The Boston Home Team recently helped us sell our home on the north shore and what an absolutely FANTASTIC experience from start to finish! We worked primarily with Meredith and BJ (with Meredith leading) and not only are they an absolutely stellar team, they are also the kindest, most fun humans to work with. It made what should have been a super stressful experience actually pretty fun. Before getting to know them, two aspects of their business really stood out to us (we met with multiple agents before choosing Boston Home Team): their incredible listing services - especially the photos/videos they provide (I am especially fussy about this as a full-time professional photographer myself) - and the fact that they come in and spend a good chunk of time working with the homeowner on the staging aspect. This ended up being my favorite part of the experience - working with Meredith to make our home look its absolute best. She has phenomenal taste and also offers additional items to fill gaps where needed. My husband thought it was all a bit silly ... until we closed at over 30% over asking price. ;) What we didn't realize in advance was just how much time and effort they would put into marketing our home. They work their social media hard, and the eventual buyer found our home through Facebook ads (they hadn't even been looking in our town). Their communications throughout were top-notch and I felt comfortable reaching out multiple times with silly questions and thoughts, and they were always so encouraging and enthusiastic in their responses. I cannot recommend them highly enough. We are SO grateful that our realtor friend who is no longer in the Boston area was able to recommend them to us. read more

I recently had the pleasure of listing and selling my JP Condo with BJ Ray and the Boston Home Team. After interviewing other JP relators, I decided to go with BJ because I was impressed with his depth of understanding of the JP market and the sophistication of his reasoning around timing, pricing, and bidding. Throughout the process I was impressed with the team's coordination, especially Beth, the Director of Operations. The listing/sale process was clearly explained and smooth. BJ and team coordinated the staging, smoke detector inspection, three visits by handymen to address last minute items, and the legal aspects with the attorney they work with. BJ was right on with his pricing and I accepted a final offer a few percentage points above our listing price! I give Boston Home Team my strongest endorsement! read more

We recently worked with Beth Maguire and the rest of the folks at the Boston Home Team to sell our condo in Jamaica Plain. They made the process seamless and painless for us - from initially deciding to sell, to coordinating with our renter, to staging, photography, the list goes on! We couldn't have asked for a better experience or a better result. Would recommend to anyone! read more

As first-time sellers, we could not have asked for a better team than The Boston Home team. We were working with a tough market and a tight timeline, and they worked tirelessly for us to make the sale of our Roslindale condo. We really appreciate the practical suggestions they made to stage our home. They really knew how to bring out the character and loveliness of our home using what we had, and the photos were absolutely gorgeous. They did an amazing job targeting the right list price and worked so hard for the showing and open houses. Finally, we really appreciate how they advised and guided us through the whole sale process, even after an offer was accepted -- it was clear they had our best interests in mind the whole way through. Thank you to BJ, Meredith, and Beth for all your hard work! This team has our highest recommendation to anyone looking to sell their home. read more

The Boston Home team is THE best team to work with when searching for your new home and/or looking to sell your place. They are an incredible team - professional, very present, supportive, and truly bend over backwards to make a naturally stressful process as least stressful as possible. My partner and I worked with them to purchase our new home together and also sell our prior individual homes - all within 2 months! We couldn't imagine working with anyone else and getting through all of this without their support and expertise. A HUGE thank you to Beth, BJ, and Meredith!! Anita read more

We had a fantastic experience working with Beth, BJ & Meredith at the Boston Home Team to sell our condo in JP. We listed our place at an unpredictable moment in the market and thanks to Beth and her colleagues, came out of it with a stress-free sale. I cannot emphasize enough just how fantastic it was to have a coordinated, professional and fun (!) team working with us. We felt heard and supported from Day 1 and appreciated the extra care that Beth took to work through all the details from the listing, to coordinating with our tenant throughout the process, to talking us through how to evaluate the multiple offers that came in and finally getting ready for closing. Highly recommend working with them! read more

