Leanna is wonderful! I really can't say enough good things about her. She's knowledgeable, patient,…read morefun to work with, and responsive to texts and emails. Working with Leanna, I had complete confidence that the process would go smoothly and that I was in good hands. We got our dream house for the price we could pay. When we were done, I felt like Leanna was truly happy for us and celebrated this important moment in our lives. She even sent us two big crates of moving boxes. I recommend her 100%

Leanna is a class act, top notch realtor. She handled every part of selling my house with…read moreexpertise and a wealth of knowledge. Leanna's guidance and recommendations were spot on to ensure getting the best price for my house while spending the least amount of money. Leanna has a very responsive and timely communication style. She has a straight forward approach, which is refreshing these days. Her staging and use of Zillow showcase highlighted my home above the others. I received a cash offer for full asking price the same day that my house was listed thanks to Leanna. If you want someone you can trust, who shows up with a smile and does what she says she is going to do, Leanna is the one to call. She is also really funny and has some great social media videos.

HORRIBLE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE My amazing father has dementia…read moreand my family is dealing with the many challenges that come with this disease including the loss of his drivers license and the decision that he can no longer care for himself. It was time to sell his home and he would move to a place where meals are provided and other care that he needs is available. Mind you my parents have only purchased 2 homes in their lifetime and still reside in my childhood home. They are not savvy or knowledgeable about anything related to selling a house. I was ultimately referred to the realtor's broker Melina who contacted me about my requests for fliers and/or a QR code and using social media to promote the house and specifically that in the walkable neighborhood of Englewood where my dad's house is located is a great way to inform people about my dad's remodeled and quaint home. I was told that fliers, social media and other suggestions for advertising were NOT within the advertising agreement that my dad signed with my mom present. They are responsible for signing the agreement but they also didn't know that for the agent/broker commission that all they would essentially receive is staging for a tiny 2 bed 1 bath home, pictures of the property and an open house (neighbors by invitation) the open house was self serving as a way to meet new potential clients and let looky Lou's snoop around the house. I was appalled and shocked no hustle, no strategy whatsoever to make this house move quickly. I believe the house had been on the market for not even 2 weeks and when Melina the owner of this company spoke with me she was a NIGHTMARE think Devil Wears Prada Linda Wintour kind of pompous, rude and condescending. I was hurt, felt disrespected and very upset by her actions and how she treated me. It led to a total breakdown in trust and confidence in her and her agent. I'm not sure if she had even the slightest twinge of care about my family and caregivers fatigue from caring for a family member. Selling his house included the dismantling of my dads home, belongings and it's a painful experience for him and our family. Hiring a realtor and a broker is supposed to take the responsibility and stress away from the family turning it over to "professionals" who happily collect commission and that is when we decided this was not a safe or honorable place to place our trust. The worst part is that I informed Melina owner/broker that my dad didn't have a copy of his signed contract nor did my mother. The broker said that it must be in a box from his move....ummm....No. Electronic email is standard for sending a contract. I did speak to Melina/owner-broker again and I was hoping for a chance to move forward and unfortunately I was again met with a communication style that was abrupt, harsh and her goal is about winning and being right instead of seeking to understand and find common ground. On the complete opposite spectrum our agent remained positive, kind, caring and compassionate. I highly recommend her and hope she's able to find a brokerage firm that matches her energy and professionalism. We appreciate her dedication to our family.

