"This story begins about a year and 3 months ago... But I tend to drag on, so for your abbreviated pleasure I've begun with the conclusion:If you are buying in SF, you need Lance King/Fixed Rate Properties. Other agents might be nice, or helpful, or well intentioned. Lance is Good. I mean, really good. He knows his stuff, and you want him at your side.Now for the long version...I had been playing with the idea of buying a condo for... a while - doing research, visiting open houses, researching the in's and out's of TIC's, FHA (and other) financing, etc. Essentially what it means to buy in San Francisco. There is a lot to learn and most of it only applies within our little 7x7. Our housing market is... special.I knew I would need an especially knowledgeable, experienced, and highly skilled agent or it was sure to get the best of me. What I didn't need was a glossy info-packet including half page summaries of "San Francisco's Neighborhoods", a misunderstanding of how TIC's work and an automated MLS search (Sorry, you did seem very nice).I met Lance at an open house about half a block from where I was renting. While that place wasn't for me, it got us talking. When I told what I was looking for, he really *got* it. He answered in all of my questions (a few that had baffled several other agents) clearly and intelligently and then some.About twice a month for the next 6-9 months I went out with Lance and his Associate Jon to look at condos. It was exactly what I was hoping for. While Lance pretends to be just a Real Estate agent, he knows a scary amount about construction. From that crack in the ceiling, the poorly cut vent, the quality of the floor, the overall design and layout, he is a wealth of knowledge. Looking at condo's was easy and comfortable, I didn't feel pushed to like a place, instead it was more like being back in a classroom, learning about ceiling beams, construction codes, caulking and concrete.Time went on, blah blah blah, I found the perfect condo and bought it. Jon and Lance were there through every step of the process, working around my schedule, meeting on weekends, keeping the sellers honest and saving me countless hours and headache throughout the process.Finally - they're also a great deal. When buying they pass on a chunk of their fee straight to you, which is just another reason why they rock.I can't wait to recommend them to anyone I know who is buying in the area, as long as they don't get too busy when it comes time for me to sell...Graham Melcher – San Francisco, CA"
Graham Melcher Mon Jan 24, 2011
"My wife and I met Lance King, the owner of Fixed Rate Properties during one of our weekend walks in the city. We were not selling our house nor were we looking to buy anything, although we were starting to ponder selling. We walked by an open home in an area we had considered purchasing in previously to see how it compared to our home. Usually we'd make something up to the realtor doing the open house so they wouldn't try to sell us their services, but with Lance it felt different right from the get go. He was easily approachable and easy to speak with. We kept in touch for about a year and when we finally decided to sell our house, Fixed Rate was the obvious choice.Fixed Rate listed and sold our home in record time - 10 days! Lance advised us along the way and not once did he put any pressure on us. He was always available and if you ever left him a message or sent him an email, you'd have a response within the hour. Lance King was our Realtor but by the end he became our friend. We will recommend him and his company to anyone we know looking for an excellent Broker.Anthony & Brianne Hidalgo – San Francisco, CA"
Anthony Hidalgo Fri Oct 15, 2010
"All I can say is the folks at Fixed Rate saved my butt. I was heading underwater on my condo fast and hardly any of the other units in the building were selling. The Fixed Rate team came in, told me what I needed to do to get the place ready, handled the contractors, all the paperwork, and ordered all the necessary reports. They took care of everything. Once the place was ready for sale I was blown away – when they sent me the listing the photos were so awesome I didn’t even recognize it. Long story short - they sold my condo in 21 days, got me a great offer, and saved me a bunch of money on commissions. It was nothing short of miraculous. Now I can get on with my life - I will never forget what they did for me.Erik Christiansen – San Francisco, CA "
Erik Christiansen Thu Nov 4, 2010