I used this guy! Will's cool. We would go into houses and be all oh hey, look, they got a shiny new refrigerator, we should buy this one! because we're idiots, and then Will would go down to the basement and point out a huge crack in the foundation. We miss these sorts of things. We are distracted by shiny things. We ended up getting a great deal on a house with a crappy old refrigerator and a solid foundation, and we just bought a new fridge. That was a good idea, because fridges are cheaper than foundations. He and his lovely wife Christine (and Carrie Anne, who I think is Christine's sister) also do this thing called Arthouse (www.arthouseboston.com) where they pick a cool house that's on the market, put up a bunch of local artists on the walls, hire a DJ and throw an open house. That's a tremendously cool idea. You can go even if you already have a house! There's free booze! There's booze, and it's free! They know Jamaica Plain absolutely cold, and they're really involved in the community, which I kinda appreciate. (Not that they can only do JP - Will showed us a bunch of properties all over the rest of town, too.) We liked Will so well that we recommended him to our friends, and they were happy with him too, so that ought to prove that I mean it. Coincidentally, he was recommended to us by another Yelper, the gone-and-totally-forgotten Dan P. - that dude went to law school and totally sold out. So if you use them for your real estate people it'll be like continuing a long, proud tradition. With free booze. read more

I worked with Will and Christine for the first several Art Houses* that they coordinated in Jamaica Plain and I have to say, they are fantastic, detail oriented, kind people who really get that buying a house is more than just sinking your money into a building - it's choosing a life, a lifestyle, a neighborhood, and a particular community that you are hopefully going to become an active member of. They have a great aesthetic, are patient and efficient, and they see things through to complete the original vision. Most important to me is that they care about nurturing the creative community that they both live and work in and seek to bring people together through really positive experiences. Good comfortable people all around - definitely worth working with. Good luck finding your new home, especially if its in JP! (*"Art House" is an event where they collaborated with local artists to furnish open houses as galleries so that our art would gain exposure and the homes would look extra stylish! A brilliant idea which was also wonderful for those of us participating... http://www.arthouseboston.com/past_arthouses.html Thanks guys! ) read more

After my first sit down meeting with Beth at the Home Team office in JP, I knew this was the agency for me. Beth took time getting to know me and understanding my "slow" process for making big purchases, which solidified my desire to work with her. I learned a lot from Beth. She showed me things to look for (and ask about) at property viewings. Its almost as if she was a contractor in a past life :-). Even while away on a family cruise, she checked in with me from the boat! Members of her team certainly stepped in to make sure I was taken care of during that time! Beth came highly recommended from a friend, and I'm already paying it forward to other friends who are considering buying a home. My brand new condo purchase literally checks all of the boxes! I can't thank Beth enough for entertaining my barrage of questions and calming me down during my typical freak-out moments! Job well done Beth and the Boston Home Team!! read more

This spring, my girlfriend and I decided it was a good time to casually start looking for a Jamaica Plain condo. We went to a few open houses and realized we should find a local buyer agent. We found the Boston Home Team (thanks to Yelp) and set up an initial meeting with Will Brokhof and Jeff Stineback to learn about the home buying process. That first meeting put us at ease right away. Will and Jeff were respectful (we had our concerns as young, first-time buyers) and were willing to explain everything to us. We felt very comfortable with them and appreciated that they had a sense of humor. This home-buying thing might actually be fun! After that meeting, we worked exclusively with Jeff. He took us on some showings, which was extremely beneficial: he learned more specifics from us on what we were looking for in a home, and we learned from him what kinds of questions we should ask seller agents, and things we should be looking for at showings/open houses. Jeff was always willing to listen to our feedback and thoughts on condos we visited. Although we ended up finding our future condo at an open house without Jeff's presence, we were able to confidently make the decision to start the offer process because of the knowledge that Jeff had given us. He kept us patient during the price negotiations with the sellers, which meant we were able to get the closing price down about 4.8% from the listing price. Throughout the offer, acceptance, home inspection, and closing, Jeff was consistently available to answer questions (even late at night!), calm our nerves, and be our general go-to guy. He was even willing to go the extra step when needed--like speaking to our parents when they had questions. We think very fondly of Jeff and would recommend him to anyone looking to buy in the greater Boston area! read more

