Dave Walter, Pinnacle Estate Properties Inc. — Local services in Thousand Oaks

Deciding to buy a home in the Newbury Park / Thousand Oaks area was a big step, and we wanted a good broker who could help us find and negotiate the house we wanted. I interviewed 6 real estate brokers / agents. Some were not as responsive as I would have liked, one was pushy, one was not 100% ethical imho. Dave Walter, on the other hand, was always quick to respond, was professional, and was not pushy yet not too laid back either. I decided to go with Dave, even though I had two concerns. One - would he be too busy for me? After all, he is one of the top brokers, if not the top broker, in terms of sales in the Conejo valley. Also, he seemed to be more of a "sellers" brokers. But I wanted someone experienced with negotiations, with winning bidding wars, and someone who knew the area really well - and I thought Dave checked those boxes. Let's see how it went.

We had several houses we wanted to see. Sometimes you work with a brokers "team", but Dave was the one who showed us all the properties. Appointments were always around our schedule, and even though I'm sure he was very busy with his other clients/properties, I never felt it. Which was good, because our broker to be laser-focused on getting us a good property.

when we saw properties, Dave did a great job of telling us if he thought the property was priced correctly, if it was right for us, or if he thought we were better of holding off for another property. But he also listened to see how we felt.

When it came time to make an offer, this is where I felt Dave's experience as a seller's broker paid off. He knew what the sellers would be looking for, and he crafted a bid just good enough to get accepted, but not "too good". The escrow process is a lot of work for all sides, and can have some bumps, but Dave supported us the entire way.

One thing I learned throughout this entire process, is how most brokers do a sub-optimal job of selling their clients properties. They don't show it in the best condition, they don't train the sellers (occupants) how to act, they don't spruce up the property. We saw several properties that Dave was selling, and we saw what an excellent job he did in all those categories. If I was selling a home, I'm be confident having him sell the house and I know he would make sure it was shown in the best possible light so to speak.

A review of Dave Walter wouldn't be complete without talking about ethics. In our experience, some brokers cross ethical lines in either representing a property, yelling at tenants to kick them out, going back on their word, or cutting corners. This may be what some people want, but we were very happy to work with someone who had clear ethical boundaries, and it made us feel good about the entire process.

When it came time for making an offer, timing was of the essence. Dave was available literally 24x7 when it was absolutely necessary, or he had his office manager available. The market this year is definitely a sellers market for the type of houses we were looking at and Dave made sure we were in the best possible position. We got our bid accepted, and couldn't be happier with our home.

But if we need to cancel the deal, Dave let us know it was not a problem and he'd keep working with us as much as needed until we found the right home. It was important to hear that, because no one wants to feel pressured to follow through with an offer because their broker wants to move on to other clients.

So overall, I can highly recommend Dave as a broker for someone either buying or selling their property. I hope this review...

I'm a retired Realtor, so I know the business well. I can tell you there are hoards of bad realtors who don't know what they are doing and don't represent clients effectively, and only a few great Realtors. Dave Walter is a great Realtor.

Let me tell you 2 things that distinguish him from other realtors.

MY HOUSE WAS SPECIAL. Dave does lots of transactions every year, but he's not a "volume" agent. EVERY SINGLE HOUSE AND CLIENT are important to him. How do I know this? He treated me just like a client, and I saw him in action. He personally directed the photography and videography required to market and promote my home. He made his own, personal video about my house, praising its great features enthusiastically. He really took the time to identify the features of my house that Buyers would love, and he made his own video personally pitching these features. It was a motivating video, and I'm sure it prompted Buyers to inquire about MY house! HE STAYS IN TOUCH. I can tell you the #1 complaint about Realtors it that they don't stay in touch with Sellers, who are often left to wondering about what's going on. I can attest that Dave is the opposite. In every single instance where I had a question about something, and whether I called Dave, or emailed him, or sent him a text, he replied promptly, AND NEVER THE NEXT DAY, ALWAYS THE SAME DAY! I can't tell you how many emails I received that were late at night, or first thing in the morning. I would say the guy never sleeps, but makes it a priority to promptly respond to every single question a Seller may have about activity. Believe me, this is TOTALLY different from the poor communication you get with many Realtors.

Sure, the house "sold itself" in just a few days, and the transaction was smooth, and his team handled the paperwork properly. But I was happy to pay a full commission (I didn't ask for a discount) to get Dave's great service.

The sale of the house that we had lived in for over 25 years and raised our family in was an emotional and stressful event. Dave handled it all beautifully, and we were both glad to have Dave...

Dave Walter is the smartest person in the room. Incredibility thankful to have him on our side during the sale and negotiations. From the moment I met Dave at his open house, I knew this was the real estate agent I wanted representing me and my house for sale. He has an aura about him that people gravitate to. Professional, well dressed, likeable and extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of selling a house including pricing, staging, and real estate trends. During his open house, potential buyer after buyer knew Dave by name and greeted him with a smile. To no surprise, the house was contingent within a few days and turned out to be a record price for the area. Dave enjoys what he does and it shows by his work ethic. The time he spends with his clients is unmatched. Constant communication and updates. Always felt like we were his number one priority, while knowing how many other clients he represented. What I really appreciated was the care and extra details Dave provided during the sale. Selling a house is stressful and Dave was there to walk us through each step to ensure we got the best outcome. He would call and thoroughly explain the process until we felt comfortable. He would then turn around and represent us with the best outcome always leaving us with the advantage. The incredible lengths Dave would go to ensure this end result, was to show up and meet with the inspectors and appraiser. Didn’t matter the schedule, Dave would show up early and personally introduce himself and secure a fair inspection and appraisal. There are many steps during the sale process a homeowner can lose money on in negotiations or get taken advantage of for unnecessary repairs and Dave won’t let that happen. I got to witness this firsthand as he stepped in and saved us from an experienced buyer looking to drive down the price. In today’s data driven world, Dave has the advantage with his custom advertising plan, extensive analysis, and projections, which sets him apart from the rest of the real estate agents. He comes prepared and has the results to back it up. He sells...