Highly recommend Justin with Unlocked. He helped us put in offers in two different areas with no issues. We were able to secure our dream home with his advice. We have bought several homes before and Unlocked process is efficient. read more

We had a great experience working with Justin. He is calm, knowledgeable, and patient. He never pressured us to offer more than we were comfortable with, and he wasn't afraid to tell us when he thought we should walk away from a property. Buying in the Bay Area is competitive, but Justin helped give us an edge by building relationships with listing agents, which helped our offers stand out. The reports provided by Unlocked were also very helpful - they served as a useful benchmark for making offers. Justin was highly communicative and made sure everything stayed on track to close on time, despite a tight window. Honestly, it's hard to believe Unlocked charges a lower commission than most agents, because the service far exceeded our expectations. We would definitely work with Justin again if we ever buy another home. read more

As I sit here in the comfort of my new home, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for Katrina (Unlocked). Her invaluable assistance, expertise, and dedication throughout the home-buying process have made this journey an absolute joy. Katrina demonstrated exemplary professionalism throughout the negotiation and closing processes, acting as a reliable liaison between all parties involved. Her attention to detail, thoroughness in paperwork, and prompt communication helped streamline the entire transaction, alleviating much of the stress typically associated with buying a home. More specifically for Unlocked, excellent service, and on top of that, 1% cashback - hard to beat that. I never felt any pressure to buy a home that didn't meet our criteria. I highly recommend Unlocked to anyone wanting to buy a house with the best team on their side. read more

Our friend in SF recommended Justin at Unlocked and we are 100% happy with our switch from a traditional agent. With his help, we successfully purchased our home in Oakland. We really liked his calm, data-driven, and organized approach to our home search. His team's price analysis was spot on. The summary and analysis of the disclosure reports helped ease the stress of going through the whole package. Overall, we had a great experience working with Justin's team. If we were to buy another home, we'd definitely use him again. read more

I got the help from Unlocked and successfully bought a house. It is very reliable! I enjoy working with Jesse. And no hassle for cash back! Many real estate agent try to brainwash you and get you pay more than you should or make a quick immature decision. Unlocked does not do that. My house buying experience with Unlocked last more than one year. Never get pushed to buy. If you ask questions, Jesse will try the best to help. But no bullshit. For people like me, it is really a good experience: A lot of decision is on ourselves. That is how it should be: do your own homework and leverage the help from agents. Not the agent lead you to buy. read more

Working with Unlocked was wonderful and, as advertised, saved us a good amount of money in the process. While they do not provide a search service for your new home, they will be there for every following step of the process. Easy, well documented emails, we never thought there was something missing at any step. If you can do your own research, then Unlocked is a very smart choice; there recommendations for bidding served is very well. read more

Let me start by saying that our experience with Unlocked and our agent, Justin Lemucchi, was nothing short of exceptional. As first-time homebuyers, we embarked on this journey with a mix of excitement and apprehension, but Justin's professionalism and "by the book" approach quickly put us at ease. Justin's deep understanding of all areas of the home buying process was evident from our very first meeting. He educated us on every aspect of the transaction, from disclosures, financing options to negotiation. His in-depth knowledge of disclosures provided us with valuable insights, allowing us to make informed decisions about each property we considered. One area where Justin truly shone was in his communication with sellers. He skillfully navigated properties based on data-driven approaches, always keeping our best interests at the forefront while maintaining a respectful and courteous demeanor with the sellers. His ability to communicate effectively ensured that our offers were competitive and that any issues or concerns were addressed promptly and professionally. Throughout the entire transaction, Justin adhered to ethical standards and best practices, ensuring that every aspect of the purchase was conducted in accordance with regulations. His commitment to doing things the right way gave us peace of mind, knowing that we were in capable hands. This was evident throughout the closing and signing process - it was super smooth. We felt confident that someone out there is looking out for us and we are not signing the wrong deal! Thanks to Justin's expertise and dedication, we found our dream home without any of the stress or uncertainty often associated with the homebuying process in this extremely competitive market called the Bay! In conclusion, I wholeheartedly recommend Unlocked and Justin to anyone, especially first-time homebuyers. If you want are independent in going to open-houses and like to do your due diligence on top what unlocked provides, going with them is a no-brainer. The rebate is super useful and makes it worth it read more

