The HomeBuyer's Advocate

It was a very difficult and weird purchase, probably due to communication issues between the other sellers and their realtor, so I was thankful to have Jim, The Home Buyer's Advocate, in my corner, because I felt like I DEFINITELY needed a pro-active advocate in my corner for this transaction. Through issues navigating the initial offer, the request to remedy, and especially with an issue that kept moving around the change of possession because of the sellers' requests (the final change request coming the evening before the close!), he was a great, steady hand with very helpful and trustworthy advice and kept the transaction moving forward in such a way that I was still protected appropriately. Also, because Jim only represents buyer's, he gave me referrals to really great, trustworthy seller's agents so that I could sell my home. I couldn't be happier with the service I received from my listing agents and I owe that to great advice from Jim on that item as well.

We were searching for a home to purchase for our daughter to live in until she can qualify for her own loan. We had a lot of questions before jumping into this and Jim was very patient, helpful, thorough and reassuring. He also helped us find financing, a great home inspector, with negotiations and was even responsive after closing.

Jim was amazing! This was my first time buying a house and I was not 10090 of the process. He helped me the entire way and explained everything (more in depth than you'd think) very, very knowledgeable & helpful throughout the entire process. Keep very professional, on time, kept me updated on everything calmed my nerves when the process got frustrating. I am so happy that he helped me with this process & would highly recommend Jim!

Jim is a wonderful agent! He was patient with my many questions, professional, and kind. Because Jim only helps people buy homes (not sell), he knows the ins-and-outs of buying a home. He is extremely knowledgeable about what to look for when viewing a potential home and about what fixing any potential problem will entail. He was with us through every step of the home-buying process. We never felt like we were on our own to figure things out and make decisions. I highly recommend Jim Deskins :)

Jim is great. He is open and honest about everything he sees in the homes that he shows and tells you how it is. I really felt like he was our advocate. He was very responsive and took the time to explain to use the situation, process, and what we could expect. He went above and beyond even after the we closed on our house to send us information on what to expect as a new homeowner. As a buyers only advocate he wasn't limited to only showing us certain houses, but seemed genuinely concerned with what we were looking for and helping us find it. He is a straight shooter and gave us the facts and I appreciated that. We love our new home and strongly encourage everyone to consider Jim at the Homebuyers Advocate.

We started looking for houses late January. James was very helpful explaining what to look for in a house good and bad. Also helping to avoid houses that were not within our budget. We found a nice home with his and Chris', his associate, help. I'd use them again.

First of all Jim was great at getting us through our first home buying experience. Apparently we drew a "difficult" seller that caused a few headaches along the way. Jim kept us grounded and reassured us that this was part of the experience and not to panic. He provided detailed walkthroughs and used the tools at his disposal to make sure we were headed down the right path. He never pushed us to make offers even after seeing multiple listings. Jim was a pleasure to work with and we will certainly use him on our next home buying adventure! Thanks again Jim!

He was great. he was very responsive to our needs. He was very patient with us when we weren't finding a home very quicky. We saw over 30 homes. He was also very thorough with the home inspection and using the tools he had available to him to make sure everything was good.

Great! Jim was very frank and friendly with us throughout the experience. We knew exactly what type of home we wanted, so we actually only toured one or two homes with him. (He e-mailed us new listings that we may be interested in daily, though.) While we toured the homes, he noticed and pointed out a lot of important features that we wouldn't have thought to consider. The truly valuable part came after we decided on a house to buy, though--Jim was in contact with us constantly, updating us on the progress of the sale, answering our (many) questions, and advising us on issues that we needed to negotiate. He is knowledgeable, patient, friendly, dedicated to his clients, a skilled negotiator, and is incredibly open and honest--he's the total package!

When we started looking, immediately, each house Jim pointed out warning flags on things that could be "wrong" with the house. It took us about 9 homes before we found the perfect one on the "Rocky's" :-) If you don't take advice well, don't use him and use a crappy Realtor that could be a "duel" agent. If you want up to date advice and information, he is the guy to see. He will tell you what would alarm him if he was purchasing the home. There was one house that had 5 sump pumps and he said that is very alarming as well as weird paneling in the basement to cover up leaks. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM!

Great. Jim was extremely helpful at all stages, but his knowledge of the market was superb. Jim also took lots of time my with us, even in a busy spring season. He knows so much about homes that we learned a ton and will use the knowledge as home owners, he had opinions about things but he was always positive and encouraging. My only complaint was that he was so thorough that looking at houses took a long time. Longer than I expected. But when you are making this huge.investment, it is the only way to do it right.

