I unexpectedly inherited a run-down house in Berkeley when a younger relative passed and had named me executor without previously informing me. I was soon receiving sales materials from a number of probate realtors; Joe's was the most impressive packet, and he requested a meeting at the house, which left me favorably impressed. But I didn't allow myself to be swayed until I checked his reviews, which were numerous and positive, and his real estate license, which was free of any blemish...plus, he gave me a very important selling point: the house required about $100,000 of work to be salable, and after I'd finished paying over $50,000 in delinquent property tax, I didn't have that money readily available--but RISE would fund the repairs themselves and reimburse themselves out of the sale price. They were as good as their word: they had the home inspected and worked up a list of necessary repairs, arranged contractor bids, provided me with multiple bids to choose from for the jobs (full replacement of the leaky roof, dry-rotted door replacement, plumbing, termite tenting, painting, hardwood floor refinishing, etc.), and got the whole project done in a few short months. Joe and his staff were always available to answer questions and kept me posted on all aspects of the project, since I live 85 miles away. Once the repairs and staging were done (photos attached), they let me hold a little memorial gathering for my cousin in the house, even catering it for us from one of my cousin's favorite restaurants. They hosted a very active open house and secured an excellent bid (36% over the asking price) within 2 weeks of listing the house, which we accepted, and escrow was completed and the money deposited in the estate account within 19 days. I highly recommend Joe and RISE Homes for any real estate transactions in the San Francisco Bay area, including probate sales like mine; they have the skills, integrity, and resources to help you work through the process as effectively and efficiently as possible. read more

See all

Joe Polyak and his support staff and crews just completed the rehab and sale of my brother-in-law's SF home. We inherited his home very unexpectedly in early June and had the task of selling it. We are his only family and live in Oklahoma so we knew it was going to be a big task. We interviewed several probate realtors and settled on Joe/Rise Homes and we are very happy that we made that choice. We have been in business for ourselves for more that 30 years and its pretty rare to find a company that does exactly what they tell you they are going to do, but they did. Joe said could do the rehab in 30 days and they hit it right on time and right on budget. The open house/sales process went exactly as we were told it would and the closing actually happened a day early. We think the cost of the rehab/staging netted us 2.5 to 3 times what we spent. The bottom line is we are very happy that we went with Joe. We highly recommend Joe/Rise Homes read more

Joe Polyak - RISE Homes - LIVING ROOM - Real Estate Agents Near Me - San Mateo, California

I actually found Joe through YouTube. He is friendly and professional, always sharing really useful info about real estate. His content helped me understand the market better read more

RISE HOMES is best!! Joe is an astounding and very helpful for finding our first home. I highly recommend RISE HOMES if you are looking for finding your new home. Joe and his team very professional and answered all our questions and available for us whenever we need. Joe is very experienced with market stats and advised us in multiple occasions. We learned a lot from him while touring the properties and explained pros and cons with property and neighborhood. Joe is very communicative and knowledgeable and answered all our questions and helped us every time to go through all the disclosures. Many thanks to Joe and his team for helping us to finding our beautiful home! read more

Look, simply put Joe is an amazing Realtor. I've known Joe through the Real Estate Industry in San Mateo for a few years now and every interaction I'm left more and more impressed. Joe goes above and beyond for his clients, and it's obvious that he has a love and passion for Real Estate. As my realtor, he always helps me make educated decisions, and is incredibly forthright. I'd recommend Joe to anybody looking for a Realtor in San Mateo or San Francisco counties. If you're thinking about Real Estate, call Joe! read more

Joe Polyak - RISE Homes - Bedroom, Real Estate - Real Estate Agents Near Me - San Mateo, California

Joe and his team at Rise did an amazing job selling my home. He is very knowledgeable about the whole process. Him and his team went through my house figuring out what I needed to upgrade and fix. He handled all the contract work. He staged my home. We worked on the list price and we got 11 offers! He managed the negotiations and we got $600K over asking! Everything went so smooth. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone selling their home. read more

The bestest! Seriously! Joe was fantastic and extremely helpful during what I would call an arduous purchasing process in San Francisco. He was extremely responsive, informative and professional. Joe spent time going to open houses with me and giving me super helpful feedback about properties and writing offers. He made a stressful and challenging process feel very accessible and manageable. I highly recommend Joe to both new and seasoned homebuyers! He has a great team that's on standby and was lovely to work with overall! read more

