Stricker/TenBroeck Team

Jeff and Steve are a real estate A team. I worked with them to sell a house and would highly recommend them.
– they took care of everything. Staging, touch ups, paint — the entire project was managed by them with little involvement by me.
– They managed the whole process. All I had to do is approve/​sign.
– They are detailed oriented. Nothing was forgotten, neglected or delayed.
– They did a great job market the house, manage the offers and get an optimal price.

My husband and I recently bought our first home with Jeff. As first time home buyers, we had an idea of what we wanted but had very little insight into what we wouldn’t want. Jeff helped us pass on homes we would have been willing to settle on due to the current market. He was amazing at finding us homes within the parameters of our needs– a large yard, one story if possible, near good schools, no HOA, etc. Jeff was very patient in doing home visits with us and was never pushy on any particular house and instead worked to find something we would be truly happy with. I’m very glad he was so thorough with the entire home buying process-​in regards to explaining all of the steps and paperwork involved as I am quite sure we would have been lost in the process without his help. As I’ve been told, our experience was not atypical in the bay area as we put our offer in and decisions were made the following day. Jeff was great at ensuring our transaction went as smoothly as possible and that we would be providing our strongest offer to increase the chances of us getting the home. Since moving in, he has continued to help us settle in with referrals to contractors and giving general advice. It’s been a wonderful experience and I highly recommend his team.

This is a lengthy review because it is well deserved and it is important to understand the attention to detail that was paramount in finalizing a lucrative, smooth transaction. My husband and I just completed the sale of his mother’s house in Los Altos. We immediately chose Jeff and Steve to represent us as the seller’s agent. Initially we met up with Jeff and Steve but worked more closely with Jeff in this transaction so this review is mostly about Jeff. Jeff Stricker represented the seller of a house we purchased in Los Altos about 7 years ago and he was much more professional and knowledgable than our buyer’s agent. Although that was actually embarrassing for us in that transaction, everything closed on time because of Jeff rather than our agent. (They also represented another seller on our street alone since that time and that house sold before the Open House even occurred.) At that point we had purchased and sold several properties and worked with well over half a dozen agents, all of whom were either not knowledgable or not honest and in some cases BOTH. Each of those agents dropped the ball at some point during the transaction or gave horrible advice. The house just closed about a week ago. It sold in four days, all cash buyer, 15 offers, no contingencies. It sold for approximately $ 425,000 over asking. The strategic way in which the sale of the house was handled was phenomenal and paramount in the successful result. From the moment we signed the Listing Agreement to the moment it closed escrow everything went exactly as we were told without a hitch. Although we live less than 2 miles away from the house, we did not need to worry about stopping in all of the time to check on the progress or do security checks, etc. There were painting contractors, flooring contractors, a cleaning crew, a landscaping crew, and a handyman that all performed work within a 3-​week period. Jeff was there almost every day. We had a huge storm in early December and Jeff was out there in the torrential rain checking the house on a Saturday night! He emailed us that night to let us know that he did so and that everything was okay. He checked to see if the roof was leaking on several occasions so as to avoid potential damage to the hardwood floors that had just been refinished. He treated it like it was his own house. It was such a relief to us. We were updated continuously on the progress and he scheduled appointments with us well in advance for things that needed our involvement. We were essentially able to walk away from the project. Initially, he and Steve met with us at the house and walked through to assess the property. They determined the work they’d like to see done to the property to maximize the value but in a very conservative way in terms of cost to us. They got bids for all of the work and we finalized/​approved those bids which were very reasonable. They have a crew they work with regularly so the schedules were timed back-​to-​back and the work done immaculately and immediately. They went over listing price and put together a summary of all 15 offers in an easy-​to-​compare spreadsheet presentation. The key components were laid out in such a way that we knew our options, knew their recommendations and the reasons why. The decisions were left up to us. We are so grateful for their guidance and we took all of their suggestions and told them to go with it. It was the perfect decision. Jeff is very patient and meticulous. His attention to detail is amazing. He went above and beyond. It wasn’t like we were asking for a favor or like he did us a huge favor, he just did what needed to be done and kept us informed. There was no stone left unturned. Our friend just lost a parent and the home is in similar condition, older and not updated. We have referred him to Jeff and Steve. We know they will take excellent care of him and his family. It is a pleasure to work with him/​them.

