James was our agent for purchasing our first home. As you can imagine, being a first time home buyer meant we did not know about a lot of things. James patiently explained the process to us, kept us updated on the progress from the offer stage until we got our keys. The process was smooth and we couldn't be happier. Thank you, James! read more

When you're looking to sell or buy your house - especially in this market - it's difficult to filter through the millions of California realtors and find someone worthwhile. The housing market is bad, so there are plenty of realtors looking for business. How does one sift through the masses and find that *one* to best serve my needs? I think most homeowners/ homebuyers aren't looking for much. When trying to find a place to call home/ sell the place I called home for so long, we look for the simplest of attributes in a realtor: someone that is trustworthy, reputable, and simply cares about MY situation. I want someone that will understand that it's not just property. It's unique to ME. Therefore, you need to understand ME to properly handle my business. James is that one in a million realtor that understands the individual first. Where it's pretty much presumed all realtors know the basics of buying and selling property, James is in a different league all together. He takes the extra step to understand the individual, the family, and service their particular "goal". What I found interesting was his approach of educating and guiding us in the decision making process. We made an informed decision, which was much better than being told what our best option was. Just to let you yelpers know - James is a prime expert to the Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos and Mountain View areas. He doesn't handle the East Bay or SF (although I'm sure he could assist people in those areas). You might think why would he limit his practice? Personally, I can share that this focus is what brings the expertise. He is what they call a "local area expert"- providing a distinct knowledge of everything regarding the house, the neighborhood, the schools, etc. If there's something he doesn't know, he'll find out for you. You can feel secure and protected in all aspects of your decision making process. I highly recommend James Yang for his attentive, personable and skilled negotiations for the dual roles as buyer and as seller. James is - by far - the guy you want of your side when dealing with real estate. If you're looking for someone that will professionally manage your situation, give him a call. You won't regret it. *5 Stars* No doubt about it. read more

Really want to recommend James Yang to anyone looking for a new home. He did everything and more in order to help us secure our new home. From the first meeting, he helped us navigate the process by helping us refine our search, show us listings promptly, and kept things on track during the closing process. Highly recommend that you choose him as your realtor. read more

I have worked with James on our first home purchase closed on October this year in Sunnyvale and can't say how glad I was to have him as our agent! I was considering a home purchase around March and I got introduced to James through a mutual friend as I was starting the process. Even in those early stages of the journey, James was very quick to help de-mystify many concerns I had about the market trends to get my thoughts together. Once I was more serious, James walked me through different scenarios of how the offer process will take place, a sample contract that I would be dealing with and tips on how to work with lenders (helped me not have an anxiety attack). While we were checking out homes (about 3 months), James was very accommodating to how my wife and I felt about doing a multiple visits to ensure we feel comfortable with different setups (i.e. visiting different time of the day to check noise level and traffic). And finally when we were putting offers, he was very careful not too force a direction one way or another yet providing boundaries so that we don't feel pressure to the decision. In all, it was a great experience to work with James! read more

My husband and I are so glad to have been able to work with James from the get-go. We began our search for an investment property in San Jose at the beginning of the year. James was instrumental in helping us figure out the best area to buy in and took the time to come to multiple open houses with us. Given the competitive nature of the market in SJ, James went above and beyond by helping us look for viable off-market options. He helped us understand that if we could find an off-market listing that we may be able to avoid the competitive bidding wars associated with public listings. Whenever we saw anything we liked, James quickly helped us whip up bids and was very patient with us. Since it was such a hot market, we lost several times, but even so, he never pressured us to bid more than we were comfortable with. I really appreciated this and remained optimistic that the right property would come along in due course. James was very responsive to our emails and texts and was good about communicating with the sellers' agents whenever we needed any information. This was my first time buying so I was pretty ignorant about how it all worked. Thankfully, James was able to help alleviate my stress by taking the time to explain things to me about the house hunting and purchasing processes. Lo and behold, a few months in, we submitted a winning bid for a beautiful home. Because James has really great connections with mortgage officers, we were able to close in 25 days... seriously amazing. Highly recommend James if you are looking for a reliable agent! read more