If you are even considering buying a home in Salem/Keizer, I need to tell you a story about an…read moreamazing woman and realtor - Melina Tomson. My Mom recently passed away from brain cancer. It was my job to "handle her affairs", one of which was to sell her home. We interviewed several people based on YELP reviews. We chose Melina to sell Mom's home. We had NO IDEA what a good choice we made. She staged the house just beautifully. Within days we got our first offer. But there were problems on the horizon. Essentially, my Mom's home (which looked beautiful) had a fair amount of deferred maintenance. Here's what we faced 1) sunken oil tank, 2) old roof, 3) heater air-conditioning needed to be replaced, 4) water main to the street needed to be replaced, 5) electrical panel needed to be replaced. That, combined with clouds on the title and some other "issues" meant that we had two "failed sales". Through all of this Melina was "as cool as a cucumber". She always had the answers. More than that - she always knew exactly the right person to call in to help. And, since she's worked with all these contractors before, she was able to get them to do the work with the expectation they would get paid at closing. She did all this with a super positive attitude. The house sold in a fairly short period of time considering the challenges. I don't live in the Salem/Keizer area so there is just no way we could have done this without Melina's finesse, knowledge, and hard work. If you are considering buying or selling a home in the Salem/Keizer market, your first move should be to pick up the phone and call Melina. I'm not a huge referral person, but I would take a phone call from anyone that has any questions. Melina is a rock star! Thanks! You are a friend of the family...

I am Team Liz all the way. In my experience, Liz is the ultimate real estate professional. She…read moresuccessfully guided me through the purchase of my house, in a time where the market and prices are quite frankly, crazy. Liz kept me focused on the reality of what I needed in a house. Pro Tip: when you start house shopping, it's easy to fall in love with a house, and ignore the parts that maybe aren't such a good fit for you. She was quick to point out the potential challenges AND the positive aspects of a property. I felt like Liz worked for me 24/7, with very few breaks and she really knows the market. No question was too stupid and she always made me feel like my house search was VIP: a Very Important Priority. Liz: Professional. Responsive. Responsible. Ethical. And Fun! Liz is the realtor you didn't know you needed. :)

When my husband and I decided it was time to buy a home almost 2 years ago, we were abject…read morebeginners and not even living in the US at the time. We knew where we wanted to live, but didn't know a soul in the area. We reached out to Liz because our family backgrounds were similar, and what a good choice that was! She was able to guide us every step of the way from telling us when a house really wasn't a dream to telling us to jump NOW when the dream was upon us. And, she did it all long distance, in the middle of a pandemic, and when the market was going crazy. Not only did she help us find our perfect home, but she and Bill went way above and beyond for us in so many ways. The one year anniversary of our home purchase is just around the corner, and we have been so happy here. We couldn't have done this without the cheerful guidance of Liz, who will ALWAYS be our realtor.