After going through 3 previous subpar realtors, I was referred to Jeff and Steve by a co-​worker, and immediately, my husband and I could see the huge difference in quality between the previous realtors and Jeff. We had been planning on putting down an offer on a house that no one seemed to want in downtown Mt View; I had a feeling that it was worth $ 50k less than asking, and the previous realtor was pushing us to offer more. To my surprise, Jeff stated that it was worth $ 80k less than asking and visited the house within 2 hours of my call with him. He had a list of 10 things wrong with the house and encouraged us to wait 30 days to see if the price did drop. It did indeed drop $ 80k to the price that Jeff said it was worth, and I knew then that Jeff would be the right realtor for us to work with.
We passed on that house for all the reasons that Jeff listed, and he helped us see many more houses after that over the course of 9 months or so. Throughout it all, Jeff was patient and always answered all my emails and calls immediately. Being first-​time homebuyers and looking for a single unit house in a competitive area, it was important for my husband and me to have a real estate agent that we could always reach and could walk us through the process. Jeff would always point out many more things about a house than we would notice on our own and be able to tell us how much work would be need to be done when moving in, giving us estimates that we could take into consideration. He and Steve’s great reputation proceeded them when we visited open houses as selling agents would recognize their names right away.
Also, because Jeff was previously a lawyer, he was able to translate a lot of the paperwork and disclosures for us as well as generally being very thorough.
Even now, after we’ve purchased our first house with their help, Jeff still always checks in and answers any questions that we have immediately. They sent us a gift card within the first week! Through the ups and downs of our first time buying a house, we were always thankful to have Jeff as a dependable source of knowledge and support that we could always count on. We’re really glad to have met Jeff and Steve and highly recommend them.

We recently worked with Jeff & Steve for selling our house in Cupertino… based on this experience I would recommend them highly, they are very thorough, persistent and meticulous in their work.
Our real– estate transaction went into a loop and required a lot of patience and very diligent work on their part. and they came through with shining colors.

We worked with Steve TenBroeck and Jeff Stricker of Alain Pinel to purchase our home in Palo Alto, CA. Note that Steve TenBroeck is ½ of the team of «Jeff and Steve». We worked more closely with Steve which is why this review focuses on him; however his partner Jeff Stricker is wonderful as well and any client would be lucky to work with either.
Having worked with several realtors in the past, as well as having interviewed dozens, I have enjoyed working with Steve the most. He is a strong advocate, provides sound advice, and has deep knowledge of the Peninsula, having lived here all his life. He and his partner Jeff Stricker focus on four cities — Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos and Mountain View. If you are considering buying or selling a home in one of these cities, I strongly urge you to contact Jeff and Steve — you won’t regret it!
Most realtors are typically transaction-​oriented and want to help you buy/​sell a home as quickly as possible so they can pocket the money and move on to the next client. At least this is what I have found in my own personal experience. However, Steve does not fit this mold — from the very beginning, Steve patiently provided advice on which homes were solid buys vs. those which weren’t. This was super useful information as my husband and I were first-​time home buyers (I had previously owned a condo which had the benefits of an HOA, so knew nothing about single family homes). During the negotiation process, Steve moved quickly to keep the discussion moving with the seller, while filling in the gaps when we had questions on various legal documents. Post sale, Steve has delivered ongoing value, giving us access to his enormous list of contacts. Through him, we were able to find good contractors to help us fix our roof, chimney, and more. Recently Steve even welcomed my husband and I to his home to show us how he landscaped his yard (which is something we are currently trying to figure out how to do)!
I highly recommend Steve TenBroeck and plan to work with him again when we are ready to sell our home and buy our next one.