My wife and I started working with James around the new year. We were looking to buy an investment property in the San Jose area. He took the time to help us understand the landscape of the area. He gave us a lot of excellent things to consider as we started our search process, which really helped us zero in on exactly what we were looking for. When we started, the inventory was really low. It took a while to find the first property my wife and I were interested in putting in an offer for. James walked us through the process and helped explain some of the things we could do to make our offer more competitive, but never pushed us on the price. The market ended up being hotter than we anticipated and found that many properties we saw had multiple offers (sometimes double digits) and often going 15-20% over. James would help us get as much information as possible from the selling agent. He was always willing to discuss with us our strategy heading into the multi-offer bidding wars. He also was very responsive and proactively reached out to the selling agent (often multiple times) to get us any feedback. With the unit that we finally ended up purchasing, James helped us navigate another multi offer situation when we were countered by the seller. He walked us through our options, but was clear that he wanted us to be comfortable with whatever we decided. James helped us get into contract, even though we weren't the highest offer! I firmly believe that the suggestions and James' approach to handling the negotiation were key components to this. Once we were in contract, James and his team helped us work through all the details to get to us to close on time. He referred us to a mortgage broker that enabled us to close in 25 days (something that likely made our offer more attractive). Even after we closed, James was still very responsive and was able to help us get information from the seller about the new home, such as utilities, codes, etc. I appreciate that even after the deal was closed James still took the time to address any concerns or questions. read more

James is amazing. He is extremely knowledgable and has excellent negotiating skills. Multiple times, I have needed things (sometimes on short notice) and James has been able to deliver and exceed my expectations. James gets things done. On multiple occasions, he has been super reliable and makes sure everything stays on track, and follows through to make sure everything gets done right. Highly recommended read more

We had a complicated setup, because of the following reasons: 1) This was our first time home purchase 2) We'd stayed all along in SF, and were planning to move to south bay, but had never really experienced the place before. The reason of move was mostly the crazy commute I had to do as my work place is in Mountain View. 3) The property that we liked was neither a foreclosure, not a direct owner sale. It was a short sale; which later we realized had a double loan (from two banks). 4) This property had a tax lien, which the seller wanted to get removed by IRS. The application can only be sent once the bank approves the purchase. IRS takes at least a month to erase this lien, and the bank gives you a month to close escrow. So, you can imagine. We'd experienced a bunch of other real estate agents, during our initial search for a property in SF; and had a bad experience, because the agent was not-in-sync with our style of living, and had his own opinions about the kind of house we should get. So, we were quite guarded in our approach to estate agents, ensuring that we have a good say in the property that we want. One would think that's obviously how things _should_ be; but you'd be surprised how often that's not true. Anyways, we reached out to Alex from Rainmaker properties after getting some good reviews from colleagues and yelp. Had a lunch together, where Alex introduced us to James. We were instantly pleased with the rationality of discussions we had; there was no selling in the talks, and they both seemed very open to our decision either ways (whether we choose them or not) and just genuinely wanted to help us guide. This was the first time somebody actually sat down with us and explained how one (a buyer) should approach the open houses, what kind of questions to ask, what to look for etc. Few days later, we chose James as our agent. From the beginning, James was very communicative. He responded within 10s of minutes of any question that we had: email, phone, messages whichever method. If he didn't know the answers, he dug it up, checked with the seller's agent, the hoa guys, whoever he had to call; but he made sure that we knew what we were getting into, and that we understood the process, and had our expectations set correctly. And trust me, he's the one who ensured that things stayed sane in a very complex process of purchasing a short sale. If I'm not wrong, statistically speaking only 50% of short sales actually go through. The waiting times I've heard range from 4-5 months to even 1.5 yrs; particularly when two loans are involved; and at least one bank would have to bear the entire 100% wipe-out of loan amount. In our case, we got an approval within 1.5 months (yeah, that's really short duration for approval!), which I think was because of the strong and thorough application put forth by James and the seller's agent. Things got even more complicated by my mortgage broker, who got super busy and wouldn't return calls etc. James, even though he shouldn't have to care about it, helped us understand the loan process, and provided whatever advice was necessary; which should all ideally have come through our broker. For a time in between we were just super nervous, juggling between the deadline for escrow, the IRS, the loan interest rate lock and what not; and James was just always around helping us make sense of everything. I was surprised by how patient and understanding he was. When we were not comfortable signing on certain documents (nothing extra-ordinary, but it was our first time, and we were just super cautious), he took a step back and just explained what impact this has, what we are signing on, and just let us take the time to decide how we wanted to proceed. Never suger-coated, and never made it look like it was too obvious and hence we should ignore. With him, we always felt that the way the process went our decision, and nothing was imposed. I think that's a big win as a customer. He's one of the younger real estate agents, in the market where most of them are old. And I think that's perfect. Silicon valley is full of young professionals, and we all have certain mind set about what we need from our homes, and James understands it really well. He's very knowledgeable and definitely smart. You can have a logical talk with him, ask him if-else scenarios, and expect really good responses. As an engineer, its important to me to see through what I'm getting into. He's very much unlike other agents, who only want to get it over with. Overall, I couldn't be happier in having chosen James. This process was complex by itself. It wasn't a general home purchase from owner. And as first time buyers, it felt super complex to us. But, with James around, we felt comfortable and confident about each and every step of the process. I think you wouldn't be wrong choosing him as your agent. He's just awesome! :-) read more

