Lara Liquori

My wife and I could not be happier with Lara. She was absolutely amazing. We just moved into our new home in Montclair because of the hard work and dedication of Lara. She is very professional, thorough and truly cares about her clients. She was available day and night to answer our crazy questions, kept in touch through every part of the closing process and was dedicated to the mission of finding our new home. She has a big picture view of not only Montclair, but of all its surrounding areas. If you are looking for a realtor, we could not recommend anyone better than Lara.

Lara helped my husband and me purchase our first house in South Orange. We had a wonderful experience working with her. She really listened to our wants and needs and didn't try to push us toward a house or neighborhood that did not fit our criteria. Lara helped us see potential in homes that didn't show well on the MLS, and ultimately helped us find our dream home. We are so happy. Being first time house owners, my husband and I were unsure of what to look for in terms of workmanship and quality - for example ongoing water damage vs a one time leak. Lara has a very detail-oriented eye for these things and a sixth sense for basements. She was also able point out things in need of immediate repair and those things that can wait. She is well connected in the area and can provide contacts for lawyers, mortgage people, inspectors and contractors. Finally, Lara is a pleasure to work with. She helped make a stressful situation pleasant by helping us navigate through multiple bidding wars and appraisal issues. She has a good sense of humor and makes herself available at all times. I would recommend Lara to anyone looking to buy a home in the area.

This was my first time doing business with Lara Liquori or Coldwell Banker. I searched hard for a reputable realtor, largely because my experience is most are corrupt and/or incompetent. This industry is chock-full of lazy, unintelligent people looking to make a quick dollar. For this reason I wrote a long and detailed review for those recognizing this and intent on avoiding such people. I was not able to find a verifiably reputable realtor. Therefore, I began a series of conversations with Lara and a realtor of another company and I decided Lara was the better choice and decided to see where this would go. In short I would recommend Lara to anyone. I talked extensively with Lara about what I was looking for regarding marketing my property and finding responsible tenants. I asked her many questions and at all times Lara was patient. When Lara did not know an answer to a question rather than tap dance around the issue as many do she would say she did not know, research the question, and get back to me (in some circles that is known as character). Lara also demonstrated promptness in addressing issues. One example regards a lowlife who listed my property in a scam claiming to be me and asking people to send him the first month?s rent (half of what I was asking) to him in Texas. When Lara discovered this she filed a report with the local police and convinced the website to remove the fake add. Although this did not remedy the problem since she continued to receive inquiries regarding the fake listing, she at least did everything she could do. Lara was also great at disseminating information as the situation developed, such as notifying me of paperwork I needed to review and walking through my property for showing to the public. She also kept me informed of prospective tenants interested in the property. Lara was always accessible when I needed to contact her via phone calls (many times), emails (even more times), and texts (even more times), and visiting her in her office (two times). I stated the importance of finding well vetted renters for my property. Lara found a tenant capable of passing the background check in about thirty days. This is noteworthy considering the property was listed on or about December 1st and she had to compete with two major holidays in the winter. I would think this is the hardest month of the year to find a tenant. This includes turning away prospective renters who could not pass the background check. This partly comprises two parties denied in accordance with my criteria requiring all adults on the premises to pass a background check. In both cases the applicants did not want to comply. Adhering to such standards is crucial to protecting the property. The party Lara eventually found passed the check well (very high credit score, verifiable employment, no known criminal history, ETC). Although it is too early to verify this party will be responsible tenants, the vetting process was adhered to and the future looks positive. Another area I needed help with was finding reliable contractors to handle installation of a new water heater and to finish the basement ceiling. I called Lara about a water heater that had just broke and she gave me two contractors to call, which included AAA Able Plumbing. I immediately contacted them that night, and I was the first call they visited the next morning. They worked out great (written in another review). A second issue I had regarded a partially unfinished basement ceiling. Lara referenced two parties experienced in painting and drywalling. Of the two I went with two men named Ralph Ford and Tony (last name unknown). They did a great job with finishing my ceiling. I would recommend them to anyone. It would be remiss not to mention Lara is new to real estate. However, two things I will point are one, given her character, conduct, and performance Lara Liquori was the right choice and she will be called upon again. She outperformed many experienced agents I had worked with before. Two, it was easy to see Coldwell Banker provides oversight to their agents. Not all agencies do this. Given I also needed a property manager Coldwell Banker provided a very experienced agent named Susan Blodgett. Susan provided great ideas for marketing/managing this property I immediately appreciated. I told Susan about my concern with a previous tenant who would exploit the grace period, and how this combined with the lag time in the check clearing was something I wanted to avoid. Susan suggested adjusting the billing cycle from the 1st to the 15th. I also explained how people look at the rooms and wonder if they are big enough to accommodate their beds since the positioning of the radiotors can restrict the placement of furniture. Susan suggested we put tape on the floor that was the same dimensions of a large bed so clients would know there was enough space. This was very useful. I am very glad I went with Lara Liquori, Susan Blodgett, and Coldwell Banker.

Lara spent many hours helping my wife and I find a home in Maplewood. She is a dedicated professional and we were lucky to have her working with us throughout the process. Over the course of several months, Lara patiently worked around our schedules as we were traveling from out of town to look at potential homes. She helped us through an offer with a difficult seller, another offer that went to a bidding process and finally an offer on a short sale. Additionally, she guided us through the short sale process to closing, working on our behalf with multiple attorneys, realtors, mortgage companies, etc. If you're looking for a realtor in Maplewood or the surrounding area and you want an experienced professional who both knows the marketplace and goes the extra mile for her clients, I highly recommend Lara.