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Carly and Vinnie
Melanie did a great job helping us through every step of buying our first house. She was very patient in answering all of our questions, including detailed hypotheticals. Melanie was always very responsive and intentional in making time for us, scheduling and attending upwards of 30 property visits with us. Melanie demonstrated extensive experience with not only the buying and selling process but also the historic local market conditions and when she identified that the local market was shifting, she communicated that to us and helped us capitalize on the changing conditions. Melanie was personable, respectful, and thoughtful throughout, from the start and continuing on after closing. I would highly recommend Melanie for all of your real estate needs.
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Mike and Meghan Boehm
My family worked with Melanie for the sale of our home and we had a fantastic experience! From the day we began working together Melanie was great in sitting down with us to set expectations and timelines for the entire process up front which made for a very smooth process. She is a very hard worker which we really appreciated because we knew she was doing everything in her power to get us the best offers on the table. In the end we ended up with multiple offers OVER our asking price and a great end result. We relied on her professional advice during the process which helped us feel comfortable with the decisions we were making knowing that she really was the expert. I would recommend Melanie to anybody looking for an ethical agent with your best interests in mind.
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Lisa and Allen Cristwell
I just can’t say enough about how professional and thorough Melanie is! I would highly recommend her as she is so wonderful to work with. My husband was relocated to TX and she helped us through every part of the house sale. Our house sold within 10 days of listing (for more than asking) and we owe that quick process to her. She marketed our home aggressively and professionally. She never missed a detail or deadline. She answers her phone and emails very promptly and is truly a pleasure to work with. We’re going to miss her in TX!
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Casey Wood
Melanie was our real estate agent for both the purchase and the sale of our townhouse. We obviously chose her for the second transaction since we were very happy with her performance on the purchase. She is a consummate professional who did an outstanding job researching recent transactions, homes listed nearby and translated the research into extremely sharp pricing recommendations. This contributed to us selling for above asking price, leaving us delighted with her work. She is extremely organized and was thorough every step of the way during the closing process. Having a real estate agent with that approach is imperative and very hard to find. We would highly recommend her to family, friends & colleagues.
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Bill and Muff Curry
Bill and I would like to thank you for all the effort that you put into the sale of our Alamo home; your optimistic demeanor and professionalism in procuring a buyer for our property was certainly appreciated. In spite of our failure to find a suitable home, you and the Alain Pinel team were always on our side with strategies and assistance, which allowed us to maintain our search during the duration of our contract. When we decide to list our property again, we will certainly contact you. Thanks again for your loyal support.
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Katherine McKay
“Melanie is wonderful; she’s the best real estate agent I’ve ever known. She is thorough, never lets a detail slip, and will actually listen to the client’s ideas and thoughts. Together, we did some great business because she listened. She also seems to have an intuitive sense about people, and is very savvy. I highly recommend Melanie!”
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Jennifer and Scott Kincaid
Melanie has been a wonderful partner in not only finding us our California home when we first moved to California but in selling it as well when we moved back to Texas.
She was instrumental in helping us to locate our California home . She is very knowledgeable about the areas we were looking in and never showed us anything outside our comfort level. She listened to what we wanted and made sure we saw all that was available. She is very patient that way.
She was also meticulous when it came to selling our home. She told us what we needed to do to get the highest sales price. Because of her carefully planned, strategic marketing plan, we were able to sell our home well over the asking price in only 9 days with the least amount of stress. She also went over all the disclosure documents carefully with us to make sure we were fully covered and looked out for us in all other aspects. She followed through closely throughout the closing process to ensure a smooth closing with our buyers and was there to facilitate the closing for us even after we made our move to Texas. She really went above and beyond in so many ways to make the selling of our home a pleasant and less stressful experience.
If we were to move into the area again we would definitely look to Melanie for guidance and support.
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Kate and Matt Branning
Our family recently moved back to California and was fortunate to be connected to Melanie through our corporate relocation. Although we are native Californians, the Bay Area is such an enormous place to live with so much to offer that we found it difficult to pinpoint the area we should focus on for purchasing a home. During my very first conversation with Melanie she knew exactly what questions to ask to make suggestions for towns and even neighborhoods. She took the time to understand what was important to us and to also consider what life would be like for us once we were settled. She really did her research as far as schools and commuting goes and always offered additional information about the areas we looked in.
When it came time to head out to look at homes she had a very organized day set up for us each time, with houses we had highlighted and additional houses she found. Each time we went to look at homes she was always extremely prepared with information on each home, flyers printed out, and more. I felt like I could count on Melanie to be prepared, which for my busy schedule really took a lot of stress out of the experience. There were multiple homes she toured prior so that she could prevent us from wasting time on houses that she felt didn’t suit our needs.
