Rachel Ni

1/17/23Allyson Santos

Google Review

1/12/23Karla Rivera

Google Review

6/23/22Jin Chen

Google Review

Look no further. Rachel is the absolute best! We were relocating from Texas to the Bay Area, so we only had a limited time for house hunting. We flew to the Bay Area for a weekend, and Rachel organized 20 housing tours. We fell in love with a house and we made an offer. Through Rachel's hard work, our offer was accepted! We felt so lucky as this made our relocation a lot less stressful, and the timeline worked out perfectly for us. Rachel took care of organizing all the cleaners, repairs, walkthrough, and was able to promptly fix any problems that arose. She replies to texts or phone calls instantly. It's a great feeling to know that Rachel will always be there for you. Even after closing, Rachel is always there for any questions or recommendations. We feel so lucky to find Rachel, and we highly recommend her! Thank you Rachel!

5/10/22Richard Zhang

Google Review

As a first-time newbie homebuyer in a rapidly changing market, we were super nervous about the process and didn't really know how to start. We were very fortunate to have Rachel guiding us. Rachel was the perfect medium between not being pushy, but also being clear when presenting her thoughts and opinions.

We met Rachel at an open house, when doing some preliminary searching. We noted she was not aggressively trying to seek our business and let us be comfortable in the open house, and decided to reach out to her afterwards when trying to choose an agent. Before our first meeting, Rachel sent us the standard paperwork for purchasing a home to look over. During the meeting, she spent a few hours walking through the paperwork, patiently answering any questions we had about the homebuying process. This was super helpful in getting us oriented.

When we started looking at open houses together, the first few weeks, Rachel made sure to teach us about what to look for and actively asked us about our preferences. I appreciated that in the beginning, she was trying to understand and inform us, and not pushing us to make an offer before we were comfortable with the process.

Rachel was very generous with her time, going to see homes whenever we were available, every 1-2 weekends. Rachel helped inform us about all the aspects that go into the value of a home that we did not to look for, such as the home materials/foundations, school district quality, location, etc. During the offer stage, Rachel set a realistic expectation for what price and package was needed to be competitive. We really needed this help, as houses are often going way over asking price, it can be unclear what to bid.

We were able to get our home on the 2nd try! Since then, Rachel has always able to provide recommendations and contacts, such as for contractors, insurance, inspectors, gardeners, and lawyers, for all the work and maintenance that needs to be done even after purchasing the home.

We really appreciate Rachel's help through the process and will surely recommend her to any friends who are looking to purchase or sell a home!

4/15/22wen li

Google Review

Rachel is the best agent we have ever worked with! This is our second time working with her. The first time was a quick buy. we were in a rush and Rachel helped us to purchase a very nice condo and we got to move in just in time! This time, we wanted to upgrade but we had limited budget. Rachel sat down with us and listened carefully about what we wanted. The thing is, we had no idea what we wanted at the time. Rachel was so helpful and patient. In the end, we bought our dream house and sold our condo, both with a very good price.

She is very busy but we always feel like we are her only client! She was very responsive to our calls and text messages. She always had time to show us houses. She never pushed us to make an offer we can't afford or will regret. She treats us like a family. I can't say enough nice things about her. Most importantly, she has a very good sense about the market. You can trust her with either buying or selling your houses, 100%!!

2/26/22Yixi Liu

Google Review

Rachel is a super nice person, she helped us to get a house with very good price, which is very hard on the current crazy market. She is a very responsible person, and she always tries her best to help you spend every of your penny worthy. We bothered her a lot for showing houses, talking about house upgrade, etc., but she is always very patient and never complains. Rachel is also very knowledgeable and experienced in picking a good house with over 15 years house purchasing/selling experience, she knows all the tricks. She also has lots of good connections with agents from other companies, that really helps with house purchasing, you get a lot better chance to get the house but not wasting too much money. I introduced Rachel to my friends, and I highly recommend Rachel if you need help for house selling or purchasing, she won't let you down.

