This transaction was one where I had to help my client Jason; who found himself facing a short deadline to vacate his Nob Hill home after it sold, an absurdly expensive rental market and an uncertain Holiday Season.  Using my network’s reach, I found him a unique opportunity – an off-market, unlisted Penthouse unit in the LEED-certified Arterra building on Berry Street near AT&T Park.

The home has stunning unobstructed southwest views, upgraded kitchen and low HOAs. Jason’s home has an entry hallway closet space, exquisite wood floors, carpeted bedrooms, combo washer/dryer, ample closet space, a bathroom with dual-entrances (allowing a master suite and/or guest bathroom configuration), an open floor plan, floor-to-ceiling windows, bright and quiet.

The Arterra is a LEED-certified building from 2008 that keeps its HOA dues low because of it, with 24-hour doorperson, gym, roof deck/outdoor spaces and garaged, secured parking. This home comes with a walk-in storage room immediately adjacent to its parking space. Fantastic.

And Here’s the Review from my Client Jason: 

Admittedly, I was very skeptical of the whole home buying process.

I really never had much  interest in buying (in the city at least), but I ended up having to leave my apartment and was planning to rent again until discovering how ridiculous rent had gotten in the last couple years.  I was looking at a bunch of open houses using other online resources, and met Kevin at one of them.  He seemed like a smart, personable, honest guy who knew his stuff, and (importantly to me) was a little less sale-sy than most of the agents I had run into.  I also appreciated how he was very willing to interact by phone, email, text, fb, whatever you prefer, whatever time works for you, and he also had some helpful home previews on his youtube channel.

I was still skeptical, but gave him my contact info and he started sending me listings.  He quickly discerned what I liked, and even when I was ready to throw in the towel and just find a rental because my timeline got unexpectedly shortened, he kept at it and managed to find the place that I ended up buying.  The place wasn’t even listed, so I feel very fortunate.  I never underestimate the role of luck and the right place/right time factor, but Kevin’s network, understanding of what I wanted and continuous effort were huge factors in me getting this place.

Once I decided, the process went as smoothly as I could have hoped.  Kevin was instrumental in coordinating among the various parties involved, which was fantastic because I wanted no part of that process at all and didn’t really have a lot of time to deal with it anyway.  He basically QB’d the whole thing and made it relatively painless for me, while keeping me totally looped in as much as I wanted to be and answering all my questions in a very timely and helpful manner.

There were several factors that made my transaction slightly different than the norm, but Kevin handled them all seemingly with ease and I got a new home that I love in a very tight timeframe.

Just so I don’t sound too unobjective, I will say that I’m still not totally convinced you always need a traditional real estate agent, but for me, and I’m sure for a lot of other people with time constraints and/or other complicating factors, Kevin was definitely more than worth the price (in potential savings by using an alternative service) and I definitely wouldn’t have gotten the awesome place I have today if I hadn’t worked with Kevin.

In addition to all his diligence, experience and organization, he brought a ton of positive intangibles as well, which helped make the process less intimidating and burdensome than I imagined it being, and I have enthusiastically recommended him to several friends who are thinking about starting to look at buying.  Being that buying a home is one of the biggest decisions most people make in their lives, I think that’s the highest compliment you can give someone.

Thanks, Kevin.

— Jason S.

VP, Private Capital Firm