"Buying a home in the bay area requires patience, experience and most importantly micro market expertise. I dealt with the owner of the company, Lance King, and he excels in all. Before meeting Lance, I spent (wasted) several months working with three different agents. I also met at least six others during open houses. Almost every agent that I dealt with was the same, all fluff and no real sense of market value. I learned later that's what you get with the average SF real estate agent that entered during the real estate gold rush and is now starving to make a sale. That type of representation is a potential land mine for a prospective buyer in the biggest purchase of their lives.I put the brakes on and decided to spend a lot of time researching and interviewing a new set of agents. Thanks to Trulia and Yelp I found out about Lance and Fixed Rate Properties. After meeting Lance, I walked away knowing that he was the right fit because he is down to earth, easy to talk to and understands value. I don't know if there are too many agents that have the breadth of experience he has to help with the value decision. His experience over the past 25 years ranges from owning a contractor supply company to buying/remodeling homes to years of being broker/owner of a real estate firm. He will honestly tell you if a place will need new windows, electric, etc. or if the remodel that was done was a cheap flip or not. You absolutely need to know all of these things before you move forward in the buying process.Lance carefully listened to my 'wants' and set up an MLS search. I was looking for a single family or possible a 2 unit with views and outdoor space in the North part of SF. We went over potentials and were on the same page in terms of what was worth looking at. One of the first properties was an REO in Pacific Heights that needed some work--not the easiest property to make a decision on. Lance took me through and carefully detailed everything that needed to be done to the house with cost estimates. He then started to look at comps, days on the market for the property, price reductions, etc. and aggregate all the info to use as a basis for a bid price. We moved forward with an aggressive bid and quickly learned that dealing with a bank owned property was going to require perseverance. Long story short...Lance was an ace throughout a process that had many twists and turns from bid acceptance to loan approval to final docs. He ended up assuming the work of most people involved to get the deal done. I can honestly say that the deal would have most likely gone sour had I chosen any of the other Realtors that I previously worked with. On top of all of this Lance gave me a great house warming gift along with a check for 20% of his commissions, which ended up be significant with this purchase.I pride myself on making sound decisions and did a tremendous amount of leg work (1 year) before I got my keys. I learned that you positively need to have the best company that you can find on your side. It will turn your Purchase into an Investment. This is especially true in this fickle SF market. Throw in the 20% rebate and I think you'll be hard pressed to find better representation than Fixed Rate Properties.Chris Sommer – San Francisco, CA"
Chris Sommer Mon Oct 11, 2010
"I have bought and sold several properties prior to my latest purchase, so I’ve dealt with a lot of Real Estate people. When I was ready to buy again, I talked with a lot of agents and considered several prior to selecting one. I went with Fixed Rate Properties, and am very glad I did. Initially, I was drawn to them because of the owner’s experience successfully buying, rehabbing and selling multiple properties in San Francisco. Throughout the home search process, I was pleasantly surprised by my Broker’s patience and willingness to discourage me from purchasing properties that had flaws but that I was nonetheless considering. It was refreshing to have someone on my side who was really looking out for my best interests and not just trying to just earn a commission.When I finally got into contract on my home, it turned out to be incredibly complicated and required an endless amount of back and forth negotiations on a myriad of issues. Everything was handled skillfully, timely and professionally from start to finish: the grasp of the complexities, the ability to keep track of everything that was going on and ensure no deadline was ever missed, successfully negotiating just about everything I wanted, offering great insights on the process, and on the spot responses to my questions and communications regardless of how late or early in the day.I know they didn’t make much money on this deal but they treated me like a VIP every step of the way, capping it off with a nice card, a rebate check for about $3000, and a bottle of bubbly. I will definitely use Fixed Rate again and have already recommended them to several friends.Thanks again for all your help!Betsy F. – San Francisco, CA"
Betsy Flanagan Fri Aug 20, 2010
"I recently sold my live/work loft in San Francisco using Lance King and Fixed Rate Properties as my selling broker. The fixed rate concept saved me thousands of dollars as compared with a conventional broker. Lance and his organization were extremely efficient and very pleasant to deal with.The property received an "over asking" offer within days of the listing and Lance and his group followed the transaction to completion and skillfully handled some of the "bumps" in the road that these transactions always seem to involve. I wholeheartedly recommend Lance and his organization. Steve S.San Francisco, CA"