Conventional wisdom in early 2010 for home sellers: -- Not a good time to sell (buyer's market) -- Expect to be on the market for a long time -- Don't expect to get 2005/06 prices Thankfully, we listed with Will, and sold our house in one day for 5% more than we bought it for in 2006. Sure, we had a beautiful condo in a great JP location. But Will did an excellent job of setting the price, marketing the open house, guiding us on staging, managing a bidding war, and most importantly, setting our expectations (which he then exceeded.) He's not your typical hyper-caffeinated-hampster-in-a-Mercedes realtor, and has a seemingly laconic approach, but that masks great real estate intuition and a lot of hard work. He knows JP inside out, and you won't go wrong with him on either end of the transaction. read more

My husband and I were first time homebuyers AND new to Boston when we started working with Will. When we decided we wanted to buy there was no question that Will would be our buyer's agent. He knows every block of JP and is heavily involved in the community (ie. proactively helping to improve the quality and safety in JP). Quite simply he lives and breathes JP!!! It's difficult NOT to get excited about this neighborhood after talking to Will. After a couple of weeks of looking at houses in our price range and not finding anything that we were absolutely in LOVE with--I was beginning to get a little discouraged that we would not find the 'perfect' place. Will kept us encouraged and one morning I saw an MLS listing for the a condo that looked PERFECT for us. When we called Will around 10AM and he told us that he already had an appointment for us to see the place. Of course we instantly fell in love with the condo and with Will's help we put an offer in the next day. We were the first buyers to see the house and I sincerely do not think we would have gotten the house if that were not the case (the location and layout is very unique to the area). He also kept us in check as to what we SHOULD be paying for the house. Thanks to Will being in tune to what our needs AND wants were, we'll be happily living in JP for a long time! read more

BJ's as good as they come! Let's start at the end - we're now in a house and neighborhood that we love. That's the ultimate outcome, right? But leaving it at that would be selling BJ short. We worked off and on with BJ for a few years. We'd get serious for awhile, not find anything that we really liked, back off, then start up again. I can imagine this is less than ideal from a realtor's point of view. But BJ was awesome. Always willing to engage and help us work through this process. There's a few things though, that I really appreciated about BJ's work: 1. Never pushy. This doesn't mean he didn't have an opinion, he certainly did. But if we made a decision to move (or not) on a property, he would move into action mode and do everything he could do to help. 2. Does his homework. He was a tremendous in helping us navigate the emotion - pricing continuum. Meaning, the more emotional we got, the more we were willing to spend even if it meant going overboard. He had a nice, calm way of talking us back into reality and avoid making mistakes. We were also looking in neighborhoods that weren't normally in BJ's area and he did a great job of learning the ins an outs on the fly. 3. Saw things we didn't. I've lived in apartments for the last 15 years so the "guts" of a house are a mystery to me. There were many times we'd walk into a house and we'd love it because it looked nice on the surface. But then BJ would proceed to show us all the things that really mattered (wiring, plumbing, heating) and why we might want to reconsider. Obviously this was very helpful! On top of all this, BJ's just a good guy. read more

BJ, Meredith, and the rest of the team are awesome. We decided to sell and made a plan for a few months out, but then the Fed began to raise the interest rates. We began to panic. The team pivoted quickly and sped up our time frame and worked around some limitations we had. They quickly got pictures and videos done and strategized on a listing plan that would drive interest quickly. Their knowledge of the market and ability to get our property in front of as many buyers as possible in a short time lead to multiple offers above our expectations with only one open house. They have the connections to service companies to get things done well and quickly. They were the perfect guides through the process, clearly telling us what we needed to do and by when and also telling us what was not necessary and how to save us time and money. On top of all that, they are also really nice and down-to-earth. They made the process easy and were truly a pleasure to work with. read more

