Finding My Way Home -- Twice I first met Hans in 2014. With his guidance, my husband (now ex-husband) and I purchased our ideal home with great excitement and began building our family there. In January 2026, I met Hans again--this time under very different circumstances. My divorce had just been finalized, and I urgently needed a new home, not only for myself but, more importantly, for my two children. Dialing that twelve-year-old phone number turned out to be one of the wisest decisions I could have made. Just three months later, I became a homeowner again--this time as a proud, working single mother, standing firmly on my own ground. What has remained constant across the years is Hans' professionalism. He speaks in the language of data and market trends, which resonates deeply with my engineering background and made trust come naturally. He patiently guided me through the financial and logistical aspects of homeownership, which I lacked regretfully throughout my marriage, --from crafting a strong offer to preparing for the responsibilities that follow. I deeply appreciate his punctuality, attention to detail, and his ability to resolve unexpected challenges quickly and decisively. Throughout the process, he provided constant reminders about critical milestones and answered my many questions with remarkable patience. I am equally grateful for the compassion and steady support he showed to me and my family. During our first phone call, he calmly outlined a timeline--which, impressively, unfolded exactly as promised. That clarity eased my anxiety and allowed me to focus on caring for my children during one of the most difficult transitions in our lives. The house-hunting process was brief but intense, yet his optimism and quiet confidence guided us forward. "A Room of One's Own" -- Virginia Woolf I read that book during the tumultuous final years of my marriage, and now I finally have a small home of my own. My children once joked that moving into a smaller place was "not worth it," but then quickly added, "It's so good to see you laugh--as long as we are together." They know that I love them dearly, and that I dream of writing novels one day, even if they remain obscure, just as Woolf had envisioned in her book. I have told my children about Hans--how his dedication to his work and his unwavering professionalism helped me rebuild, step by step. In my view, it is the union of passion and professionalism that allows a person to excel in any role--whether at work, in parenting, or in the quiet pursuit of a lifelong dream. "Gold runs in our blood." -- The Waves If you are looking for a realtor who combines expertise with genuine care, I wholeheartedly recommend Hans. He will guide you home--and perhaps help you find your own gold. read more

We purchased our first home with Hans in East Bay. Hans guided us through the whole process with a diligent and professional manner. He is knowledgeable and we learned a lot from him on choosing a house, inspecting a house, how to prepare an attractive offer, the complex title transfer process, house repair, etc., he was always positive and inspiring, without him we cannot move in to our new home such smoothly. We will highly recommend Hans if you would like to purchase a home in Bay Area. read more

We finally got our first home, and we owe a huge thanks to Hans for all his hard work! Every time he explained things thoroughly and shared so much helpful info, we learned a ton. Working with him, we could really feel his deep expertise, but also his genuine passion and love for what he does. We especially loved his patience and positive energy - it really rubbed off on us! We couldn't have done it without him. read more

This is my second time working with Hans. He was recommended to me by a friend back in 2013, helped us buying our first home. In the past few years, I also refer Hans to my friends that are interested in house purchasing, and they all have really awesome experience working with Hans, and got their home. This year is crazy for house hunting, but Hans helped solving so much headaches in the process. He's super responsive for my every question and request, giving productive and experience advice on home screen. House viewing experience with Hans is very informative, every time I learn a lot knowledge on location, structure, things to paying attention to while making decision. Hans never pushes for high bidding, instead he will always give reasonable estimation and suggestions. We are lucky to get an offer in our second bid on a property that we love a lot, with a price that we are comfortable with. His team is also super supportive during the closing stage, get the process work smoothly. I will keep recommending Hans to anyone that I know who needs a real agent, and looking forward to working with him again. read more

We purchased and sold our house successfully with Hans exceptional profession service. 5 years between purchase and sold, he had kindly answering all our questions, and provide candid advices. If you want to take away with one thing: "Trust Hans! Hans is always right!" For example, he recommended us to sell house 3 years ago, but we hesitate. In retro, his years of experiences win over guess and speculation. So, if you step upon Hans's service, grab it when possible! Overall, he handled various of tough situation in our case, and provide very predictable schedule toward final goal. He managed expectations well without overpromising or any surprise. read more

