in and clear out the junk that was left behind after the family had removed everything that they wanted, but Val and Liz got it done. Since I live so far away, much of our communication was done via email and text which worked out well for me. I chose option #2 and they got everything done and staged the home beautifully. I had not been able to get back to Redwood City, but Val & Liz were able to do it all! They set up an open house weekend (with a Thursday evening preview for neighbors and looky-loos) on March 14 & 15, 2020. Yup, the Open House coincided with the start of the COVID-19 lockdown! Nonetheless, they got it done -- we had two offers. I was able to do everything that was needed without ever having to travel the 200+ miles! One VERY happy buyer bought the condo which made me one VERY happy seller!!! Because of the lockdown, I was never able to see the final results of the project, but they sent me BEAUTIFUL professional photographs that were used in the advertising. I couldn't believe the change and the way they had transformed the condo. All of this to say, I would use the Vandervort Group again in a heartbeat -- even though I have only met them once in person! They demonstrate knowledge, integrity, and excellent communication skills. They even donated $500 of their profit to the charity of my choice which, because of the lockdown, was a local foodbank to help those who could not work and had no income. I highly and wholeheartedly recommend the Vandervort Group! read more

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Val at Veritas Homes was the *only* realtor who offered the services of her organized team in selling our home. Otherwise, I would have to have found painters, floor refinishers, window and house cleaners while trying to pack and then managing all these contractors from another state. Val's team gathered all the contractors to visit and give us bids on their work. All the bids were reasonable priced. They followed through to completion and kept me apprised of all the progress. This service was extremely valuable and provided peace of mind in having someone else organize and supervise all the separate contractors in person. Val and her team were efficient, thorough and communicated quickly. They made selling our home a breeze. 5 stars! read more

Val, Lorenzo, and the team are rockstars! Our condo was previously listed by another agent, and it didn't sell for 7 months. We reached out to Val and the team based on their strong reputation and past sales results in the Belmont area. Since our first meeting with Lorenzo, we know that they would take care of us. He listened to our frustration and understood our situation. So we had our condo re-listed by Veritas Homes, just within a couple of days, our home was beautifully staged and ready for show, and sold in 12 days!! Val and her team exceeded our expectations, they went above and beyond. Val walked me through the seller's disclosure, and Lorenzo patiently helped us taking care of some repairs while we already moved across the bridge. From a marketing perspective, Veritas developed top-notch marketing collateral; brochure, flyer, and a website. They are very professional, always be on top of things, and kept us informed promptly. From scheduling important dates, photo sessions, staging, Karen had total control. Not only that, but Val also guided and helped us to navigate through unexpected challenges, we truly felt that we are in good hands! As we closed the deal, my wife kept saying that our only regret is we wish we could meet Val and the team sooner. read more

Selling our family home was an emotional and bittersweet experience for me and my sister. Our parents lived in their home in Belmont for 55 years, and we first began the daunting task of cleaning out their belongings before we could even put it on the market. One of the estate sale companies we contacted gave a resounding endorsement of Val Vandervort as one of the best realtors in the area, and after meeting her the first time we truly felt she was the perfect person to help us sell our family home. Val was honest, knowledgeable, confident and very straightforward throughout the whole process. We were initially reluctant to make some of the changes Val suggested to make the house more marketable, but in the end we agreed to follow her recommendations, which were all spot-on. She definitely knows how to market a home to get the best possible price, even in a tightening real estate market. She has an amazing team, and I would especially like to thank Karen for keeping us up-to-date every step of the way and helping guide us through this process. The contractors that were hired - from the painters, floor refinishers, landscapers and more - were all excellent and we did not feel the costs were exorbitant. The staging was beautiful transformed the house into a beautiful and welcoming home. While our listing went up just as the market was beginning to slow, Val was very honest and straightforward of what we could expect. We did not accept the first two offers and were almost considering taking it off the market for a bit when we ultimately got a solid offer and truly appreciated Val's support and advice every step of the way. We will always treasure our memories in this house, and we are very grateful to Val and her team to help us sell to a family who will make new memories there. read more