My husband and I decided to relocate from Pennsylvania to Ohio to be near our daughter and her family. It sounds simple enough until you factor in the fact that two folks in their 60's working two full- and one part-time job are looking to purchase a home 4.5 hours from "base camp." Acting on a recommendation from our daughter and her husband, we contacted Mr. Deskin (Jim) via email, explained our future hopes, housing needs, budget, etc. This would be a good place to mention that Jim responded to our initial email within hours and set up an agreeable time for us to chat via telephone. Within 24 hours we had spoken on the phone and my husband and I had access to Jim's very user-friendly personal listing portal where we would find available homes; homes selected just for us based on the criteria we had outlined with Jim. Could it be easier?!? When we were ready to make the weekend trip to Ohio, Jim set aside an entire day to show us all the homes on the list compiled by my husband and myself. At each home, Jim would begin by pointing out the good, bad and ugly about each home. Ugly we could pretty much figure out for ourselves, BUT, the bad can be a great deal harder to spot if you don't know what you're looking at. In most instances, we did not ... JIM DID!! So many things that we would never have noticed until we moved in and started calculating present, AND FUTURE, repair and/or update costs Jim saw right away. By the time we began to view the third house on our nine house list, I was beginning to suspect Jim had magical powers. I know ... that is a bit over-the-top; however, I did tell my daughter who was able to house tour with us. that "I love this guy." Seriously, JIm is a top-notch professional. Through the entire purchasing process he coordinated efforts with both the seller's realtor, lender, and title company. Absolutely nothing fell through the cracks because Jim is an expert at keeping the balls up in the air. Without going into great detail, there was more than one challenge encountered as we went through the home selection and purchase process; but we never felt alone because we knew Jim was on the job ... advocating for us at each new bend in the road 4.5 hours away from us. Jim Deskin truly is the home buyers' advocate! Based on our experience, those looking for a new home can put their trust in this consummate professional and will not be disappointed. Even though our new home is purchased and all the i's dotted and t's crossed, we still feel we could contact Jim for advice, or with questions or concerns. I WOULD LIKE READERS OF THIS REVIEW TO KNOW THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN THE TIME TO SUBMIT AN ON-LINE REVIEW.

Jim was really excellent. He was especially good when we were viewing houses. It was almost like giving the property a mini-inspection before the real inspection. He pointed out many things that we would never have noticed on our own. He was very professional and always pleasant to spend time with. He was very capable and organized. He also had to deal with a very difficult seller's agent when we did find a house that we liked. We were very very glad to have that cushion, as there was quite a bit of tension which would not have been nice for us to deal with. Overall, we liked him very much. He helped to buy the house that we wanted for a good price, and we really appreciated all his help.

We contacted Tammy using Angie's List reviews of the HomeBuyers Advocate. In our initial meeting, she inspired a lot of trust and confidence. We described the kind of home we wanted and she had her own questions, which helped us narrow our search criteria. We saw over 20 homes over a span of 6 months. The entire 6 months Tammy was patient and did not try to quickly close on any house. Tammy would ask the right questions that would ask us to think critically about our choice. Tammy went though a very difficult phase of life personally with a loss in her immediate family, but the entire time she was professional and was never out of communication. She was quick and prompt in our request for showing a property and left no stones unturned for us. When we finally saw the house we bought, it stayed listed on MLS for less than 48 hours. We saw, offered and were in contract within 2 days. Her quick actions helped us get the home for which there was stiff competition. Tammy also recommended a very good mortgage broker who I am very happy with. I would recommend Tammy to any home buyer as your first choice. Best value for money you can get out there.

First of all, Jim is a great guy. He is the consummate family man, clearly passionate about his work, and puts in a ton of effort. We are pretty particular people, and Jim didn't bat an eyelash when we told him up front that we had a fairly strict set of criteria. We were hoping to find a foreclosed property that we could rehabilitate, and while Jim admitted that he doesn't deal with many foreclosed properties, after some probing it was clear to me that he understood the finer points and could help us navigate the process. From the first house we viewed to the one we ultimately purchased, Jim was there with us the whole way offering his brutally honest opinions and oftentimes pointing out things that we simply wouldn't have noticed due to our inexperience. His advice always came with the disclaimer that he is giving his unvarnished opinion from so many years in the business. He crawled into crawl spaces to check foundations, kept a keen eye out for moisture in basements, and even climbed up into an attic space to check a potential leak. He keeps great notes, was always punctual, and never missed a deadline. We felt absolutely comfortable the entire time, and would not think twice about hiring him again should we look for another home in the Columbus area. If you are impressed by a nice office and well-dressed real estate agents, you might be better off with Re/Max or one of the other big players. Be careful though, it's possible that you may be pushed towards properties that they are also selling, yielding them both the buyers and sellers commission! Seems like a conflict of interest. If, however, you want a buyers-only agent who will get dirty to provide you the information you need to make an informed decision, Jim is your guy.