I nothing but praise to sing for the Rise team. We partnered with Mike Sinitsky, who was nothing short of AMAZING! He was extremely knowledgable about the home buying process, helped identify potential issues with prospective purchases, never applied pressured to put an offer in and ultimately made us feel like we had an amazing partner through the entire process. Would 110% recommend. Thank you Mike & Rise! read more

It all started many years ago when Joe was beginning his career in real estate. My mother-in-law hired Joe to sell her home in San Carlos Hills. Although new to the world of real estate, Joe was a natural. The amount of work, attention to detail, the extent of care he provided is unparalleled. Joe instantly became a close friend of the family. He is always a phone call away, promptly responding to our many questions regarding real estate. He never hesitates to advise or share his assessments. Real estate has become a way of life for Joe and not just a job. Working with Joe is like having a friend on the "inside", who like a real friend will be there for you always. read more

Joe has a unique set of qualities and skills that make him a superlative real estate agent. He is PATIENT, RESPONSIVE, and AGGRESSIVE when needed. We started working with him several years ago when we were casually looking to purchase a home. We were literally looking all over the Bay Area and Joe was patient with us as we narrowed our focus. When we honed in on our target market of Pacifica, Joe stepped up the game and toured many, many homes with us during the challenges of COVID. We put in a few offers on places we didn't get and Joe kept us from getting dejected. Joe never pushed us to offer more than what we were comfortable with and we really appreciated that. When we found the right place he worked with the seller's agent really well to make the deal happen. As a side note, we recommended Joe to our friends who were selling their home in San Francisco and moving to southern CA. Joe met with them and they were so impressed with his presentation and how well prepared he was that they hired him right away. Joe handled the entire staging and selling of their home while my friends were already in SoCal. Joe got them the price they wanted and closed the deal quickly. This just speaks to how Joe and his team can provide amazing service in any circumstance. read more

Joe was amazing at helping us find our new home. It took us a while in this crazy market to finalize, and Joe was extremely patient and supportive. He made it easy to understand the entire process - starting from identifying "wants" and "must haves", touring properties together, learning how to evaluate disclosures, and understanding what to look for in the neighborhood. He is very communicative and his team at RISE Homes is highly skilled to help with all paper work towards closing. I will highly recommend having Joe in your team towards finding your next home. read more

Daniel with the Joe Polyak group helped us get our dream home in an extremely competitive market. He went all in with 110% effort and strategy every step of the way, from understanding our initial needs to identifying both on and off market listings to closing the deal. Daniel was always available to us, incredibly flexible with scheduling showings, and quick to respond to questions. He is easy to talk to, provides clear analysis and comps, and explains the details clearly and thoroughly. He has great patience and determination too. All this, combined with his superb knowledge of the area, make him an excellent agent. Highly recommended. read more

Joe Polyak - RISE Homes - Real Estate Agents Near Me - San Mateo, California

Joe and his team found us our dream condo in the most beautiful neighborhood in San Francisco! He was referred to me by my cousin who had helped him buy his dream home in San Mateo. It was now our turn and we had no doubt that we had chosen the best. Joe is very knowledgeable on the real estate market in the Bay Area. Not only is he knowledgeable, he is a great listener too, and we are now very lucky to call him our friend. He will jump through obstacles for you and is a master negotiator. He is very reputable in the Bay Area and other realtors are more than willing to work with him because of his strong relationship with other realtors. In my opinion this gave us a strong upper hand in getting our competitive offer accepted. After looking at a number of different units we landed our dream condo! Throughout the process I thank Joe and his team for always being 10 steps ahead of me and ensuring that I was taken care of. We are so excited to make long lasting memories in our new condo thanks to RISE homes. read more

Joe and his team went above and beyond in helping us find our home earlier this year. As first-time homebuyers, we had tons of questions, especially in a crazy market with mortgage rates shooting through the roof and sellers standing firm. Joe took his time walking us through the process and all of the details, and was always incredibly professional and responsive. He showed us many properties across the Bay Area and shared his knowledge of the neighborhoods, areas of the home to pay special attention to, potential remodeling options, etc. Even after we purchased our home, he and his team remained available to answer all questions and support as needed. Joe is truly amazing and we couldn't recommend him highly enough! read more

I've known Joe since middle school so he was my obvious first call when looking to purchase my new home. I cannot stress how amazing Joe and his entire team are! They are reliable, helpful, and just genuinely good people. Mike, the agent I worked with mostly, had my family's best interests at heart and was extremely patient with me. If it wasn't for Mike's support and negotiation skills, we wouldn't have purchased our first home. Thank you Mike! If you're thinking of buying a home I highly recommend contacting Joe and team and you will be in good hands! read more