This was my first time selling a property and James helped me immensely in getting the best deal in a non-traditional sale. I had chosen to sell my property to my tenant and James walked me through the process of not just selling, but selling in an tenant occupied unit (should my tenant have decided not to purchase). Throughout the close, James was a mere text, email, or phone call away, always responding instantly to my numerous questions. Whenever there was an update, I felt like I found out right away about everything. He even helped provide guidance on issues related to my rental but outside of escrow. I highly recommend James to those looking to sell or buy a home in the bay area. read more

Finding the best home in the South Bay can be a nightmare! Especially with my boyfriend's picky taste for new homes in an area that has the fastest selling community... He is also a first-time home buyer, so there was a lot of questions and unsureness. But with James' help and guidance, it had truly made the process much easier! James' impeccable services delivered far more than what we asked for. He is honest, knowledgable, and dependable. He kept in mind of all the best interests, and made sure the home buying experience went smoothly and efficiently. You really can't go wrong for choosing him as your agent! James has good ethics and professionalism, and I believe he has all the right qualities that an agent should have. read more

We signed up to sell our home with Rainmaker after being referred by our mortgage broker. I check them out on Yelp and met with Alex Wang. Very nice guy, solid meeting and we chose them to be our listing agent. Turns out Alex was expecting a child soon so James became the lead agent for us. Initially meeting James, we were a little nervous because he looks younger and doesn't have quite the experience that Alex brings, but they both assured us that he would do a great job and we took their word on it. I'm usually one that wants to know about EVERYTHING that's going on with the sale process but with a new kid and a move, it was difficult. James did a great job of giving me enough info of listing and sale process without bothering me with small details or things that could potentially be issues. There were Tuesday updates where he'd give us the lowdown of that's happening and how things were progressing. For the most part, things went well and we were able to sell our place in less than 2 weeks. Close of escrow was a tight 28 day deadline and it went pretty smoothly from our end. Rainmaker utilized digital signatures which were great because we could read and review the docs at home, then sign and return them all without leaving our couch. If there were any questions, James and Alex were quick to reply. Overall, it was great working with James and loved the digital signature technology. read more

James was a wonderful resource, guide, and advocate for us during the home buying process. He was responsive, including on nights/weekends, and was dedicated to ensuring that our goals and expectations were met, without pressure. We'd highly recommend him! Thanks, James! read more

James Yang is very passionate and knowledgeable in what he does. With his easy-going, yet highly professional demeanor, he enjoys sharing his insights on real estate in the Peninsula. He relies on his research and experience growing up in the Bay Area to explain all the factors that go into evaluating property. He was glad to answer several questions that I had, from market conditions to negotiating strategy. From my experience, i know that I can rely on him to give me the information that I need. I highly recommend turning to him for real estate transactions, both representing buyers and sellers. read more

I'm a new physician who just finished residency and started working in the bay area when I decided to buy a new home. From several friend recommendations, I met James and was certainly glad that I did. I'm not really a picky person but I certainly had some specific ideas in mind for my home. James took the time to really explore what I was looking for and was able to give me a "no bullshit" picture of what was available in my area. I went looking around for several months before I came to settle on the very first place that James took me to. I would've saved a lot of time had I just went with his intuition initially but I'm chinese and well... I just don't do that. Here's what I really liked about his services: 1) Intuition: James knew exactly what I was looking for... even before I did. Damn his Jedi-mind tricks. 2) Dedication: James showed up for the lottery system the day I got my place, he went over my documents, he even helped me pick my smurphin' cabinets. The full package. Haha. 3) Honesty: James didn't lie to me to make a sale. When a place I was interested in had glaring problems, he was the first to note it. In this arena, a person you can trust is worth way more than 5 stars on yelp. Overall, I would definitely recommend to anyone in the bay area who is looking to find a place. Oh, and btw, James is a cigar aficionado which is super handy come closing time! Happy home shopping! read more

