My wife and I had the pleasure of working with Mia Fukumoto to purchase our first home in the…read moreSouth Bay, and we could not be happier with the experience. One of the things that stood out most about Mia was her extensive knowledge and expertise. She has a deep understanding of the real estate market and was able to provide valuable insight into a variety of property types, including single-family homes, townhomes, and condos. Throughout the process, she took the time to explain each step of the home-buying journey, discuss different scenarios we might encounter, and provide honest guidance about potential opportunities and challenges. Mia is exceptionally organized and communicative. She presented information clearly, used a variety of digital tools to keep us informed, and made sure we always knew what to expect next. She was patient with our many questions, while also keeping communication flowing at a comfortable pace. We especially appreciated how respectful she was of our time and space, never making us feel pressured while still being readily available whenever we needed assistance. Another quality we appreciated was her flexibility and responsiveness. Mia consistently took the time to answer our text messages thoroughly and, when appropriate, connected us with trusted professionals who could help with related topics, such as lenders and homeowners' insurance. Having access to those resources made the process much smoother and less stressful. Although our time working together was relatively short, we were fortunate to find a home that was an excellent fit for us soon after we started our search. From our first conversations through closing escrow, Mia worked side-by-side with us every step of the way. Her support, professionalism, and dedication gave us confidence throughout what was one of the most important decisions of our lives.

Derek and Mia were absolutely fantastic to work with -- we could not have asked for a better team…read moreto help us navigate buying our first home. From our very first consultation call, my wife and I knew this team would be the ones to get the job done and would go above and beyond to represent us in a highly competitive real estate market. There was never any pressure from them. We could move as fast or as slowly as we wanted, and they respected our pace every step of the way. They were always available and accommodating when it came to showings and open houses. What we appreciated most was their honest and insightful opinions about the properties we toured -- details that only experienced realtors would notice, and things you might never even consider as a first-time home buyer. They are always available to hop on a call and quickly respond to texts for any question (trust me we had a lot). When we finally found a home we loved, they walked us through the offer process and helped us craft a competitive offer that allowed us to stand out. Escrow was completely stress-free, as they arranged inspections and coordinated everything so seamlessly. There was a small hiccup the day before our closing -- through no fault of this team whatsoever -- but they were immediately on top of it, working swiftly with our lender, escrow agency, and insurance agent to ensure we closed right on schedule. We are extremely grateful for the care, dedication, and guidance the team at Hirano Homes provided throughout the entire process. I highly recommend working with them, and I am so glad we did -- because we ended up with the perfect home for us!

We had an excellent experience working with Elliot throughout the entire home-buying process. From…read morethe beginning, he was knowledgeable, responsive, patient, and always willing to answer our questions. What impressed us most was his strong negotiation skills. He listened carefully to our concerns and did an outstanding job communicating our requests to the seller's agent. He worked hard to negotiate both the purchase price and the repairs, always keeping our best interests in mind. He also coordinated smoothly with the escrow company, inspectors, and other professionals, making the entire process much less stressful. We truly appreciated his professionalism, honesty, and dedication. We always felt that he was on our side and working hard for us. We highly recommend Elliot to anyone looking for a trustworthy and skilled real estate agent. Thank you for helping us purchase our new home!

Great Castle Properties does it again!…read more When we decided it was time for us to sell our condo and move into a single family home, we did not hesitate to call Great Castle Properties. This was our second time working with Will. He is not only a knowledgeable agent, but an honest friend. He is professional and easy to communicate with. He will get to know you deeply, and he cares more about his client's needs/future goals rather than simply the numbers. While bedroom and bathroom count are important, Will ensures that the homes you target are the right fit. This helped us lessen our focus on the emotional process of visualizing our life in a particular home and see that there were more opportunities and possibilities in the neighborhoods we targeted. We were also quite satisfied with Will's negotiating skills. He made sure to keep us updated every step of the way and allowed us to guide strategies that he would execute seamlessly. The escrow process felt streamlined. Will kept us on a strict timeline in order to close on time. His assistant, Andy, prepared most of the paperwork digitally and got us in contact with vendors such as insurers and repairmen. In the end, we were able to successfully purchase our first home that we plan to live in for years to come. On the selling side, Will has a fantastic marketing team that includes photography, social media, and staging. Honestly, the condo looked so much cooler in the listing than I remember actually living in it--and we loved living there! He held multiple open houses and private showings while we were out of town. Andy provided weekly marketing updates on how our home was performing online. The whole process was very smooth and pretty hands off from a seller's standpoint. We were able to secure multiple offers and ultimately accepted one in our target price range. In summary, we have no regrets hiring Great Castle Properties. Will and Andy were a pleasure to work with over the several months-long process of buying/selling our homes. We wholeheartedly recommend them and would easily work with them again in the future.