Val, Liz, Karen and team have my high respect for their perfect customer care and wise market advice, to me as a seller. Im happy to answer anyone's specific inquiries or questions, any time. It's hard to find and choose a good realtor when selling a beloved home, in this crazy market; feeling thankful I found this group. read more

If you look up "veritas" in the dictionary, you'll find that it is defined as truth. Based on my experience, I would extend this definition for Veritas Homes: truth, integrity, and excellence. I HIGHLY recommend Val Vandervort (founder) and Veritas Homes if you need to sell or buy homes. She and her team literally took a lot of the stress from my life during my home selling process. Here are just a few of the many examples: o Karen, the seller concierge, set up an online calendar that I could integrate with my personal calendar. All my appointments were in one place so that I didn't need to check two calendars every day. (I really loved this.) o Karen also helped arrange appointments with different vendors so that I didn't need to spend time researching and calling all over town. (This was super helpful!) o Carrie, a team realtor with interior design background, helped to decorate my condo with what little we had to work with. She brought some of her own items from her designing past to make the place more presentable. (Thank goodness!) o Val would review the offer and closing docs to make sure there are no gotchas before I signed. If there are tricky clauses, she would explain or clarify them. She totally had my back. o Because her team gathered recommendations from other clients in the past, they were able to pass on these recommendations when I needed them. This is very helpful because it saved a lot of research time. o They donate $500 of the proceeds earned from the home sale to the charity of my choice. Because I was purchasing a home at the same time, Val had to work with my buying agent in another city to ensure that all the events are lined up. She helped negotiate the timing and relayed relevant information to them in a timely manner. Again, I really appreciated everything she did to help me on this end as well. As far as consultation and advice, I am grateful that Val was straightforward and upfront with me throughout the process. This allowed me to make solid decisions. The vendors who came through my home, such as GoingGoingGone Movers and Organizers, were all excellent and I would highly recommend all of them. My entire experience, from beginning to close of escrow and beyond, was well above expectations. Selling homes is a stressful process in itself. So, having Val and her team working with me really saved me and kept me sane. I might be a single data point, but you will see that all the Veritas clients have only good things to say based on their experience. It is no wonder that Val and Veritas Homes is ranked number 1 on the US News and World Report website. (This is how I found her when I first started my research.) read more

We recently selected Veritas Homes to sell our townhouse in Redwood Shores and couldn't be happier with the results. I selected Veritas Homes for an initial meeting after reading a few really great reviews. From our very first meeting with Val Vandervort and Liz Min, we were impressed with their knowledge of the local market and strategies for a successful sale, and we knew they were the right fit for us. They really helped us through the stress and anxiety of selling a home in the current economic climate. The fact that the entire stellar Veritas team are all very nice people and easy to work with was just icing on the cake. HIGHLY recommend Veritas Homes, whether you are a buyer or a seller. read more

I had the pleasure of working with Val Vandervort-Veritas Homes while selling my parents home. I had never sold a home. She made the process of cleaning, painting, fixing anything necessary, and staging so painless and easy. I was kept informed and updated through the whole process. The staff at Veritas Homes was also very nice and the crew of people that did work for her on any project at the house were simply wonderful. I will use her in the future when I sell my home to be closer to my son and his family. read more

Val Vandervort, and her Team at Veritas, provided amazing service in selling our Belmont home. The Open Houses and Broker Tours Val arranged were extremely popular and we received multiple offers above our asking price even though market conditions have changed. Val kept us posted via timely mobile calls, texts and emails throughout the entire process. It's an honor to recommend Val to anyone who desires an outstanding experience in selling or buying a home. read more

