We weren't even planning to sell for months, or even a year. Then we got Terry's letter. It lay there for a month while we were gone, but when we came back I decided to call to see if what was offered in the letter was for real. Terry promised no signs, no getting ready to sell, no MLS hassle, and the right to stay in the home for months after closing. The escrow closed in about 7 days all-cash for a good price, and we got everything Terry promised. Terry told us up-front that he was the agent for the buyer and couldn't be our agent. However, he promised to treat us fairly and to take care of all the paperwork and the details. Everything Terry said went down exactly as he said. We would do it again in a heartbeat. Right now we are staying in our former home rent-free, and taking our time to get our new home just right before we make the move. If you have the chance to work with Terry, take it. He knows what he's doing, and he will treat you right, whether you're his client, or not. read more

I worked with Terry to get our home because my friend highly recommended him. I knew my friend would never recommend anybody without plenty of experience with him (all of it GOOD, LOL) before any recommendation.  We started out looking for rental properties, but ended up getting my family's dream home in Turtle Rock, near UCI in Irvine. Astounding as the market was, we believed Terry when he projected the high selling prices of homes we considered.  They were selling WAY above recent sales, so we could see the "writing on the wall".  In fact, we knew that we would have to offer $150,000 over the asking price to win OUR dream home against competing buyers.  By this time, we were semi-jokingly calling Terry a "prophet" for his totally accurate projections of selling prices. So, we made our offer and then something incredible happened!  Even though we submitted our written offer, Terry managed to work with the listing agent to get us our home for $25,000 LESS.  To this day, we have NO idea how Terry did this for us, but getting it at all (and then for $25k less than we offered) was more like working with a "miracle worker" than a "prophet"!  Terry ROCKS!  (Terry mentioned that the listing agent caught some flack from his seller when the seller realized what prices were doing.) We're totally moved in now and we enjoy our new home every day.  We are SO glad we worked with Terry to get it done, despite the crazy market. Even though we knew what was going on in the market when we bought, we were still a little concerned that we had overpaid, until about 10 days later.  That's when another home came on the market for $1,800,000 that was over 300sf smaller than ours.  And it sold in only 5 days!  At the same cost per square foot, OUR home would have cost US 300K more than what we paid for it! What's more, the smaller, more expensive home backed to busy Turtle Rock Drive and fronted to the busiest internal street in the neighborhood, while ours was quiet, low traffic and close to the local park. In case you can't tell, we are TOTALLY impressed and happy with Terry and the work he did for us.  We recommend him to EVERYONE! PS:  He even has a program where people who need to sell their home to buy a new home can do it WITHOUT having to sell their home first and WITHOUT trying to get a seller to accept their offer subject to selling their home.  Ask him about it! read more

My parents just finished working with Terry Hunter to buy their home, and they introduced us to him, saying he was the best. I knew that if my dad was raving about him, he had to be amazing. Terry listened carefully to what we were looking for, including our thoughts on a home in Foothill Ranch we had already looked at and liked a LOT. When he heard that from us, it was Wednesday. He told us that if we really liked it that much, then we should move on it before the upcoming weekend. He told us that we needed to get into "pounce mode" to have the best outcome from our offer, and suggested we write an offer on it significantly lower than the asking price, even though Terry admitted it was already listed below market. He told us the out-of-state seller and the listing agent were both eager for a sale, after a lot of trouble with the tenant about showing the property to buyers. Terry said they were "ready to deal", and might come off the price some. "Pounce Mode" consisted of writing a great intro letter with a picture of us as newly-weds (we had just gotten back from our honeymoon in Aruba) + loan pre-approval + proof of cash. Turns out the seller bought as newly-weds, too, so they were happy for us. We made our offer, and the seller didn't counter back on the price...they WERE ready to deal. Then, Terry got still more money from the sellers for repairs. But the major savings (besides the thousands in Terry's buyer cash back, of course) came from using Terry's trusted lender. We already had s lender and wanted to continue using him, but Terry's lender couldn't be beat. Debbie of Kinecta Federal Credit Union saved us over $6,000 because her fees were lower, and because she got us a $5,400 cash credit for the same interest rate as our original lender offered us. Not only were the savings great, but Debbie was a pleasure to work with. As first time home buyers, we had lots of questions and she was always there for us. We felt so comfortable with both Terry and Debbie. We feel like we can't say thanks enough. Lastly, the appraisal came in $16,000 OVER our contract price! This is our kind of buy! What a way to start our married life together, with a killer deal on our first (very cute). Terry Hunter knows what he's doing with negotiations, and he has a buyer cash back, too. We tell EVERYBODY about him! Sean & Rachelle... happy new home owners in Foothill Ranch. read more

