Testimonials

If I had to summarize the traits we looked for in a buyer's agent, i would say thoughtful, knowledgeable, meticulous, and attentive without being pushy. Alex exceeded our expectations in every single one of these categories. Let me start off by saying I'm a complete real estate nerd. First, I'm a Bay Area native, whose family weekend pass time was visiting open houses. Even when we weren't on the market for a house, visiting open houses to gather design inspiration and understand comps was perceived as fun family bonding time. Second, part of my career was assisting a real estate area in the SF area. Third, I thoroughly enjoy assisting family and friends with property management. Last but not least, I purchased a place of my own in the Peninsula in 2014. Needless to say, I would categorize myself as an inquisitive and curious buyer that's knowledgeable about the area I grew up in and lived in for the last 30 years. All aspects of real estate fascinate me but because I have been surrounded by it my whole life, I think my family and I know a bit more than your average buyer. That being said, when it came to buying the first house my husband and I would own together, where we would build our family, Alex took GREAT care to ensure we were clearly guided through every step of the way. This started from the search process, through the especially complex negotiation, the rent back period, the close and even move-in! THE SEARCH: We weren't just sent generic listings from a listserv. As someone who obsessively monitors the market, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when someone just runs a general search and plugs in generic parameters in the hope that while bombarding you with search results, something "will eventually stick". He took time to carefully curate only the properties he felt we might be interested in and detailed why each property he felt hit some of our "must haves". Some of these listings he had insight to even BEFORE they hit the MLS! WHEN WE FOUND THE ONE: Admittedly, because our family is so real estate obsessed and to be fair, the house we ended up falling in love with was outside of our initial intended price range, my family found "the one" for us. Alex wasted no time to put together an offer for us. He was very forthcoming with the flaws and potential concerns he had about the house. He didn't try to downplay or push anything that might have been worry some for us. He wanted us to go into contract with eyes wide open about potential problems. COMMUNICATION: He made himself so incredibly available for us. My husband and I were astonished with how Alex would be up all hours of the day every single day to quickly text/call/email back to either answer our questions or gather the right answers we were looking for. 90% of messages were answered within a 15 minute window. He was extremely responsive and thorough with his responses. TIMING: He provided clear timelines for us and was incredibly polite while reminding us of upcoming deadlines. He always kept track of the dozens of forms we needed to complete and when they needed to be submitted. Though my family was in Asia for a month during the negotiation, he was still able to help us close on time! NEGOTIATION: The sellers were really attached to the house since they had purchased the house as newly weds, they raised 3 children in the home and all 3 children had moved out and have kids of their own as well. A large majority of the home had beautiful custom cabinetry that the husband had all handmade himself. For all of these reasons, it made it extremely difficult for the sellers to let the house go for anything less than asking price! Ultimately after 4-5 counters back and forth, we got the house for $169,000 under asking :) It goes unsaid that Alex's strategy with negotiation played a big factor in why we were able to close on the house. GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND: Alex has truly become a friend to us. He knew we threw down everything we had into this house and to even get the house was a stretch for us. He identified a neighbor that was giving away a couch for free. He took pictures, asked us with we were interested in it, picked it up, AND delivered it to our house in two trips. Words can't describe how thoughtful he was and what a pleasure it was to work with him. Both my husband and I would recommend Alex to anyone with 100% percent confidence. Whether it's a first time home buyer or even an experienced buyer, his level of professionalism and attention to detail were fantastic and we are so grateful for him. THANK YOU ALEX!!!