We cannot say enough great things about working with Liz Min in searching for our house in this crazy market - we truly believe she is the only reason we were lucky enough to get a house we love and are so happy to be in. She is very supportive, a great communicator and listener, very knowledgeable of the neighborhoods, extremely responsive and available, well connected in the community, personable, patient and she clearly loves her job. Liz was very patient with us from the beginning, never showed any frustration or impatience with us as we started our search looking broadly in the Peninsula. She really helped us get to know the different pockets in the cities we were interested in moving and introduced us to areas we did not know existed. She is extremely knowledgeable on the different characteristics in the variety of areas we were looking to live. She really listened to our needs and qualities of what we felt were important for our future home (also never even seemed thrown off by the contradicting input we each expressed to be important to us). Liz was extremely receptive to our concerns about privacy, noise, neighborhood, house, and yard characteristics and even weather variations. She never told us what to do and was extremely supportive in all our pursuits, but also had an amazing ability to sense when we were getting totally off track or starting to compromise and get us back on track by asking us a few questions that would get our heads back in the game where we wanted to be. Although it took us a while to find our "perfect for us" house, Liz never pressured us to rush the process or compromise, and never made us feel like we were a burden or hassle. She was constantly in communication with us, very responsive to our emails, texts, and phone calls. If she did not have an answer for our odd-ball questions, she would contact the selling realtor and get us the information we needed without hesitation. It is also easy to see that she maintains a great relationship with the other realtors and is well connected in the community. As a buyer in this crazy market, we learned how important this is. On the rare occasion that Liz was not available, her partner Val would step in and work with us, always totally knowledgeable of our house hunting venture and very supportive. The bidding process is where Liz really shined. Her rapport with the other agents and her ability to stay on top almost real time with what was going on was second to none. read more

We've worked with Val on three of our home transactions (two purchases, one sale) and wouldn't think of using any other agent. I've recommended her to many friends and colleagues. She has assembled a great team and they work seamlessly together. Val herself is super experienced, super professional, responsive, patient in answering questions, offers great advice, and perhaps most importantly has been there with us every step of the way through our home buying and selling processes. Home buying in particular is so challenging in the bay area as everyone knows but she and her team helped us with a great blend of empathy, understanding our individual needs, patience when it mattered, yet hustle when it mattered - overall just did everything on her end to lower our stress levels and kept our confidence up. Val is also well known among other agents in the mid-peninsula area - this is important once you're in the thick of honing in on a buyer-seller agreement because reputations and trust matter a lot in real estate. Go with Val and her team, can't recommend them enough! read more

Val came to us through a glowing recommendation of a well-respected professional in the local real estate business. My husband and I had been casually looking at purchasing a home in San Carlos and decided to bite the bullet by lining up a realtor. We had a fantastic experience with Val; she carefully listened to our needs and helped us narrow our search down. Once we found "the one", Val jumped into high gear, negotiated an excellent deal for us, and has helped the daunting home-buying process become relatively seamless. Val is a class act! read more

When looking for a home, the best advice that I received was find a realtor that knows the local market because they can help you win in competitive situations. I am so happy that we took this advice and found Val because she is one of the best in San Carlos (and the surrounding area). Val did a great job of helping us figure out what we were really looking and was instrumental in helping us win a highly competitive bidding process. In July (2019) she showed us a house that was popular and prepped our finances and letter to the seller almost a week in advance of the offer date. This was extremely wise because an "exploding offer" was thrown in several days before bids were due and we had four hours to put together an offer. We ended up beating one higher offer that could not be submitted in time and multiple competitive offers because Val helped us craft a compelling packet and she has great relationships with local realtors. Since we purchased the house we have continued to stay in touch with Val, who regularly hosts events for past clients. She is a genuinely nice person that we enjoy spending time with outside of home shopping. She will put you in a position to find and win the home of your dreams. We highly recommend Val! read more

