Buying and selling real estate can be the biggest investment one can make, so it can be stressful and emotional. With such a sizeable transaction, it is important that both parties come out ahead. Yet it is important that one's agent represents one's best interests, while making the transition easy for both sides. So that is why I chose Maya Arechiga, after interviewing three others (two with 30 years experience). Not all real estate agents are realtors. Realtors are members of the National Association of REALTORS® and must subscribe to a REALTOR® Code of Ethics. Maya is a Realtor with the utmost integrity, I trust her implicitly to represent me honestly. And it is not just years of being licensed that matters, Maya has the wealth of knowledge of someone who grew up in the business; when she came to my house she knew who was the builder. Maya is also very tech savvy, which is helpful in accessing and promoting information. A successful agent is more than someone who has a license, or even years of experience. A great agent is someone who can read, understand, and work with people. The business of real estate is more than just buildings and numbers, it involves dealing with people. With her people skills, Maya was able to mine information about my property's neighborhood, from a neighbor. This talent is crucial in the art of negotiation, someone who listens and knows how to draw out people. And Maya has the confidence to take charge, a can-do attitude, is positive and solution-oriented. Maya sold for me, rental property in a Trust, and was sensitive to the stress of the tenants and communicated eloquently to them. She was flexible in holding private showings to protect the tenants' privacy and safeguard their possessions. And she innovatively thought of having a raffle for the tenants' cooperation, donating the generous prize herself. Maya's generosity is why she has a loyal team she can call upon, who sometimes don't charge for work or purchases. It is also because Maya is a pleasure to work with, which is reflected in her network of contacts and team of contractors. I enjoyed her team, they were easy to deal with, professionals in their trade and knowledgeable (e.g., how to deal with certain inspectors!). And it's not one size fits all, Maya tailors who works well with either the buyer or seller. Maya was committed to me 110% (even though she had other listings, I had her full attention). She was always available taking my calls, or promptly returning them and answering my emails (I don't text). She was timely, kept on track, and would send me reminders. Maya was constantly on the look-out for my property, even while doing her personal business. Realtors can wear different hats. "They're your sage parent/data analyst/therapist--all rolled into one". Selling a property in the family for 50 years, with long-term tenants, was overwhelming, stressful, and emotional. Maya was proactive, hands-on, worked hard, and took care of everything...(including me!)...to my great relief. She took care of what other agents wanted me to do. Maya is also a notary which is necessary in real estate transactions. Maya is thorough, pays attention to detail, well-prepared and organized; she presented the offers in a spreadsheet with their pros and cons. She also took into consideration the prospective buyers, and from her connections the agents (she knew), so she could anticipate what to expect and how they would negotiate. The business of real estate is more than just buildings and land, it is neighborhood and community. Maya is involved in her community and helping her neighbors. The way to know the community you are doing business in, is to be active in it and knowing the people. I met Maya at an Open House, and even though I interviewed other agents, I already decided on Maya. She outshone them, hands down. (It was how she easily bought a neighbor's jar of homemade jam, without tasting it, that also won me over...but that's another story...). Maya Arechiga is an Exceptional realtor because she is an Exceptional person! read more

If you are planning to purchase or to sell a home, you will not find anyone more competent and pleasant than Maya Arechiga. Maya Arechiga came to the home of my aging parents on several occasions in her role as mobile notary for document signings. When the remaining parent passed away I was facing the problem of selling their home, which in the last few years had lacked significant interior and exterior maintenance. As I live 500 miles from El Cerrito the problem of repairing the home for sale seemed to be an impossible task. After interviewing several realtors, all quite experienced, I phoned Maya for advice and was pleased to learn that she is also a real estate agent. Maya immediately formulated a plan for the interior and exterior repairs required to place the home on the market. From her thorough knowledge of the area, being a life long resident, she was able to arrange a home inspection, put together a schedule of contractors who within a short time had replaced all floor coverings, completely painted the interior and exterior, replaced all lighting, completed roof repairs and all other remediation required by the home inspection. Maya managed the scheduling of the various subcontractors, verified the quality of their work as though the house might have been her own home. Maya had predicted that the costs of the repairs would increase the sale price by twice the cost of repairs. The home sold after one week on the market, and the increase in sale price was much greater than twice the cost of repairs. Maya's skill in managing the repairs and preparing the home for sale were so thorough and my confidence in her standards so strong that I did not make a visit to the home until just before the sale closed - a period of several months- and then, I visited only to admire the amazing results of her efforts which I had seen in the marketing photos. I will be forever thankful that I had been previously acquainted with Maya Arechiga and had the opportunity to be the beneficiary of her professionalism as a real estate agent. read more