We had a great experience working with Katrina, Matthew, and the rest of the unlocked team! Unlocked was incredibly responsive and patient as we went through the home buying process in San Francisco. We preferred to spend time looking at houses on Redfin ourselves, so using Unlocked made perfect sense for us. We didn't feel pressure to make offers. The team is very professional and did a thorough review of the disclosures. We ended up making two offers with Unlocked. We lost the first offer after going in on the high end of Unlocked's valuation range; the house ending up selling crazy high for 40% above list. We won our second offer, at the low end of Unlocked's recommended valuation range. We found it helpful to visit the first open house of a property to get a sense of foot traffic / potential demand for a property. Unlocked remained involved during the closing process which we also appreciated as first time home buyers. Highly recommend Unlocked! read more

Works exactly as advertised! We worked with Katrina at Unlocked to successfully purchase a home in the Bay Area. Unlocked works exactly as advertised . They will take care of the hard parts of helping with the bidding and purchase process, reviewing disclosures, and giving guidance on the right price point. You take on the responsibility of looking for the homes, and we preferred this approach as we could really go about it at our own pace. Given the high prices of homes in the Bay Area, the rebate is a really significant saving. Would definitely use unlocked again! read more

Wonderful experience working with Jesse at Unlocked on purchasing a "for sale by owner" property in the Bay Area. We had found the house on our own before even finding Unlocked, and we were looking to turn a quick offer in less than 72 hours. Jesse was responsive, knowledgeable, and reassuring. When our offer was accepted, he handled the important work that was completely new to us and was our trusted advisor. Unlocked's rebate was a big advantage (considering we had already found the house), but not even factoring in the cost benefit, the service was overall top notch. Even the spreadsheets Unlocked made for looking at comparables in preparation for the bid were more helpful and robust than what I'd see from others. The "Welcome Basket" upon move-in was a really nice touch. I would absolutely work with Unlocked again and would highly, highly recommend them to any of my friends or people I know who are looking to purchase a new home. read more

A non-traditional brokerage. Also the real deal. If getting the biggest rebate is your number one priority in your home purchase by far, more than anything else, then Unlocked is for you. I purchased a New Construction home with Unlocked in July 2021, and within a week of closing, I got my rebate. They make the process of getting your rebate extremely easy and simplistic. Note that they have a minimum commission, so it's possible that your final rebate will be less than 2%. Which is fine- they make that abundantly clear on the website. read more

They saved us a lot of money in negotiations as well as via the buyers agent rebate. Would recommend 100%.

The experiences was amazing! We like the disclosure review summary a lot. We has another housing buying experience before. We had to go through the different formats of disclosures and trying to figure things out. With the Unlocked disclosure review summary, we were able to find the important items quickly and went through the details. The rebate is great. The welcome home sweet is also very sweet :) read more

We had a fantastic buying experience with Jesse and the Unlocked team. The Unlocked business model is perfect for my style. We had been looking to buy a home in SF for nearly a year. Each time we found something that piqued our interest, I fired off a simple email to Jesse, and he would quickly get back to us with disclosures and all the "private notes" from the MLS - and then he leaves us alone to think about it. No pressure. I appreciate the hands-off style. When we finally found the ideal home for us and it was time to put in an offer, Jesse swung into action. He did all the legwork on scheduling visits, getting through all the paperwork, strategizing on the offer, and ultimately helping us win the home against another bid. Unlocked may not be a traditional full-service buyer's agent, but they are "full-service" where it counts. Lastly, Unlocked was surprisingly prompt at issuing its buyer's rebate - we had it in our bank on the very next day after closing! read more