I cannot recommend Vandervort homes and Liz McGee Min highly enough. Liz recently helped us purchase our first home in San Carlos. When I first moved to the Bay Area several years ago, I thought that home ownership here seemed so daunting that I simply would never try. Liz completely flipped that mindset for us, and helped us get a place that was beyond what we ever imagined. Liz helped us figure out what we really wanted, showed us neighborhoods and properties we did know not existed, and opened our eyes to what was possible and how to make it happen. We could not have done it without her. Beyond the home we ended up with, Liz completely redefined my expectations for knowledge, service, professionalism, and sheer effectiveness. She was available every time we needed her, and no question was too hard or too simple for her to answer with an incredibly thoughtful and helpful response. She had great relationships with many of the local agents, knew trends in the market and neighborhoods, and helped us secure our home at a good price in a very sparse and challenging market. She fantastic at "reading the room" and getting to core of the situation. She helped us not just with the purchase, but also through a very difficult lending process with helpful advice and a listening ear, and even reviewing our loan documents late on a Friday night to make sure we didn't have any more mistakes from our lender. This was way above and beyond! Lastly, Liz was just a wonderful person and friend. She was not just an agent, but had our personal interests truly at heart. As we drove away from our new place after closing and picking up the keys, my wife said "I miss Liz already." She was so on our wavelength and we grew to see her like the older and wiser sibling that we never had. I hope you will strongly consider working with Liz. I cannot imagine anyone better. read more

A Class Act Val was recommended to me by a realtor I was using to purchase a home and I don't think I could have done any better. Val is patient and listens. She paid attention to all of the details and directed us to get the best price for our property. She laid out options and steered the boat in our direction. The marketing materials and the open houses she held were professional and clean. I would recommend her without hesitation. read more

We worked with Liz to find our first house in San Mateo county. Liz patiently walked us through every step of the process (sometimes a few times) from securing a loan, how to go through disclosures and inspection reports, what to watch for on walk throughs, basically learning how to look when you're looking. Suggestions on what to look out for in each neighborhood, common issues and hangups particular to each area, etc. Things that only come with a great agent tied into the local market. It's a tough market for sure but Liz stuck with us week in and week out, scouting new places, chasing down off market listings, developing bids, and frequently checking in with us and visiting homes. She locked in on exactly what we were looking for and we eventually found our dream home. Liz is honest, reliable, trustworthy, and a joy to go through what is otherwise an incredibly frustrating and at times disheartening process. We were so fortunate to work with Liz and would recommend her (and already have to some friends) if you're looking for a home in the mid peninsula. read more

I cannot recommend Val more highly! She's an expert in her field and an absolute joy to work with. The transaction was smooth, quick (very quick), and she got us everything we hoped for. I have already referred her to multiple other parties looking to buy and sell in San Carlos. Top agent indeed!! :) Quick call out to Reside too, what an amazing model - one that I hope continues to gain momentum and expand to more markets. read more

We highly recommend working with Lorenzo Gueco from Veritas Homes! My husband and I worked with him directly on the purchase of our house. It was a highly competitive and stressful process, but Lorenzo's patient guidance saw us through to the end. He was communicative and responsive. He asked about and listened to our feedback regarding the various listing we reviewed and homes we visited. Knowing the Peninsula area as well as he did, we were able to lean on him for advice that we sometimes didn't even know we needed. After close, move in, and even a few months later, he followed up with us and made sure we were doing okay. Having his as well as the entire Veritas Homes team's support (including for administrative matters, document organization, and even contractor referrals) made a positive impact on our home buying and moving process. We'd happily recommend Lorenzo and the entire Veritas Homes team to our friends and family looking for a home in the Bay Area. read more

I feel very glad to find Liz to work with. She is awesome and incredibly helpful. As a home buyer who starts to think about owning a house seriously for the first time, and also who haven't been in bay area for long time, there is a lot of knowledge gap that we are not aware of. Liz is a very reliable and trustworthy agent and she is thinking in the buyer's shoes every time. We are impressed that it feels very safe and smooth during the house-buying process. Liz has a lot of knowledge of both the neighborhood and the house as well. She will point out the issues with the house so that we are very aware of the house condition/community/location/usability and we feel we are very well protected from possible unknowns. Liz will list the details of the house and what job/cost we need to do for the house, which is extremely useful to us as well. Liz is always available and very fast in responding to our requests. We decided we want our current home at very late time and I thought we would not have enough time to do anything. But Liz is so fast to figure things out that we eventually got the house. I should say that the whole process is very efficient. However I know to Liz, the most important thing is that the buyer get the home they really want. I would highly recommend Liz to anyone who wants to buy home in peninsula. read more

