Gea is even better than what we could ever imagine. We found him through NAEBA. Very nice guy. He doesn’t require any upfront commitment, which is a huge risk for him, AND he was not pushing any deal. Gea is very professional in dealing with all kinds of people. But what we value the most, is his honesty. He is not just trying to say something that we want to hear, but what he thinks is right, based on his experience. Over the three months, we’ve gone through tons of different apartments. Even though he’s very busy, he was always there. He also patiently and promptly answered all of our questions. During the negotiating process, he was very professional. For the first apartment we bid for, we walked away because Gea told us that the price the seller asked for was ridiculous. Finally, we found our dream home, with Gea’s help. I don’t know what else you could expect from a broker.
I had a great experience working with Elika Real Estate . Gea is a highly skilled professional who helped me through the property buying process from start to finish. As a foreign buyer I had additional issues to work out and Gea was very helpful and generous with his time. Whether a native New Yorker or foreign buyer I'm sure you'll get top notch advice.. I couldn't be happier.
As a first time buyer someone should hold your hand and that's what I thought I was getting by having a buyer broker, however, I would have been fine on my own. I am a Native New Yorker and was a first time buyer looking to purchase in Brooklyn or Queens, I had very specific parameters for actually making the purchase. I submitted these to the team at Elika and every time I would get back suggestions to look at places out of my price range, with too high a down payment, with too high a coop management fee, etc. I ended up finding places on my own and visiting 85% of them by myself, never with my buyer broker. It was a miserable experience that took 6 months. The brokers have little to no experience dealing with purchases in Queens therefore if you want to buy in Queens do not select Elika. As I was a first time buyer, as I had no contacts, I used the suggested support teams from Elika including my Lawyer and my Mortgage bank. I was taken advantage of by both, I later discovered two on-going issues that should have been found in the board minutes and through the inspection. The Elika agent, came to my final walk through and found so many issues that could have been identified even before signing the contract. She acted as if it was my fault that my inspection didn't uncover these problems. I did have a complaint against the inspector, however, had she taken the time to actually inspect the unit with me before I signed my contract I would have known to include those issues in my rider. If you need a recommendation for a lawyer go through friends (not anyone recommended by Elika), had I gone that route, I may have been happier. The recommended Mortgage agency immediately sold my loan and refused to give me credits they had promised, making it up by sending me a $400 check after the closing. I didn't get my list of final costs until 11 AM the day of my closing, when I was closing at 1PM. That was unacceptable and again something that my Agent didn't even bother pushing for. I felt completely abandoned in this purchase. I am happy where I am now (I found the apartment, came up with the offer on my own), but I know that overpaid considering all of the work that I've had to do. I finally had to get a lawyer for another issue that came up after the purchase (I also hate my management company they have gotten so many bad reviews, another item that could have been known before closing). If you need a recommendation, I’m using Ross Levine at Schwartz, Levine & Kaplan, PLLC. He’s more expensive than the lawyer recommended by Elika, but you get what you pay for, and I’m still paying for it.
As first time home-buyers, we needed a lot of guidance through the process of figuring out fair value, negotiating the price, and figuring out the other details involved. Gea could not have been more gracious in answering all of our questions and making sure that we were informed buyers.
As first time home buyers in the New York area we had no idea what to expect and only knew we had a daunting task ahead of us. Due to several factors we had a very complicated closing, but Sara was absolutely wonderful and helped us keep calm. From the very beginning it was clear she had only our interest in mind. She helped us with every step, even after we were in contract. I highly recommend Elika Real Estate and especially Sara Yap, a wonderful professional who really knows the industry.