First off, if you are buying a home less than 2.5 million, you are not getting a 2% rebate. They charge a minimum fee of $12,500, which means you will most likely get ~1.5% rebate. And even less if it's a new home. We worked with Jesse and bid for 3-4 homes in total. We had the wonderful experiences of (1) missing the chance of bidding for our favorite home due to miscommunication of agents (2) being misled with false housing price comparison in order to get us in contract (3) seeing unlock agent being impatient, refusing to negotiate for us and repetitively telling us he was "frustrated" and saying "you should work with someone else" after knowing we will not bid higher or not move forward with the home. I tried to write down those experiences but they are too long to fit in yelp review, so I took screenshots and attached in photos. If anything to add, unlocked agents pretty much only write emails and wouldn't make a call for anything urgent. The only times I had them on the phone was about educating me how to get a home by bidding higher and expressing his frustration of why I wasn't buying the home. I wouldn't suggest working with Unlocked if you're bidding for hot homes or homes with potential issues, given that there are often delays and unlocked agents just want to send you into contracts. But if you just need an offer writer and are quite confident you can get the home with a few tries, Unlocked is probably ok with a ~1.5% rebate. read more

I had a great experience with Katrina and everyone at unlocked. Working with a real estate agent that makes 3% of the purchase price of your home makes no sense these days. I'm grateful that unlocked is doing the work to modernize this antiquated model of real estate purchasing. read more

Jesse helped us find our first home. He is super knowledgable about the industry and made buying a home in a very competitive San Francisco market painless. The Unlocked team also helped us navigate the buying process during the entire covid period, which is especially challenging. read more

Probably the best service I've ever experienced in real estate. I had an unusual home purchase that took over two months to close. Sam was a true professional throughout the entire process. Super responsive, always knowledgeable, and patient and polite, even when my own fuse was short. I can't speak highly enough about the Sam and Unlocked. I honestly don't understand why you'd go with anyone else. I'm 100% going with Unlocked for any future home purchase. Awesome work Sam + team! read more

We had an excellent buying experience with Jesse and the Unlocked team. Before house shopping we already have in mind our ideal types of houses, and since nowadays we can find all necessary information thru Redfin and Zillow, we don't actually need agents to hand pick the houses for us. What we really need from buyer agents is their professional opinions on whether the price is reasonable, and disclosure walkthrough to help us understand potential issues or hazards of the house. Previously we worked with traditional agents before, turns out not as good as we expected, and they are usually charging 2.5 - 3% of the final price. Luckily we found Unlocked! It was the perfect solution for people like us. When we first saw the 2% rebate we thought it was too good to be true. We asked our friends who used Unlock before, they spoke highly of Unlocked, so we decided to give it a shot. So glad we made that decision! Jesse was our point of contact, he arranged all the house tours for us, and he was always available thru email or phone answering our questions. After seeing 7 - 8 houses in around 3 weeks, we put in 2 offers and closed with our dream house. Before each offer placement Jesse would do a detailed disclosure walkthrough and price analysis with us, making sure we are not bidding too much or too less, very responsible! Highly recommend Unlocked to friends and prospective buyers! read more

Katrina & the team at Unlocked came through again and again during my home purchase. My lender was extremely difficult to deal with and Katrina managed the timeline slippage very well and kept me and the seller in the loop when these issues absolutely could have ruined the deal altogether. Definitely took a lot of stress out of the process. Honestly even without the rebate I would have been very happy Unlocked, the check at the end just felt like a crazy bonus! read more

We started working with Jesse back in 2020 for a place for my parents in Santa Monica and then started working with Justin over the past six months or so. Unlocked has proven to be a trusted advisor: looking out for our best interests without pressuring us into making offers. We ultimately closed on a transaction today at a price we feel very good about and a home that we are thrilled about. Huge credit to Justin and his team for helping making it happen in a very competitive environment (two offers were received at a higher number to our contractual price after our offer was accepted). Overall: I highly recommend Unlocked. Their sophistication and expertise is far above the vast majority of players in the marketplace. read more

My husband and I loved our Unlocked experience! Sam guided us through our first time house-buying process, clearly communicating with us and being prompt with emails (which we really appreciated). We also listened to his bidding advice and was able to make a successful offer on our first home! We were very picky throughout the house-buying process, only making a single offer, and we are SO happy to finally own our first home. Thanks again to Sam, Jennifer, and Katrina! read more

We just purchased a house with Jesse from Unlocked and they were extremely helpful. This is the second home we've bought through Unlocked and this time the negotiation as especially thorny. Jesse remained calm throughout and helped us to get creative to make the deal work. He offered solid advice and was a good liaison through the process. With his hard work we were able to get the deal done and it was great to receive a rebate on the tail end to help fund some repairs and other items with the home. I would absolutely use Unlocked again! read more

