if I could give him the 6th star I would! Where do I even start or end with Anthony Ridino? I met him by chance, I was at some event with my sister. We ended up striking a random conversation about zip lining in Costa Rica, my sister happened to be a fan- I don't know why though, fear has never been my ideal pass time. Long story short it came up that my sister was thinking about becoming a homeowner. Anthony informed us he was a Real Estate Agent. I guess she didn't want to be hassled, she right away told Anthony that she already had an agent in mind. As shameless as my sister is, she proceeded to bomber him with a myriad of questions, she was a first time buyer-"poor guy" I thought. Through out the whole hour of the Q and A, Anthony remained very patient and attentive. I mean there were plenty of times where he could have gone "duh" or make a bathroom excuse and run for it, I mean there was nothing in it for him anyway, since my sister already had an agent-but he didn't, he stayed put and answered all her questions. Meanwhile I was on the sidelines rolling my eyes at her millions of questions and feeling a tad embarrassed of how we were monopolizing this guy's precious time. What Anthony did at that random encounter was providing my sister with the the most valuable information aka ammunition that any first time buyer should be privileged to have, information that that she ended up using later to her own advantage. Before we left we asked Anthony for his card, he didn't even shove it down our throats like what other agents would typically do, and if he did, it was warranted, we practically held him hostage for almost 2 hours!!.
As you know in LA you get a lot of Real Estate Agent business cards, I have a bowl full of them and I also have a personal real Estate agent that I have used before. So when it came time to shop around for the house, I gave my sister some recommendations from my bowl of cards and friend's referrals. My sister didn't want to deal with any of them, she had also met a couple by herself and she insisted that she wanted to only deal with Anthony Ridino, she still had his card 10 months later. I tried to convince her that she didn't know the guy, she should go with someone we already knew. In her own words she said "there was something genuine about him." She emphasized she didn't need to be friends with her real estate agent, she just wanted someone who was knowledgable about the industry, patient, honest, attentive,professional and most importantly an agent who was not going to hassle her or talk down to her because she was a clueless first time buyer. I guess that 's what happened to her with the two other agents she saw.
So we both met with Anthony a week later, I was there through the whole deal making process. Let me say this, my sister is not the easiest person to order food with (plenty of When Harry Met Sally moments) let alone conduct business with, she is super anal and would want a clarification of every sentence on the contract. I am writing this review because I was really impressed with the way Anthony dealt with my sister, It was really refreshing to deal with someone with that much passion for his work, he never lost his nerve, he was always on point with solutions -there was nothing half assed about this guy.
My sister ended up with the house of her dreams because of Anthony; so it is rather ironic that he sent my sister a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a "housewarming" gift. I mean we should be the one sending him something to reward him for giving us such a pleasant home buying experience. I absolutely mean it when I say- It was a real pleasure doing business with Anthony Ridino.
Live, Love, Lose, Learn, Laugh... read more