Brenda was actually not our first realtor. The first showed up at our door with an interested buyer…read moreat a time when we weren't ready to sell, but was polite and kept in occasional contact for months until we were. My wife had mentioned to the gentleman that it would be nice to be able to sell to the buyer they had and not to have to put the house on the market, but at no point did the realtor suggest that it may not be in our best interests monetarily to sell without putting the house on the market. When it came time to sign the contract retaining the realtor, I had a couple of days before fallen and would later find out fractured two of my ribs. I was in a lot of pain and not exactly thinking clearly, but the realtor made my wife and I feel pressured to sign on the spot before going to urgent care that day. We were also shown a CMA that estimated the value of our house more than 15% below what it would ultimately sell for, but "coincidently" was the amount the buyer they had was willing to pay. The relationship quickly soured and after a couple of weeks of back and forth which included the realtor's very condescending superior telling us she had worked on the CMA and our house was actually worth even less and that they had valued it generously, they finally let us out of the exclusivity contract. I only bring that all that up in our review because working with her was an absolute night and day difference. At no point was she ever pushy like the other realtor or condescending like his superior, and she just had a trustworthy vibe that the previous realtor, although polite, did not. Brenda came and took a look at our house, worked up a far more comprehensive CMA that came in much higher than the other realtor's CMA, and after having some other members of her team come take a look at the house actually suggested we price it even higher than the CMA indicated. We were a little bit nervous that maybe things had swung too far in the opposite direction and we were asking too much in the current housing market, but it turned out Brenda and her team had nailed it. The house went up on the market, we had a few showings, and offers came in very quickly; several which were quite a bit higher even than the already raised asking price. We went with an offer that wouldn't close for a couple of months thinking it would give us plenty of time to find a new house to move in to. During this time, Brenda's colleague Leslie was our buyer's agent. We were using the internet to find homes we were interested in, so we didn't need that part of her services but still wanted an experienced agent to help make sure everything went smoothly and it turned out we would have been in big trouble without her! In the process of finding the house we would buy, Leslie drove well out of her (as far as I can tell from a quick web search at least) normal service area on at least one, maybe two different occasions to view houses with us. She never complained or even mentioned that she usually doesn't go out that far. We settled on a new construction house that required non-refundable earnest money. We had no reason at the time to think that there would be any problems, but just three days before closing the person buying our house backed out with no warning and by then the other offers were no longer on the table. It was obviously not Brenda's fault, but we were absolutely crushed because we couldn't imagine getting such good offers again, especially since we would have to sell very quickly to close on the house we wanted to buy. On top of that, we would lose the earnest money. Brenda and Leslie sprang into action, with Leslie managing a very busy open house and convincing the notoriously inflexible new construction company to agree to push back the closing date not just once, but twice, and Brenda lining up several private showings in a very, very short time frame. Once again, we had several offers above asking price. In the end, we came out with almost just as much as the initial offer that had fallen through and were able to get the house we wanted. Throughout the entire messy process, both Brenda and Leslie were very patient with our constant questions and always got back to us very quickly even on weekends and at times we would not have expected such quick replies. They went above and beyond and treated us like family in a way that may have been more common decades ago but seems very rare these days, and their supportiveness and quick action really got us through the period where it felt like everything was falling apart. I honestly can't think of adequate words to express how grateful we are and can only hope that this review will bring some business their way because they deserve as much as they can handle.

Leslie was amazing to work with start to finish! She helped us craft competitive offers, even in…read morethe heat of the 2021 housing market, and eventually land our dream home in far less time than we expected it to take. She was always responsive, knowledgeable, professional, kind, cheerful, and incredibly helpful. We couldn't have asked for a better or smoother experience!!

My wife and I recently purchased our first home using Luis Garibay (currently Luis Garibay of…read more(@Keller Williams). The first thing anybody needs to know is that we did not have a large budget but Luis treated us like we were buying a multi-million dollar home. He was engaged, attentive, knowledgeable, wise, trustworthy and simply outworked the realtors of everybody else we know. I will use Luis Garibay for any real estate purchase I ever make. He has a great team and can take care of every aspect of the buying process including financing, inspections, and closing. Everything worked like a finely tuned machine from start to finish. By the end of our purchase, my wife and I both feel like Luis is more of a friend than a service provider. If you are looking for a realtor go with Luis. You will not be sorry.

I met Luis working as his sales manager at a previous job. During that time I saw his true work…read moreethic and honesty towards his customers. Once I found out that he was a realtor, I dropped what I was doing and started working with him to find me the perfect house because I knew he would treat me the same way. I was already working with a realtor to find a house, and not only did I feel that he wasn't taking me seriously due to my young age, he was only able to show us 1 house in our price range. As Luis and I started working together he came prepared to show me TONS of properties! Made a big first impression of how much more willing he was to find us our home. Throughout the process the communication was SO quick to respond, and accurate. Every time I asked for an opinion Luis had an educated response that helped me as a first time home buyer. He provided great references for lenders, home inspectors, and appraisers and they did a great job working as a team. He found us two PERFECT HOMES and we ended up winning both bids against multiple buyers because of his outside the box thinking! We were able to pick which one we wanted to go with. Couldn't have asked for a better experience, and I wish you the best luck in the future, Luis!