Sam helped me to buy a new construction home in Richmond's Marina Bay neighborhood. While we never met in person, he was always very communicative and available via phone or email. He worked with me for about three months, from first contact to closing. He seemed willing to be as involved as I wanted him to be, which turned out to be not very much, as I was able to get a lot of help from the home builder and mortgage officer as well. There were, however, a couple times when I wasn't sure if they (builder/seller) were being straightforward with me, so Sam was able to advise me on how to proceed and what to expect. As a first-time home buyer, I did have some pretty basic questions, and Sam was always sympathetic and never condescending or dismissive. And of course, the rebate was so nice to receive. They sent it exactly a week after closing. I got the impression they could've even sent it sooner, but I wasn't putting any urgency on them since I was distracted with other stuff. read more

We chose Unlocked after seeing so many positive reviews on Yelp. We worked with Jesse and his team to close our purchase recently and our experience was even beyond our expectation from these reviews. Surely they will not take you to visit houses, but we kind of enjoyed visiting open houses stress-free and controlling the pace of housing hunting. I like their data-driven approach to evaluate house value and prepare offer strategies and I think their approach and their business model has a bright future. What's more, Jesse is very experienced and professional and is an exceptional agent even at full-price. For big decisions regarding home purchases, you are going to need a really smart expert on your side. Last by not the least, 2% rebate in the Bay Area is a big check and a big financial relief to buyers. read more

Can I give a 10 star rating? :) It's pretty rare that I ever do reviews, but I felt so good about our experience w/ Unlocked Home that I had to write one this time. My fiancé and I worked w/ Jesse and his team to buy our first home in SF. We found out about them via Google as we were looking for alternatives to traditional agents since we had a pretty good idea of what we were looking for and didn't need much help on the part of finding a property. Once we found a property we were interested in, Unlocked helped us with their Custom Valuation Report which gave us great comps on the area to figure out what kind of offer we should make on the place. After deciding to go for it, Jesse did an excellent job representing us and we ultimately got to a win win win situation for all parties involved, which is the best kind of deal anyone could ask for, esp in real estate. I would highly recommend Unlocked to anyone that doesn't mind doing the looking part on their own. In addition to the great service we got w/ the Unlocked team, the 2% rebate is a great cherry on top as it helped tremendously with improvements and furniture for the new home. Thanks again for everything Unlocked! read more

After initially using an alternative realtor company we were so lucky to find Katrina Tom and Unlocked. They were just what we were looking for. We would attend the open houses and the Unlocked team would send us property details and an amazing market analysis. They made the buying process so easy. We got our rebate 1 day after closing. Traditional real estate agents are just simply not worth the fees !!!! Unlocked and Katrina were truly the gold standard. read more

I worked with a couple real estate agents prior to finding Unlocked. My experience in the Bay Area was that it was hard to tell if the agents were ever on our side. It seemed like they wanted to goad you into high offers and get you to bid up in a bidding war. After all, they only make money if you purchase a property, so it's not in their interest to tell you "This bidding war is crazy, you should tap out. You'll regret it. " Unlocked doesn't do any of that. My agent Justin did an amazing job throughout the process of looking at properties. Unlocked has established a process where they use a neutral, data-driven valuation review. In the Bay Area where prices are not "transparent," this is very useful. When I finally found a property, they negotiated according to my parameters and I was able to land a home for under asking. Justin was extremely prompt and professional during the transaction itself and even for followups after closing. Chances are, you don't need your hand held by an in-person buyer's agent, who is essentially a salesperson; and may not have your best interests in mind. Go with Unlocked, save a ton of money, and go with a more self directed approach! read more

Two weeks ago, my home purchase was successfully closed with the help of Jesse and his colleagues from Unlocked Home. I got the highest rebate that no other agent can beat. As a first-time home buyer, I don't have experience, but I am under big financial pressure, so I decided to take risk to use Unlocked as my buying agent. It turned out that this is a very sweet experience. And I got to understand the business model of Unlocked. They don't take you to visit house. Actually you don't need that service, you can take your time to open house or contact selling agent. Once you have decision what to buy, Unlocked will help you do the most professional part that you can't do it by yourself, like offer preparation, contingency, escrow and etc. By this way, they can serve more people and earn more, and on your side, you can get more rebate. It's WIN-WIN! Thank you, Jesse! read more

