Vladimir and Martina

We first worked with Michael Hocking to buy our house in Rockridge. When we relocated out of state, we used him again to sell our house.

Before we worked with Michael, we worked with two different agents. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem to know the area, nor did they seem to know the market as well as Michael did. We felt as though they didn’t have our best interest at heart. Michael was different from day one. He was a true partner in the process, like a family member who wanted the best for us. He was honest, took the time to understand what was important to us, pointed out details we did not see but were important to us on so many houses, and had enormous patience with us and our specific needs. His construction management experience was extremely valuable since he could point out structural issues, even before reading an inspection report. For each house we viewed, he inspected the whole basement, including the crawl space and foundation, and then gave us his experienced opinion. He was also on point estimating how much a different house would sell for. To us – it was crucial to have an agent like Michael, especially since buying a house in a competitive market like the Bay Area can be like bidding in a blind auction. Having a good agent can really make the difference between getting a house or not.

Since Michael had gained our full trust while we were buying the house, we could not think of a better agent to help us sell the same house as well. Since we had already moved out of town, Michael took care of so many things that had to be done in our absence. His advice to prepare the house for sale was just right. It was his recommendation to paint the house trim on our wood shingle house, add a walk-in closet for the bedroom in the cottage, add a piece of a side fencing that was never installed, and stage the house professionally. All of this prep work generated a tremendous interest in our house. We sold the house 83% over the asking price. It ended up selling for over a million dollars over asking price! We could not have been happier with the outcome.

Finally, when we moved out of state, Michael continued to help us find an agent. He called three agents, interviewed them, and recommended one to work with. The agent Michael recommended was by far the best of all agents we interviewed on our own. Once again Michael was looking after our best interest.

In our opinion, people like Michael are hard to find and we sincerely and strongly recommend him to home buyers or sellers in the East Bay. Just speak with Michael once and you will see why he is so good at what he does.