After working with James Yang to buy my Sunnyvale condo, I'm happy to confirm that all of his positive yelp reviews are true! (I found him the same way you are finding him right now) Yes- he patient. Yes- he's knowledgeable about real estate processes and the market, and how great to not feel any sales pressure! James instead gave me all of the necessary info and mental space to make my own decisions. I'll try to mention things that haven't been yet. He clearly understands that clients are unique. For example, I'm an analyst by trade and I need data to make decisions. So within 12 hrs of my request for some data, James provided a dataset that he went all the way to his sales office to get. I basically came to the same conclusion about the Sunnyvale market as he had advised, but I was completely convinced by my pushing some numbers around. I thought it was nice of him to accommodate 'my process'. James also really does his homework in the Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale markets. This guy drives around the neighborhoods just to stay on top of what's on sale, what's selling, who's selling...etc. He also networks with the other agents for these areas and because he's plugged in, he brought me the perfect opportunity BEFORE it was advertised. He's seriously the reason that I own a new condo in the right area and in my price range. Bottom line is that working with him ups your game big time in this super competitive marketplace. I feel REALLY great about my home purchase and I think that's a testament to the service James provides. He's like the trusted family friend that went into real estate- the difference is that you can trust that he's actually going to be working hard for you! read more

I found Alex and James through Yelp and was impressed by their positive feedback and experience. We met James and instantly clicked. He listened to our preferences and gave us honest feedback about what was possible. This helped refine our search and get more grounded in terms of our expectations. When we viewed properties, James was honest with us about both positives and negatives of the home. Being concerned about resell-ability, he helped us understand the thought process of future buyers. When we finally found a home we loved, James and his team were fast with our offer. He helped us through the negotiations and we were so happy to have our offer accepted. During inspections, his recommendations were fantastic, thorough and insightful. When I was looking around for a realtor, I wanted someone honest enough to tell me the truth, even if it meant loosing a sale. James proved himself to be the right choice time and again. I'm happy to say that we did close on a house we love, but I'm even happier to have the knowledge that it was the right choice and feel no buyer's remorse. read more

First, let me start by saying that I think there are some wonderful things about James as a real-estate agent. I found him to be friendly, charismatic, responsive, and helpful with connecting me with other professionals (like insurance and a commercial real-estate agent). He also educated me about how the process would work and was never pushy about me bidding a certain amount on a house. There were a couple things that I wished he had been better at which is why my review is only 2-stars. The first is that I was primarily looking at Redwood City and I didn't discover until much later in our work together that James had only sold 1 home in Redwood City and hadn't successfully purchased any. As a result, he didn't know the area nearly as well as some other agents did and I wish he had been more transparent about his lack of experience in that area compared to cities farther South. The main reason that I'm giving such a low review is the category of "work ethic." Although I am reluctant to use pejorative words like "lazy," I will say that there were times where I wish James had shown more initiative and done more leg work. When I asked him to check on the crime rate in a particular neighborhood, he put it back on me and suggested that I check out Trulia. When I asked him if he could check on some permits for a house I was looking at, he said that he might be able to find the website that I could use to look into it. Every single property we looked at was one I had found on Redfin or Zillow, none were ones he had found. When we did open-houses together, he usually stood in one spot and didn't walk around to see the property. He put together a list of comparables for a place I was looking at only when I asked and never on his own. In contrast, the agent I switched to (Heather Lin), was utterly amazing. She enthusiastically checked on everything I asked her to and voluntarily did many other things I didn't ask her to. When there was something in a condo I didn't like, she called their HOA and found out if I could change it. She found properties for me to look at that I hadn't found myself. She put together comparables by default without me even asking. And when she knew I liked a particular condo complex, she literally went door-to-door knocking to see if anyone was considering moving. One resident was and she let me see the place before it went on market! I was able to purchase it with no competition and got an amazing deal. In James' defense, I didn't let him know while we were working together that I was bothered by his work ethic. But being a first-time homebuyer I didn't even know what was possible for agents to do so I didn't know what I was missing. I'm writing this review b/c I want people to know what is possible in a real-estate agent and which strengths and weaknesses I think James brings to the table. read more

I love working with James. Every time we get together, he listens to my needs, genuinely cares about helping me accomplish my goals, and is just fun to be around! Whenever i have had questions about the real estate market in Silicon Valley, he has given me great advice, and shared his insight as well. When someone can be so knowledgeable and patient, to make you feel at ease when discussing a complex subject, it's a beautiful thing. Give him a call. You won't regret it. read more