Simply stated Alex's service is exceptional. We couldn't have asked for more. If you are looking for someone to trust and properly guide you when it comes to making one of the biggest transactions in your life, Alex is the heaven sent. Here is the service that Alex provided us: 1. A patient business partner - He respected our feelings, concerns, dislikes on certain properties and never pushed us to move forward with an offer when we weren't ready or secure about making that decision. I was very nervous, more than my partner, but he helped me see the big picture every step of the way. He also took the time to thoroughly go over property disclosures with us. This quality is hard to find in an agent. 2. Very professional and organized - He is detailed and took his time to explain each step of the process. He made sure that we understood everything that needed to be done and documents that needed to be signed, which gave us the confidence we needed to move forward. 3. Took time to ask how we were feeling throughout the process - He catered to our emotions. This was an added plus. In a business relationship it's rare to find someone that cares for you as a person and doesn't just see you as a transaction. 4. Flexible with his time - He was able to accommodate times to show us properties and work around my crazy work schedule 5. LISTENED - He understood the type of property we were looking for and got in contact with us when he found good prospect homes. When we found the right property he acted fast and worked diligently, negotiating the price, working with the sellers agent and successfully closing at the best price realistically possible 6. Knowledgeable beginning to end - From setting the proper expectations, guiding us on what to look for when doing a house tour, explaining all the docs that needed to be signed, reviewing disclosures, going over what costs I would incur in the process, connecting us with other professionals to do some upgrades we wanted on the house, etc. He's a real estate encyclopedia. And if he doesn't know the answer, he will get back to you. 7. He provided a service not a sale- I never felt that he was selling us a property but rather provided us all the information we needed to make a decision. 8. Very Responsive - We appreciated his efficiency with communication and was very good at following up to keep us on track with every step we had to take. It was easy to communicate. 9. He's a fiduciary as he had our best interest at heart- He took responsibility in his role to make sure things were done efficiently. He will fight for you from beginning to end if needed.Towards the end, the seller became hard to work with but Alex handled that very professionally going above and beyond for us. Our first home buying experience is one that you imagine in your day dreams and we are so lucky that it became reality. I wish the same for everyone who reads this and is trying to become a homeowner in such a crazy market. We give the full credit to Alex.

We have worked with many great agents over the years. When we got ready to sell our custom home in Danville, we were going to select one who specializes in our neighborhood until we heard about Alex. We were a little skeptical at first since Alex has focused mainly in the Peninsula area. But we took a chance and talked to him anyway. Alex was so well prepared that he was able to answer all our questions, concerns and much more. He impressed us like someone who has worked in our area for a long time. We were so amazed that he had done so much research on our home already. He was able to give us a rough timeline and provided us with guidance in getting our home prepared, staged and marketed in a very short time. He also partnered with us to determine which upgrades would provide a worthwhile return. When our house was listed, there were two other comparable homes within a couple block vicinity that were on the market which unfortunately have not closed yet. We received a wonderful offer on the 6th day of listing and the process was very seamless. By the time we closed, the other two homes were still active. We think the short turnaround time had a lot to do with Alex's creative and inventive marketing strategy. Throughout the entire process, he remained our single point of contact. Alex has been very responsive and has done an excellent job in managing the whole contracting process. He kept us informed at all times, not just on what has happened, but also what to expect next. We worried a bit when we saw the market slowed down, but Alex worked really hard to ensure we got the very best offer and the best buyer. At close of escrow, Alex gave us two huge binders with tabs and indices. One binder contained all documents in chronological order, the other one had copies of everything we signed and needed to keep. We have been buying and selling for more than 40 years, and have never seen an agent so organized. If I ever want to buy or sell another home in the Bay Area, I will not do it without Alex. He is a gem! Alex is the most caring and honest agent I have ever seen. We have not only found a great real estate professional, we have found a wonderful friend. We wish him much success. We highly recommend Alex to anyone. He is the absolute best!!!

Alex is simply one of the most stand-up and fundamentally decent people I have had the opportunity to work with, and I'd strongly recommend you contact him if you are considering buying / selling in the Bay Area. I was referred to him by a mutual friend (and a former client of his), and he ended up representing me on the sale of my peninsula condo in 2019. This is the first time I have ever sold a property, and there were some additional logistics on my end that required stretching the process out to maybe 10 months in total. Alex was exceptional throughout this entire, almost year-long process. During that time, he continuously tracked market conditions, suggested the necessary improvements to prep my condo for sale, leveraged his network to provide contacts on financial advisors, contractors, and everything in-between, and at times oversaw chunks of the remodel work and communicated with the general contractor on my behalf. The place was updated and beautifully staged when it went on the market, and I thought his photo sets, advertising materials, and property website were absolutely excellent. He and his team ran two open house weekends before accepting offers, and we accepted an offer shortly thereafter and closed on time. The main thing I'd like to emphasize here is that Alex is simply an extremely kind and hard-working individual. Not once during this process was he anything other than efficient, responsive, calm, and kind to both myself and my family. Despite his busy schedule, he somehow always made as much time as was needed to get this transaction over the finish line. Post-sale, he has been as responsive as ever, and continues to send us referrals for contractors, etc. as the need arises. In short, working with Alex was a great experience. I highly, highly recommend him, and would work with him again in a heartbeat.