Hans is an AMAZING real estate professional with a rare combination of deep market knowledge and extreme customer focus. He has been our real estate agent for 7+ years, helping us with our first home in 2013 and recent purchase this year. We have nothing but great experience working with Hans and would recommend him to our family and closest friends. Home purchase is one of the biggest investments you could make in your life. Choosing a good agent who can guide you and have your best interest in mind is crucial. For both homes, he guided us through the entire process and helped get our dream homes within budget in a highly competitive market. He was instrumental in helping us clarify what we truly desire in a home. Not only did he help us screen and filter potential properties based on our criteria, Hans always shared valuable insights that help us clarify what we REALLY want. He has a magic formula for extending an offer that MAXIMIZE your chance of getting your dream home. And once it's accepted, his incredible team made closing easy and on time. We were constantly impressed by his responsiveness, market knowledge and insights. Above all, we appreciate his friendship and energy he brings to everything he does. Home buying process could be stressful at times, but Hans makes it easier and more enjoyable! We would definitely work with Hans again for our future home purchase and would give him our highest possible recommendation to anyone who's looking for a real estate agent who is capable, personable, and has your best interest at heart! read more

The very first offer Hans and I made got accepted, and we won the bidding for a very beautiful property. Recently, we successfully closed the deal and put a happy ending to my property shopping journey. During the entire process, Hans consistently demonstrated professionalism, talent, sincerity and reliability. He continually provided me with great insights, guidance and references, which made me feel very confident that I had the necessary support for this challenging quest. With Hans's experience and expertise, the technical aspects of the house shopping were thoroughly taken care of, so that I could focus on a reduced set of problems that were less technical and more personal. It's hard to exhaustively enumerate all the other invaluable qualities (including high efficiency, fast response, positive attitude) Hans possesses. My experience with Hans and his team has been immensely positive, I feel that a Hans is a person who is not only highly talented and hard working, but also genuine, warm-hearted and trustworthy. I would like to express my deep appreciation for all the time and efforts Hans and his team spent in helping me achieve my goal. read more

Hans is a very professional agent. I worked with him both in buying and selling my home, and that says a lot about my trust on him. If anyone asks me to recommend a real estate agent in Bay Area and I'll definitely recommend Hans. read more

We started our house hunting in Jan, 2022. This is our first home purchase. A friend couple referred Hans & team to us. The couple bought two homes via Hans during the last 5 years and they highly recommended him. From the very first intro meeting, we found ourselves can trust him because of his rich professional experience in the housing market, as well as his way of explaining the complex process in a simple language. I found this is most helpful for first time buyers like us. I'm most impressed by his responsiveness, punctuation and dedication to us. My wife and I tour 3~4 homes each week from Jan to March. Whenever we have questions re: the homes we toured, Hans was always with us on the phone with us to go thru the questions and share his insights. We learnt a lot about housing in the two and half months journey. We made four bids with Hans and every time he will inspect the home with us, never late. He and his team put 110% of effort on preparing the most comprehensive materials for each bid. On March 22, we won the last bid at a very reasonable price that Hans suggested, which is an incredible win in this market condition. The appraisal came out just 4k above our offer price. Now we just closed the loan and got the keys. None of these could happen without Hans and his team. If you're a first time buyer, if you want professional services or if you like someone to have your back and "fight" for your offer, Hans is your best choice. read more

Hans is AMAZING! This was our first time home buying. He made this process of finding the right home just seamless. Even during this pandemic, and amidst this crazy rise in the market... Hans bunkered down and showed us the way. Can't find any better words to say about this guy. Has our business for life. read more

Hans is the best agent I've ever met! We recently bought a home with Hans's help in this fierce market. Hans is super experienced, patient and professional. He always answers our questions with great patience, responds to our requests promptly. More importantly, he uses his rich experience to help us make a completive offer. Don't get me wrong, he is not the type of agents who keep pushing you to raise bid. Instead, he provides smart strategies to help you win a home! When you have a real estate need, don't hesitate to reach out to Hans. 5 STARS that's all I can say about Hans. Will definitely use his services again in the future! read more