Thank you, Yelp! James is a truly amazing Real Estate Agent. Like many first-time homebuyers, my husband and I weren't sure where to begin. James was kind and patient in helping us identify exactly what we were really looking for in a home and where we would be able to find it in our budget. He was extremely knowledgeable and honest about areas in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. We couldn't ask for more from a real estate agent throughout the whole house hunting process. James answered our many questions and concerns with knowledge and expertise. We've felt from the very beginning that he has our best interests in mind to find a home we'll really love. We highly recommend James if you're looking for a real estate agent who really understands and cares about his clients. read more

James is great! For the entire process, he was extremely professional and responsive. He spent a great deal of time explaining the nuances of the cities we were interested in living in, and how things like school district affect pricing. Whenever we reached out to him, he got back to us right away. Even when he didn't know the answer, he would find out quickly through his network of resources. His experience in and around Silicon Valley was really useful in helping us figure out the housing market quickly. I would totally recommend him to anyone. Five stars for sure! read more

James has always been my first, and only resource that i've needed for his deep and thorough knowledge of the real estate market in the Peninsula and surrounding areas. He's been more than helpful on numerous occasions as a real estate agent when ive needed advice recently on properties in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Los Altos. I've found him to be very personable and easy to talk to, and not nearly as in-your-face as a lot of the other Realtor folks ive come across in this area. I especially like how he followed up with me in a timely manner, and reliably came through as a great negotiator, and helped keep me confident when i was more than a little nervous with some first-time jitters. hehe. I was referred to James by a friend, and would immediately recommend him to my other friends. Great local knowledge, and overall a great guy to do business with. read more

James is the go-to guy! I met James through some friends, and I feel extremely fortunate to have done so. In each of our interactions, James has been full of information about the Peninsula real estate market. When we talk about Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos, he KNOWS what is going on, what to look out for, and what to suggest. His experience and work style are both extremely comforting during a naturally stressful time. In the end, we were able to get exactly what we wanted, largely due to James' efforts. In summary, James is incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and really fun to talk to. Call him and he will help you figure out what's best for you and your family! read more

We worked with James to purchase a new home and sell our old home (both in Foster City) recently. All in all, we had an awesome experience with James across both transactions. Although the entire experience over the past year great, and is difficult to capture fully in a single review, here are the key highlights about James that really stood out to us: 1. Knowledge about the highly complex Bay Area real estate market. 2. Critical negotiating skills to fetch you the best deal. 3. Amazing attitude that focuses on landing the best deal for a client (buyer or seller), more than just closing a transaction. This was for us the most critical aspect - James can equip you with all the knowledge, information and facts you need to make decisions, but the decision is always yours, as a client. This came through multiple times while working with James, and we really appreciated this. 4. Client empathy, and the ability to really deep-dive into requirements, and doing whatever it takes to land either the ideal home or the best possible buyers for the cłient, depending on the situation. 5. Good network that can provide recommendations across the board, from mortgage lenders to contractors, without ever forcing your hand. 6. Overall, the unique ability to be "captain of the ship" throughout a transaction, while making sure that clients are satisfied at the end of the day, and never forcing their hand. James took ownership of steering the ship across the line, through turbulent market conditions (e.g. COVID), demanding buyers and sellers. By his own admission, 2020 was a strange year, and we ran into a few firsts even for him along the way. But we were able to make it through (without losing our minds :) ) due to his leadership and guidance. We got the sense that he was as invested in the journey as us, and that really helped us through anxious times. We would recommend James to anyone looking to buy/sell their homes in the Bay Area (especially in the Peninsula and South Bay) without hesitation. Thank you James! read more

We just purchased a home in November, and I just can't say enough about James. He's been truly amazing for us. He's always available, patient, knowledgeable, and dependable. As first time home buyers who had lots of questions and didn't know exactly what we wanted, it was important for us to find a real estate agent who was not only knowledgeable and experienced in the local market, but someone we feel comfortable around. You feel absolutely no sales pressure around him, and regardless of what stage you are at in the home buying process, he'd be invaluable to your decision-making process. He's tapped into the market here, and has an excellent gauge on the real estate market in the bay area. He can speak some mandarin to boot. He was literally responsible for us securing our first home. Seriously. We purchased our townhome through a lottery system, and while we were out of town, he attended the sales release and, of 15 other participants, our number was picked! I've asked around about James, and other professionals have similar opinions of him. He's just a hard worker, professional, and someone you can trust. We will continue to go to him for all of our home buying/selling needs. read more