Wow... What can I say that hasn't already been said. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Joe to find our new home. He has never rushed us to find a home but would always provide us an honest and professional opinion of how a home would fit or not fit our needs. We could always rely on him to follow-up with us and sellers in a timely and detailed fashion, which is so critical in a crazy busy housing market like the Bay Area. He is extremely knowledgeable about house renovation and materials which was really helpful when we were thinking about our future home. We were able to close on our 1st home during Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020. I would recommend Joe to anyone who's looking to purchase their future home! read more

Joe is a consummate professional, whose relentless efforts and dedication enabled me to secure an investment property at a very reasonable price. Joe addressed and resolved a number of issues that came up, enabling the escrow to close on time and making me a happy new property owner. He went above and beyond his scope of work and helped to organize, negotiate, and coordinate all the repairs. My lender told me that Joe is the best realtor he has ever dealed with. Joe is a superstar in what he does. read more

It was a pleasure working with Joe and his team. When we made the decision to sell our condo in 2019 we knew that Joe was the right person for the job; he is well-connected, knowledgeable and professional. Joe and his team took the stress out of the whole process - they are well connected with local contractors, stagers and photographers that helped get our condo sale ready. They went above and beyond to make sure we hit the market at the right time and made sure that we marketed to the right demographic. Joe answered all our questions and made the sale totally seamless. We would highly recommend Joe to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. read more

We had a great experience with Joe and his team, especially Rachel and Jillian, while selling our condo. They were able to handle everything easily and professionally which made the whole process far less stressful. Joe knew a lot about the local market and was able to explain the reasonings behind his suggestions so that we understood the process better. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone! read more

I worked with Joe to purchase a home on the recommendation of someone in the industry. From day one Joe was extremely responsive and proactive. The bay area is highly competitive and Joe knows what needs to be done in order to close the deal. I would highly recommend his services to anyone looking to buy or sell a property in the bay! read more

We had found Joe through Yelp about a year ago, and I am glad that I am here back to write a review. He helped us find a home through a difficult seller's market in the peninsula. He listens well, is very patient, and will do his best to accommodate your schedule. Given changing needs and circumstances, we tried for 9 months. He never pushed us to overpay for any house, though he was honest with us on the aggressive bidding war for any specific neighborhood. He was never pushy, and if he sensed that we were quite hesitant on a place, he had a supportive, "on to the next one!" The house that we finally ended up getting is the one that he nudged us the most on for by then he knew our needs, and we are very glad he did for we are very happy with the purchase. And he is got a good sense of humor, it helps in this market :) read more

I had met with several realtors before Joe but everyone else wanted to sell the house as-is. Joe suggested using ILoveREVIVE to renovate the home and it seemed too good to be true, but the whole thing came through in the end. He was the right choice. He is very knowledgeable and he welcomes a challenge. He's not just trying to turn a quick buck like a lot of the others. read more

If you are a first time home buyer I highly recommend working with Joe. He is very professional and responded to our messages in a timely manner. Also he was able to get our closing costs paid by the selling party and in the end we got some of our down payment back. I would definitely recommend him to friends and family! read more

My husband and I purchased our first home in our dream neighborhood in Pacifica - during a pandemic no less - and it's all thanks to Joe! From the beginning Joe was a joy to work with, he is friendly and knowledgable and have been super patient with us. He is extremely attentive and communicative, it is his efficiency that ultimately got us our dream home. We plan to stay at our new home for a long time, but if any real estate needs arise in the future, we are going back to Joe for sure! read more

Joe was a pleasure to work with! He was extremely knowledgeable and patient with me and my husband through our first home purchase. We felt completely lost and Joe and Sean were so helpful and made the process a breeze. Thank you guys so much! BOOYAH! read more

I am the Office Manager/ Co-owner of West Valley Structural, a local construction/ inspection company and I have had the absolute pleasure of working with Rise Homes, especially, Rachel the Operations Manager. Rachel and the team are exceptional!! If I am a vendor and find them to be outstanding, I could only imagine how their clients feel! I hope to be able to use their services in the future and would highly recommend them if you are buying or selling your home. read more

