Praedium Real Estate Services

Kevin was extremely helpful. He had us list the the important things we wanted in a house. Our list was not easy for the Pittsburgh market. As we looked at houses Kevin made sure we kept reviewing our "must haves" and not to give in on them. He found us a house that met our list and we have been very happy with it since.

I was very unhappy with the service. He did not really provide much service or advice, and when he did provide advice, it usually was contrary to my interest or incorrect or he would tell me one thing one day, and then change his mind the next day. First, during the search, which I could have done myself using one of the real estate sites, like Zillow, he tried to talk me into buying the very first house we saw together, which I didn't really like. Then, he told me that in my price range I should not expect to find any house that I would really like. Then, when we would go to see other houses, he would just sit somewhere and look bored and not really point things out as I would expect an agent should. Then, because of him and his incorrect advice, I almost lost the house that I ended up buying, which I did really like. Also, an example of contradictory advice is that when he was trying to convince me to purchase the very first house we saw, I made a comment that I would want the owners to do some work before I would consider buying it. He advised me that I should never have the sellers do work. I should get the money from them in the closing and do it myself. Then, later, he told me that it was fine to have the sellers do some repair work that needed done before I bought the house. During the agreement negotiation process, he never suggested that the sellers change or add anything in my favor and never negotiated one point for me that he brought up. Not only that, but I felt like he was negotiating against my interests. When I would ask a question about something that I thought was unfair to me as the buyer, he would just say, that is standard or he cannot change that part of the agreement without a lot of trouble. However, now that I am on the other end as the seller of my old house, I find that what he told me is standard, is not standard. I ended up not trusting him or his judgment. I would not recommend that anyone use him.

We got his name from Angie's List. We talked to him. He appeared at first to be knowledgeable about real estate sales. We were very impressed that he was a lawyer as well as a buyers only broker. We assumed he would know a great deal about real estate selling. Although he sent us many listings and virtual tours over the internet, he would only meet with us once in a period of about one month. He may have been too busy but he also did not know (or did not have interest in) construction, nor about how to purchase foreclosed property or how to participate in an auction sale. He also showed us property which we wanted to bid on, but found out later had a radon problem and structural damage caused by settlement. He should have known this. His advertising is also misleading. While it may be true that he does not list property only assists buyers is not particularly important. Pennsylvania law requires that brokers agree to work only for the buyer unless the buyer expressly waives that right. We learned this as a result of signing a buyers agreement with a real estate broker. We have no animus to wards the agent, but felt he really wasted our time.

It went fantastically. See Praedium at the very beginning of your home search as an exclusive buyer's agent. He'll be in your corner, and only your corner, through the whole process.

I went to Praedium's website and put in my information and quickly was contacted by Kevin. He spent a long time on the phone with me, answering my questions about his company and asking me about my situation and what I was looking for. I started the process in the spring of 2005. He gave me listings and, even though I was still out of state and not available a lot, arranged for us to meet in person. Then my job and move went slower than expected and I dropped the whole thing for a year. When I came back a year later, Kevin remembered who I was and was more than happy to continue working with me. His advice was trustworthy and useful. When I'd closed on my home, one of the last things he said was that I should still call him if I needed anything. When I bought a home, instead of the commission all going to the agency that represented the house, it was split between the seller's agent and the buyer's agent. Using a buyer's agent didn't cost me anything extra and he was always on my side!