James was my agent for the purchase of my first home, and I wouldn't have gone with anyone else! When I met with James I was so nervous about the whole real estate process I probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. Comparing stories with friends who have used other agents, here's the best things about James: 1) He is genuine. Unlike other agents who try to schmooze you, James actually listens to what you want and helps you to find the right home for you. You never feel like you're just a client that your agent is trying to make money off of - James checked in with me all the time to see how the search was going, how I was feeling about the process. Sure, all agents are good talkers because that's what they do, right? But it's the way James is really honest 100% of the time that helps you, ESPECIALLY when it comes time for him to negotiate with other agents. 2) He can be as hands on or off as you like. I really was a total novice going into this and having James break it down to help me understand each step was invaluable. 3) Not pushy - I've heard of other agents pushing their clients to end up spending more and James never ever did that. He just listened to what I wanted and helped me to get it. He would only suggest I look at different areas or where it might be possible to negotiate. 4) James is really patient! Boy, I was texting him like a crazy ex-girlfriend when we found the right place. He probably got really tired of me that month. :) But seriously, he answered all my questions, and dealt with me freaking out quite well, reassuring me when things were all going according to plan and stepping in when had a little trouble getting information back from the seller. 5) A great team - from Walter, the mortgage consultant to all the inspection folks, everyone was super professional and trustworthy. Go with James! You won't regret it. Plus, he won't disappear as soon as the deal is done, he's going to check up and make sure you're happy with your new home! read more

James guided us through our first home buying experience. He walked us through the entire process and there was never a question he couldn't answer. He was very timely in communications with the selling agents. One thing that I really appreciated was that he lets you go at your own pace, whereas some agents contact you persistently even when you're not quite ready. I highly recommend James! read more

When we started searching for a home, we spoke with James first. He was extremely knowledgeable and gave us lots of things to think about. You can tell he has a lot of experience advising clients on strategy and planning. Once we were ready to find an agent, he let us know that although he COULD represent us in San Francisco, it would be best to find a local agent that knew the intricacies of the market. His primary areas, being in Silicon Valley, around Mountain View and Palo Alto. He connected us with a great San Francsico agent, Brendon Kearney. James was really looking out for our best interest, it's rare to find a profesional out there with such integrity. Needless to say, he has our complete trust in anything real estate. We would gladly recommend him to anyone. read more

Professional - Reliable - Patient These are the three words I would use to describe James. After relocating to the Bay Area about 18 months ago I contacted James in hopes to gain some insight about the local real estate market. James was more than helpful in answering all of my questions and offering me sound advice. Since then I have met with James several times and appreciate his easy going no pressure advice and real estate knowledge. Although I have yet to buy a home James continues to answer my questions and has remained patient with me throughout my timid process. James provides the personal attention that you will not find in most realtors. I strongly recommend using James for all of your real estate needs, you will not be disappointed! read more

James helped my wife and I sell our home and buy our current home. He was very knowledgeable and provided answers to all our questions during both the selling and buying process. He was very responsive to our questions unlike other agents we worked with in the past. He has intimate knowledge many of the cities we were looking at including Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. The selling and buying processes were both very smooth and James helped walk us through it. I'd definitely recommend James to anyone looking to buy or sell their home. read more

Alan Dunckel and Derk Brill are agents that have extraordinary market knowledge and possess strong negotiation skills. They are also genuinely great people to work with. My family and I were relocating to Palo Alto. We wanted to find a broker who had in-depth knowledge of the market. Alan and Derk's team came very highly recommended. Early in the process, they helped us investigate Palo Alto neighborhoods, understand the trade-offs of different areas, and played an integral role in helping us quickly find a home that we were excited about. When we were ready to present the offer, their negotiating skills were paramount in helping us achieve our goals. We were in a competitive situation. Alan and Derk gave us the pros and cons of various negotiating strategies, and advised us on what we needed to do to win. As a testament to their negotiating abilities, we prevailed without presenting the highest offer. Alan and Derk's team is genuinely fun to work with. Each of them has a great attitude and personality. This made the task of viewing many homes in a short period time, something that can be quite tedious and taxing, very enjoyable. I highly recommend Alan and Derk. They stand by their client's side, have strong local knowledge, and know how to close a deal. read more

James is fantastic. He knows the Palo Alto, Mountain View, or Los Altos areas inside and out, and he's always been extremely insightful in how the business works. What's most important, is that he knows how to get his clients what they want. HIs top notch negotiating skills put his clients in the best position possible and he helps them navigate a very challenging market. When working with sellers he gets them the highest possible price. read more