Terry Hunter handed the above-market sale of a Huntington Beach property as the broker for the estate I was administering as the Estate Administrator. I chose him after I read his book Nail the Sale CA. He sent me a copy to read on a flight from Charlotte through Phoenix to Orange County, even though I had already tentatively chosen my broker (and back-up). As he said, none of the other agents had "written a book on it", and what I read made perfect sense to me. It only took an hour or so to read his book, but it made so much sense that I called him from Phoenix to say "he was my guy". I am an analytic guy myself, so I appreciated Terry's clear reasoning and the systems he had in place to succeed. Wow! Good choice! The market was hot, but the property needed some TLC. Terry suggested we spend only what was minimally necessary (explaining that sometimes the "view in the buyer's mind" is better than reality). His point was that only the most pressing repairs should be done, unless you're willing to go all the way. Otherwise, the items NOT done detract from the completed items, zeroing-out the effect of the spent money in many cases. I agreed with his analysis, so we left 10's of thousands of dollars in upgrades/repairs that we could have done, undone. We let the buyer imagine how fine it would be after THEY did the repairs, lol. The outcome of all this is that Terry got the Estate $42,000 over the HIGHEST PRICE EVER for this model (this super-high price for this same model came during our marketing from a special bidding situation where a mother competed to buy in the neighborhood to be close to her daughter and young granddaughter). I would have been impressed with just Terry just getting over the market value... I was electrified by getting SUCH a great price, and so quickly. Terry is a Certified Master Negotiator, he tells me, and I saw it in action. It's not just skill (negotiating skill, analysis skill, and the like) that makes Terry different. It's really a matter of INTENT TO EXCEL, faithfulness & extreme truthfulness PLUS his analytic and negotiating ability. Unlike some agents that just want to do the minimum and move on to the next deal (admittedly where the bigger money is), Terry was committed to handling the Estate's business as though it were on his own account. And he was willing to fail (didn't happen in this case) in the pursuit of a terrific deal for the Estate. It's not the commission that provides his primary motivation... it's the outcome that motivates him. He calls what he routinely does to dramatically beat the market his "real estate chess game". Terry handled the second California property the Estate needed to sell, too. I will cover that in a second story that re-illustrates Terry's character (character that I quickly saw from our first meeting). The Estate used a non-attorney probate service, so I was especially glad to have Terry's experience and expertise on my side. It really came into prominence with the second sale, but it helped here, too. If you want expert handling of your Estate (or any residential property, for that matter), Terry is your guy... you will be AMAZED at the outcome! Mike Jost, Administrator of the JW Jost Estate This was the second property that Terry Hunter handled for the Estate I was administering. It was a headache for Terry, but he did his usual outstanding work. It started with an occupant who had to be evicted. Once that happened, it was "clean-up time". It looked to me that the clean-up could best be handled by a bulldozer. I am exaggerating (a little), but it was in tough shape. The occupants had been without water for several days because the water company shut them off. The toilets were full of waste, and it made your eyes water just to enter. Further, exotic birds had been allowed to live inside, and one room in particular was covered in bird droppings. The walls, the ceilings, the baseboards, and the floor covering... nothing was spared. The birds attracted rats that chewed holes in the air ducts in the attic and added their droppings to the bird droppings("lucky" for us, we found that the connectors had asbestos that had to be removed along with replacing the air ducts). Inside was like walking into a smelly tropical jungle of birds, mold and rats. Like I said the least effect was making your eyes water... some people looking at the home had all they could do to keep lunch down. Place was a biohazard, for SURE! There was standing water under the kitchen sink (and mold beneath the water, we later found). The floor coverings were shot from a hot water heater failure that had occurred some time earlier. My point is that the only (tentative, oral) offer we got from our attempts to sell as an investor "flipper" was nearly $200,000 less than we ultimate got. And even that offer was only tentative, with the investor having no idea of all the hidden problems. read more