Unlocked - Real Estate Services Near Me

We worked with Matthew to help with our house purchase in the Peninsula and we couldn't ask for a better experience. He was very communicative, responsive, and answered our questions around disclosures, offers, financing, and anything in the process, really, with intelligent knowledge. The service he and the Unlocked team provide is great. We enjoy getting into the numbers and the home analysis provided for our interested properties was insightful to help formulate an offer on our home. The service does not end there, where even shortly after post-close, Matthew helped facilitate resolution on some minor home issues with the sellers. If you are sourcing homes yourself via public means, it is a no brainer to move away from the traditional agent model and utilize the superior Unlocked service to take full advantage of the cash rebate! read more

Like other reviewers mentioned here, we had great experience with unlocked homes. Their service is exactly what's advertised. Agent was available off hours during closing times. We did have some folks going on vacation but there was always someone to cover them. We worked with Miranda and Katrina ... they were both helpful. The rebate arrived on time for our purchase in San Carlos, CA. This is our 4th home purchase so we do know steps well, for first time home buyers you have to be educated enough although you would get easy to read reports from Unlocked. read more

Jesse and the entire Unlocked team were a joy to work with! They went above and beyond on my home purchase and really helped with a difficult closing situation to ensure a smooth closing. I would definitely recommend you consider Unlocked for your home purchase. The process is quick and efficient and the 2% rebate is unmatched in the industry. read more

My wife and I are incredibly happy that we went with Unlock cofounder Jesse as our real estate agent for our home buying needs. I couldn't sing him praises louder and highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy a home! This is our second home purchase and we are looking for some flat fee agent instead of the full 2.5% fees. As a home owner, we kind of knowing what we are looking for but still need help in second opinion/ in contact with Listing agent /preparing offer although Jesse provides values way beyond that. He was there to help until the closing of the contract. For comparison, I also uses Reali for a while and I would say Unlocked provides better and more real-time service. With Reali there is no dedicated agent - whoever catches your chat will continue the case. This sometimes creates repeated and insufficient conversations. With Unlocked, I was able to work with Jesse through the whole process - and this is very important in the million dollar decision because you always know who to talk to. We are so elated with the home that we bought, and we had an extremely smooth bidding and closing process (This is actually the first home we placed an offer!). Jesse shielded us from a lot of the intricacies with our seller agent, and we are deeply appreciative of that. read more

Jesse & Katrina, we're great to work with, very responsive and thorough. The process was smooth and well thought out. I represented the sellers. I look forward to working with them again to close more escrows! read more

We worked primarily with Miranda over the course of 6 months and 8 offers to find and purchase our home. Communication was timely, and they were very professional and supportive over such a long home search. We really appreciate her and the Unlocked team! We never felt pressured, and the pace went however we set it. Working with Unlocked is a different experience than a traditional agent, and we prefer that. We did not need help finding our home, just help executing the offers and negotiations which is basically how Unlocked is designed to operate. The experience is less personable because you don't have the exact same person touring homes with you in person every time, and we never met Miranda in person but that is not a big deal to us because she still worked hard for us. We had several overlap/temporary transitions to other Unlocked agents when Miranda had days off and they all went smoothly. The lightweight style of Unlocked fit our needs very well and the rebate helped immensely for the inevitable spending that happens when moving in. I will definitely use them again for future real estate transactions. Thank you Miranda and the Unlocked team! read more