2/1/22Samaneh Pourali

Google Review

Rachel is a phenomenal real-state agent! We have known her for over 6 years and worked with her to purchase our homes in the Bay Area. She has an amazing personality and networking skills that will help her clients to negotiate in a very competitive market. She always goes above and beyond for her clients and will be your best advocate!

We loved working with her during our first home purchase and could not think of anyone else to work with for our second home. It was more challenging to visit homes during the pandemic but Rachel worked with our schedules to plan home visits and open houses. When we requested, Rachel was always candid about her opinion on the homes we visited by informing us about all the advantages/disadvantages (neighborhood, home conditions, disclosures, school districts, price point, etc). Our current home purchase was definitely more complicated in terms of seller’s situation, but Rachel worked tirelessly to assist us with the purchase process and coordinating with the seller’s agent. I highly recommend Rachel Ni for your next property purchase!

1/5/22Luca Bertelli

Google Review

My wife and I had an amazing experience working with Rachel. She is incredibly knowledgeable, responsive and fun to work with. Most importantly, during the whole process, she was very respectful of our needs and we never felt pressured to rush to any conclusions. She provided constantly with good insights on market trends and properties coming on the market. When the hectic times to bid on homes came, she was super responsive, even at very unconventional times of the day. I would definitely recommend Rachel to anyone looking to purchase a home in the Peninsula!!

11/29/21Emily Fu-Sum

Google Review

I had an amazing experience with Rachel! She made the entire home-buying process seamless. She is skilled, strategic, very knowledgeable about the Bay Area market, and a delight to work with. Rachel was very responsive at any time of day and patiently answered all of the questions I threw her way. Highly recommend!

11/15/21Zoey Zhong

Google Review

Rachel is very professional, experienced, and skilled at negotiating with strategies, highly recommended! She always explained things patiently, straight to the point, easy to understand for buyers. The market is super competitive, she definitely turned the buying experience into an enjoyable journey, we worked with Rachel for only 2 weeks and got our dream house in our pocket!

8/21/21Jackie D

Google Review

I have known Rachel in a personal capacity for almost 8 years but until recently had never needed her skills as an agent. Upon my father’s unexpected passing, I contacted her for help with finding a new condo on the peninsula for my mom who needed to relocate from FL to be closer to me. Rachel was knowledgeable, a great listener who asked intelligent questions, always responsive via text/email, and she found many options while balancing my mom’s wish list and budget. She found my mom a condo in San Carlos, and as it was new construction, she negotiated and proactively added language to the sales contract securing the right to cancel if there were lengthy construction delays. Unfortunately, we had to leverage this clause due to delays, but Rachel, with her extensive network, found an even better condo for my mom in Burlingame. Despite there being a competing offer, Rachel again displayed her strategic negotiating skills and secured the deal. She was a fierce advocate for my mom during the entire buying process and even now as my mom works with contractors to update her new home. This was a tumultuous year for me and my newly-widowed mom, and we are so grateful for Rachel. We highly recommend her!

8/13/21M W

Google Review

Rachel helped me sell my condominium on the Peninsula. I screened multiple real estate agents; however, I chose to go with Rachel because of her experience, enthusiasm, and selling strategy which she went through during our initial meeting. She was never pushy and gave me plenty of time to consider. I appreciated her responsiveness and making herself available to address any concerns I had during the selling process. Rachel is a strategic negotiator, good listener, and hard worker and made the selling process go smoothly. Rachel leveraged her contacts and I received offers within the first hours and was able decide and accept an offer in record time. Her experience and insight helped me negotiate an even higher selling price! As a result, I was able to save money both on staging and appraisal fees. She knew the best strategy for pricing to get market attention and the selling price range I was targeting. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking to sell or buy property in the Bay Area.

8/8/21Kristopher Ling

Google Review

We contacted Rachel Ni after reading many raving reviews about her online, and they all turned out to be truthful! Rachel is extremely dedicated, resourceful, and friendly. She worked within our budget, asked us about the features we want, and gave us listings that match our preferences very well. She was very informative about the neighborhoods we were interested in and gave us honest advices about the pro’s and con’s of the properties. She was never pushy and gave us plenty of time to consider. We were first-time home buyers in a hot seller’s market during COVID pandemic. Expecting to be out-bided time and again, we were totally surprised when our first offer was accepted, thanks to Rachel’s impressive negotiation skills. We highly recommend Rachel to anyone wanting to buy or sell a property!