Client Success Story for 1 Cartegena Terry got us our dream home 4 years ago, but we couldn't sell our condo because we paid so much for it just before the 2008 crash. He helped us with renting it out, and the time came for us to sell it this year. Terry acted like a general contractor to help us hire contractors to get the home ready for sale (overcoming roof leaks and dry rot, plus painting, carpeting and generally preparing for selling). When the work was done, we put it on the market and got the highest price in Montelena for way over a year (not counting one other sale about 9 months ago that had around $100k in upgrades). The buyer was so impressed with Terry's presentation (his Certified Pre-Owned Home program, as he calls it) that he didn't even do his own inspection. This was good because so many sales are failing today, even in this hot seller market, and the buyer's inspection is where some of those sales go to die. Just like with the purchase of our home and the renting of our condo, Terry was on top of every detail and kept us up to the minute during the sale of our condo. He is a true joy to work with, AND he got us a premium price for our condo. His marketing (starting with great photos) is superb. Since the condo was vacant, he held it open virtually every weekend from the time it went into the MLS until it sold. Coupled with his on-line marketing, we know that Terry put 10's of thousands of dollars in premium sale price into our pockets. Lots of extra work for Terry, but SUCH a great sale for us! This is #2 (or 3, if you count his help renting our condo) for us, and we couldn't be happier. We tell all of our friends thinking of selling about Terry, and we're telling YOU, too! Try him... you will LOVE the expertise and personal attention as he gets YOU top dollar, too. Kris & Kathleen PS: When we bought 4 years ago, Terry got us the ONLY home in all of Aliso Viejo that matched our "dream home criteria" ... AND he has a Buyer Cash-Back program for buyers worth thousands on top of that! read more

Terry's reliable, trustworthy and knowledgeable. I'm not sure if there is a huge requirement difference to be a broker, but he leaves all the agents I have interacted with in the dust. He put our best interest first. He let us know when he saw issues, so we were not overbidding, even though overbidding would probably help him close more deals. I think this is important because some agents just mindlessly put together offer letters and are careful NOT to point out faults. They are afraid of killing a transaction that pays them a commissions... Terry just tells it like it is and lets the chips fall where they may. His recommendations are solid and sensible, not just sales-speak. Terry also has a generous cash back offer. This is yet another way he puts the buyers interest first... thousands of dollars to help closing costs was very welcomed, given all the expenses of buying a home. I would highly recommend Terry. Terry, if you are reading this, thank you again for your help with our home. I hope this review and our referrals will serve as a small thank you for your efforts. I look forward to working with you again in the future. -Judy read more

Wow, what a wild year so far... we got engaged in LONDON, bought a business out right, and now we're buying our first home WHILE planning our wedding! This year seems to be getting better and better! It was a long negotiation after we found the home we wanted (6 counter-offers) over a period of weeks. Fortunately, the owner refused to reduce his price and offer to the market in general what we negotiated with him... otherwise, we might not have gotten the property. As it was, we were "in" at $35,000 under what the home was available to the rest of the world. Terry was great... the negotiations stalled, and so he called up the other agent to have the seller do what Terry called a "reverse offer"... we had walked away, thinking that we needed to find another home. The "reverse offer" brought the negotiations back to life, and in the end we decided to "roll the dice" and play hardball by offering less than we really thought it would take. And then, out of nowhere, Terry heard from the seller agent that they were accepting our offer! What we thought was going to be a sad loss of the home we wanted, ended up working out PERFECTLY! Our new home is beautiful, in a terrific location, and has wonderful neighbors who watch out for each other. What a wonderful place to start our life together. Terry's Buyer Cash-Back (as he calls his rebate) is great too. With the home purchase and the wedding AND the engagement trip to Europe, we are so excited that the Cash-Back money will pay our escrow & title costs. More important, we felt comfortable with Terry's expertise, honesty, and constant availability, day and night. His Client Experience Manager, Lauren was the same way. She made sure that we were constantly in the loop of things and made sure that everything was going the exact way that we wanted it to go. What a great way to avoid all the stress and bother that our friends told us buying a home would be... none of that here with Terry and Lauren! We tell all our friends that Hunter-Broker is the best company for helping them buy a home, whether it's their first time, or not. The way they do things is completely different than the other real estate stories we've heard and experienced. They will get the job RIGHT and DONE just the way you want it :] Sincerely, Your Happy Tustin Meadows New Homeowners, Alex & Laurel read more

