TLDR: We highly recommend Alex to everyone and anyone looking to purchase or sell a property in San Francisco, Marin County, and wherever else he’s willing to travel =).  He offers a much-needed cool, calm, and collected presence on the emotional property rollercoaster.  

The Detail:

My wife and I moved to San Francisco about 4 years ago.  Sitting on the couch writing this review, we’re still not quite sure how my wife found theFrontSteps, Alex, and his blog.  But wow!  We’re glad she did.

After reading theFrontSteps blog for several years and after Alex had set us up on Aalto (private listings), we reached out to Alex in early January 2020 to formally start looking to purchase a property in southern Marin county.  Within several minutes, Alex was on the case and connected us with several mortgage brokers to get pre-approved before we started the search, given how quickly properties move in the Bay Area.  While we worked on getting pre-approved, Alex was sending us properties to review to get a sense for our style and preferences, from interior to exterior to location.  He also recommended that we continue to keep a close eye on the private listing via Aalto given the number of deals done off the MLS.

Shortly after being pre-approved, we found a property on a Friday on Aalto that piqued our interest.  Again, within several minutes of telling Alex we were interested in seeing the property, he sent us the details for the Saturday open house and encouraged us to stop by (he actually knew the listing agent really well from a previous job).  After attending the open house, we let Alex know that we really liked the property, but had a few reservations.  To see the property in person together and discuss those reservations, Alex drove up from San Francisco during rush hour on Monday, and after some thoughtful advice from Alex, we decided to put in a strong offer which was accepted on Tuesday with only one round of negotiations!  It certainly helped that Alex knew the listing agent well.

From there, we were off to the races on the 10-day inspection, mortgage, appraisal contingency period.  We were a bit concerned with the short contingency period, especially since we were leaving the country the day before the contingency period ended, but Alex assured us that he could get it done.  Alex was on point every step of the way, seamlessly scheduling the inspection for us, communicating with the listing agent, and checking in with the mortgage broker on the appraisal.  He was available around the clock, responding to our text messages almost instantly to answer all questions and allay any concerns.

By the time we returned from our trip, everything was done and we closed on schedule.  The entire process from start to finish was much smoother and less stressful than we anticipated and were prepared for.  

Without Alex’s knowledge, vast professional network, and expert advice along the way, we are fairly certain we would be out looking at properties and attending other open houses right now instead of writing this Yelp review.  Thank you Alex!

Meg & Christian