We rented an apartment at 320 Hermosa Avenue six months ago. With Alex Smith he charged us $500 for…read morea 620 square-foot apartment which did not need to be painted. They also charged a $750 in commission fees. I have never heard of anything like this, but I guess that's just what they do. When we moved into the apartment, the whole apartment was not painted. It was touched up with a different color white We moved out, took several pictures and left it immaculate and they ended up painting the entire apartment for $500 when you live in an apartment you should do a walk-through when you first rent from a landlord, that did not happen there was no walk-through so we took pictures of the entire unit. The unit was so disgusting. I spent two days cleaning it. The prior owner's mother went in there with Windex and paper towels and cleaned it. That's not how you clean a unit. Tou use chemicals such as comet and the list goes on. The charges that he charged us was not acceptable to us. We were very fair. There was no heat in the unit except for the fireplace which is since off enough heat to do partial of the living room. The stove is absolutely horrible. Excessive grease on stove. mold underneath the bathroom sink. I would never rent from this person again Smith properties.

I cannot say enough good things about Alex and Eileen. My wife and I called Alex after seeing an…read moreopen house we liked, and within minutes, he drove there, got all relevant info from the listing agent and connected us with a lender so we could get an offer in the next day. We didn't get the house, but needless to say, we were impressed! Fast forward a few weeks, and after taking us to numerous open houses, Alex helped us find "the one." He strategized with us to come up with the winning offer, then guided us through a difficult escrow in which we found major problems with the property. Alex kept us calm, and in the end was able to facilitate seller concessions to fix all issues (quite a feat in this seller's market)! My wife and I now have the South Bay property of our dreams, and I am positive that no other agent in the area would have gotten our offer accepted, and closed escrow with such favorable terms. Most importantly, Alex conducted himself with skill, integrity, humor and candor. We cannot recommend him enough! Finally, his assistant Eileen was also amazing! She scheduled and organized all our inspections, and spent hours with us and keeping track of all the findings. Anytime we had a question she had an answer, or knew who to ask. In Summary, you cannot go wrong with Alex Smith Realty - you'll receive first-class service and leave with a new home and two new friends!

I had a great home buying experience working with Alyssa. From the first time I reached out to her,…read moreshe was consistently helpful and had great communication. My partner and I were first time homebuyers and didn't know anything about the process. I met with Alyssa and she walked me through the basics in a way that I could easily understand. She got us set up with the Compass app so we could search for homes through the app and let her know ones we were interested in. For every home, she followed up with the seller's realtor to get the status of the home. She went with us to open houses or set up private showings. It's such a big purchase, and having someone knowledgeable about what to look out for was super helpful. She let us know pros and cons for the homes we looked at and it really helped us make a decision. Once we found a house we loved, she put in the offer and took charge from there, which I appreciated. She explained the steps in escrow and kept us updated along the way. We had to counter offer and her advice on was probably what got our offer accepted! Alyssa helped set up the home inspections, plus contractor inspections to get quotes for repairs. I didn't have any experience with this, so being able to rely on her and her trusted contacts was invaluable. The closing process was very smooth and we ended up with a great house. The whole Ito Orio group were great throughout the entire journey - always sending updates, getting signatures, communicating with all the parties, everything was seamless. They all made the process super easy and I'm especially thankful to have had Alyssa's guidance during the process.

We had the pleasure to work with Scott Hamada as our real estate agent when looking to purchase a…read morehome in Torrance. My husband and I initially were looking on our own and were having such a difficult time due to the craziness of the housing market recently. Once we were connected with Scott, everything was less stressful and he was able to help us navigate the home-buying process from start to finish. My husband and I also are not originally from the South Bay area so having someone who grew up here and is familiar with the area was extremely helpful! Communication: Easy peasy! Scott was always easy to reach and promptly replied if any questions came up. Expertise: Scott was able to answer any questions that we came up with based on his knowledge and previous experience. He was able to clearly explain the process and paperwork to us non-real estate folk and provided us with insight throughout the entire process. Overall, we had a great experience working with Scott! He is so friendly, easy to work with, and gets the job done! We honestly do not know if we would be able to have purchased a home without his assistance. We highly recommend working with Scott!!! Thank you so much, Scott and the Ito Orio group!

Tim is great! Consummate professional. He clearly cares for his properties and values the trust…read moreplaced in him by property owners and tenants. Scheduling is simple and I haven't come across a problem he wasn't able to quickly find a solution for!