This was more than just a white glove experience. Words can't explain the dedication and hard work Maya Arechiga put in to make this the most smoothest and flawless transaction ever! Being a Realtor myself, this was one of the most important deals of my life. Preparing to sell my childhood home from out of state with my father was indeed a big job within itself. But finding Maya was God sent. She handled everything from the beginning stages of decluttering, haulers, renovations, appointments, contractors even dropping off boxes for my elderly parents for packing.  You name it Maya made it happen. I was  nervous because I wasn't there to see things through. But after the first couple of phone calls with Maya I knew she would look out for my parent's sell and handle it the way I would if I was there. Her heart and her passion for Real Estate speaks volumes. It's in her spirit. She loves what she does. Not once did I ever worry. With her phenomenal experience we followed her lead all the way and will be doing the same again with another listing. We got well over asking and received multiple offers. The home was finished so nicely that my dad almost had second thoughts about selling. You won't have to look any further. She is very professional, efficient and communicates every step of your transaction so you are not left in the dark. Choosing Maya was the best decision we could have ever made. You absolutely won't be disappointed. Thank you Maya so much we could not have done it with out you! read more

For our first-ever home purchase we picked the BEST house... with the most convoluted sale scenario in the history of real estate. Luckily we also chose to work with Maya, who made the entire frustrating and drawn-out process relatively painless and, in the end, a resounding success. We met Maya by chance at an open house and were impressed with the thoroughness of both the info she gave us about the house she was selling and the advice she had for us on our own house hunt. This same thoroughness and expertise carried through our entire experience with her, as she provided us with a winning strategy in making our offer; solid guidance and recommendations through inspections, negotiations, and other business; and much needed moral support and reassurance when things got hairy. Maya always had a positive attitude, but was also honest and realistic. She made herself very available for our many questions and concerns and kept us abreast of every development. Most importantly, in our case, she was persistent in getting the information and progress we needed out of an uncooperative and unresponsive selling team. I almost wish we were planning to do more buying and selling, so that we could keep working with Maya, but happily we plan to stay in our wonderful new house for a long time. Instead, we will heartily recommend Maya to anyone looking for a truly exceptional agent in the East Bay. read more

We are so thankful we hired someone like Maya Arechiga to be our realtor and cannot recommend her more highly.  As trustees of a property and first-time sellers as well, my husband and I were nervous about what to expect.  In principle, we like to do our research when making a significant financial commitment, so we surprised ourselves when we hired Maya without interviewing anyone else.  Of course we studied the reviews and sales records of several agents, but once we met in person with Maya, it was obvious we did not need to look further.  All her glowing reviews couldn't be more accurate.  Maya made our job incredibly easy. She knows the market extremely well, and can recommend the best strategies.  Starting from her very first survey of the house, she had a plan of action for maximizing our return on relatively small expense.  Maya has an impressive stable of contractors that she works with.  Once we turned the house over to Maya she was able to coordinate all the necessary repairs/improvements like clockwork and we had an open house within 2 months.  Only one showing was necessary and it sold within 8 days for 15% over asking.  Maya was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire process.  She's a great communicator, obviously loves to work with people, and is a tireless worker herself.  We couldn't have found a better agent. read more

Maya helped us with every inch and detail of the process, and we were able to sell our house well above the asking price. It was music to my ears when we met for the first meeting and she told us, "I am here to support you." I attest that she facilitated the process from getting locksmiths, hiring gardeners, deep cleaners, painters, and handypeople, and even cleaning out miscellaneous details that we did not think of. With her expertise, light fixtures, doorknobs, and ground coverings were thought of, changed out, and all was executed with precision and attention to detail so that the house was ready to go on the targeted date.  Our house got a proven facelift and looked amazing on Zillow and in person. She worked tirelessly and with the utmost dignity. Moreover, Maya understands the Eastbay and BayArea market and was able to make sure we understood all documentation, inspections, taxes, and the details involved in each step of the process. She is professional, trustworthy, caring, resourceful, and confident. We highly recommend her without reservation and are grateful that we had such a positive experience during a challenging time of our lives. Wait, we made it through! It truly pays to hire a highly rated realtor and Maya exceeded all of our expectations. read more