Jim was great at helping me find my first home I bought by myself. He is very trustworthy and helpful. As a woman, you don't always get treated as being intelligent. He didn't try to BS me, in fact he pointed out homes he wouldn't buy himself. He has a lot of good contacts for people who do work on houses and anything you need done. He also helped me buy my second house with my husband and I. He does not sell houses, so he only has your best interest at heart. He is a family man and gives back to the community.

I will recommend the HomeBuyer's Advocate to anyone I know looking for a home. Jim worked with us for months and was very patient in helping us find the perfect home. Our house budget was not very large and he still dedicated lots of time for our search in our home buying process. He is very helpful when looking at houses and is knowledgeable on repairs and costs that would need to go into certain homes. Like another review stated, he does almost a "mini inspection". He is also very professional and quick to return calls and emails. When we actually found our home, he was great in helping us deal with difficult sellers. I am not sure we would have even gotten our house without his help. Jim was great to work with and we are so happy that we chose him to help us buy our home. Our 4 year old son was with us during our house search and still talks about Jim and how he helped us find our new home.

Jim got me in the house I wanted and at a great price. Without hesitation, I would recommend him to family and friends.

Jim Deskins was easy going and professional. he got the job done, going above and beyond to work with an out-of-state client. We had fun and we love the home and the price we paid.

I bought my first and second home from Jim Deskins. He is truly one of the last honest, trustworthy Realtors around. He not only treats you as a customer, but as a friend. I bought my first house on my own, and he didn't hesitate to tell me if there were "issues" with the houses we were looking at. He wouldn't let me buy something that he wouldn't have bought himself. He doesn't sell houses for customers, he only helps you buy one, which means he works for you. He is also knowledgable about when something may be wrong with the sump pump, roof, plumbing etc. and will contact one of his experts to look into it. He also has a lot of patience working with someone that needs time to make a decision. I would definitely recommended him to others.

They are on the buyers side, which is good. Helped set up everything for us when purchasing a for sale by owner home.

'As a first-time home buyer I needed a professional advice on buying a property, and I have selected Jim Deskins as my buyer's agent. I am very happy about that decision! Jim is extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of home buying. He advised on value of the homes and advantages and disadvantages of particular locations around Columbus. While visiting the properties, he could point out traces of termite damage, problems with basement and many other issues with some of the older homes that we saw. I would have never noticed those problems, and doubt that a seller's agent, who primarily looks afters the sellers interest, would point them out either. Jim was very thorough and spent as much time at each property as we needed, while educating us about what to look for and what to watch out for. Jim is a tough negotiator, who uses knowledge as his weapon. Once we have selected the property that we liked, Jim did a thorough comp. analysis. Based on he analysis and his general expertise, he cam up with a solid negotiations strategy. He was able to correctly predict how low the seller would be willing to go, and got us a significant discount! He arranged for all necessary inspections. After the home inspection pointed out to a few issues, Jim helped us arrange that the seller fixes the issues at their expense. The closing process was very smooth as well. I am a happy home owner thanks to Jim!

We had Jim Deskins as our realtor. He was outstanding every step of the way. We looked at quite a few houses and Jim's knowledge of mechanical/technical things to watch out for was great. When we finally settled on a house to make an offer, he did lots of research for us in finding a good price range. What really set Jim apart was dealing with the selling realtor. The seller didn't hire an agent, they decided to get their license and basically DIY. For anyone thinking of doing this, DON'T! Every step of the way, the seller either had no clue what to do or was too busy with a day job that responses were very slow. Only because Jim was so organized and on top of things were we able to get the house. As an example, when we were at closing, we got all the documents signed and the seller asked "so is it OK if we take possession on Saturday?" (it was Thursday). All real estate contracts clearly state when possession is handed off and ours said "at closing". The fact that the seller even asked shows the cluelessness of who we were dealing with. Even after the sale closed, the seller decided to leave a bunch of junk in the house (not stuff, but real junk). Jim managed to get someone to remove most of it. We very much appreciated that kind of post-sale follow up.

lJim was a wonderful realtor. He put in hours of hard work to find us the perfect house. We have referred him to many friends, and would absolutely use him again.

As a first-time home buyer, I decided that I wanted to employ the services of a buyer's agent rather than the typical dual agent. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of these folks in the Columbus area but when I found Jim Deskins, I knew that I had made the right decision. To make a long story short, Jim was an ally from day one. He appreciated my intelligence and was never patronizing (like some agents can be). There was never any pressure to buy or compromise. Armed with his flashlight, he will lead you through a "mini-inspection" with every showing, pointing out any concerns about a home's integrity. He knows his stuff and he would never let any client make a questionable or uninformed decision. He's one smart cookie and a bit of comedian. There was a lot of laughter. And dare I say that the home buying experience was actually fun? Jim has contiunued to have my back even after the purchase-addressing any concerns that have come up since my move. What more could you ask for?