Century 21

As a buyer, the cost for Joe's services were negotiated in the contract of the sale and I did not have any out of pocket expenses for his services. Pregnant with my second kiddo and high on emotions, Joe helped me navigate a confusing sales process with ease. He listened to what I *needed* and *wanted* in a home and found one for me the minute it hit the market. We made an offer immediately, and he brought me through to closing below the cost of the original asking price. It was overall a fantastic experience. Heck, he even plowed my new driveway for me! -- he also called a few days after the sale had been completed to ensure that we had moved in and that we were enjoying our new home.

Joe's name gets passed around the Fairbanks medical community because of his outstanding performance as a realtor, and our experience with him was fantastic. He was friendly and encouraging from the first meeting, and his careful listening to our preferences resulted in him quickly identifying the perfect house for us. We have busy lives and were very grateful for how much he was able to streamline the whole process. Joe's competence and efficiency were evident at each step of the way, which was as smooth and enjoyable as it could be. Joe is well-connected to the local resources for financing, repairs, and remodeling. We did our own research on his first few referrals, and then became comfortable simply knowing that his people were the best people for the job. We know from friends with whom he's worked that he is very responsive even after the sale is closed. Clearly this is a professional intent on establishing a long-term network of trusted relationships. We arrived in town as a military couple, and Joe's familiarity with the intricacies of home-buying while on active duty was a big asset. We recommend him unreservedly for anyone seeking a realtor in the Fairbanks area.

This agent was referred to us through the USAA Home Circle program. At first Joe was very helpful and responsive. He kept in touch, and shared a multitude of listings for our review. This was before we arrived in the area to actually begin home searching. My husband came alone to view the listings and find a home to purchase. I had reviewed listings over and over, and compiled a list of ones to view, ones to avoid, and maybes. I emailed this list to Joe so my husband didn't have to find a means to copy it to share with Joe. Joe printed this list, and made appointments accordingly. The first day of viewing listings they covered nearly all of the homes on my list, and we were unsure we had found a home for us. Somewhat exasperated my husband asked if I had more I wanted them to see, growing more annoyed when I replied no. I asked if Joe had any ideas of more to see, and Joe told him I'd covered most of the and quot;good onesand quot; and he didn't have more to show us. So he really only showed my husband homes off of the list we compiled on our own, and he lacked additional information when it was requested (they only saw 9 homes at that point, there were hundreds more listed). I pushed for them to find a way to view the one last home that was on my list they hadn't seen yet. Thank goodness they were able to see it later that day, and thank goodness it turned out to be the perfect home for us. Joe certainly was less than helpful in locating homes to view, as I was able access all of the listings off of realtor.com on my own. Once we were under contract for the home, Joe all but disappeared. I understand it was the summer and and quot;PCS seasonand quot; so realtors were busy, but our home buying process became almost solely between my husband and our loan officer. She ferried the paperwork, and kept in contact with my husband (usually told him things before Joe ever got in contact, if he did at all). During the home inspection, Joe had another appointment. He left my husband and the 3rd party home inspector in the home alone for a few hours. This is a huge red flag for me, you cannot leave a client and contractor in a home you opened and give them unsupervised access to all of the current owner's belongings! After that incident, I was thankful we didn't have to deal with Joe much. When I requested information to set up utilities, I was met with outright annoyance. I am thankful this was not our first time buying a home, as our realtor did not assist much and was not available to guide us through the process. At any rate, the job got done (thanks to our loan officer working her tail off for us!) and we purchased our home....which is why I have given them at least a C. The customer service was deplorable, and I will not use this real estate office ever again.

Once we were given the name of our contact, it seemed as if we were contacted almost immediately. We had a lengthy conversation with Joe including our and quot;must havesand quot; and talked about what was important, such as good schools and property location as we are considering renting out the house when we leave Alaska. Joe was fantastic as we sent him out to look at properties for us as he was litterally our eyes and ears. He answered all the questions we had for him as he went to each property. He promptly emailed additional pictures and detailed descriptions which addressed all our questions and then some. He even sent us sketches of the backyard of one property. We ending up choosing a property sight unseen except for the pictures provided on the property listing and the additional pictures and detailed description Joe provided. We even closed prior to our arrival in the area. This was scary for us considering this was such a big investment and important purchase, but it was very nice to have a house to go to upon arriving in the area instead of staying in Post Lodging or a hotel until we found a house. The entire process went smoothly including the loan and closing process. After the closing, the water company wanted to inspect the property prior to establishing service in our name. Because we were not in Fairbanks yet Joe gladly handled this for us. In addition, Joe arranged to have our driveway plowed prior to our arrival as well since a measurable amount of snow had fallen. Upon arrival in the area we were eager to see our new home and love it!! It was exactly as described and depicted in the pictures. We arrived the week before Christmas and shortly after the holidays Joe stopped by to answer any questions we had about home ownership in Alaska and any other questions we may have had. We closed on our home in November and arrived in late December. It is now late February and Joe is still willing to answer questions for us. We are greatful for Joe and everything he has done for us. We highly recommend him and will definitely use him again in the future!! Side note: We chose not to disclose the dollar mount of our purchase as we felt this was irrelevant and feel that Joe will provide exceptional service regardless of the purchase price.