Maya Arechiga is the wonderful realtor who helped us purchase a home in September 2017. We were both first-time home buyers and new to the area. I really don't think we would have been able to pull this off without Maya's familiarity with the community, neighborhoods, and local resources. Maya is incredibly knowledgeable about homes in the east bay and made invaluable observations about the properties we toured. She was able to identify original features, updates, and potential issues in the homes and provided context for the neighborhoods they were in. Maya expertly walked us through the many complicated components of purchasing a home, while ensuring that we had all of the information and understood next steps. She was strategic and gave helpful advice when it came time to navigate a tricky negotiation. When we finally closed on the house, she connected us with a number of fantastic professionals to manage future work we wanted to undertake. Luckily, Maya is also an extremely warm and personable individual. She was so easy to work with and we had a great time getting to know her! If (and when) we sell our home, we will definitely reach out to Maya! read more

Maya is an amazing Realtor! She sold two houses for us and helped us buy one. First she helped sell my mothers house which had been sadly neglected. It had so much stuff in it that my mother didn't need. She coordinated an estate sale and cleaned out everything that was left over. Then she sold the house in 2 days for well over the asking price. During Covid! Then she helped us buy a lovely house for under the asking price all the while advising us what we needed to do and coordinating all of our inspections and not letting the sellers realtor force us into something we didn't want. She then sold our other house. She made a lot of inexpensive recommendations. When my husband and I didnt know what we wanted to do or where to even start, she offered to fix the whole house for us and she did, advising us and keeping us in the loop every step of the way. All we had to do was move out and she did the rest. She gave the house a makeover and it looked like a brand new house. Then she sold our house in 6 days after pulling in 13 offers and getting well over asking. Maya is amazing! I will never buy or sell another property without her. read more

Although I've known Maya for a number of years, I hadn't actually worked with her professionally, only watching her activity by virtue of her mailings. I've noted her dedication to her family and listened to the occasional client story. Earlier this year I needed to market a home for an estate outside of our immediate area, El Cerrito, on the Peninsula in San Mateo. I called Maya to discuss a possible listing and she had no hesitation in boning up on that local market. She has obviously built up a solid network of fellow real estate professionals and was able to very quickly assess the potential challenges, pros and cons. I handed her the keys and she very quickly, efficiently, and most importantly, cost effectively, put the home in a highly attractive and excellent condition to put on the market. Thanks to her hard work and some luck I think with the timing, the sale closed in about eight days. Her guidance in going through the numerous offers was invaluable and made the whole experience seamless. Thank you, Maya, I'm a client for life! read more

Hello to anyone who is looking for the best of the best to help you in your home search or sell your home. Please meet Maya Arechiga with Red Oak Realty. We first met Maya in 2015 when I needed a notary. After meeting her I knew that when the time came to purchase a home in the bay area, I would absolutely call her. That time came and Maya led the way through a smooth and successful purchase, even when the seller's agent was not necessarily helpful and responsive during the process. Fast forward three years later to 2022, when my dream job offer came and we needed to move out of the area and sell our home, again Maya got it done! Maya's knowledge of the industry, high integrity and no-nonsense approach to real estate is a combination that's hard to find. Simply put, if you really want the BEST, call Maya. As an FYI, I formerly held my real estate license back in the mid 90's.... Not all real estate agents have the expertise, commitment and integrity that you will get with Maya. read more

Maya was an incredible agent for us. She sold our house in Richmond Heights very efficiently and quickly. We had many requirements for selling our house and she met them all. She was always there when we called or texted. There was nothing she was stumped by. We were having a home inspection early in the morning and we were warned by the inspection company the night before that they would be looking to see that we had all of the right smoke/carbon monoxide alarms in the house. Suddenly it occurred to me that we had problems with one of the alarms that was defective and we had taken the battery out and not replaced it. Early the next morning she showed up with several alarms just in case and was up on a ladder replacing it. We were so thankful for her can do approach to everything. We new we had the best house in the neighborhood and we weren't going to take an offer beneath what we thought our home was worth and she made it happen. Super hard worker with a good attitude! read more