First of all, our closing date was 08/31/2021, the date owner accepted our offer was  07/30/2021, and the date we met Hans was 6/21/2021. This is the easiest way to let you know how professional and efficient that Hans is doing his job. We highly recommend him to people who need a realtor! For the past 7 years, we have been renting a house in San Jose. This year we decided to jump into the market to buy our first house due to climbing rent. After looked through some online reviews regarding multiple realtors referred by friends, we found a realtor, Hans, who has an amazing reputation with outstanding experience. By the time we found him, he had handled 18 properties in the past 12 months( including the shelter in place phase ). Therefore, we decided to reach him. On 06/21 we met in a nearby Starbucks, Hans started to explain everything related to house buying and market analyst to us. As a first-time buyer, my wife and I were complete noobs in this area. We asked a bunch of rookie questions because we are the noob of noobs. However, Hans has NEVER lost his patience to give us complete answers until we truly understand them. Hans is a realtor with a clear mindset, fantastic professional skills, answering questions transparently, and treating customers with sincerity...etc! Therefore, After the meeting, I told my wife Hans is the guy going to represent us, period! We have never reached to any other realtors since that day. We have to say that if there is the smartest move we had made during purchasing our first house, choosing Hans as our realtor will be the one. House hunting is never easy. We had to see multiple open houses within 3-4 hours, the average number was 6-7 a day. That is going to cost time and energy from buyers. In addition, houses are never cheap in Bay Area. We are not rich people, and we were just trying to find our first home, a townhouse, to settle in. Unfortunately, San Jose is a very competitive area in the market which makes us feel our little goal is closer to a daydream than to reality. We are not telling people not to pursue their first house. We just want to say frustration will always be a bad company of house hunting. Here is something we want to share which is about Hans's emails. They always start with encouragement and optimistic phrase. When we first saw that, we just felt that was friendly greetings. But after all this stuff when we look back, we realize that was exactly something we needed when we were frustrated and tired. That is something that slowly motivated us and helps us to build up faith to make us believe we can keep doing this and make our dream come true.  If the house renting is a prison, everyone just needs to have a little faith to do a prison break. In the end, we can tell a lot about Hans, such as his fantastic accurate estimation, his pros and cons table for houses we were interested in, and how supportive he was during the whole process...etc. But we really want people to know is Hans has our trust indeed. Not only because of the comment we put before, but also he might be the most decent guy we have ever met in our life. We learned a lot from him, and I'm not just talking about knowledge of buying a house. What he did for us is way more than a realtor, more like a friend who looks after us. Therefore, if you are still hesitant to purchase a house because of whatever makes you cold feet. Just give yourself a chance and call "Hans". W&S 09.05.2021 read more

It was a pleasure working with Hans to purchase our first home in the Bay Area. He guided us through the process and offered insightful opinion for each and every home we looked at. Despite all the COVID restrictions, he was able to do everything efficiently and on time. Throughout the process I didn't feel rushed, and he provided us all the facts and suggestions before our offer. Would highly recommend him. read more

We are so grateful to have Hans as our agent. He really helps make the home buying process as streamlined as it could possibly be for first-time home-buyers like us. Hans helped us buy our dream home with the very first offer we put in -- incredible! Hans is always responsive to whatever questions we have, and his responses are clear, honest, and to the point. He guides us through every step of the process - from sharing his sincere opinions on properties we were interested in to connecting us with contractors after we purchased our house. In short -- Hans is amazing. Highly recommended! read more

Hans was a great real estate agent to work with throughout our home buying process. He is clearly a seasoned expert in the Bay Area housing market. We appreciated many things about working with Hans. First, he always takes the time to do a walkthrough of homes we are interested in as he wants to make sure his clients are making a solid purchase. Many times he pointed out items about the homes which we would have otherwise not known or have thought of as first-time home buyers. His transparency in letting us know his feedback on whether a house is a good or bad buy was helpful in our evaluation process and made him a trusted partner during our home search. In addition, Hans never gives pressure to make offers nor pushes his clients to set high bids. Instead, he sets expectations by sharing price estimate ranges to which his clients can ultimately decide what they are comfortable with. In each offer process we went through, Hans was fully dedicated and put in the time to ensure we were well prepared and had the best chance of getting accepted. Finally, we appreciate that Hans was supportive and patient in answering our many questions and always made time to jump on a call with us. We learned a lot from him and he made our first time home buying experience both smooth and enjoyable! If you are looking for a great real estate agent for your next home purchase, we would highly recommend working with Hans. He has both the expertise and dedication to make your home buying experience a success! read more