I had the pleasure of working with a few agents of unlocked brokerage since I was looking for a property for a longggg time. Jesse was my lead agent but I ultimately closed on a property with Justin as my agent. Everyone on the team was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and responsive. Justin even went above and beyond to reach me during a counteroffer negotiation when I had no phone service while abroad. The process of working with unlocked was simple and pressure-free. I regularly browsed Redfin for properties and every time I saw a home that seemed interesting, I would send Jesse an email. He was always quick to respond and quick to get things moving along. He would set up a tour and then send a custom valuation report and disclosure review summary if the property seemed like a good fit. I felt that their custom valuation reports were reasonable even though the homes I was interested in were difficult properties with few direct comps. I loved the disclosure review summary and they were always so quick to get that written and sent over. They would save me so much time reading through the disclosures but mostly allowed me to look out for the specific things that were most concerning. We ended up putting offers on about 5 different homes. San Francisco is incredibly competitive and Jesse and his team try to make sure you are well prepared for the potential outcomes. Even so, I never felt pressured to write an offer or go beyond what I was comfortable with offering on any property. Overall I felt unlocked was a great fit for me. I think they are a great fit for anyone who has already been browsing homes on Zillow or Redfin. They definitely wouldn't be right for people (like my parents) who expect their agent to frequently curate them a list of properties and drag them to go tour homes. The Unlocked brokerage experience is just built different. & who can forget the hefty rebate upon closing! Highly recommended. read more

We are first time home owners and closed our home nov 2019. We worked with Sam and can't recommend him enough!! Sam was able to balance between giving us the tools and explaining nuances of our first home buying process while giving us space to make up our own minds. We liked the detailed analysis of each property and third party estimates that Unlocked provided. The data was very useful to place our bids. Additionally the cash back was unmatched and in terms of ROI, the offering is simply unmatched. Great Customer service, high cash back, data driven insights made Sam and Unlocked a fantastic value for us and we would recommend them wholeheartedly. read more

We bought our house in bay area via unlocked few months after pandemic started. So there were no openhouses and you could only visit the house with a realtor. Here are the highlights: - Their cashback for buying is very high compared to other realtors. The service is what you pay for. Don't expect them to show you the place more than 2 times -- first to see the house and second for final review before closing. If an emergency comes up and you have to reschedule, then forget about the final review. - They sell their custom valuation report and disclosure review summary as state of the art. But it's nothing more than an intern compiling the data in a spreadsheet. The realtor was not at all informed about the market. - They will pressure you into putting a higher offer than the house is worth. When I wanted to put an offer on the house. The realtor pressured me to increase the offer by 5%, when I didn't budge they were very hesitant to even write up an offer. In the end they ended up drafting the offer but also sent a very rude email stating that I should find another realtor moving forward because the offer I sent wouldn't even warrant a counter. In the end my offer was accepted after a round of counter. The sale price was very close to my original offer. - They drag their feet for other formalities a realtor has to do which are generally hidden from buyers. This frustrated the seller and their agent. I got to know more from the seller agent but I wouldn't repeat it here so that they don't get into trouble. read more

Amazing value - This is how I would describe Unlocked in short We just closed a home working with Unlocked and got the 2% rebate. Unlocked team was very professional and thorough at all stages of the process. We saw 10+ houses with Unlocked agents (different agents visit the place with you depending on the location of the house and availability), put in 2 offers and closed with 1. Pros: 2% rebate (a very significant amount considering the Bay Area housing market), proficient with all legal requirements (for the house we closed on, inspection reports were not available and there was a rent back - our offer was very complex) Cons: Just one - I never met Matthew in-person during the whole process. It wasnt an issue for me, Matthew was always available on phone and email. However, if you require that your broker should we with you on all property visits or when you move into your new place, it wont happen - better to go in with the right expectations read more

Unlocked was recommended by some colleagues who'd had a great experience. We were looking at purchasing our first home in the Bay Area and didn't know much about it. Jesse was fantastic, he talked through the whole process on our initial call and putting my mind at eaze. We discussed the whole process of buying a home in the Bay Area, and when and how unlocked could help. He covered many other aspects of a purchase, from market conditions, to different cities, and even liquefaction and seismic risk. At the end of our call Jesse put me in touch with a list of recommended lenders. As it happens we stopped looking for almost 12 months. I ended up emailing Jesse on a Sunday night, and despite having been out of touch for so long, we had a signed offer in on the Monday afternoon. We just missed out on the first offer, but were in contract on a new home less than 3 weeks later. Jesse was amazing every step of the way. Always very responsive. Provided great advice about bidding strategy, and for the places we wanted to offer on sent very detailed comparisons and price guides, as well as a full audit of any disclosures. This was incredibly smooth, and Jesse was incredibly patient and calm throughout. The best bit is we got 2% back on our home on closing. Couldn't recommend highly enough. Thanks to the unlocked team for helping us close on our dream home! read more