Eric Rook & Bonnie Lattimer

Eric Rook became our realtor in May 2012, after finding his information (and great reviews) through Angie's List. We were able to meet with him at the Century 21 Amber offices and discuss our needs and wants for a new house. At the time, our budget wasn't the most competitive for the Torrance market, but he was ready to meet the challenge in finding us the right house, in the right neighborhood. From the get-go, Eric was extremely knowledgeable about the South Bay real estate market, specifically Torrance and Lomita (which we were looking at). He maintained incredible communication and tenacity at finding new listings that met (or were close) to our desired features. If he couldn't pick up the phone, our message was listened to, and we received a call-back from him in remarkable time. He was also very prompt with email responses. After looking at countless properties and several unaccepted offers, he expanded the search into a nice spot in Harbor City, called Del Amo Woods. We had no idea this area existed. Here, we found a house that met many of our requirements (and more) and upon writing an offer, we were accepted. Unfortunately the situation surrounding this house sale was complicated, involving multiple parties and the Courts. After over 2 months of back and forth, we finally got into underwriting only to be told that there was a small clause in the FHA regulations about the property's proximity to a boundary where an active oil derrick was present. This pulled us out of escrow due to loss of funding. This whole process (the back and forth with the owners, the Courts, the lender, the multiple realtors etc.) was extremely taxing and frustrating for my Husband and I, not to mention Eric. However, Eric kept his cool the entire way and never stopped pressing our cause at all. He was an absolute Champion. A few weeks later, a house had just come up on the market through one of his colleagues at Century 21. Even before it had a For Sale sign, we were in the house, writing an offer, having it accepted, and in escrow (all within 30 hours!). Eric and our broker (Western Reliance <- I will write another raving review about this company too), were completely on top of this escrow process and we ended up closing a week early due to their diligence and communication. We are now happily in our new home in Lomita, within the boundary of our preferred Elementary School for our Son, and waiting for baby #2. Eric has maintained excellent communication with us even after closing, making sure that everything with the house is perfect. Eric is an absolutely outstanding guy, and incredible real estate professional. I have no hesitation in recommending him to friends and family (and have in-fact recommended him to a couple of people already). Please also see my review for David Harrington at Western Reliance Funding Group as he worked seamlessly with Eric Rook to make this whole process as hassle-free as possible. This is also a wonderful example of how Eric 'plays' very well with others, and did an incredible job for us with our lender. Thank you so much Eric. We look forward to having you and your family over for a summer BBQ as soon as we are more settled in our new house, and the weather warms up.

Eric was outstanding. We've heard horror stories about agents that lose patience with clients if they don't buy after looking at a few houses. Eric was endlessly patient even though it must have been frustrating. It took us over a year to find the right thing and we looked at over 60 houses. We looked for so long that prices went up and we had to increase our budget. We had a budget that kept us at the bottom of the market in Redondo Beach but would have given us many choices in Torrance. But he knew we only wanted Redondo. He respected our wishes and never tried to sell us on anything he believed we would not be happy with. We finally found a fixer in a nice single family area of North Redondo. He was able to negotiate us a price almost 20K less than asking. Even after closing he checked up with us to make sure everything was fine. He even would stop by to check on the contractor. We would recommend him without reservation to anyone looking for a home in the Southbay. We plan to sell as soon as the market picks up and he will definitely be our agent.