After finding a home we wanted to make an offer on I really felt like I could trust Melanie in helping us to understand the comparable homes in the neighborhood, and I felt good about our offer. I felt like Melanie always had our best interests in mind throughout the negotiations with the sellers. She was always one step ahead of the process with forms ready and she kept us on track at all times with the purchase process. She had a list of inspectors ready to go and helped to educate us on the importance of each inspection and the severity of each finding. She coordinated the inspections and was available to meet with the inspectors and then the repair contractors when necessary. She worked very diligently and very professionally when at times the other party was extremely challenging to work with.
I can’t say enough great things about Melanie Kozak. She was the perfect agent who provided a very smooth purchase process for us.
Kate Branning
ConocoPhillips – San Francisco Refinery
Environmental Services Department
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Mike and Nina Rowe
My husband and I came to California in a corporate relocation and really were not sure where to begin the house-hunting process. Being unfamiliar with the Bay area, we were truly at the mercy of our broker. My husband and I could not have been happier when we met Melanie. She is a true professional in every sense of the word.
Melanie took the time to determine our needs and desires in a home. She previewed properties so that we could save time and see only the houses that had features important to us.
Because it was such a major relocation, it was important to us that we take our time finding the right property. Melanie was incredibly patient as she showed us house after house from the Oakland Hills to Contra Costa County. She was able to offer expert advice about each potential area, allowing us to narrow our search to the Alamo area. Throughout the process, Melanie made us feel like finding the right home was as important to her as it was to us.
When we finally found our perfect house, Melanie was even more amazing. She was able to negotiate through what ended up being a complicated sale. Her attention to detail was unparalleled and she did a wonderful job of keeping us informed throughout the process. Even after closing, Melanie went out of her way to make sure our move was seamless. I cannot imagine making the journey without her!
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Craig and Tammy Pearce (buyers)
Sometimes things happen for a reason, luck, chance, fate. Whatever it was that made me call Melanie that day has made my family truly thankful. I found Melanie by picking up a flyer and calling about her listing. We had just moved from our dream home and were relocating. She responded that the home was in escrow but she would love to show us some other properties in the area. Little did all parties involved know that it would take almost two years to sell our property. Melanie tirelessly showed us properties without any bites or leads on our home and would routinely call my selling agent and ask what was being done to push the sale. My wife and I decided it was time to stop looking until we sold. We wanted to stop getting our hopes up and stop wasting Melanie’s time. When informed of this, Melanie told us not to get down and she would be happy to show us whatever we wanted to see. Finally the day came. We SOLD OUR HOME! Within a day made an offer, and were in escrow in both areas. Melanie was as involved in the sale of our home as she was in our purchase. Numerous times my wife and I told Melanie that she should get a commission for the sale of our home also. She was doing so much work and it wasn’t even her deal.
From now on anyone I know who buys or sells a home will be getting one of Melanie’s cards. She is a tireless worker, a great communicator, very caring, and her years of experience show when it really counts. In the past I have made real estate transactions where I walked away feeling my Realtor made far too much for doing far too little. With Melanie, I felt like I got away with something. She was definitely under paid but not under appreciated.
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Craig Pearce (seller)
We recently had the pleasure of selling our home with Melanie Kozak. Her
knowledge of the market in the area as well as marketing expertise helped us
sell over asking price in less than a week. Melanie’s hard work and sound
advice helped us through a very hard process. She always looked out for us
and our best interest, never asking or even trying to sway us toward
something we did not want or want to do. I would definitely recommend using
her and I will definitely use her again if the situation arises.
Craig Pearce
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Virgil and Sunny Cooper
This letter is written in the spirit of deep appreciation of Melanie Kozak who served as our real estate agent for the recent purchase of our house. Her service was of the highest quality.
We moved to Northern California from Southern California due to my wife’s job and set up a temporary residence in an apartment complex. Since I am self-employed, have a flexible schedule, and work from home, Melanie came over and picked me up to show me new houses as they came on the market. Whenever Melanie and I found a house with “potential”, she would adjust her schedule and come back to pick up my wife when she returned from work and show her. If Melanie was engaged with another client when a house came on the market, she had her husband Ray, also an agent, drive me to see it. I probably saw at least 60 houses over the two month period.