My husband and I worked with Christine and Will for about 9 months. We were looking for a specific kind of property, and we wouldn't budge on location or price. ... Both professionals spent a lot of time with us, showing us around town, which I would have expected of any buyer's realtor, actually. This is what I did not expect: getting gently dissuaded from a property that they could see was not right for us; getting a call from Christine the second our dream property came on the market; expert negotiating on our behalf at the time of deal-making; recommendations for house repair stuff; advice and help on our situation AFTER WE HAD FINISHED WORKING WITH THEM! Christine and Will work hard to help you get what you want, and they are honest, clued-in, reliable people. Mail me if you want more details. read more

Seriously, Will and Christine (aka the Boston Home Team) are the best. We met Christine as we were starting our search for our first condo and haphazardly checking out open houses on our own and knew immediately that we wanted to work with her. The next day, in her office, we met her other half, Will, and it was a total bonus. Nothing like having 2 real estate agents working with you to make you feel like you got "people". They are a great team, with Christine's knack for finding great listings and Will's extreme attention to detail. That guy doesn't miss a thing. And he plays Devil's Advocate like no other, forcing you to consider the good and the bad on every property. Will and Christine were patient with us, our never-ending questions, and our low budget as first time buyers. One of the reasons why I have recommended them to several friends for buying, selling, and rentals is because they always made us feel like we were their only clients. They worked tirelessly on our behalf to help us find the perfect house, and basically schooled us in all that was cool in JP. They know JP (and Boston proper) inside and out, and are super involved in the community. When we did finally find *the one*, they met us at their office at 10pm on a Friday night to write the offer so that we didn't have to cancel our dinner plans. Dude! These guys are great. Straight-shooters, hard workers, and good people. I highly recommend the Boston Home Team to anyone looking to buy, sell, or rent in JP, Rosi, West Rox or Boston! read more

First time homebuyer here. My wife and I came to Will a few weeks ago without even being sure we wanted to buy or keep on renting. Will sat down with us and gave us the lay of the land. He conveyed a flood of information but explained everything in a clear and concise manner so that it wasn't at all overwhelming. After meeting with him, we decided to start looking seriously in Jamaica Plain. It didn't take us long to find a place that we fell in love with, head over heels. Will immediately crunched some numbers and came back with a comparative market analysis that showed the true value of the place to be significantly below the asking price. We were prepared to pay more, but we made an offer based on Will's numbers. Well, the sellers weren't too happy with our offer. And this is where Will earned his pay. He went to bat for us, and actually convinced the sellers that their asking price was out of line with comparable properties, and talked them down to the number he got from his analysis. And after getting a professional appraisal as part of the mortgage process, the appraised value was EXACTLY what Will said the place was worth. Will is laid back and very casual with his clients, but make no mistake, he knows how to play hardball and get the job done. Ours was clearly not his first rodeo. We've gone from lifelong renters to timid prospective buyers to homeowners in the span of 10 weeks (after we close in a couple of weeks), and we have Will to thank for making the process smooth and saving us tons of money on a home we couldn't be more excited about moving into. You won't find a better agent. read more

I cannot recommend a real estate agent more highly than Will Brokhof of The Boston Home Team. Will has expertly handled the purchase of two homes for us, and the sale of one. We returned to him seven years after our first transaction together because we were so impressed with his ability to navigate our target market (JP, Roslindale), his expertise in everything from staging, to negotiation, to resale value, to landscaping. We relied on him for every step (movers, storage, staging, inspectors, lawyers) and he always came through. If you want to find the best home for you, for the best price, and if you want to sell your home quickly and efficiently, Will is the broker for you. read more