7/2/21Angelo Montagnese

Google Review

Rachel and Jay were so awesome when purchasing our current home, so when we were ready to sell our prior home there was no question that Rachel and Jay were who we wanted by our side! Rachel and Jay made the process so simple and smooth from start to finish. They were knowledgeable, efficient, and comforting throughout the sale process. We are so happy with the result.

Thank you so much Rachel and Jay!

6/25/21Singkin Yue

Google Review

Rachel is a highly professional with great relational skills. I met her after an extended reviews and brief telephone chats with several agents. She replied to my inquiry with prompt responses. Her in-depth knowledge and commitment to the area make her an excellent resource. She was meticulously paying attention to details, organizing any additional services, and collaborating from initial meeting through close of escrow. I was stress free and appreciated our working relationships. I am looking forward to working with her on my real estate investment plans. I am also highly recommended her to my family and friends.

6/22/21Wing Sze Ng

Google Review

My husband and I had an incredible experience with Rachel. We bumped into her at an open house when we first started looking for our dream house this year. After chatting with her, we were moved by how passionate and helpful she was so we decided to look for houses using her help. As a first time home buyer, we had lots of questions and Rachel was patient enough to answer every one of them. She is also very responsive and transparent for their clients. She handled any issue or problem that arose quickly and our house closed without a hitch.

Rachel guided us every step of the way in the process. She even helped us with recommendations as we explored what repairs we'd need to address. She is very knowledgeable about real estate as well as construction/renovations. We are very happy with our purchase and Rachel did an outstanding job as our agent. We highly recommend her!

6/16/21Delsi Fonseca

Google Review

Our experience with Rachel was beyond amazing. She helped us purchase our first home and we can not thank her enough for the work she put in. She is very knowledgeable about the market and about the industry. She does not play games, she goes straight to the point and makes sure the deal gets done. She responded almost immediately if we had any questions throughout the process and made sure that every and any question was answered. We had an amazing experience and we are beyond grateful with her.

6/10/21khosro bandari

Google Review

I was frustrated & put one star, they called & explained , I tried to remove my review; system doesn’t give me a chance; since I didn’t get their service yet can’t give a final review. So to do not damage their score I put 4 stars. Hopefully I will give them 5 stars at the end

4/30/21Elizabeth Phillips

Google Review

Rachel Ni is simply one of the best realtors our family has had the pleasure to work with. I personally have used her services twice and she is fantastic! Rachel is easy to reach, very responsive, very complete in her advice and extremely knowledgeable. We used Rachel for two properties on the SF peninsula. Once to sell a house and once to buy a condo. She has a full set of experienced professionals to call upon if you need help. She spots the good and bad and gives unvarnished advice that you can trust. She is an expert with Peninsula properties and really knows the ins/outs of her territory. We can't recommend her enough! If you want a professional you can trust with your best interest at heart, call Rachel Ni!

3/19/21Bela Kwan

Google Review

My family and I have worked with Rachel Ni over the course of 7 years with the sale and/or purchase of 3 different properties in the Bay Area, so I can say with confidence that I highly recommend Rachel for all your real estate needs. She is friendly, reliable, honest and has many years of experience buying and selling multiple types of real estate in different price ranges.

In 2020, Rachel and her team helped me and my fiancé to purchase our very first home together in San Mateo. As first time home buyers, we had absolutely no idea what we were doing but Rachel walked us through everything and really held our hands throughout the process. I’m the type to ask lots of questions and Rachel was extremely patient with me. She was very knowledgeable, answered all my questions, explained all the confusing jargon and really went above and beyond to make sure I didn’t have to stress out.

