Rick LeMasters, The Last Name Says it All

Rick LeMasters, Realtor

Coldwell Banker 1917 Hillhurst Ave. Los Angeles, CA. 90027

Tel: (323) 632-3313

When we finally made the decision to start shopping for a home, we knew agents would not take us seriously unless we were pre-approved. So we sucked it up and got it done. With a pre-approval in our hands, we set out to look for a real estate agent. We had narrowed down the areas we wanted to live in. On our list were, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Highland Park, Mt. Washington, and anywhere else that pointed East and fit into our budget. We made a list of agents that were known for working in those areas and started interviewing them. We didn't care if it took weeks (which it did) to find the right agent because we knew that in the end, if we weren't with someone that was a good fit for us, we would not have a good experience.

Our budget was $300,000. For Los Angeles this is chump change. However, the market had shifted and prices had dropped for the first time in years, which meant it was our only opportunity to try and buy in the city. We didn't know how long the prices were going to stay low so we had to act fast.

Some agents upon hearing our budget laughed, some told us they didn't waste their time with the lower end of the price ranges, others said it was impossible. One agent with Sotheby's in the Los Feliz office told us that we had to go see houses on our own and call his assistant if we saw something we liked because he was too busy to deal with us. Another agent who is supposed to be "the" Highland Park agent to go to, didn’t even show up to the interview that HE scheduled at Antigua Bread! Then, (cue the angels singing) we found Rick.

Rick LeMasters was too good to be true. We literally walked out of the interview speechless. We couldn't believe we had found someone with honesty, integrity, and who was upfront and realistic about the properties we could expect to find. He listened to our needs, never pushed us to make an offer we didn't want to make, and he had to have earned enough good karma points to last him a lifetime because we were not the easiest of clients. We can honestly say he is a true advocate for the buyer. We highly recommend him to everyone from first timers like us to real estate veterans. So, with all that said, we put all of our trust in him and started our search at the tail end of August of 2008. And the race to the finish line, although bumpy, was only possible because of him.

Anyone have a good/bad experience with a Los Angeles Real Estate Agent? Please post and share!