Yelp, you've come through yet again.  I'm not one to generally write reviews, but Kira and David (and Yelp) absolutely deserve some recognition here.  As first time home buyers we knew little to nothing about the home buying process but knew we wanted to buy a home in Marin and knew the excellence of Yelp reviewers.  It did seem a little strange at the time to choose the agent who assists you with the largest purchase of your life based on a website (and yes we heard such comments from our family and friends); but in the end we couldn't be happier with our new home and none of it would have been possible without the knowledge, professionalism, patience and attention to detail of David and Kira.  

All the other reviews hit the nail on the head again and again with the quality of experience we had as well (other than the one nutjob review calling them "unethical" - nothing could be further from the truth).  Being happy first time homebuyers we don't have any other agents to compare against but here's why we thought they were great and would use them again if we ever bought another home in Marin:

- They know the Marin area extremely well
- They have lots of experience and in particular lots of experience with buyers
- They know and have good relationships with the other agents in Marin
- They know the whole home buying process and are great at explaining it to people who don't
- They have a network of people you can rely upon (or choose not to) throughout the purchase process (escrow, title, financing, inspection, repair, remodel etc.)

And above all they are extremely honest, decent, hardworking people who at the same time are enjoyable to deal with.

We were lucky enough to be connected with David and Kira in May of 2014. We had just finished traveling for the holidays, moving to Marin while our condo in San Francisco was on the market - all while caring for our first kid.

We met with them and weren't quite ready to jump into buying; we were exhausted from the moving and sale process. That plan went out the window fast... We told them what we wanted: schools, schools, schools, a place we could make changes to over time and a great community.

The following week they introduced us to San Anselmo. They knew exactly what we wanted because the first place they showed us was perfect. They knew we liked it but were also honest about what we'd need to offer in order to get into it and also about the fact that places like the one we ended up getting don't come up that often. (We actually ended up winning the bidding war and got the home).

David and Kira really work well together. David is a phenomenal resource at pointing out areas of concern when buying and talking with the inspector; it's like having your own home inspector on the payroll. And Kira knows everything about schools. They showed us a bunch of neighborhoods and she knew every school our kid would attend if that were the neighborhood we chose.

The best part about working them was that they gave us their honest opinion on everything. If it was a great house that they thought would fit our needs, they'd say so and tell us we should really consider it. At the same time, they'd tell us if they didn't like the house and why even if we already expressed a strong interest. I never felt like I was being pushed to make an offer so they could get a quick sale. To the contrary, I truly felt they were working for my best interest.

The most stressful part of the process was when we didn't follow their advice. David and Kira recommended using Jeff Bjork at First Republic as our lender. We went with a mortgage bank instead and it was a nightmare. Despite having great credit, two great jobs and more than 20% down, our lender was a nightmare even after it gave us the okay to remove the loan contingency. Do yourself a favor - listen to David and Kira and use Jeff Bjork as your lender.

If you're relocating to Marin County or the North Bay, you shouldn't consider anyone else. Just do everything David and Kira say and everything will work out.