It must be the most correct decision to have Hans as our agent. He is such an experienced and professional man who helped us buy our desired house at our first try in this fierce real estate market. As first time buyers, I believe the whole process wouldn't have gone so smoothly without Hans' help. A few months ago, we began searching for a house since we were going to welcome our baby and need more space to live. A friend referred Hans to us. The first time we talked with Hans, we knew he was the right person we wanted to work with. He was so punctual, organized, experienced and gave us an overview of the market, risks, some key points and the important timelines of the whole buying process. Every time we found an interested house, he would actively schedule an appointment for us and gave us advice from his professional perspective. Also he is always responsive to our questions and give us a lot of guidance in every steps. After walking through several properties, we found a desirable house. Hans never push us to give a high-price offer and always cares our interest. During the bidding process, Hans contacted the seller agent frequently and actively communicated with the seller agent for us. Finally, the seller accepted our offer even though this was our first try. We are so grateful to work with Hans. If anyone asks me to recommend a real estate agent, I will definitely recommend him. read more

A few months ago, I started searching for a condo for my parents. I first contacted an agent who had helped me before; however,  he was not working in real estate anymore, so he referred me to his ex-co-worker, Hans. The first time I talked to Hans, he quickly understood the property I was searching for. He gave us an overview of the current market and its potential properties in the area we are interested. He helped us to search the properties, and we didn't feel any pressure from Hans. In fact, whenever we wanted to give an offer, Hans would always check with us that we were completely satisfied with the property before giving an offer. After viewing some properties, we found a place that my parents were very interested in. We decided to give the owners a serious offer. With thorough data analysis, Hans proposed some numbers for this property. With his list, we chose a price with a 50% chance. After submitting the offer, we were stuck in a nervous 16-hour waiting period. During this time, Hans contacted the seller agent a few times to get the most updated information for us. In the end, the seller chose our offer, among a few very close offers. Besides our overall offer package, the letter to seller (suggested by Hans) was also very helpful, because it showed that we were eager to find a better place for my senior parents. Through this purchase, we felt that working with an experienced agent like Hans is extremely important. Experienced agents can provide accurate and updated information about the housing market, and they can present impressive offers based on your needs. read more

We met Hans at one of his open house listings and based on first impressions, we knew right away that we wanted to work with him as our agent. We felt that we both had similar goals and values towards the kind of house we were looking for. He is knowledgeable and sincere about whether a house is worth it or if we should place an offer. He is meticulous and will take time to explain the little details found in the disclosures and inspections. Throughout our 10 months of searching, not once did he complain about setting up and meeting at private showings (During covid-19 where there were no open houses) and there was never any pressure to place offers. Even after the closing date, he continues to provide assistance towards any questions you may have. Highly recommend. read more

Hans is very experienced and knowledgeable. He will provide his professional suggestion instead of pushing you the offer or raise price just for closing the deal soon. read more

As first time home buyers, Hans armed us with his expertise and helped to educate and empower us to make a smart decision for the biggest purchase in our lifetime. He is kind, patient and genuinely cares about our happiness. He will share his honest opinions on properties, which helped us to see things we would not have even known to consider, even if it meant steering us away from a purchase. That is integrity, that he would want us to find the best possible home. Most importantly in the bay area market, he always had a conscious mind on price, and quickly informed us if something was overpriced or helped us to see what we would value to be wiling to expand our budget for. On another impressive note, he helped us successfully close on time during the COVID19 pandemic.. what could have been a very stressful situation went very smoothly with the help of Hans and his staff- Rennie (transaction coordinator), Lisa (escrow officer) and his referral David (mortgage consultant from Wells Fargo). This is a highly efficient and knowledgable team! Hans has gone above and beyond in helping us find what we hope is our forever home and we could not be more grateful to him. Even after our purchase, he continues to check in and advise and share referrals and various ideas for our home. He really values his relationship with us and we see that in the way he interacts with others including those in the industry as well. We highly recommend Hans to friends, family and anyone who is looking for a home. read more