We were referred to Will because, while our relatives' condo had been on the market for over a year, Will sold the unit across their patio in 2 weeks. Our condo had been sitting on the market for 8 months. We hired Will and he immediately brought us confidence and much needed hope. He performed turnkey services to re-stage it with furniture, art, and new paint. Its appeal and value was then apparent, and we had multiple offers after only 4 days on the market. And it didn't stop there. Will's advocacy in negotiating the offers made it absolutely clear that our interests as his customer were all that he had in his always-working mind. Will's performance is truly superior, and our family is deeply grateful. read more

By far the most knowledgable and resourceful agent you will find in the area. BJ's command of the market - including the nuances of the many and varied neighborhoods in and around Boston - is unparalleled. Whether you are buying or selling, in BJ you will find a relentless advocate, unyielding in his pursuit of your objectives down to the smallest detail, as well as a trusted friend, willing to give you that painful, yet necessary reality-check. read more

Will helped me both sell my condo and buy a house within two and a half short months last fall. He gave me sensible advice about preparing my condo for sale, helped me with the staging, and took great pictures. He was always happy to answer questions, whether or not they were strictly part of his job, and was a good source of referrals concerning moving, repairs, or just generally all things real estate. That made things so much easier for me considering the tight scheduling involved. Will was attentive and responsive throughout the whole purchase and sale process. He really knows the neighborhood and encouraged me to look in areas I hadn't known as well, which widened my options. He was pleasant to deal with, professional throughout, and by remaining calm helped me do so too whenever things became fraught. We achieved great results too, as my condo sold for 15% above asking price and I bought below asking. I will turn to Will for any future real estate needs and would not hesitate to recommend him to others. read more

Meredith (BJ's partner) recently helped us purchase a condo in Cambridge and we could not have had a better experience. She was absolutely wonderful to work with and we would recommend her unequivocally. She was always very responsive, helpful, and thorough, and I can't imagine navigating the crazy Cambridge real estate market without her expert guidance. She made the entire process relatively painless, for example, connecting us with several professionals (real estate lawyer, home inspector, etc.) who were all great to work with as well. I always felt like she was protecting our best interests and knew that we were in good hands with her. Don't look any further for a real estate agent in the Boston area! read more

We recently worked with BJ to sell our condo in Jamaica Plain and were impressed with him from start to finish. We were on a fast timeline, and BJ jumped right on board to guide us through the steps. He was thoughtful, professional and meticulous throughout the process and landed us multiple offers well over asking price within a week. He helped us to negotiate the best deal that met all of our needs. I would gladly recommend him to friends and family looking to buy or sell. read more

We recently worked with BJ to purchase what turned out to be our dream home in Jamaica Plain, and we could not have had a better experience. When we first met BJ, we told him upfront that after a few failed offer attempts in this crazy real estate market, we were becoming the super anxious homebuyer types. BJ was incredibly patient with us, calming steering us through every step of the process. He is the consummate professional - knowledgeable, responsive, insightful- while also being very friendly and easy to talk to. We also ended up selling our current condo directly to our downstairs neighbor (without listing it), and BJ was very kind with his advice though he did stand to benefit directly from it. It was also very clear that BJ was well-regarded and -respected in the local real estate community, which never hurts when needing to arrange a showing outside an open house or seeing a listing a little early before it hits market. Having worked with a few other real estate agents in our home-buying processes over the last few years, we can sincerely say no one else compares. We absolutely, unequivocally highly recommend BJ! read more

BJ Ray is not your average realtor by any stretch. He is a great listener, puts his clients needs first and foremost without any type of sales pressure. He has designed some sophisticated models to determine accurate price points in a constantly changing environment which has allowed him to receive accepted offers for his buyer clients more often than not. In this competitive seller-driven landscape that is a remarkable achievement. My wife and I used BJ to purchase a 3 family in Somerville which has proven to be an outstanding investment, thanks BJ! He is an excellent poker/chess player, a great guy and consummate professional in the real estate world. read more