Val just helped us sell our house in Emerald Hills. She is personable and really easy to work with, and helped us understand the best approach to maximize sale price. Very knowledgeable about the local real estate market, she helped us find the right target date for listing our house. She helped us invest in the most effective update projects, to raise the value of the house without wasting money that wouldn't provide a return. We had already moved out of the area, and Val's assistant, Sharon, was invaluable in helping us get work done on the house. When a bizarre emergency plumbing problem occurred, Sharon responded immediately and got someone out to fix it that afternoon before the house was damaged. One of the keys to getting a good price is getting people in the door at open houses and Val was great at that. Her marketing materials were gorgeous and included everything from the usual website and brochure to aerial drone photos. After we received a couple of offers Val helped us evaluate the offers and decide which one to accept. Her knowledge of the market, financing, contingencies, etc. was very helpful. All in all, the sale went smoothly and we're quite satisfied--I would highly recommend Val. read more

This is probably the easiest review we will ever write. Liz and the rest of the Vandervort Homes team are a godsend and everything we could've ever asked for! We would recommend them to anyone looking to buy a house without hesitation. Our experience with Liz might differ from most other buyers given that we only reached out to her with a house in mind and 3 days to pull together an offer. As a first time home buyer in an insane housing market, we needed someone to guide us in securing the house of our dreams (without having to grossly overpay). We felt like we were in over our heads... until our initial consultation. We were blown away -- the difference between Liz and every other real estate agent we talked to was night and day. Liz is incredibly perceptive and through her years of experience and sharp intuition, she was able to understand us and our needs exactly, despite us very much feeling things out ourselves. Over those three (really two) days, Liz orchestrated our winning offer with great efficiency and eye for detail. She was able to identify, breakdown, and explain every aspect of the contract and disclosure packet to us and surely caught a number of things we would have otherwise missed. It was really the culmination of a bunch of small things that made the overall difference -- without her I doubt we would have won the house! tl;dr: Liz's around the clock effort, on-point recommendations, and ability to process and so much so quickly really go great she is at what she does. We really could not have imagined a better home buying experience! read more

We were introduced to Val by a colleague at work- and I am so thankful to have had such an awesome and helpful group of people at Vandervort Homes help us find our perfect home. Liz and Val helped us find our first home in the incredibly challenging Bay Area market. Since we were first time homebuyers, we needed a lot of guidance and support throughout the entire process, and they couldn't have been more available or there at every step of the way. They were able to match us with the right home for us even with our very limited budget, without once pushing us to go beyond what we were comfortable with. They were patient, kind, available, and knowledgeable at every step of the way. Once we were in escrow, Liz took care of EVERYTHING! Including working with our lender to make sure everything was in line to close on time (we had a short closing period). We will definitely call up Liz and Val once we are ready to buy or sell again! If you are looking to buy or sell in the peninsula, you can't get any better than the team at Vandervort Homes. Call now! read more

I would like to take this opportunity to give Val Vandervort Five Stars ~ she is a superior realtor. We were considering selling our home in San Carlos and decided to look at an Open House in our area to see what it was selling for and how it was "staged". We met Val at the Open House ~ she was friendly and professional. We then noticed that the house had a "Sold" sign on it a few days after it had been put on the market! When we were ready to list our home, we called Val as one of a few realtors we were planning to interview. We decided at the first meeting that she would be the one to list our home and did not interview other realtors. She did her "homework" prior to our meeting and brought background information about our home which enabled us to discuss different aspects of our home sale at the first meeting. When we showed her our home, she was very positive and even mentioned some possible marketing ideas! Val worked with us every step of the way ~ navigated us through all the paperwork, set up inspections and got us over the hurdles of preparing our home to sell. Her marketing was phenomenal ~ she had our home photographed by a superb photographer and produced very professional marketing brochures and a website; she sent out cards announcing our Open House. She encouraged realtors to vote for our home as "Best of Tour" which allowed us to have the sign on our home on Open House day. She put up signs in our home to point out important features that would not otherwise be noticed ~ she took care of every detail. Within about a week of listing our home, we had three offers! We met with Val for the offer presentations and she advised us of the "pros and cons" of each offer. We accepted an offer that was $100,000.00 over our asking price! She helped us through the escrow process, which included a helpful calendar of the various dates that we needed to be aware of until the close of escrow. Besides being a very professional realtor, Val is a warm, positive and caring person. We would definitely contact Val again if we were selling a home on the Peninsula and would strongly recommend her to our friends. read more