We first were introduced to Maya through her job as a notary - using her a few times for various paperwork signings. She is very personable and helpful and found out through conversation that she was also a realtor. Fast forward a few years and we reached out about a potential transaction around a trust sale. When that fell through we stayed in touch on & off about various properties that we were interested in but nothing ever quite worked out. Then in May 2023 the stars aligned and we found out about a property at the last minute from her and she helped us get everything in order to make the winning offer! She was organized, knowledgable, thorough, & VERY communicative making the whole process very easy and straightforward from the offer to the closing. She is a local and definitely knows the West CCCo market inside and out. I can't say enough about how easy it was to work with her & would highly recommend her to anyone needing a realtor. She is awesome!! read more

This was my first time finding a realtor to sell a house. After interviewing a few different agents, I picked Maya based on her experience, knowledge on the local real estate market and her straightforward approach for selling houses. Throughout the selling process, Maya was able to provide guidance at every step. She was able to provide me with an initial budget on some minor renovations and stuck very close to it. She was detail oriented, she coordinated with her contractors to help fix many interior and exterior items. Finally, the house staging company she chose made the house looked beautiful! She even had to help the buyers' agent throughout the offer and escrow process to make sure the lender, the buyers and the buyers' agent were all on the same page. I would like to thank her again and I highly recommend Maya if you are considering selling your house. read more

Maya was amazing to work with. She is energetic, hardworking, and very passionate about keeping her clients happy ( and in the loop! ) throughout the entire home buying/selling process. We sold our home of 20 years and relocated from the Bay Area to Indiana. It was huge, emotional move and Maya helped to make it as stress-free as possible. She did all the work, coordinated all the inspections and appointments, and made sure every detail was taken care of. She went out of her way for us on many occasions to make sure things were just right. Maya loves her job and we loved working with her. As a Bay Area native, she is an expert on the market - we accepted an offer within one week that was $51,000 over our asking price. We will always be thankful to Maya for the enthusiasm, kindness, and dedication that she showed us from our first meeting until we handed over our keys. read more

From the moment I met her, I knew that Maya Arechiga would be an excellent person to guide us through the sale of our property. I was impressed with her extensive experience selling properties in our local area, and she explained her goals, strategies and process very clearly. Throughout the project, Maya was a great communicator, diplomatic and sensitive when necessary, and always extremely professional. She hired dependable, reliable, skilled people to clean, repair, paint, and landscape, and the home was absolutely beautiful when presented for sale. These skills coupled with her charming personality, and kind, friendly nature made our experience a pleasure rather than the ordeal it could have been. I would highly recommend Maya Arechiga to anyone seeking to buy or sell a home in the Bay Area. read more

Maya is the best! What can I say... She's the whole package, professional and friendly. She took the time to sit with us and walk us through the whole process. She was available and answered all our questions. She put together a comprehensive seller's package, using all the latest tools the industry has to offer. She set up an aggressive sales plan, it worked! We had multiple offers over asking price. She was always there for us and had many recommendations on what we could do to get the house ready for sale. She is always cheerful and helpful and went above and beyond what we had expected. I would most definitely recommend Maya to anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home. read more

Maya was an absolute godsend! Not only does she know the market inside and out, she determined the precise amount of work that we needed to put into the house for maximum benefit. Once we determined the scope of the work and landed on a budget, she sourced and managed the entire project with extreme attention to detail and thorough communication throughout every step. The entire process from beginning to end was absolutely seamless. Anyone who is need of real estate services must contact Maya. From listing to sale was timely and efficient and she was available at all times to answer any questions that came up. The ultimate professional and a pleasure to work with. read more

We cannot say enough about how amazing Maya is as a realtor. Her guidance and insight about the local market, and real estate in general, made for a fast and efficient sale of our property. She has wonderful rapport with other realtors, as well as with vendors, such as inspectors and contractors. Her no nonsense attitude is what we liked best about Maya. She listens to your needs and applies her expertise to make sure that your home will sell. We would trust Maya with any transaction and always provide her name to anyone looking for a top notch agent! read more

I enjoyed working with Maya. It was our first time selling a home in California, which is much different from when we have sold places in the midwest. She walked us through the process and everything needed to be done to stage the house. She handled everything for us in terms of staging and getting it ready to list. Made my life so much easier, so I could focus on packing up and moving. If you want someone who can manage all the pieces of getting a home ready, listing and selling it, I recommend Maya. read more