The purchase and/or sale of a home is one of the biggest financial transaction most of us make in…read moreour lifetime...It can be a very stressful and arduous process that can be very painstaking to say the very least... Hector made this process for my wife and I relatively simple and stress free...He was very professional in the way he guided us through the process. Being that he was raised in the surrounding Salem area, his general knowledge help guide us to specific areas. With his previous work experience in the building industry, he provided us with expert knowledge of materials and craftsmanship, that only a few Realtors would be able to provide. Most importantly, he was very patient with us throughout this Real Estate transaction...he was never pushy and provided the both of us with the necessary information to make sound decisions... With the transaction finalized, my wife & I would definitely recommend Hector for any of your Real Estate transactions in the Central Willamette Valley area... On a whim. we chose Hector because of his humorous John L Scott webpage photo...We now consider him a great friend...

My husband retired and we decided to move to Oregon where our oldest daughter had just moved to…read more Amy recommended her realtor, Hector Garcia whom we decided to work with and are so happy we did! For the following 6 months we were impressed by Hector's knowledge and connections over and over. We were not easy clients being older with all that comes with it! Number one on our list was a single story home with some space. Elbow room plus storage for our 10 Tons of possessions! This we got and more! This was to be our final home, hopefully and Hector in the following months educated us about things we had no idea about, like sewers and water rights. We saw so many houses we lost track of how many but through it all Hector patiently guided us through it! Hector is so knowledgeable about so many things, from windows to roofs! Being local to the area Hector knew people and assisted us getting inspectors, negotiated repairs and even got us a mountain of firewood to get us through the winter in our new home. Throughout the entire process Hector assisted and guided us. Thank you Hector for your excellence and professionalism. We love our forever home and it even has a river running through it!

I've known Sue for a long time (we've received her neighborhood and digital newsletters for years),…read moreso it was a pleasure to finally get to work with her for the purchase of our family home last fall. I didn't expect such a smooth process considering all the challenges we faced, but I know that was only due to the professionalism and experience that she brings to the table (along with a great team of agents, like Ryan, and all their support staff). Don't hesitate to reach out to them no matter where in the process of buying or selling you may be, they really are a pleasure to work with!

If you really want to sell your house--Hire Sue Long!…read more We listed our home with really a nice realtor for three months and had one couple look at it. We waited another three months and tried again. This time we called Sue. Sue walked through our house and in a nice way made us realize we were NOT selling our creative decorations, our wonderful artifacts, our exquisite paint job, our personal style. Sue hired a stager to take over. Sue gave us a painter to replace the vibrant purple and yellow of our dining room with a subtle and neutral light gray. He also repainted the gaudy but beautiful bathroom my wife loved. We removed about 50 attractive canvases and photos my wife had taken. We sold, gave away, or stored 3/4 of our nice but dated furniture. We rolled up our rugs so the hardwood floors showed. We de-cluttered times two! Then Olivia came in with furniture and art and turned our formerly beautiful home which was full of character into a bland, neutral upscale hotel room. And guess what? We had hundreds of views on line, nearly 100 saves and two offers, one was $16,000 above our asking price! 10 days after it went on line we were selling our house. You love your house and you want someone to love it just the same way you do. NO! You want someone to buy your house so you can move on to your next adventure. YES! Sue is the mastermind. She is the professional who knows how to sell a house, YOUR HOUSE. Give her a call.

Doubled his estimate upon arrival at our house (the square footage had not changed)…read more Left for several hours on the first day of work to pick up "helpers." Returned with his wife and teen son. Our only conclusion was that the teen son did the painting as evidenced by pictures. Did ABSOLUTELY NO PREP! Nail holes were not filled. Did not remove switch plates. Did not remove picture hangers or wall anchors. Did not ask questions about what to remove. Painted a wall (twice) that he was asked not to paint. Claimed (twice) that he had fixed all issues about which we expressed dissatisfaction. He cleaned up only things he thought we could see. Pictures attached to this review are the AFTER pictures. AFTER he had fixed ALL problems. We will be filling a complaint with the CCB.

Soto is a very professional in the painting field, He's responsible with timing and quality, We…read moreHired him for a Full House Painting project and the results were way beyond our expectations!! I definitely think this company is a top choice for people looking for professional painters. I Highly recommend Soto and His Team!!