Summary: Val is awesome. Go ahead and call her immediately. You won't be sorry. Thank me later. Details: My wife and I recently relocated to the Bay Area. We met Val on a random open house tour last fall when we were just looking around and not seriously thinking about buying. Val was the only agent all day that stopped to a) greet us; and b) ask us what we were looking for. From the start she showed a personal interest in us and really cared about helping us. From there she set up automated searches for properties based on our criteria, encouraged us to follow her on Twitter for her broker open house updates, and sent us a lot of information and details on the real estate market. She knew we weren't actively looking and still took the time to do all of this for us. When we got more serious about looking it was a no-brainer to call Val. She responded immediately and took us out on neighborhood driving tours and really educated us on what was happening in the market, the school systems, the municipalities, etc. She effortlessly, patiently, and flawlessly helped us take on what seemed like a daunting task and distill it down to our core needs and really set us at ease. After dozens of open houses we finally found THE ONE. We had to have it and Val instinctively knew that. Words cannot even begin to describe the effort Val put into the process of writing, delivering, and negotiating the offer for us. I am convinced that with any other agent we would have missed out on the opportunity to own our dream home. She dedicated hours and hours to the effort, kept us informed all along the way, and remained nimble and tactful during the presentation of offers and the resulting negotiations. Yet she remained extremely modest throughout and her personal commitment to us really shone through. We got the house, and we're euphoric and so was she. That tells you something. The only downside is we don't get to hang out with her as much anymore, but that's the nature of the business. At least, we can now call her our friend! Oh, and everyone else we worked with (inspectors, lenders, insurers, and so on) have all told us how lucky we were to be working with Val. So, yeah, Val rules. If you're still reading this and haven't picked up the phone to call her please stop reading and do so now. read more

My wife and I had a great experience working with Lorenzo from the Vandervort group. We got along well with him from our first Zoom meeting onward and our relationship quickly developed. He was easy to work with, understood our interests and financial constraints, and knew how to win in the very competitive housing market that we have here on the SF Peninsula. I highly recommend Lorenzo if you are looking to purchase a home on the Peninsula. read more

My wife and I just sold our first home which we purchased 12-years ago. We used Val Vandervort as our real estate agent and could not be more pleased with the entire process. I can be a bit high strung and Val was the perfect realtor to balance me out and always keep me calm and well informed. It's also not just Val though. She has an awesome team that works with her who handled much of the process; from home inspections and scheduling and showings, the whole 9 yards. They also have a wonderful network of folks from handymen, inspectors, gardeners, stagers, you name it. There were a number of times when we asked Val for her opinion on various things and we listened! She is a professional and knows what she is doing. Bottom line is we had a ton of traffic through our house and 29 offers with a final finish of 39% over asking price. Our only complaint was that we didn't have a half dozen more properties for Val to sell!!!!! read more