Terry Hunter - Our First Keys, we got hats with the house too. Thanks Terry - Real Estate Agents Near Me

I've known Terry for years and knew he was effective and trustworthy. My folks wanted to sell their property in Irvine, so I called on Terry to get it sold for the best possible price. It's nice enough, but it is right next to the 405 Freeway, and it also didn't have the upgrades that competing homes had. In fact, at least 27 other agents showed it to their buyers and all of them put together only made one low-ball offer before Terry sold it himself. Since we had asked the renter to leave, it was vacant, so Terry proceeded to have open houses every weekend until it sold. He also had some other agents who spoke Mandarin and Vietnamese hold open houses there too. Ultimately, Terry sold it himself for a premium price. He sold it to an open house visitor for cash, with a short 5-day escrow. The neat thing was that we knew it really was sold because of what Terry calls his Sure-Close system. When Terry lists your house, it's ready to close escrow before it even goes on the market... inspection, repairs, clear termite, title report, HOA docs... in short, everything needed to close. This is what allowed us to accept an offer with just a 5-day escrow. More important, we knew it was sold because the buyer removed all the deal-killing contingencies when he signed the offer (and NOT weeks later, like most sales). A LOT of sales never close escrow for various reasons. Sometimes this is on purpose, because some buyers make offers on 4,5 or 6 homes, knowing that they're only going to complete and close escrow on one of them. Not with Terry, though... when Terry writes an offer, that buyer IS going to close escrow (or lose their deposit)! Terry sold faster than the MLS average, and with our very short escrow, closed almost another month quicker than the others typically with their 30-day escrows. All in all, working with Terry is great, and he gets the best price quicker, too. If you're thinking of selling, call him... you will be glad you did. read more

Our investment partner suggest that we list our joint investment house with Terry because she said he would work hard to sell above market. Despite the Franchise Tax Board locking-down all the funds of our first buyer, and an "in-law rumble" claiming our second buyer, Terry still succeeded with the 3rd buyer. Terry's Buyer Cash-Back marketing attracted the all-cash seller, and our escrow closed 6 days later, making up for time lost on the first two buyers. This was possible because Terry's Certified Pre-Owned Home had the property in ready-to-close condition, and close we did. Terry got the highest price per foot EVER in our neighborhood. In fact, we sold for over $100,000 MORE than the average per foot selling price for the last 6 month applied to our home . That's not a mistake... over $100,000 MORE! Sold for more than the previous highest-ever price, too. Terry worked harder that any other agent I have ever seen, and it all paid off in the end. If you have a tough sale you want handled, call Terry. He has the experience and the grit to get 'er done. Mission Viejo happy home sellers, Wendy & Paul read more

My husband and I have worked with Terry over the past several years. This is one hard working broker! He thinks outside the box and always seems to come up with some with creative ways to get his listings sold quickly. We have found him to be highly ethical and honest. It is always nice to work with a standup guy who tells it like it is and is willing to go the extra mile for his clients. A true professional, his support team is just as focused as he is. Great guy to work with. read more

knew Terry would get us over-market price, and he did. In fact, compared to the average price per foot for the last 6 months, a LOT over market. We sold for over $100,000 higher than the average price per foot applied to our square footage would be. I would say that that performance certainly qualifies as "over market". The combination of Terry's Certified Pre-Owned Home and his Cash-Back marketing (where buyers get thousands in Buyer Cash-Back) got it sold all-cash with a 6-day escrow. The buyer was so impressed with Terry's presentation of our home, he didn't even re-inspect. He just took Terry's word for it and closed the sale. Happy Investor, Eloise read more

Exceptional service! Terry Hunter is truly dedicated to his clients, no matter how big or small the listing he always delivers the best service with professionalism and knowledge. Terry works hard to meet his clients needs. Terry has successfully listed my properties 2 times. I highly recommend him! read more