Very early in the process, we lost out on what we thought was “the one” when we were too slow to decide to put in an offer. I was SO upset. But Rachel, with her years of experience, reassured me and told me that there would soon be even better homes coming on the market and less than a week later, she was right! With Rachel’s guidance, my fiancé and I purchased a condo in a great complex, in an even better location than the one we thought was “the one,” so we’re super happy! Moral of the story: Don’t get discouraged and give up. A better one will come along.

Buying a home in the midst of a global pandemic was new to everyone but Rachel and her team made the whole experience amazing for us. We were pretty aggressive in looking for a home ASAP and wanted to see as many as we could each weekend. Rachel and her team were completely on board. Gone are the days where you can just drop by an open house, so Rachel coordinated and set appointments so that we saw multiple properties each weekend.

Most recently in February 2021, Rachel helped my family and I sell our studio in Daly City. The same one that she had helped us purchase a few years prior. Since my parents were living abroad, we thought there may be issues in the process, but Rachel made sure things went smoothly. Before we could even get the property on the market, it was discovered that the bathroom ceiling had water damage caused by the unit above. Rachel and her team were completely on top of it. She arranged everything including assessing the damage, getting it fixed and repairing the ceiling. From then on things moved real quick. Painting the whole unit, removing cabinets, replacing stove, cleaning, staging and marketing were done in just a few days. Even after the water damage hiccup, we were able to sell our studio on time. The best part was, even though there was huge competition on the market at the time, it sold for a great price! Rachel knew the best strategy for pricing to get the attention we wanted to sell for the price we wanted. After 3 properties with her, trust me, Rachel knows what she’s doing. I will definitely be working with Rachel again in the future when my fiancé and I are ready to buy our next home.

Pro tip: If she brings you for Dim Sum, it means she likes you!

2/23/21Abdel Aziz

Google Review

I met Rachel, had a 5-minute conversation and she didn't waste any time. The next day she had found exactly what I was looking for, exceeding all my expectations. The process was seamless and I finally have an apartment I can see myself living in long term. I will definitely recommend her to friends looking to buy as well as rent. She was a true professional and will be my first call the next time I am in the market to buy or rent!

1/31/21Olivia Smith

Google Review

Rachel was a dream to work with when buying my first home! She was patient, kind, and extremely knowledgeable about the Bay Area market and really knew how to submit a winning offer in such a competitive market. My first offer was accepted!! She was extremely responsive any time of day via text/call/email, and she really listened to what I was looking for. I ended up closing on my home during the pandemic and with the extra restrictions in place due to Covid-19, was feeling anxious, but she calmed me down and made me feel at ease during the entire process. Most importantly, she made me feel that I was her top priority and was looking out for my best interest. She was never pushy or made me feel pressured into buying a home. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone. Thank you, Rachel!

9/9/20Birim Kamber

Google Review

We had a fantastic experience from start to finish!   We moved to the Bay Area 10 month ago and were looking to buy our first home.  It was a difficult task to pick the right agent. We’ve done our researches online and every agent seemed to have 5 stars...  We came across Jay and Rachel... called them on a weekend and they were able to schedule us in on the same day.  They went over the buying process and we started looking for homes right after. Since we were not familiar with the  Bay Area, Jay and Rachel showed us homes from San Francisco to mid Peninsula. Our search lasted 9 months. They were patient and always provided us with pros/cons of each neighborhood and property we were interested in. What impressed me the most is they looked at homes with us with such honesty, as if they were buying their home. Moreover, they have never pressure us into buying any property. They are fantastic and very understanding. They have always been easy to reach on the telephone/texts and have been very efficient with scheduling during covid.

They explains us the buying process from loan to going through the purchase contract. We were able to get the lowest interest rate and most importantly, we found our dream home after seeing so many. We were first time home buyers and thrilled by the level of support and education we received from them. In the end, we got our dream home for a lower than listed price and we can't be happier with the results. If you want an agent that will understand your needs, knowledgeable, %100 honest experience,  the Ni/Doker Group has been amazing and I would recommend them to my friends and family.

7/8/19Bowen Yang

Google Review

Rachel, Jay, and Gino are a team of amazing agents without whom we could not have bought our first home! We met them at an open house and were very impressed with how knowledgeable and open they were. They gave us information and tricks that we haven't heard from any of the other agents we've talked to, which ultimately helped us land our dream home.