Steve Shapiro Wed Feb 28, 2007
"Before I knew about Fixed Rate Properties, I hired another agent to sell my SOMA loft. After three months without a single offer, I let my agent go and started to re-evaluate my options. The market was in a freefall from the highs of 2005, and I needed to make a decision. I was impressed from the first meeting with Fixed Rate. They struck me as more than just another broker - they have a sound business plan with the experience to back it up. The icing on the cake was the over $7000 in commissions I would save by using them over a "traditional" company. In short order I had a solid offer, and more importantly we closed escrow in 20 days. I can't recommend Fixed Rate highly enough. Sincerely,Everett ThompsonSan Francisco, CA"
Everett Thompson Fri Dec 8, 2006
"I heard of Fixed Rate Properties through a friend and ended up hiring them for two simultaneous transactions - both the sale of my condo and the purchase of a new condo for my boyfriend and I. We had a great experience as they were incredibly responsive and provided top-notch service. Always kept us informed throughout the process allowing us to make timely decisions. It was good to have them engaged in both the sale and the purchase because they understood what coordination was needed in the situation. In addition, they were able to help us deal with a difficult situation in one of the transactions....and given how stressful any real estate transaction can be, that was really helpful! We definitely recommend Fixed Rate Properties to anyone! T. Ting San Francisco, CA"
Tammy Ting Wed Jul 11, 2007
"Can't say enough about our experience with Fixed Rate Properties. My wife and I had been trying to buy a home in San Francisco using another company for over 2 years and we kept getting outbid. In less than 2 months with Fixed Rate we found a great home and got our offer accepted at $100-$150K below what other properties in the neighborhood were going for. And when undisclosed issues arose after our offer was accepted, Fixed Rate negotiated those issues in an expert fashion and to our benefit. When we got the keys to our new home, the owner of Fixed Rate came over with a bottle of champagne (and sparkling cider for my expecting wife), along with a commission rebate check for $8250, which came in very handy after the down payment. If I sell/buy again, I will be using Fixed Rate. I'd recommend them to anybody. Brian Marcus San Francisco, CA"
Brian Marcus Sat Apr 28, 2007
"Working with Lance King and Fixed Rate Properties allowed us to purchase our home at the perfect time. Lance is an expert and the rest of his team are brilliant - both knowledgeable, personable, and humorous. They will guide you through all aspects of your purchase, explain all pieces to you and most importantly, give you space to make a decision. My wife and I needed massive amount of education and training in the fierce San Francisco housing market. Lance taught us the ropes and put us on the proper path to finding the perfect space for us. Also, where Lance shines is in finding information that he might not have on hand or as it pertains to a specific situation. He went above and beyond expectations of a realtor to confidently answer our questions and introduce us to other affiliated businesses he works with regularly. We strongly recommend Lance and Fixed Rate Properties for purchasing property. We look forward to working with him in the future a s well, but only after we get to enjoy our lovely condo he helped us purchase at the ideal time and under the ideal circumstances. J Phillips & L. Fang - San Francisco"
Jon Phillips & Lu Fang Mon Oct 15, 2007
"Dear Lance,
Please feel free to use this letter on your website or have any of your potential clients call me.
I used Fixed Rate to help me buy a loft in San Francisco on the recommendation of my mortgage broker. I could tell right from the start that these guys really know what they're doing, and that impression only grew stronger as the deal went along.
I was amazed how quickly they found me exactly what I was looking for, and although the initial negotiations were quite tricky, the Fixed Rate team managed to get me the price and terms I wanted on the place I really liked. Things got even more complicated when both myself and the Listing agent were in Europe for most of the escrow period, but the folks at Fixed Rate made sure everything went seamlessly - they took care of the appraiser, inspector, title company, and even did a walk through on my behalf to make sure everything was ok before signing off on the deal. The best part was when the deal had closed Fixed Rate brought me the keys to my new home, a nice bottle of champagne, and a commission rebate check for over $3,000. If you're buying or selling Real Estate, you need to hire these guys.
Sincerely,
Drew Sullins - San Francisco , CA"
Drew Sullins Mon Aug 27, 2007
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