The team at Hunter-Broker was such a pleasure to work with. While handling not only the sale of their clients home, they took the time to find someone to help with the items in the home the client wanted to sell but just didn't have the time to do. Hunter-Broker went the extra step by introducing me. I went to work and created an Estate/Moving sale that put extra $$ in the clients pocket, and once the sale was over, I arranged for a charity to pick up left over items. Following that I arranged for the cleaning of the house. Meanwhile, Hunter-Broker arranged needed repairs to the home. All of this took place without the client as he had already moved out of state. He was thrilled with the complete service that Hunter-Broker provided, it was a relief to move out prior to escrow closing with no lingering issues to handle. Again, great to work with a team that really cares about all the clients needs. Andrea Waite Treasure Hunt Estate Services read more

If you use any other realtor, you are being short changed. Literally and figuratively. This is the hardest working realtor on the planet, AND he gives you 2,500 dollars towards your purchase when many buyers agents charge you a FEE! He emailed my dream home to me and I didn't see it until 9:00pm at night. When I called him to see if I could see it immediately, he went right over to the house to show it to me. He has a team of professionals that kept me updated, were friendly, competent, and always went out of their way. After the sale there was an issue that wasn't caught with the Seller's inspections, so Terry's team orchestrated the necessary repairs for weeks after the Close of Escrow. The lender that Terry works with is optional, but was the most professional and creative lender. If it were not for Terry, his team, and the lender Debbie that he recommended, I would certainly have not gotten this home. Time was of the essence because there were many other offers being placed on the property. But because of Terry and his team's tenacity, he got the job done quickly and beat out the other offers. There is not enough space on this YELP review in order for me to express my gratitude for Terry and his team. I am living the dream, in my magical house thanks to this AMAZING real estate broker. I was also impressed with his hospitality. He and his assistant came to our home after Escrow had closed, took some pictures, and a video for me of my family and I, and took us out to a beautiful lunch. Not only was him and his team GREAT people to work with, but have become great friends of mine as well. -Julie read more

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Terry is extremely knowledgeable and a fantastic negotiator. He provided guidance throughout the process and gave recommendations that saved us about $5,000 in fees and future repairs over and above the great price he was able to negotiate. Altogether, including the price negotiated, Terry's buyer cash back, and the savings in fees and repairs, we ended up with the home we wanted and saved at least $10,000 over another really good agent, probably $20k over an average agent. This is our 4th home over a 35 year period and he was far and away the best we have used or met. So, we recommended him to our daughter who just purchased her first home. Between the price negotiated, buyer cash back and and using his recommended lender, we firmly believe she saved $15,000-$20,000 total in price, costs and fees over what she would have paid with another realtor. Our new motto is friends don't let friends use any realtor but Terry Hunter in Orange County. read more

Terry and his team helped me sell my condo in record time and above my asking price. In April I learned that I would be moving from Costa Mesa to Portland Maine for a new job and to be closer to my family. I wanted to get my condo listed and sold as quickly as I could so that it would be done before I moved in May. Terry and his team went straight to work helping me stage my condo to be shown, preparing amazing brochures and setting up multiple weekends of open houses and even an auction. We got multiple offers and my condo sold in less than six weeks at a higher price than I was expecting. Terry's work did not end there. He continued to work to make sure the purchase closed and both me and the buyer were happy with the transaction. We were. Bravo Terry, Lauren and the whole team! read more

We sold for more than any other home in the condo development, including thousands more than the same floorplan that closed about a month ago. And we banked our money quicker than any other seller, too... about 20% faster. And, when we sold our home, it really WAS sold when the contract was signed, and "the wheels didn't come off" when we got BOTH a low appraisal and an inspection problem. Highly recommended... we tell EVERYONE about Terry & his super low-stress Sure-Close approach. Like he says, "we're NOT Costco... once it's sold, it stays sold". Don't know why EVERY agent doesn't protect sellers like Terry does! But, in the end, it doesn't matter why they do it the old way... just hire Terry, and don't worry about it! Happy Rancho Santa Margarita Sellers... on to our new home! read more