My fiancé and I purchased our first home a few months ago with BJ's help. He was incredibly helpful and informative every step of the way, and always noticed things (both positive and negative) that never would have occurred to us. On top of that, he's an overall great guy - we never once felt like we were being rushed or pushed into putting an offer in on something that wasn't absolutely perfect for us. We're incredibly happy with our house and cannot recommend BJ highly enough! read more

In 2013 my wife and I purchased a home in Roslindale, MA using William Brokhof as our agent. My wife and I couldn't be happier! Will took the time to meet with us personally at our current home to go over the details of what we were looking for in our next purchase. He took the time to listen to all of our concerns and to explain to us what the process working with him was going to be like. He's a real go-getter! We got to work that weekend going to open houses and started seeing what inventory was available in the areas we were looking in. Will always took the time to meet us before the open houses (if we wanted, sometimes we met him there) and always offered to chaperone us around town as we viewed various homes. He also never minded us needing to take the time and stop for coffee (if you haven't been house hunting yet, it can be tiring finding exactly what you are looking for!) We traveled all across the greater Boston area and Will was always knowledgeable about the homes we were visiting and the neighborhoods they were in. Another great thing about Will is that he is also very knowledgeable about home construction techniques used over the past century (at least), home renovation, and design. While sometimes we didn't like what we were seeing, he was able to explain to us what the property could be with a little imagination. Basically, Will could easily be on one of those HGTV shows where they feature a home buyer looking for a great deal on a place and then remodeling it to be exactly what they want. All for less money than they would have paid for a already remodeled turnkey home. In the end we purchased a home in Roslindale and are completely satisfied with both the home and Will's services. In a time when inventory was low, Will managed to get us a private showing of a property before it went to open house. This saved us thousands by avoiding a bidding war! By then he knew exactly what we were looking for. He saw the opportunity on the property and got us in there immediately. I won't go on forever, but I would be impressed if anyone wasn't satisfied with Will Brokhof's services as a Home Buyer's Agent. read more

I cannot say enough good things about Will Brokhof and The Boston Home Team. Will is tireless, dedicated, committed, and he really knows SO much about all aspects of real estate. He is a fountain of knowledge, and it's an experience to walk through homes and around neighborhoods with him. He knows JP inside and out, and he explains things in "real person" terms and talks to you like a human-- person-to-person-- and does not talk down to you at all. I appreciated that about him. Most importantly, Will really stands by his clients and advocates for them. We were looking for a home for 2 years in a tough market for buyers, and Will stuck by us again and again, helping us craft offers and going to bat for us with listing agents. He is truly a tireless advocate, and, thanks to his help, we were able to buy a wonderful home in 2014. Will sold our condo for us and took on the lion's share of fixing things up and working on final details for the showing because we were out of town. We nearly postponed our trip to get things done for the condo, but Will said, "Go ahead; I'll take care of this for you." What agent does that? Will does. He sticks by his clients. Will is honest and truly gives his all to his clients, and it's clear that he brings so much passion to his work. I can't recommend him enough. read more

Will is a great broker. He has sold eight of my properties. Will Brokof sold me and my wife a house 7 years ago and quickly became a friend. As was an architect and have since started developing property and have always trusted Will on both ends of the deal. He helped us find many of our projects which requires a great deal of 'vision' to see a building's potential as well as an understanding of our style and what would interest us. During the development process, he has also provided insight in to features that would help a property sell. Since he is meeting with so many buyers and knows what is available on the market at any given time, he knows what people are looking for and what is out there for them to buy; this has helped us develop unique properties that find that niche between supply and demand. It goes beyond comments on finishes and fixtures, but larger planning issues such as a need for 3 bedroom units since there is a glut of 2 bedroom units, or a knowledge that there are no units out there with garage space, or an understanding of people wanting something open, fresh, unexpected and new. When it comes time to sell, Will has always delivered. He puts careful research into pricing appropriately and has always met or exceeded our expectations. Not only do we feel like we got the best price, but he finds a client that immediately knows this is the place they have been looking for. For us, finding buyers that appreciate and share our vision is a job well done. Thank you Will! We are devoted clients and would never use anyone else. read more