Joe is hands down the best realtor in the San Mateo area. I first met Joe through a friend who bought her house with Joe and she gave him rave reviews. I'm glad she did because Joe is on top of it! Joe was always quick to respond to my questions and he was very hands on in walking me through every step of the process (searching and touring homes, writing offers, dealing with the bank, etc.). He is extremely knowledgeable and any question I had he explained in details, sent me email explanations for different concerns I had with articles and videos and other material so I can refer to later. He had a story for almost any situation so the experience that he had was key because it probably saved me dozens if not hundreds of hours in research time and thousands of dollars in potentially hiring the wrong contractors or wasting money in other ways. After working with me and helping me buy my place, my parents also decided to hire him to sell their home in San Bruno. It's not often where I have a customer service experience that warrants me to write a review for a business, but Joe provided a 10/10 experience. Highly recommended! read more

When My Lovely Wife and I were looking for a realtor, she read many reviews here on Yelp. After narrowing down the list, she found Joe Polyak with Rise. Once we met on the phone and focused on what we were looking for, and where he immediately sent us a list of possibilities. We were off to the races. He was there for us night or day, answering all our questions and concerns. We highly recommend Joe to anyone looking for a great realtor. He and his entire staff were so helpful to us and our hunt for our hopefully forever home. Joe will always be welcome at our home since he was the one who had a huge part in helping us find it. A glass of Whistlepig, and a Padron are waiting for him out on the patio. Many thanks to Joe and everyone at RISE for everything... read more

We were so pleased with Joe and his whole team. Joe helped us think through our options for selling our home. He never pushed or rushed us but when we called him -six months later- he was ready to help us get to market quickly. He and his team (especially Rachel and Elizabeth) had a list of vendors to help us clean up, paint, stage, and come up to code. What seemed daunting to us was not difficult at all. Rachel had her list and together we worked through it! Joe's experience with the market enabled him to give us his expert advice, get on the market, get good offers, and close! He was able to work with other agents, the title company, and his own team smoothly. And best of all he answered every email we sent and every question or concern we had. He's also a really nice guy. We completely recommend him to you and your family read more

I have worked with Joe and his team many times and each time they deliver! Joe's willingness to do his best for his clients always shines through. He is the ultimate professional and I would highly recommend working with him for any of the real estate transaction. Thank you Joe and your team for always having my back read more

Ethical, hard-working, innovative, and results-oriented are all ways I would describe Joe. While those qualities are great in any industry, they especially stand out in the competitive landscape of real estate today. He has also surrounded himself with a team of very competent individuals who extend his personal capabilities so nothing gets lost in the shuffle. In today's fast-paced Bay Area market this is an absolute must. If you are in the real estate market today, I would encourage you to touch base with Joe and see if he's a fit for you. Talk is cheap in the business...but Joe delivers. Highly recommended! read more

As first time home buyers we were very grateful to have the opportunity to work with Joe! We worked with him to purchase our first home and had a very smooth experience. He is professional, highly knowledgeable, and overall a great realtor! We met Joe while on a kayaking trip in 2018, and when the time finally came for us to start the process of looking for a home in 2020 and we reconnected with Joe to start the search. We were excited, but weren't sure what to expect especially during Covid. Joe made the process so easy for us by being super responsive to all of our questions, explaining all the steps for us, and managing our expectations. We started on a Zoom call to discuss our 5 wants and 5 must haves, and then we started setting up viewings. Throughout the viewings Joe also was able to give us great insight into cost estimates for things we might be interested in updating or changing, which was so helpful in allowing us to gauge different homes we saw in showings. We were lucky and found a home we really liked and prepared to put in an offer. Joe provide us helpful guidance and put together a professional and competitive offer. Our offer was accepted and the entire process was so smooth! Buying your first home is a daunting and stressful process, so to have a real estate agent you really trust makes all the difference. We would highly recommend Joe to home buyers, especially first time home buyers. He is extremely knowledgeable, professional, and has the added bonus of being a local who recommends the best restaurants in the neighborhood. Our first day in the new place he even brought us pizza which was much appreciated after a long day of moving! read more

Joe and his team helped my husband and I sell our home. Not only did he explain the entire process to us in great detail but he was always available to answer any question or concern I had. Very knowledgeable on the housing market and lets you know exactly what to expect. Responsive, professional, and honest. Very hard to find a person who cares and knows what they are doing. From the open house, to the staging, brochures, disclosures, offers and everything in between, Joe and his team are the best in the industry. Top notch service. Thank you!!! read more