During all of this time, I never felt pressured to buy. In fact, Melanie insisted that we take our time and find the best possible house to make our home. I quickly got to know the different areas and pros and cons of each of the areas we were targeting. Finally, we found a house in Unincorporated Contra Costa County that my wife, daughter and I agreed upon. We went through a relatively painless offering process and now it is our home.
In addition to being a wonderful human being and a great real estate agent, she is an invaluable resource that has connected us with very high quality professionals. Margalit, the finance person, was simply phenomenal in her attention to detail, work ethic, and in her ability to translate the seemingly ever-changing new rules and complicated finance requirements to us. Due to my being relatively handy and also having an engineering background, I could tell Melanie’s recommended home, chimney, roof, and termite inspectors were all top-notch. Melanie saw my concern about houses on hillsides and even had a good soil inspector/mechanical engineer available, whom we used.
We have been in our house for 4 months now and are very happy. We are content in our belief that we made the best choice available that would fit our family’s requirements. We are deeply grateful to Melanie and her team. We have been delighted to recommend Melanie to our friends and coworkers, at least one of whom has recently bought a house using her services as well.
In closing, Melanie is not just a great real estate agent and captain of a team of professionals of the highest quality, but she is also a wonderful person and I look forward to interacting with her in the years to come. I give her my highest endorsement and am deeply appreciative of her efforts to help our family find a place to call home.
Virgil N. Cooper, III, Ph.D
Kaiser Permanente
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Jim and Trina Wells
Melanie,
I just wanted to send you this thank you for all your help with our relocation to the Bay area. When we found out we were moving to the area we interviewed three potential agents to help us find a home. You were recommended by our agent at home, who didn’t know you personally but enquired with other agents in the area and found you to be recommended as one of the best. Based on the recommendation and the interviews we conducted you were our first choice by a large margin. From the beginning of meeting with you, your presence was friendly, courteous, and interested in getting to know us as a family. Very quickly you grasped what we were most interested in for a home and targeted in on those features. As hard as relocations can be, having an agent like yourself can really ease some of the pressures associated with this process.
You have supported and helped us no matter what our schedule was or what our decisions have been. We finally made the decision to lease for a year rather than buy, but you stuck with us helping to find a home for lease. During the past six months since our family has moved to the area you continue to stay in contact keeping us updated on the market trends until we are ready to purchase a home. You have exceeded our expectations as an agent and I just want to thank you for all your hard work, sticking with us during our transition, and making our experience an enjoyable one.
Jim Wells
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Marthe Parvin
Melanie is the ultimate professional in every way. Her follow-up is top notch, never missing the slightest of details. I highly recommend Melanie for all of your real estate needs. Whether you’re a buyer, seller, relocation, or renter, she can cover it all! Although Melanie is first and foremost a professional, she’s also very personable and nice! You won’t be disappointed.
Melanie worked tirelessly for me on my recent condo purchase. As a first time solo buyer, I had many questions. Melanie always had the answer and if she didn’t know, she went straight to the highest professional source. I always knew that Melanie was giving me the most up-to-date answer in an ever changing world of not only real estate, but everything that goes with that purchase from appraisals, inspections, to the ever important mortgage. It all changes daily it seems. Melanie makes it a priority to keep herself educated in every aspect of one of the most important and emotional purchases of your life! Most importantly, Melanie always has time for you, is extremely responsive, and never too proud or defensive in any way. She’s a delight to work with. I’m happy to say that we’ve remained in touch too.
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Jack and Janet Hoggard
The system works, when it has the right people. Melanie was absolutely sensational in preselecting the houses she was to show us. We liked most of them, and selected one in Danville. Janet’s commute will be 7-10 minutes, and we both love the house.
I strongly recommend that Melanie be Ms. Chevron whenever she is available to help the new employees coming in to San Ramon. She knows the area, the houses, and the process, and she has been working day and night to get us under control.
“Melanie was our California agent for a cross-country move. As such, she had to (and did) do far more than a local agent would do for us. While we were in Virginia, she had inspectors and workers at the house, while continually sending pages via email for us to sign. Her knowledge of the corporate relo process was essential to what became a very easy transition to a whole new world for us. Rather than just an agent, she became a friend, which is high praise, indeed.” January 30, 2009
Jack Hoggard
Alexandria, VA 22314
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Peggy Mullinex
I would highly recommend Melanie to be your realtor. In my experience, she demonstrated excellent knowledge of the market and all real estate issues.
Melanie has great compassion and a warm personality. She gets an A+ in my book!