We had a tremendous experience working with Will; he helped us purchase our dream home in Jamaica Plain, as well as sell our condo in Savin Hill. Will's expertise is in the JP market; this is helped by the fact that he lived in JP and has his office on Centre Street. He knew what properties were hot and what the going rate for our home was. His 'bulldog' approach didn't end after our offer was accepted; he helped negotiate for us during a tense closing and was professional and equitable throughout. The aspect of Will that I liked the most was that he took the time to get to know my tastes and then basically did my homework for me when looking for potential properties (I have a busy job and don't have time to scroll through MLS, even though it's fun to do!). He also has an eagle eye and was better at the home inspection than the inspector himself. You'll be in good hands with Will. We will definitely use him again in the future (although we love our JP home and will leave kicking and screaming). read more

When you work with Will and the Boston Home Team, they work FOR YOU. We enlisted him to help us buy a house that didn't meet minimum occupancy standards in the middle of the housing crisis of 2009 . We had to get a 203K loan through the federal government, we were trying to purchase the home from a lawyer/executer, and there was complexity and uncertainty at every turn. Will was calm, helpful, and navigated the evolving drama with us in a truly helpful way. He can be trusted to do everything possible to get your needs met, whether it's buying your dream home or selling your home for the best price. He knows the market and how to maximize it! read more

I am now retired and enjoying life in Maine thanks to BJ Ray. He sold our house in JP in two days with multiple offers. Whenever I got nervous about the process he was always there to reasure me. I can't imagine going thru that process without him. read more

Our family faced significant challenges when purchasing our new home: we lived in San Francisco and had to relocate to Boston in less than three months. Additionally, our work schedules only permitted a 48-hour trip to Boston to scout out condos and put in an offer. We can say without hesitation that our realtor, Will Brokhof of The Boston Home Team, was the single most important factor in our success. Throughout every step of the home-buying process, Will worked tirelessly to ensure that all our needs were being met. During our house-hunting weekend, he exhibited an incredible depth of knowledge about the local housing stock and real estate market. Will showed us over 25 properties, and, at each one, he distilled the salient pros and cons with respect to workmanship, value, and location. He also gave us an insider tour of Jamaica Plain, orienting us to everything from the best place to get a cannoli to the best playground for our son. When we put in an offer, Will shrewdly negotiated with the seller and we got a great deal on our home. During escrow, he provided us with helpful recommendations for everything from mortgage brokers to home inspectors to painters. Will even suffered through time-consuming Boston bureaucracy to secure parking permits for our moving truck while we were still in California. Beyond his competency and dedication to his clients, Will is a great guy. His dry wit and sense of humor ease the pain of purchasing a home. Will has earned our highest regard, and we would strongly recommend him to any family or friends who are moving to the Boston area. read more

BJ Ray was recommended by a real estate attorney we used (Jeremy McHugh, who I would also give five stars to). It was hard for me to be convinced to work with a buyer's realtor, but I am glad we did. BJ helped us with the recent purchase of our home during one of the tightest buyers' markets in recent history, with surprisingly little effort. We found the home online but completed the purchase due to an unconventional tactic for approaching the sellers that BJ suggested and used to our advantage. While unconventional, it worked well, I believe largely because of BJ's decisions about whom to approach, when, and his style of being unfailingly polite (to sellers, their realtors and us), very responsive, and also hilariously funny. BJ was also very focused on our budget - and he didn't try to oversell us and was not pushy. And, he has a great network of moving-related connections/recommendations. An added bonus is that he is a great chef and into local politics so if you like talking about those things, you are in for a treat. read more