I particularly appreciate a few things about them. 1. They were always responsive, no matter what the day/time. 2. They have different strengths and work truly well as a team. They would give different opinions on a house and leave the decision to us. 3. They went above and beyond for us. For example, Rachel brought a contractor a few times in showings so that we have an idea of how much renovation would cost. Another time we were in an open house and Jay called the inspector who wrote the disclosure on that house.

All in all, I strongly recommend Rachel, Jay, and Gino as real estate agents. As individuals they are already amazing, and together they are a true powerhouse. We feel very lucky to have worked with them in our first house buying experience.

4/14/19Tian Yu

Google Review

Best agents you can find in Bay Area. Hands down. Rachel and Jay are the best. They are super helpful, patient and professional all the time and helped us from the most basics of home until the last signature of the purchase procedure. We were super picky along the way but Rachel and Jay were always there for us. We feel so fortunate that we can work with them on our first purchase, and we will definitely recommend them to anyone with no hesitation at all.

12/30/18Wiinja Mod

Google Review

Rachel and Jay have been absolutely amazing to work with. Both are very knowledgeable about the market and provided great advice when looking for a home. They went above and beyond what was expected and were a pleasure to work with. Thanks Guys for helping us buy our dream home!

12/30/18Cynthia Bonavia

Google Review

We were so lucky to meet Rachel and Jay! They have gone above and beyond to help us find the perfect home and to make the process as smooth as possible. Rachel and Jay treated us like family-- making sure that all of our questions and concerns about the home were answered so that we felt comfortable with our decision. Their responsiveness and care are a true asset and their expertise is invaluable. We truly appreciate their honesty and experience. We couldn’t have asked for a better home purchase experience!

7/30/18Lynne Bergmann

Google Review

Hi Rachel,

I am just so impressed by you! You are an incredible agent and will recommend you to all my friends.

Thank you so much for being by my side every step of the way. The decision to sell and move has not been easy for me. I could not have had a better person to get me through this emotional time in my life. You are such a wonderful person😘

I have a great feeling about the family who purchased the home. I know they will love and cherish it as much as I did. Most importantly because of their love of the house they have the resources to improve and maintain it’s beauty.

Getting a great price for the house made it hurt less.

You earned every bit of that commission and then some. I have never seen a real estate agent work so hard and have it so together. It’s no wonder you are at the top of your class, lol. Well done my friend!

I can’t thank you enough!!!

Love ya😘😘😘

Lynne

7/9/18Steve Beck

Google Review

I cannot recommend Rachel Ni and Jay Doker highly enough. They bring a unique blend of tireless work ethic, amazing breadth and depth of knowledge of the local markets, keen insights into selling (and buying) strategy and negotiation, incredible patience, warmth, and humor, as well as a real focus on, and insights into, client needs and wants coupled with expertise in construction that protect their clients from buying the "wrong" house. To this latter point, one of the things that most impressed us about Rachel and Jay was their patience and strong desire that we buy the right house for us rather than the most expeditious. They actually on a couple of occasions strongly recommended that we not compromise on things they knew to be important to us (beyond but also including price). After a fairly short time, we became friends with Rachel and Jay, not just clients and look forward to a long term relationship with them. We recommend them in the strongest possible terms for your real estate needs.

6/29/18Jasmine Lee

Google Review

They say the good things come to those who wait. I first met Rachel in 2015 at an open house when I was beginning my search for the perfect single family home. I had no idea the process of purchasing a home and I remember Rachel asking me if I wanted to come into her office so she can explain the steps. I felt her warm and welcoming presence which made me want to hold onto her contact information. In 2018, I finally decided to reach back out to her because I was ready to purchase a home.