After twenty years of refusing to refer a real estate agent to my mediation clients, I'm breaking that precedent and wholeheartedly recommending Terry Hunter of Hunter Broker. I've been helping couples and families for over twenty years to complete legal separations and divorces in a peaceful, respectful way. All during that time, I have resisted all advertising, offers, and personal solicitations to connect with a real estate agent. That is, until I met Terry Hunter! He is a true professional -- and one that is dedicated to his clients. His attention to detail is meticulous. He is extremely intelligent; and his creativity is beyond imagination. How he thinks up his various suggestions and offers is amazing. (I truly suspect that he never sleeps! He just thinks up new ways to help his clients!) Recently, Terry has helped two of my couples with the sale of their real property; and they are ecstatic with his results. Again, his attention to detail and his creativity seemingly worked miracles for each of them. The fact that clients return to him over and over when they decide to sell or buy a second or third time speaks volumes as to his successful representation. I tell my clients to call Terry first and see how he will work with them and get them the very best results possible in their situation. Without reservation, I recommend Terry Hunter for all of your real estate needs. read more

Solo Termite & Pest Control has worked with the Hunter-Broker team for a long time. Terry Hunter is one of the most professional and courteous realtors we work with. He is a pleasure to work with. He provides above and beyond for his clients and puts together a team of professionals to service his clients in every aspect of their transaction. We are honored to be a part of that team. Terry's staff is nothing short of amazing. They are all professional, thorough and committed to providing stellar service. It is always a great experience from start to finish with these ladies. The Hunter-Broker firm raises the bar in their industry and far exceeds any expectations you would have when selecting a realty team. read more

We met Terry at an open house in Irvine, and thought... this is somebody we can work with. We wanted an investment, and the home he was holding open was just what we were looking for. Also, Terry has an interesting program where he gives buyers like us a buyer cash back, as he calls it. In our case, it was a full 1% of the purchase price, thousand of dollars, and enough to cover all our closing costs, plus much more. In addition to his cash-back, he also was totally prepared to close escrow. We have never encountered any other real estate agent as prepared as Terry. He had gathered up everything necessary to close, and so we were able to offer the seller a 5-day escrow because Terry was so well prepared. During the transaction, he made good use of Docusign to handle signing all the paperwork, another time-saver for us. And, he made sure to explain everything clearly and in great detail. After all, we haven't bought any real estate for a while, so it was good to have an experienced and reliable guide. Terry is definitely "a cut above"! We were very pleased with everything about our purchase. In fact, we liked working with him so much that we immediately hired him to help us rent our new rental out. I guess that says it all, doesn't it? Terry is very professional & efficient. He made our transaction effortless and a pleasure. We expect to be just as pleased with him working for us to rent it out, and we will tell all our friends buying and selling real estate about him, too. Bill & Sophie B...Very pleased owners & landlords. read more

We recently purchased our first home with Terry's help. Terry was very honest and transparent with us during the process. He looked out for our best interest and was sincerely concerned and attentive to our needs. Should we decide to move again, we will definitely be seeking Terry's help. He's terrific! read more

Terry helped me buy my brand new Irvine home. He worked pretty much around the clock to help me get the home I wanted. I couldn't find any used home that seemed right for me. So, I bought a new home from the builder. Terry was with me at every step of the way, from setting our strategy to the execution of it. He helped me "get it in writing" when the lender was being cagey. He also took the fight to management when the construction didn't go the way I wanted and the sales team couldn't fix it. In a calm and business-like way, Terry was able to successfully negotiate what I wanted. Didn't hurt that he was formerly a general contractor, himself. He looked out for me on everything from locked-down financing to choosing colors, flooring, and the rest. Terrific partner to have in my corner. He knew when and how to "get 'er done". Don't buy a new home (or ANY home, for that matter) without him. HIGHLY Recommended, totally trustworthy, and dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help his clients. I have already introduced him to my friends considering buying a home. You will love him, too! Reza read more

We just became HOMEOWNERS! Yay! When we met Terry, we knew right away we wanted to work with him. He showed us why we had to make our move in January, not August, when we would have more money. We faced a horrendous seller market with multiple offers. And Terry wanted a one-story for my mom. Also, we were stuck with FHA financing...didn't look good for us. Then Terry found a fixer-upper. The MLS description sounded like it was ready to red-tagged and torn down. But Terry, a former builder, found out that all the fizz was because of an illegal garage conversion... that's all! He moved quickly and got us a great price on it. Then Terry (instead of the seller agent) met with the appraiser to be SURE that he didn't make us revert the garage BEFORE close of escrow. No money for that! Terry increased his Cash-Back and his lender gave us a closing credit. That did it! Prices have since gone nuts, just like Terry predicted... SO glad we are already in our new home! Nella and Thelma read more