Alex was absolutely amazing to work with! As first time home buyers, this process could have very easily become overwhelming or discouraging, but Alex made everything so smooth and manageable! He answered all of our (MANY) questions very quickly and thoroughly. It didn't matter what time, or how many times, I emailed, Alex either had the answer immediately or did the research to find the answer for us. His work ethic is absolutely amazing. It was such a relief to work with someone who really seemed to care about us, not just the sale itself! Through out our almost 8-month home hunt, Alex never pushed us to settle for something we didn't like and was very patient as we searched for the perfect house. He was always honest about his thoughts on a house and walked us through any concerns we might not have thought of while also making sure we didn't get into anything we couldn't handle in the long run. Because Alex is so kind and friendly, he became a real partner to us throughout this process. He goes to bat for you and handles any little bumps that come up, so you don't have to worry about any of it. Even a month after our home purchase, Alex has checked in on us and is still answering my random questions! I can't believe we were lucky enough to work with him, and we will both be forever grateful for his help! We recommend Alex whole-heatedly and without a single reservation! You really won't find anyone better to help you through the home-buying process!

After reviewing profiles and speaking to several realtors, we decided to choose Alex for his knowledge of the area and how easy he was to get along with. As first time home buyers, the thought of finding the perfect house and all it entails was very overwhelming. Alex very quickly put us at ease with his detailed knowledge of the entire buying process. He was always there to answer our questions and was able to accommodate our tough schedules to bring us around for house tours while bringing up some great points we would have missed. He was able to give us insider knowledge on neighborhoods we were looking at purchasing in because he makes an effort to talk to the neighbors and to really know the area. Anytime we expressed interest in a home, he would make sure to do his own personal tour of the property to give us his thoughts. He really took the time to get to know us, our wants and needs, and use that info towards finding our perfect home. And with his excellent negotiation skills and his knowledge of what is needed, we were able to win the bid on our forever home. Throughout this entire process, Alex has kept it as smooth and stress-free as buying a home could possibly be. Without him, I don't believe we would have found and won we did. Thank you again Alex for everything you did for us. You have been truly amazing through this entire process and we can't imagine anyone else that could have been as awesome as you were.

Alex was everything we were looking for in a realtor-knowledgable, caring, and hard working. Right off the bat, we could tell he was a go-getter with great work ethic and a drive you felt lucky to have work for you. Alex was always very accessible. He promptly responded to all our questions and concerns (and there were MANY!) and was always just one quick call, text, or email away. My work schedule was often very demanding and unpredictable, but he was always flexible and accommodating. Alex even often showed us properties late into the evening. Being organized and transparent is very important to us and Alex was both of these. He walked us through the home searching/buying process step by step with great insight and advice. His offer packages were always compiled quickly yet concise and he always reviewed every little detail with us to make sure we agreed and understood all aspects of the offer and property. Most importantly, I always felt like he had our best interest at heart. Needless to say, we found a realtor/friend for life.

Alex was the listing agent for my husband's and my Downtown San Mateo apartment. He was incredibly responsive throughout the process, and he has remained so in the months since we moved in. Whenever something at our apartment has needed repairs, Alex has responded promptly (often within minutes!) and followed up to ensure things are taken care of. But what we've most appreciated about Alex is his thoughtfulness and attention to detail. I was pregnant when we moved in, and Alex seemed genuinely happy to be helping us make this apartment our home for our growing family. When we did our walk-through, Alex was also inspecting the place, identifying cabinets, outlets and tiny details that we may not have noticed ourselves that he then had contractors address before we moved in. And when we arrived, we found a welcome note, balloon and orchids waiting in the kitchen. We've lived in a lot of apartments, and none have ever had as professional or thoughtful an agent as Alex!

We just closed on our new home in South San Francisco and Alex was incredible through the entire process. He payed attention to what was important to us and worked tirelessly to find us a great home. The market in the bay area can be tough to navigate, Alex was honest and knowledgeable. We have worked with other realtors in the past that seemed to care more about the sale than us. Alex was positive and outgoing but also gave us an honest assessment of the property and neighborhood, even if it meant delaying our bid to find the right place. Alex worked around our schedule and was available when we needed him. His advice through the bidding process was spot on and we got the house we wanted at a price we were happy with. Additionally, Alex did his diligence and drew on his resources to ensure we had the best information to make informed decisions. We highly recommend Alex Lam to anyone interested in buying or selling real estate.

Alex helped us buy and sell our house. Selling our house was a little complicated due to it being an inheritance. We had many questions regarding property tax, capital gains, etc. and Alex was able to find the answers for us. He guided us through every step of the way, from tidying up the house and making it show-worthy to arranging for property inspections and photography. When we were shopping for a new home, we were looking for something very specific and he was extremely patient with us through the whole process! He was professional, responsive to phone calls and texts, and available whenever we wanted to look at homes. We highly recommend him!