I was once advised that it's best to have a great "team" when purchasing a home because they will all work harmoniously when it's go-time. I emailed Rachel and asked who she liked working with to get a pre-approval loan and one of them was Gordon Ling from Bank of America (he is amazing, by the way). Once I got pre-approved, Rachel and her partner Jay came out to the properties I was interested in and greeted me with hugs. One thing that I appreciate about Jay is that he is the best at explaining complicated situations into simplistic terms. Both Rachel and Jay are extremely professional yet lighthearted and always finds ways to make you laugh.

I was pretty particular in the location I wanted to purchase a home and once I found the "perfect" home, I told Rachel and Jay that this house is "the one." They immediately looked up comparables and contacted the selling agent for the disclosures. Fast forward to the bidding day, I was really hoping that Rachel and Jay would work their magic and they certainly did. They worked strategically to win my home and when I got the call from Rachel that I "got the house", I cried with happiness.

Rachel and Jay are some of the hardest working brokers and they will work tirelessly to help you achieve your home buying needs (I mean, when do they even sleep??). I feel so fortunate that they were willing to work with me. My home was the first bid that I have placed and we got it. I'm so glad I didn't have to bid on 20 different home thanks to Rachel and Jay's wealth of knowledge and flawlessly executed planning.

Thank you Rachel and Jay for making me become a HOMEOWNER! You are the best and I wish you both nothing but success in your careers. I will be referring you to everyone I know!

4/17/18taru gujral

Google Review

Rachel Ni recently helped us in both buying our new home and selling our old property, and we could not have been more satisfied with the process. Rachel is extremely professional and knowledgeable. We were terrified of the real estate horror stories in the bay area – but Rachel’s expert guidance helped us buy our dream home fairly quickly and at the right price ! She was patient, understanding, always available and most of all handled the entire deal with total engagement. She made us feel like we were her only clients. What I loved most is that she constantly put herself in our shoes and really understood what we wanted. Another thing to point out is that she was not overly pushy as sometimes agents can be and often steered us away from homes we thought we liked (very rightly so). Her preparedness and expertise also helped us sell our old home at an incredible price !

3/18/18Shaun Ziqin Rong

Google Review

My wife and I worked with Jay and Rachel on our first housing purchase here in the bay area. They are very knowledgeable, kind and they helped us a lot. We are very impressed with the way they carried themselves as the real estate agents. They are always honest, putting themselves in the buyers' shoes and never rush you into any decisions. In the bay area, the housing market is very hot, and sometimes this can be very frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I'm already paying the maximum I can afford, and seriously I don't even think that property is worth that much, but still, the final sale price is beyond way my imagination. Jay and Rachel always tell us to manage our expectation and emotions and never give up and never give in. We feel very fortunate to work with them.

12/12/17Kate Surman

Google Review

Rachel did a wonderful job helping us purchase our home. She was always available and made us feel the we were her top priority. Even after the sale was complete she helped us with answers to a variety of questions. She even thought of things that we would never have thought of ourselves. And she went out of her way to recommend the best path for us, even when it wasn't the most profitable for her. High integrity! I highly recommend her!

10/13/17Fan Yunxia

Google Review

I asked Rachel to be my buyer agent because of her clients' excellent reviews and my experience demonstrated that she deserve all the praises. I had wonderful experience to cooperate with her. First of all, as a high-performance agent, her schedule is super full but she always replies me at the first time and answers my questions patiently, just like I am her only client. Secondly, I would say Rachel is very professional and experienced. She is good at all kinds of techniques and skills to help me get the house I like. She does not only rely on the public platform but also use her excellent relationship with local agents to obtain house resources. That means you won't miss any opportunity. What's most important is Rachel always stand in my shoes and protect my interest: In such crazy real estate market, it's very hard for a buyer to keep calm, especially after you are beat several times. Rachel always stand beside me and remind me whether my offer price is reasonable. She doesn't want me buy something way beyond our ability or pricey. All in all, cooperating with Rachel is making a good friend who really care about you instead doing a business.

10/12/17Sharine Liu

Google Review

I would highly recommend Rachel for first time home buyers. She was very responsive and helpful during the whole process, from the first time I met her in her office in Burlingame till I close my contract.

