Joy M. Liu - HELM Real Estate — Local services in San Francisco

We are very thankful to have worked with Joy on finding a new home. We found Joy through friends who called her, "the best realtor in San Francisco," and while we were dubious at first, we are now true believers. Joy's insights into the market were consistently right on. We wish we took more of her advice earlier. When we were finally in a position to get serious about a purchase in early 2021, we found ourselves in a super heated post-Coronavirus market, but Joy was a calm and effective guide through a daunting process. In particular, we found that Joy is clearly not motivated first and foremost by her commission. She could have surely talked us into overpaying and thus finishing the process far sooner than we did, but rather than talking us into paying too much, she talked us out of joining the hysteria that was resulting in the homes we were bidding on going for hundreds of thousands of dollars over asking. We ultimately settled on a condo that we were able to purchase for about 100k less than the seller paid in 2017. We are so thankful that Joy helped us to remain calm and to avoid making an in-the-moment decision to overpay that we surely would have regretted. Finally, we can't recommend Joy without pointing out that Joy knows EVERYBODY. She has clearly been a respected player in the SF real estate game for some time, and it was evident to us that other realtors enjoy working with her. She was able to call on her contacts at several points in our process, and we are confident that her personal relationship with our seller's agent ultimately helped us to make an offer that would be accepted. Joy is responsive, thoughtful, even-keeled, and a total professional. Do yourself a favor and...

Joy is a fantastic agent to work with! She was especially patient with us as first time buyers -- answering all kinds of questions and walking us through every step from beginning to end (and there are many steps to navigate, all foreign to us as new buyers). Having an agent you TRUST is the most important asset when it comes to buying in a fast-paced market like San Francisco. Her years of experience, professionalism, and genuine kindness made us abundantly confident when we took the leap to buying our first home. We were able to buy our first home, years ahead of expectations at an excellent price. Her years of experience buying and selling in the market had huge returns for us - her knowledge of the best inspectors, title agents, advising on negotiations for our loan, helping us stay on top of all the paperwork to not lose out on a great interest rate and purchase price...there are many, many things to juggle, and Joy knew how to advise on all of them. We could not have had such a successful buy without her expertise. Do not underestimate how important your agent is when you buy, especially for the first time. Make the investment in your future by working with Joy - it will no...

Joy is an incredible realtor. I found her through a friend who had worked with Joy to buy their newest home. If you're looking for someone who knows the Bay Area well, especially SF, she's your gal. She is not only incredibly knowledgable about the SF housing market (she was born and raised here) and well-connected, she's also got a winning personality. She's type of realtor where you can not only expect that she'll get the job done professionally, but that you'll also enjoy getting to know her personally. I still see Joy and/or talk to her on the phone regularly just to catch up with her. She's hilarious, warm, practical, and will ask the right questions for you. To be very honest, the housing market right now is very rough giving the limited inventory, so you can't expect that your dream home will come to you at your dream price. However, Joy will help you understand what's realistic in this current market and how to secure a home given these competitive conditions. She certainly helped me understand what my options were given my price range and what I wanted out of a home, and now I'm a first-time homeowner, thanks to her. Definitely couldn't recommend another...