Marie Chao

She sets the bar so high, no amount of praise is enough praise for Marie!
The prospect of purchasing your first home is as daunting as it is exciting. I became a first-​time home owner in October 2014 and I am grateful each day that Marie was the one who walked me through that process and held my hand every step of the way.
Marie is a powerhouse of knowledge. Not only is she a bona fide expert in her field, she brings an impassioned, deeply sensitive, and humanistic approach to an experience that can feel complex and stressful. I was going through tremendous changes professionally and when the prospect of a home purchase surfaced, I needed someone who was highly communicative, informed, and looking out for my best interest. Not only was Marie all of those things, I actually came to think of her as a coach who took prolific initiatives on my behalf, and motivated and guided me each step of the way, especially on days when my limited schedule and the newness of the experience created overwhelm.
You can get lost among the sea of papers and the accompanying players in the process. Marie knows her stuff so well, you can’t help but feel better and more confident each time you interact with her. Her competence, intelligence, and exuberance came through in every phone call and email we exchanged (and there were many!). Each time I was reminded that I was working with someone who was working diligently and creatively toward making sure that my needs were met.
Now I can’t wait to work with Marie again when the day comes to sell this home and move to even greener pastures. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, look no further than Marie. You couldn’t ask for a more talented and amazing realtor!

Marie is not only an amazing and extremely knowledgeable realtor, but she is also patient as a saint. We recently had to move my elderly father and prepare his home of 40 years for sale. Marie treated him with utmost respect and dignity, walking him through the laborious process with ease.
Marie is one of only a few realtors with expertise in AND around san francisco. She was able to recommend different contractors to help get the house ready for sale (and made sure we looked at others for price comparison as well), and even helped us navigate the very difficult processes of preparing a home for sale within san francisco. Who knew you had to have a septic tank inspection if you wanted to sell a house in the city?!
Marie helped us deftly and expertly negotiate a sale price that was more than 20% over what we were looking for.
Marie is the ONLY realtor worth working with if you are preparing to buy or sell in the bay area.

Working with Marie has been an absolute pleasure. As a first time home-​buyer, Marie has utilized her vast knowledge of the real estate market and her experience with all parts of the Bay Area to help us find a good home. She helped us navigate a very complicated process and made everything seamless for us. She was also very accommodating with our schedule and particular needs as out-​of-​state clients.
I was particularly happy with her fast response times to our questions and inquiries into particular properties. The east coast-​west coast time difference was not an issue for Marie as she was always ready to answer our questions or get documents ready for us.
When it came time to purchase a home, she was a great negotiator and stood up for our interests. I couldn’t be happier with the home we purchased. I would give Marie 6 stars if possible.

We worked with Marie to help us look for homes to buy. We didn’t have the biggest budget, but we felt like she treated us as her most important client. She was always reachable, had terrific advice on the region and how to get the right house with our budget, and helped us see all the options. Marie knows the entire Bay Area region well and helped us tremendously. Very professional and and dedicated – and recommended!

We used Marie as our property manager for a year while we were deciding to relocate. Her professionalism and good humor were always present. She was just what we needed; helpful and flexible in handling all sorts of the strange things that happen when your house is being used by others. When we decided to sell, we had no doubts. Let’s call Marie! We no longer lived in the Bay Area so we needed extra help in getting our house ready to sell. Marie took it all in stride and then some. She looked after every detail and was fierce as a bulldog in defending our interests. The maze of contractors, staging companies, inspectors, forms, financing, and weird people was quite a gauntlet, but Marie saw us through. If you are buying or selling a home you could not pick a better agent.

Marie is the best realtor I’ve worked with and looking forward to using her services again in the future. My partner and i where moved back to the bay area from Australia and she made the home buying process easy and stress free. She worked around our tight schedules and showed us dozens of homes. Her attention to detail was evident the moment we walked through each home. Small imperfections that we overlooked, Marie noticed and pointed out. She’s a great people person and asks the right questions to understand what the buyer wants and needs to make the process efficient. I always looked forward to her emails with listings because they where exactly what we where looking for. Her knowledge, expertise, and great negotiating skills helped us get the best deal for our home. I recommend anyone in the market to buy or sell a home, contact Marie!

Marie is one of those realtors who find their clients largely by word-​of-​mouth. I have been looking around for houses with Marie on and off during the last 10+ months, and Marie has taken me on about a dozen house-​viewing trips. She has always been very honest. As a matter of fact on several occasions she was the one who talked me out of some expensive mistakes. She’d point to the cracks on the driveway and tell you it’s NOT what normal foundation settlement should look like. I should point out that’s the most expensive house I had considered thus far. She’d also tell you not to pitch an offer too high if a lower offer would suffice to get into the game. She’s also tell you if the seller’s agent used gimmicks to make the place look nicer than it actually is.
I finally found something in the South Bay I liked. Again, Marie has consistently advocated caution every step of the way. She made sure that the funding is absolutely ascertained before I signed off on release of contingency, even if it means she’d have to draft more addendums to make it happen. She also suggested more detailed roof inspection and termite report. Based in the Pennisula area, she has no affliations with the inspection companies I chose in the South Bay area, by the way.
As far as a buyer’s agents go I can’t think of a better choice than Marie (I’ve owned and sold properties before). She would pick me up and drop me off to the escrow office, and make a point of not being nearby during the signing so as not to exert undue pressure on me. She would even be there at the time of picking up the keys to see it through 100%. No agent is obligated to do all that, but she really keeps her clients’ interest in mind every step of the way.
Last but not least, Marie works with a lot of high-​end clients, and my purchase definitely wasn’t among the most profitable of her efforts, but she’s handled my deal with impeccable dedication and professionalism.