9/10/17Funan Shi

Google Review

Rachel works fast and reliable. She helped us find our dream house, and was incredibly patient and responsive during our first home buying experience. She has been working in the peninsula for a long time and has extensive network of lenders and contractors, and were very good recommendations. She continues to be immensely helpful and responsive after the deal closes, such as advertising our rental units to network. Amazing experience!

9/10/17Wei Zhao

Google Review

Rachel helped us getting our dream home. She's knowledgable, easy to communicate with and, most importantly, knows how to get the deal done. Would definitely recommend her to any serious home buyers.

8/22/17Caroline Stork

Google Review

Rachel helped my husband and me buy our first home on the peninsula. It took 5 months and several offers given the competitive nature of the market here, but Rachel always gave us attention and followed through. She was very responsive (during both the week and weekend, day or night) and accommodated several last minute requests for more information prior to an offer; she even asked her contractor to come examine a crawl space for me on very short notice. She went the extra mile!

4/29/17Mike M

Google Review

4/22/17Chris Chiasson

Google Review

Highlights:

+ Two agents! More perspective, knowledge and experience
+ Very responsive, dedicated and accommodating
+ Valuable insight on cost of repairs and severity of issues noted in disclosure packs
+ Strong relationships and able to provide helpful information from selling agents
+ Fun, great senses of humor and skilled with small children

My wife and I met Rachel and Jay at an open house they were showing. Rachel asked us to set up a time to meet her and Jay at their office. She promised it would be informative and said there would be "no pressure" to work with them as agents. I was skeptical, but my wife and I figured we'd give it a try since we knew it was time to take this whole home-buying thing more seriously.

The meeting turned out great. Rachel and Jay spent over an hour answering our questions and providing real value-add advice and insight into the home buying process, including reviewing a standard contract and other materials. As we were flipping through some papers, we got to a page that we could sign to formalize the agent-buyer relationship - as promised they simply said, "here's a page you can sign if you decide you want to work with us" and left it at that.

After that first meeting, Rachel and Jay suggested we set up an afternoon on the upcoming weekend to see some houses in different areas of the peninsula. We told them broadly what we were looking for (and which cities had been our focus). They took that input and used the afternoon to expand our view of what is available in the area, showing us a variety of styles and sizes of homes across our price range, and gauging our reactions to each. They listened to our feedback about each home we visited, and after that first weekend showed a real understanding of what we liked and our priorities. We decided after that afternoon that we wanted to work with Rachel and Jay.

Over the next month, or so, we found Rachel and Jay to be incredibly helpful. Often, my wife and I would spend time on weekends going to open houses by ourselves and then follow up with Rachel and Jay if we saw something that interested us. Then, we would typically meet to see the house together late on a weekday afternoon. Often, they'd come with suggestions for a few more houses to look at. Overall, it was a really efficient use of time and throughout the process Rachel and Jay were both super responsive and flexible to accommodate our schedule. And, they are hilarious - you just need a few minutes with them to appreciate their back-and-forth. Our baby was also super happy being held by either of them.

As we visited each home, Rachel and Jay were really helpful at a few things that we thought were critical: (i) they pointed out potential - whether it was disregarding a worn interior that could be repainted or the ability to tear down a wall in a cramped kitchen; (ii) while not putting themselves out as experts, they provided high-level thoughts on the cost to renovate or do repairs, helping us gauge how much to bid as well as what kind of "project" we might be taking on at a given house; and (iii) similarly, they provided insight into the severity of issues we observed (e.g., a cracked wall) or read in disclosure packets.

When it came time to bid, my wife and I would come up with a range and Rachel and Jay would use their relationships to provide important last-minute intel on the number of bids, etc., which helped us decide how aggressive we wanted to be. Ultimately we won the second house we bid on - at a price we felt was reasonable and we are very happy with - largely thanks to the information and guidance from Rachel and Jay.

Rachel and Jay were amazingly dedicated and high-touch throughout the process - both came to meet us every time we got together - and their commitment did not end after our winning bid. They helped us keep on top of our loan agent and the title company through closing and have continued to provide referrals to contractors etc. as we've explored making some changes to the house.

We highly recommend Rachel and Jay!