Peggy
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Jon and Barbara Garman
We had the pleasure of working with our Realtor Melanie Kozak this past year while selling our home. From our first meeting, until the day we closed, Melanie handled all our questions in a prompt and professional manner.
Selling a home can be a difficult experience, but we can honestly say that Melanie made the experience relatively stress free. One of the first things we discovered as we were interviewing Melanie was that she is extremely prepared. She had thoroughly researched our property, local properties
that had sold, and properties that were for sale, and she presented us with different scenarios on how she would price, market, and ultimately sell our home. This attention to detail, coupled with a firm marketing strategy is what led us to choose Melanie as our Realtor.
Throughout the process she had tremendous follow through, provided excellent communication, and was very respectful of our needs. Melanie led us through our transaction with a caring approach that we very much appreciated. We would not hesitate recommending Realtor Melanie Kozak, and would use her expertise in our next Real Estate transaction.
Jon and Barbara Garman
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Arturo and Kirsten Rivera
Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, On Time
“Melanie is always on top of things and very punctual. She negotiated a tough bargain with our sellers. I’m sure she would do the same if she were on the seller side. She was very thorough with our documentation and ensured that all inspections and repairs are done in a timely manner and to our satisfaction. I would happily use her services again” January 30, 2009
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Elise Hartley
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity
“Melanie is a great person to work with as she listens keenly to what key attributes her clients want in a home and keeps them current on new listings fitting that profile. She is dependable with strong follow through. She is very personable and enjoyable to work with and has gone above and beyond any real estate agent with which I have worked.” February 1, 2009
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Paul Duval
My real estate buying experience due to my relocation from Atlanta to California was one of the best I have ever had from a Realtor service perspective. This was my ninth home purchase and willingness to go above and beyond is truly exemplary.
Being new to the state, Melanie took the time to explain every aspect of the home buying process in California, provided true insight to the town and even local contracts for services. I could not have asked for more!
I give Melanie a “five star” rating for her work ethic and professionalism.
Paul Duval
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Amy Bunszel
We were relocating from Oregon and Melanie made the most of our house hunting trip by scouting out all the prospective homes in advance and working with us to eliminate those that did not meet our criteria. The fact that she made this effort before she had even met me us was very helpful during a stressful time as we had less than a week in town to select our new home. She was also great at dealing with the kids in tow and providing us with good market data so we could make a strong offer. I’d definitely work with Melanie again.
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Roger Excell
Melanie was first referred to me by my employer. Being new to the bay area we completely depended on her to show us the best value for our budget. She found us the perfect house which we purchased in just a few weeks. Not even a year later we had to take in our parents. We needed more space and we needed to sell the house we just bought. My wife and I came across a house we just loved. It was a short sale. When our offer was accepted pending the sale of our current house. We were off to the races. If it was not for Melanie’s skill and knowledge of short sales and her expertise in the market, we would have never gotten the house. I don’t think any other agent could have pulled off what she did. We love our new place. My parents moved in and everyone is happy. Melanie went way above and beyond what a usual agent would do for their clients.
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Barbara Marko
I want to let you know how much I appreciate all your help with the sale of my home in Walnut Creek. You are very professional and do all your homework. In regard to timing, price, market conditions and advertising. Your web site is exceptional.
You were always available to give me valuable advice and supported me with my decisions. There is no way I can ever thank you enough.
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Lonnie and Kate Chu
We could not have been more pleased than we have been working with Melanie Kozak. From the very beginning, she listened carefully to our needs and concerns and went forward in the home search in a very positive and enthusiastic manner. Communication was extremely easy and Melanie was very responsive anytime we had a question or a request for information.
Our long search took us to many homes and communities, and even though we found many “almost perfect” houses, Melanie never made us feel rushed about waiting for just the right home for us. Her attitude and personality are so pleasant that we thoroughly enjoyed all of those afternoons seeing homes. Melanie actually found the house we ended up buying, before it went on the market. She recognized that this house had those special qualities that we were seeking and it solidified in our minds that she truly understood our family.
During the negotiation process, we felt secure that Melanie was guiding us towards an appropriate, yet aggressive offer. She knew we really wanted the home, and despite there being an already accepted offer on the property, we believe we were ultimately successful in getting the house because of her.
Past the official close of sale on our new house, Melanie has continued to provide support to us. We have settled in to our new community easily as she has introduced us to many resources and quality service professionals in the area. Never before have we had the pleasure of working with such a wonderful real estate agent. Her professionalism is top-¬‐notch and her warmth and friendliness make it so pleasant to work with her. We are confident that everyone would have an equally wonderful experience with Melanie.