My parents decided to sell their home last month and I recommended Joe to them. At first they were hesitant because they had already received other recommendations from friends but when Joe sat down with them and mapped out a strategic game plan, they ultimately decided to go with Joe Polyak because the guy is simply the best and understands his industry. He's sharp and knowledgable. He goes above and beyond to meet and exceed client expectations. Joe lined up a few buyers and the bids rose. In the end, my parents received more than twice what they paid for the house when it was first constructed back in 2009 in the San Bruno area. Needless to say, if you are looking for a top notch realty, Joe is your guy. He works hard for you and gets the job done. Thanks for all your help Joe! read more

Joe helped us buy our first home and also educated us in the process. He creatively utilized his network to meet our deadlines and worked with us tirelessly, keeping us informed on what to expect every step of the way. Joe made himself available seemingly 24/7 and promptly communicated with us every time we had a question (which was often being first-time buyers). He possesses deep knowledgeable of the area, comps, and the entire process, which made home-buying smooth and painless for us. Our offer was accepted under asking price! Recommendations for everything home-related at our closing was icing on the cake. If you are looking for a realtor extraordinaire look no further than Joe Polyak and Rise Homes! Him and his tenacious, personable, and attentive team are full of goodwill and can-do attitude. They make magic happen and will make your (real estate) dreams come true in this CRAZY Bay Area market. read more

Joe and Sean Kelly are the real deal. Very professional and beyond the call of duty. They have the market nailed as well. They knew exactly what to do and how to get my dad's house prepped and ready to go. They were spot on with all assessments and got contractors in to handle repairs quickly and efficiently. House sold in 3 day's with multiple offers. .. well over listing. read more

When my mother needed to sell her home in San Francisco, I went on Yelp to find a Realtor to help her sell the house. I found Joe and decided to call him for a face to face meeting. I was speaking to several Realtors to determine who would be the one I wanted selling my mothers house. Joe immediately stood out to me from the rest of the crowd. He's honest, transparent with us, hard working, always professional, and got us the most value out of our house. Unlike most other Realtors I've dealt with, it was obvious that Joe wasn't just looking to take the first offer or pressure us into quickly selling our home for a fast commission. He got us a value that went beyond what we had anticipated. This guy really knows what he's doing and he's the first realtor I recommend to my family and friends. read more

Joe helped us SO much with our house hunting & loft purchase. We really enjoyed working with him, especially because Joe has a rare combination of being fun, laid back, and completely on top of things. We felt taken care of and like all our important action items were being tracked. He also referred us to our mortgage lender and helped us get the best interest rate we'd seen. Our loft's seller accepted our offer without countering. We beat out 4 other offers, and the seller's agent told us the main reason we got our place was because of how hard Joe worked for us. There were so many clever ways Joe helped our offer win. Not only did Joe also give us some much-needed motivational pep talks throughout our search, he also helped us get a price reduction when unexpected news broke 1 week before close of escrow. Joe is great under pressure, proactively follows through, and highly skilled at developing relationships with other agents. After 2 years of searching and 4 untrustworthy realtors, we were so discouraged by the time we started working with Joe. Unlike the others, Joe never pushed us and always respected our preferences and point of view. Other realtors had lied to us, withheld information, and covered up serious property issues. Unlike the others, we trusted Joe entirely. He warned us against places we wouldn't have even known were questionable. For all these reasons and more, we would strongly recommend working with Joe on buying and selling your next home. read more

After deciding to move forward with purchasing a home in the Bay Area, we knew we needed to go with an experienced realtor that understands the ins and outs of the unique market over here. As first time homeowners, we understood how daunting the process could be, and we had lots of questions. Joe was always very responsive, friendly, and professional in answering them and helping us understand the whole homebuying process from finding potential homes we liked all the way to closing. Joe always made himself available whenever we found homes we wanted to take a look at, and along the way gave us important info about each property and his thoughts/ opinions from his experience in the area. After looking for less than a month, we decided to put an offer in on a house we found to be a great fit. Although we weren't the highest price relative to the other offers, the sellers decided to move forward with us as the listing agent had worked with Joe in the past and the way we structured our offer gave us an edge. Needless to say, we were thrilled to be able to get the house we wanted on the first offer we put in in such a competitive market. We couldn't have done it without Joe. read more

Mike & Joe are hand's down the best agents I've ever worked with. I'd already worked with a few agents this year and none were as focused on getting us closed like Mike Sinitsky. Outstanding negotiation and professionalism helped us navigate a highly tumultuous time in real estate. Thank you Mike and Joe and the Rise Home's team for a job well done! read more