My wife and I sold our San Carlos home of 10 years in January 2016, with Val as our real estate agent. This was our first time selling a house, so before meeting with Val we were pretty wishy-washy on lots of issues -- when to list the house, what we should fix before listing, whether or not to stage the house, and on and on. Val patiently guided us through these decisions, and with such confidence that any uncertainties we had were quickly put to rest. From day one we knew we'd made a great choice in Val -- her knowledge of real estate in general and the Bay Area market in particular really impressed us. Val and her team were Efficient with a capital E -- they very quickly lined up inspections, staging and photography, and were there to oversee these activities while we were at work. They also put us in touch with some great contractors to get the house in top shape for sale. Just a few weeks after our first meeting, we were looking at these stunning photos and couldn't believe they were of our house! The marketing materials they created were all top notch, including flyers, brochures, regular website, mobile website, video, and signs around the house pointing out various features. After a single open house weekend and a realtor's open house day, we ended up with multiple offers. Val reviewed the offers with us and helped decide which was the best, taking into account not just contingencies and financing, but also insights that she was able to provide based on her relationships with local realtors and lenders. This really helped with picking the offer in which we could have the most confidence. The end result -- our house sold for 21% over asking! Closing went very smoothly and Val and her team were on top of it every step of the way. We couldn't be happier with having chosen Val as our realtor -- she is professional, diligent, responsive, patient, honest and extremely knowledgeable. And on top of all of that she is a pleasure to work with. Val is a truly exceptional realtor and we'd choose her again in a heartbeat. read more

It was incredible working with Val and her team. Any questions or concerns we had were quickly addressed, and it was clear that she was very familiar with the real estate market. We were moving out of state, and we found that one of her assistants sent us a list of suggested books that might help our kids with the move. I also really appreciated that she was thinking of the buyers as well when we went through disclosures, made sure to have the house cleaned once before staging and even once after!, all just to make sure that both buyer and seller were happy, etc. Overall, I appreciated working with such a thoughtful, diligent, and caring group of people. If I were going to sell again, I'd go with the same team! read more

I highly recommend Val and her team, Karen Eller Ha and Liz Min. A couple of friends recommended Val since I had been looking for a house for two years with no luck. A few months later, I closed on my new home! I was very impressed with Val's knowledge of the local market and it's current trend. She is very personable, warm and extremely competent. In a tight market, Val's expertise was invaluable. She guided me through a couple of offers without pressure , simply her vast experience. Most of the process for my purchase took place when I was overseas. With a 9 hrs time difference and quite a bit of jet lag, Val's team was present and receptive from start to finish. Every phone call was returned and every email was addressed. Should I ever need an agent again, Val will be my top choice. read more

We cannot say enough good things about Val! All these great Yelp reviews are totally true. She is thoughtful and thorough. She navigated our purchase of a beautiful home in a tough market for buyers. We're one of the few buyers on the Peninsula right now who can boast that we paid under asking. Val gets 100% of the credit for that. Her eye for detail is refreshing and deeply appreciated. Without hesitation or caveat, we highly recommend Val to anyone buying or selling a home. This purchase was our third buying experience, but far and away our easiest purchase. Seriously, you will regret going with another agent. read more

Val has been nothing short of amazing through the entire process. We are new to the Bay Area and had no idea about the abnormal home-buying market on the Peninsula. She has tons of energy, is always willing to help and very flexible with her schedule. When our last home purchase did not work out (through no fault of our own), Val was still able to place us in a rental. We will definitely call upon Val when we are ready to buy again. In the end, Val wants to see you happy in a home - regardless of what that means for her commission. read more

My husband and I recently bought a home in Belmont, and there is no way we could have done it without Val's hard work (including while she was on vacation!). Our ideal house seemed like an impossible dream given our budget and the areas where we were looking, but I am now typing this review from our perfect home! Not only is Val hardworking and diligent, but she has amazing instincts for the real estate market in our area and is an easy/fun person to interact with during the stressful process of buying a house. We had complete confidence in how Val conducted our search, bids, and closing. She kept us involved throughout out the entire process and clearly articulated what to expect and how to proceed at each step. Everything went incredibly smoothly, and we cannot thank Val enough. We also cannot recommend her enough. If you're buying a house in the area, you should definitely call Val! read more

My wife and I chose Val to be our realtor in our search for a new home after meeting her at an open house, and being very impressed with her obvious intelligence. Val worked hard to find us a home that met our needs, which were very specific, and was able to get a lot of info from the other realtors that helped us make our decisions. She managed to get us inside a number of home before they went on official MLS, and in fact we were successful in buying one of these. This is a very big deal given the current market conditions. Val has provided superior post deal follow up, helping us to coordinate with a number of contractors that we are working with, and recommending a number of really qualified contractors where we didn't have one. She also put us in touch with a great insurance agent. She spends a lot of time on the disclosures and will give her views on what is important and what is not, and why. Last, she uses modern tools to help with the paperwork. With my schedule, it is not clear that I would have been able to physically sign many of the documents I needed to. I have no hesitation in recommending Val as a realtor, and I would work with her again. read more