If you're like me, when you go on the market for a new home, your first thought will be "my organizational abilities plus the internet can take the place of any realtor". And if you're like me, that's not quite true. While personal education can take you a long way, let's face it, I have a max of 4 or 5 apartment renting experiences under my belt, and a grand total of zero home purchasing experiences. And even if I had bought homes before, what's a couple of sales compared to a guy who deals with properties every single day and has participated in dozens of deals? It's literally a couple lifetimes of experience. There's just no way you can learn everything a good realtor knows without experience, and when purchasing something as big-ticket as a home, I definitely want ALL the knowledge. Enter James. He's an incredibly genuine, friendly guy with a passion to make his mark on the business. As other reviewers have said - it's actually a good thing that he's relatively early in his career, because he's got the fire that a lot of older realtors have lost or never had in the first place. He LISTENS to your needs, without assuming you're just like the last couple he sold a home to and thus must want the same things. And if those needs change after a few weeks of shopping around (i.e. I didn't think I needed a kitchen island, but now I do. Oh man, I do), he pivots like a champ, no questions asked. He's also extremely knowledgeable, and works hard to keep that knowledge current - he told me that he spends two days a week driving around his neighborhoods of expertise (Atherton, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, etc), to stay current on new listings. In his own words "google street view can get you a long way, but it's just not the same as seeing it". He does the legwork so he can tell you which properties are worth your time and which aren't. I have really enjoyed working with him and would use him for any future home purchases I made, without hestitation. read more

We first met James at an open house in Mountain View. Like most typical home buyers in their early stages, we were partly evaluating different neighborhoods and partly looking for a good agent to work with. James came across as an extremely analytical and knowledgeable person. He shared some valuable pricing and inventory trends between neighborhoods of our interest based on past years data. To our surprise, he actually pulled up graphs and showed us statistics on his laptop, something we saw a listing agent do for the very first time! That was the moment we thought we have met our perfect agent to help us with our first home buying experience in a challenging bay area real estate market. James himself has no appetite for pushiness, sales pitches ,and pressure tactics. Offering tremendous space, independence, and honest guidance to his clients comes very naturally to him. James was a great real-estate mentor to us, and he always offered honest advice when we presented our thoughts. James has very good technical real estate knowledge about the markets, neighborhoods, and the sales trends. He is able to offer a very data centric view of these trends in a logical and rational fashion, which is an extremely "rare" quality in this profession. We generally wanted to avoid making emotional choices and wanted to attempt at taking a very data-driven approach in this process. With James, our dream was more than fulfilled. We discussed analysis before submitting an offer! His inputs were a big part of our decision making process. There is no other agent like James in this area who would have matched our nuanced expectation. James stayed at the top of his game at all time for us. When he sensed our interest in a property, he would go to great lengths to get us all the necessary unimaginable details which would help us differentiate our offer from the pool. As first time home buyers trying to purchase a property in a competitive market, we felt like everything was very very easy! Behind the scenes, James & his team were working hard to help us close the deal in the smoothest possible way. James's services exceeded all of our expectations, which we had many. We strongly recommend James to anyone who has real estate needs in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino area. read more

We had the pleasure of working with James Yang on our first home purchase after being referred by a friend. Besides being courteous, easygoing, and professional, he went over and beyond to make sure we were educated and comfortable with our decisions throughout the process. We truly felt like he always had the best of our interest. He started by educating us on the different areas we were interested in and then had us doing some homework on the neighborhoods that we liked. That led to efficient open houses where we learned the things that were important to us and realized what we can and cannot afford. When we eventually got an offer accepted, James made the closing process seamless and made sure we understood each of the steps we were going through. I cannot say enough about how easy he made the entire process to be and how patient he was with us when we became frustrated. read more

I recently purchased my first home with the help of James. Before I started my house hunt I consulted Yelp to try to find a solid Realtor and James was at the top of the list. After our first meeting I decided to go with James and never regretted the decision. Here are a few reasons why James earned my 5 stars: - James does not pressure you to get locked into a place. He realizes that some people find a place in 2 weeks, and some people take 2 years - James is very knowledgeable of the area and has a good strategy for successfully buying/selling in the crazy Bay Area housing market - James took care of ALL of the coordination throughout the process and was able to recommend contacts at the bank, title company, home inspectors, etc. He was also good about explaining each step in the process which was helpful since this was my first home purchase. - James went out of the way to make the process smooth and painless, even when this meant additional time and expense on his end. If that isn't amazing service, I don't know what is!! I will not hesitate to call James again when the time comes and have already recommended him to a few close friends/colleagues. Thanks again James! read more