I have worked with Hans for over 10 years with both my primary residences and investment properties in the Bay Area.  The core qualities of Hans as a professional are integrity, knowledge, and customer service.  Hans always has my best interests as his client as his first priority and goes above and beyond at every step of every transaction.  Whether it is a sale or purchase, Hans is thoughtful and communicative so that my goals are met at my pace.  I highly recommend Hans as a real estate professional as he deserves 10 stars for what he does for his clients during and beyond each transaction. read more

Hans is very kind, knowledgeable, experienced, and careful with details. He always provides professional suggestions and makes sure his buyer is purchasing properties that worth the price. With his help, my offer was successfully accepted under a multi-offer situation while not giving the highest price among all offers. It was a great experience during the whole purchasing process. I learned many things from him and ends up having my dream home. read more

Hans is the best agent I have met. He has more than 15 years' experience on real estate. He is nice, patient, honest, knowledgeable, and professional. He will try his best to fight for the client's interest, and help clients to buy their dream house at the most reasonable price quickly and smoothly. He is the reliable lighthouse that guides the clients to complete every detail during the whole process. And he can also give clients tons of value-added services like advice about house upgrades, remodeling, maintenance, and good quality contractor list, etc. In a word, Hans can become clients' lifelong lifetime real estate advisor and best friend! read more

Don't be hesitate, Hans is the right one to believe and to work with! Highly recommend due to his personality and honesty in my opinion.

Hans is an awesome relator! He's patient explains things well and has the interest of his clients as a priority.

I've worked with Hans on two home purchases now. He is amazing! Top notch service while providing deep insights into each of my area of interest (Bay Area). He will also act in your best interest, often steering me away from a tempting yet bad ROI decision. He has an uncanny ability to assess and come up with the proper offering price that will make you comfortable with your decisions - no regrets. Looking forward to working with him again on a possible house #3! Thanks Hans! Highly highly recommended. read more

Hans is a very responsible agent. His expertise helped us to buy a single family house in such competitive market. Hans is very knowledgeable in real estate market. He analyzed and explained in very detail for each house we would like to make an offer. He never pushed us to raise the price in order to get the offer. In stead, he provided a very precise number for us to refer to. With his help, we can get our dream house in the third offer, that was amazing. We really appreciate his help and would definitely recommend him to those who want to get their dream home in bay area. read more

A friend referred Hans to me and he was great to work with. He was responsive, very knowledgeable, and able to guide us in all decisions we had to make as we went through the purchase process. He clearly had our best interest in mind - never pressuring us to do anything we weren't comfortable with, and even challenging us when we liked a house that didn't meet all of the criteria we had told him were important. He is friendly, responsive, knowledgeable, and supportive through the purchase process. I highly recommend Hans. read more

My experience with Hans Vilaivan is excellent. He is very professional, knowledgeable and thorough. He helped me purchasing my very first dream home. Hans guided me with lots of patience and assured me that I had been in the right direction. The whole process had been pleasant experience. I would love to work with him again in the future home purchase. read more

Hans has been our "buyer" agent for two of our single-family houses. We were impressed by his dedication, industry knowledge, prompt responsiveness, and, above all, the strong negotiation skills. For our second house, in particular, Hans was able to help us negotiate down the price with seller in a way that enabled us to save quite a bit of money. We wouldn't have been buying the house with such a good price without Hans's help. If you are considering to buy or sell your house (i.e. Condo, Townhouse, or Single-family), Hans should definitely be the ideal agent in your mind. read more

Very professional and knowledgable for local market. Moreover, during the period of searching home, Hans educated us the knowledge of home purchase and he explained each home's details very well. He identified all pros and cons and make us very clear about the conditions of the home. read more

Hans is our family agent for more than 6 years, he helped us bought two homes. He is very professional, offers precise information for the clients, facilitates client to make own decisions without any imposing, his great negotiation skills are also very impressive . My husband and I really appreciate his help and referred him to many of our friends. Highly recommend!!! read more