I cant say enough about the wonderful experience we had with Val and team Karen. In short, the road to securing real estate for my family was a rough ride in this climate and with this level of competition we were definitely the underdogs. Val and team cut through the battlefield like butter. Karen and Val worked tight and navigated every hurdle making the experience easy to manage and cope with. They were open to our suggestions and as we were open to theirs as a team we were successful. Karen managed our fluctuating emotional states no problem, was capable at playing the hard game or using tact for a more subtle approach when required. Both knew their areas very well and could read the layout of the land and adjust to the rapidly changing climate. Post closing it was quite clear that the due diligence, team ethic, tact and attention to detail exhibited by Val and Karen was the reason we were able to avoid a serious bidding war, close on the house and even see demands of our own to fruition in what is still clearly a sellers market. As i have worked with other agents in the past and brought to Val Vandervort Estates through a friends referral it's quite clear this team is miles in front of the rest. They are all easy to work with, detail oriented and even donated some of their income to charity and our closing to insure all our best interests were accounted for and not only as a personal gesture to us but also at a level in the community that generally speaking, others don't seem to care about. I would highly recommend this company and team and have done so multiple times already. I'm not a yelper but felt Val and team deserved my attention in this forum. They are my first Yelp. If you want a team to represent your best interests successfully id get in line quick b/c in this market quality this outstanding is what brings the edge you'll need to realize your dreams. I'd use them again without batting an eye. Don't waste time with other choices out there, sign with them before others occupy their time first. Every second counts in this market. Be willing to contribute and work as a team. read more

Val is incredible, and she manages a full-service, helpful, highly professional team. She understands the Peninsula market in detail. We sold our house in San Carlos while physically out of state, and she took care of everything, gave us great market advice, and helped us through tough decisions. Highly, highly recommend. read more

Val is a rockstar agent. If you are considering her, you should go for it. If you are not considering her, then think again. She is the best in the business, extremely professional, expert in this field and makes you feel really comfortable during the whole house buying process. She understands that every client is different and so are their needs, so she'll work with you accordingly and never push / force you to go outside your budget. I've referred Val to several of my friends already in a short span of 1 month and I'm sure they are going to have the same terrific experience that I had. I cannot stress enough the fact how good she is in this business. If you end up working with her, you are in great hands. read more

We could not have asked for a more thoughtful, knowledgeable, and responsive real estate agent!! We had a tight timeline and some very specific requests, and Val was able to find the perfect property for us! She found us a good number of houses to see, didn't push us into anything that we didn't feel good about, took the time to show us the variety of what was on the market, walked us through the 'making an offer' process and went above and beyond to find us a phenomenal house that was about to go on market, which we ended up buying! For the places that she saw before us, she knew which we should actually visit (either because she knew we'd like it, or because she knew that we needed to see what was on the market). For the places she walked into for the first time with us, she knew exactly the questions to ask, and had an incredible instinct on whether it was the right place for us. She knows the market and community, and we are overjoyed to now be a part of the San Carlos Community in our dream home!! In not enough words, Val was incredible, and we would, will, and have highly recommended her to friends and neighbors alike. Thanks So Much, Val!! James & Mallory:) read more

Val helped us getting our dream home. She knows the market very well and provided great advice throughout the purchasing process. We discuss our negotiation strategies with her, and she's always on top of things. She took a lots of notes on our criteria, houses we've viewed, our budget. We knew she could be counted on to provide clear recommendations that were in our best interest. On a couple occasions she stopped us from bidding on properties that had problems. She always made herself available on short notice to show us homes. She found us our dream home in a competitive market in a short period of time. We highly recommend working with Val and her team. read more