My wife and I were interested in buying our first home and was introduced to James by Alex, from Rainmaker properties. As a realtor, I was extremely impressed with James. He was knowledgeable about the housing area we were interested in (Palo Alto/Mountain View), was extremely friendly, and dedicated. At all times through the process, we felt as if we were a priority to him (even though he had multiple clients). This including answering all of our questions, showing us properties at odd hours given our schedule, and meeting with us when it was convenient for us. His dedication and service made us as clients feel that we were extremely important to him. Because of him and Alex of Rainmaker, our first time buying experience was extremely pleasant as we found our home within 3 weeks of searching in the competitive markets of Palo Alto and Mountain View/Los Altos. During and after the close, James kept in touch with us and updated us on each step of the process, making sure all of our questions were answered and to check in with us. I am sure that many other real estate agents do not spend that effort to be proactive about our concerns/questions. This led to a seemless close in escrow and transition into our new house. We are confident that we'll call on James and Alex's services for our future housing needs. read more

I wish I could give six stars! Of all the people we dealt with in the home-buying process, James Yang stood far above the rest for his professionalism, reliability, work ethic, and responsiveness. We just bought a new property in Palo Alto. We were recommended James through an old classmate from Stanford--I only wish we'd spoken with James sooner, it would have saved us a lot of headache. If you're a first-time home buyer, take it from our experience: Buying a new home can be a surprisingly long, opaque, and painful process. You cannot take the aforementioned traits of professionalism et al. for granted. I was shocked at how many times we were given incorrect information, I was told I would get a call back the next day about a time-sensitive matter and then was still waiting a week later, the other party misread an email, sent us an incorrect document, etc. From mortgage lenders to the builders to other real estate agents...in some cases this got to be the norm, we would just expect that they would forget to follow up. Maybe I'm spoiled and have skewed expectations coming from the internet generation. But I can say that working with James was a breath of fresh air. Not only did he meet my expectations, he blew them away. He's computer savvy--you'd be surprised how many people have trouble using email or the internet. He's responsive and hard-working--judging by their speed of response, I swear most of the people we were working with were already semi-retired. And he's reliable--before James, I sometimes wondered if people even wrote things down after we spoke. With the quality of service he provides and the amount of time he puts into each client, it wouldn't surprise me if James' openings for new clients fills up quickly. If you have to look for an agent other than James, I'd recommend reading Robert Irwin's book on buying a new house (search Amazon). He has a great section on selecting an agent, that will help you avoid the trap that we initially fell into, and that many of our friends fell into. Irwin's advice: Avoid part-time or semi-retired agents. Many semi-retired people go into real estate as a part-time gig, because it's flexible and lets them stay busy and make a little extra money. For obvious reasons, these people tend to not be as knowledgeable, hungry, or responsive. It's compelling because the agents seem older and wiser, but they're not going to go the extra mile (or maybe even work part 2pm...) for you. Irwin recommends going with a young, hungry, full-time agent, and the experience of us and our friends has shown this to be sound advice. This is the longest review I've written, but I felt I had to share what I've learned given the *ridiculous* amount of money involved in buying a house in the Bay Area. If you're going to be spending that kind of money, you deserve top-notch professionalism and advice. read more

James is one of the MOST capable real estate professionals you can team with in the Bay Area. As a Berkeley engineer, he possesses clear rationality and intuition. His insights on the market is top notch and he takes the time to explain things clearly and with substance - he is a very genuine person. Whether you are a first time home purchaser, a seasoned investor, or a real estate pro, he is someone worth to know, has solid experience in the industry, and who can see the big picture and execute along the way. 10/10 read more

James was the lead realtor for the sale of our condo in Mountain View this spring. He was very patient and answered all of our questions and was always available when we needed reassurance or information. When we had a few minor issues, which are unavoidable, James was right on top of getting them corrected as soon as possible. Overall, we were very pleased with James and with Rainmaker and we give them our full recommendation. read more

We had one of the fastest possible transactions in buying our house, and James guided us every step of the way with efficiency, knowledge, and professionalism. He's a great listener and wants very much to make sure that his clients are making the best choice for their needs and desires. He also has a lot of integrity, and it was clear that he was looking out for our best interests. We're thrilled with our purchase, and we will absolutely call on him again for future real estate needs! read more