RE/MAX By the Bay

Rich and his team are such a pleasure to work with. Rich helped my boyfriend and I purchase a home recently. He is very knowledgeable and patient with the entire process. He is very responsive and made the transaction smooth as possible.
He would give us as much information as possible on each home we were interested in. Also, provided detailed information on any possible issues with getting the property financed. He has a passion for his work and it definitely shows. Will definitely use him again for our future real estate and home loan needs.

Rich and his team helped my parents and I fulfill our dream of owning a house in America. Even though the house was a short sell Rich made the house-​buying experience quick and stress-​free. The house is in a great location and has all the requirements we needed.

We were first time home buyers and were clueless when we came to Rich for his services. Rich and his team were beyond helpful and knowledgeable in the business. Any questions we had were answered and explained in details regardless of time of day, even when he was on vacation. They went out of their way to accommodate to our busy work schedules with evening and night viewings of properties. When our paper work needed to be signed promptly and we could not leave work Rich’s team brought the paperwork to us, at multiple locations, to have all parties’ signature. We could not have asked more from an agent because our loan was not an easy loan to process. Rich’s expertise and negotiation skills have given us a very positive and speedy process in spite of that. He is result driven, responsive and ethical which reassured us in an otherwise complicated process. We are happy to say that we are truly happy with our purchase and it was all made possible by Rich and his team.

It’s hard to find a good Realtor that you can trust. I was first introduced to Rich Kwok through a friend. At the time I was looking into buying my first home but wasn’t sure where to look and how much I can qualify for. I have heard of government incentive for first time buyer but don’t know where to get the information.
My first visit with Rich was an eye opening, I thought that buying a house is simple process but I found out quickly that it can take months. Rich took his time to find out what is my need in term of the size of the house, how many members in the family, is this going to be a future investment property. He wants to make sure that the house I’m buying can generate income in the future, if I decide to rent it out later.
He then looked into my financial situation. He took his time to go through all my bank statements, investments and pay-​stubs to calculate my death to income ration. He was able to qualify me in the $ 500K-​$ 600K range house. He told me that even though I qualify for a $ 600K home, he would recommend that we looking at $ 500-​$ 550K home first because it would give us room to negotiate with the seller and money left over for remodel after closing. I was OK with that and would like to have some money after to build my man cave.
Next he went over the different type of loan and since I have a good credit, I could qualify for some good interest rate. He explained that FHA loan for first time home buyer has a lower down payment but they tend to have a higher interest rate than conventional bank loan. He also calculates my total cost per months if I want to go with a particular lender. He explained to me that my monthly expenses start with the mortgage, and then I have to add in: mortgage insurance, yearly taxes, home owner insurance, trash, water, sewage bill and last but not lease if the home have a Home Owner Association Bill.
After an hour into our first visit with Rich, my head was spinning with all the information. Rich was very knowledge with the housing market. He didn’t promised me that he will find me the perfect house but he will find one that fit my need and I can fix it up to be my perfect home. Before I left the office that day, he advised me to keep my finance in order for the next two to six months, and that I should not make any big cash deposit or withdraw from my bank because it will delay the loan process.
After 4 months and looking at over 23 different homes in 3 different cities, I finally found the one that is close to what I wanted. Rich helped me closed a $ 532k on a 30 years fix with 4.2 interest rate. I decided to go with a FHA loan because I didn’t want to put a lot of money down for the down payment.
Without Rich Kwok helps I would still be renting and wouldn’t be in the home that I now own. And it feels great.

Generally a very pleasant experience working with Rich. I have done a refinance and bought an investment property through him.

Rich is very knowledgeable and great at what he does, he sets expectations with clients and we have a great working relationship. If anyone is looking to buy, sell or short sale their home, hes the go to guy. He is reliable, you can email/​text him and his team is great!