“Before my husband and I were expecting our first child, we knew that our apartment would ultimately be too small for us. I mentioned to Dan that we were considering buying a new place in a couple of years. Dan asked what would be ideal for us, and kept us on his radar. He would occasionally send listings that, even though I wasn’t ready to be looking, helped give us a sense of the market and what was available.
My pregnancy and the time after were consumed with baby planning and sleepless nights of early parenthood. We didn’t have time to think about a new place, yet felt the pressure quite keenly as our son began to take his first steps. I told Dan that we were getting close to a point of outgrowing the place, and he began a search for us in earnest. The listings he sent were ones within the realm of possibility for us, with some above and below to help us refine what we wanted and what we could afford. He reviewed some of the listings I found on my own, giving his expert opinion and offering to help any way he could. He didn’t put any pressure on us about any of the places, merely suggesting we take a look at the posts and tweaking his search based on our feedback.
He sent us a listing for an apartment on west 111th street that I would have never found on my own, as my search restrictions had been narrow, and Dan had a broader search that included places we could easily convert into what we wanted. We went to the open house for the apartment, located a few blocks away from our current place, as our hope was to stay in our neighborhood. From the moment we walked in, we could imagine ourselves living there. We had a wonderful feeling about the place and were eager to call it home. We talked to Dan that evening (a Sunday night), and he came out to see it with us the next day. He communicated with the seller’s broker, expressing our interest and finding out as much information as he could about the apartment and how the seller would handle the offers coming in (they had four offers within 24 hours of showing and a couple above asking!). Dan took a careful look at our finances and talked us through a bidding strategy. He let us drive the conversation and made sure we felt good about our offer. He never pressured us. He offered his opinion when we asked, but always kept it focused on our goals and what we felt was best for us. He talked us through ways to present the strongest package possible, and in the end, we felt that if our offer wasn’t accepted, we would be okay knowing that we did all we could. When Dan called the next morning, leaving a message on my voicemail saying he had good news, we were ecstatic. Our offer had been accepted! The seller’s broker commented to Dan that we had put together a very strong package overall. I am certain we could not have done that without Dan’s aid.
Dan was responsive, prompt, courteous and professional throughout the process, both with us and the seller’s broker. It was clear the seller’s broker respected Dan and enjoyed working with him on the deal. In the several months it took to get to closing, Dan was always there for us, advocating for us and helping us get to the finish line. I know we wouldn’t have found or secured our place had it not been for Dan. We are grateful to him and enthusiastically recommend him to others!”