This property management company is a red flag. My current…read moreroommate and I were looking to move out and found the 2b/2b at 2223 Pullman Ln in Redondo. We first went and saw the unit (downstairs unit facing the street) during an open house. We were in contact with the company through email in which they were wanting us to sign a lease although we had never seen the garage. We had asked a few times to see the garage before signing the lease because why would you sign a lease for somewhere where you haven't seen the entire place yet? Tim kept ignoring our questions in the email and kept asking us for a lease start date. There must've been some miscommunication there. One of the front office ladies met us at the unit once more so that we could see the garage before signing the lease and giving a deposit. She told us that Tim would be meeting us and he was also showing the unit to somebody else and to meet him there at a specific time. When I called back to confirm, she then changed the time and was being very suspicious on the phone, leaving out information and not answering my questions in full. When we got to the unit, only the lady showed up and Tim was nowhere to be found. I asked her if Tim would be showing us the unit like she had told us, and she told us no, said he was unavailable. The way that she was answering us was very unfriendly and cold, and I suspect that she was lying to us from the beginning about the property manager meeting up with us again to do a final walk-through and document anything else that needed to be fixed or changed before we moved in (the stove needed to be fixed during the open house and the closet doors were broken). I had read some reviews online about this company but so far Tim seemed ok, but I wanted more information. My roommate and I went to talk to some neighboring units where we learned that there was a history of mold in the unit and that the unit has seen turnover every year due to this issue and that last year they had to tear out a big piece of a wall in the bathroom due to the mold issues and ultimately that's why the previous tenants had moved out. We were notified that the mold went all the way to the other units in front and all the way to the units upstairs along the wall. We reached back out to the property management company to give them a chance when we found out and to ask if a mold inspection had been completed since the previous tenants after they moved out. The property management company ghosted us after this. There are laws regarding notifying possible tenants before signing a lease of prior mold issues and that was not followed, even after given the opportunity to do so after finding out. I pray that whoever is in that unit now is not suffering with health issues due to the undocumented and unresolved mold problems the entire building seems to possibly have. Tim and his front office assistant lady are dishonest, sketchy, unfriendly and down right morally corrupt people if they allowed more people to move into this unity with remedying the mold issues. I would not recommend this property company to anybody.

From our very first phone call with her, we knew Britt was the right agent to help us find a home…read morein the South Bay. She has extensive knowledge of South Bay neighborhoods and the housing market. At our first meeting, she listened to all our must-haves and price parameters, and she shared her opinions on potential layouts and sizes; and possible updates we may need to make and how it could work with our must-haves. We had a lot of questions, which she answered honestly and directly, and we very much valued her thoughts. At a point when we started to feel anxious, because the search seemed like it was taking longer than we had hoped, she helped us stay patient, reminded us not to settle, and eventually we did find the perfect place for us. And finally during the escrow process, she advocated for us in a way that was fair and reasonable for both sides. If you're looking for an agent who deeply knows the South Bay, who pays attention and remembers the details, who will be direct and honest while being even-keeled throughout the search, then Britt is the one to call. She was truly the best agent for us, and we're so grateful we found her.

Forrest Graham from Cari & Britt Group was absolutely outstanding in helping us purchase our new…read morehome in Rancho Palos Verdes. He is one of the most professional, knowledgeable, responsive, and genuinely helpful people we have worked with. Throughout the entire process, he was incredibly responsive, usually answering questions within minutes. He was proactive, highly organized, and always seemed to anticipate what we needed before we even asked. His knowledge of Rancho Palos Verdes, inspections, vendors, and the buying process was exceptional. His negotiation skills were also excellent. Our home had multiple bidders, and Forrest guided us through the bidding process with real-time updates and smart advice on pricing and contingencies. His approach helped us submit a strong offer while still protecting our interests, and ultimately we got the house. Most importantly, Forrest was simply a pleasure to work with. He went far beyond what we expected from a real estate agent and continues to be helpful even after the sale. We highly recommend Forrest to anyone buying or selling a home. He truly knows his craft and cares about his clients.

Steve has managed the property I am in and has been an excellent manager, responsive and always…read morecomes to check and explain issues whenever we have any. I can fully recommend him to any property owner

Steven was absolutely Fast to answer. Knowledgeable, understanding and professional. He met with us…read morethe same day and made a good plan to our rental!

Bindu and Sam helped us both buy and sell in the South Bay. When we bought they provided sound…read moreadvice to help us make a smart investment that would also be a quality home for our family. Bindu and Sam also helped us sell our house after one weekend of Open Houses. They gave us guidance on how to prepare our home to entice the most views and get multiple offers. We couldn't be happier with how smooth both the selling and buying process was with the Xavier's. We highly recommend them to anyone looking for an agent in the South Bay. -Lauren and Wil

Bindu comes with rich experience of home buying/selling. Right from the first meeting we had with…read moreher, we could sense her expertise in what she is doing. She is very knowledgeable about the locations that she works for. Her promptness in responding to all the questions with very clear explanation whenever and wherever required are something that you will definitely appreciate especially when you are first time home buyer. There will definitely be lots of doubts, questions on different things that you have to deal with throughout the home buying process. But Bindu will clearly walk you through all the steps before it happens. She will also guide you through as well as it happens. The fact that she has been doing this for a long time and has been familiar among the real estate group, definitely gives an edge when it comes to offer approvals etc. She went over and beyond in helping us for all the house related repair recommendations, when to do what to do, whom to call etc. I will strongly recommend her to any one considering buying/selling homes. We are glad we found her and given an opportunity we will definitely look forward to work with her again.