Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Yes
Reinforced security
We got you covered
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Enhanced cleaning
Daily cleaning
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Conciergerie
We take care of you
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Comments (56)
If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Alameda SOPHIA IS SIMPLY THE BEST! She is smart, personable, strategic, and extremely well connected. As a home buyer with a limited budget but high standards I knew right away we made the right decision to select Sophia as our agent. We looked at close to a dozen homes including several off-market properties on every part of the island. As our searching criteria evolved, Sophia’s uncanny ability to listen and be consultative played a huge role in helping us find our dream home. The challenges presented for buyers like us during the hottest housing market of all time is daunting, but it was Sophia’s positive attitude, responsiveness to our needs, encouragement and confidence that kept us engaged including our 3-year old daughter who absolutely adores Sophia welcoming her into our family. When we eventually bid on our first property (a unicorn off-market property in our desired location at that!) we closed the deal in less than 24-hours at our price tag because of Sophia’s relationship with the sellers agent, thorough understanding of the housing market, and savvy negotiation skills. After we closed on the home, we worked with Sophia’s team on renovating our home in record time. Additionally, Sophia gifted us a 1-year home warranty program that covers all of our appliances and connected us with a local plumber, cleaner and locksmith. I strongly recommend Sophia because of her patience, attention to detail, willingness to listen and overall ability to get the job done for her clients! Her results speak for themselves as the #1 agent in Alameda for 5 years and running…You are lucky to work with Sophia she is truly a one-stop shop for your buying, selling, design, staging and remodeling housing needs😊
We cannot recommend Sophia highly enough! My husband and I worked with her to purchase our second home in Alameda. She is extremely professional, fast, and has her finger on the pulse of the local real estate market. Her services were absolutely excellent from start to finish. Unlike other agents we have worked with in the past, Sophia was extremely proactive and really understood what we were looking for in our forever home.In the midst of the pandemic, she found us our dream home through an off-market sale. She ensured that we had all of the necessary information to feel comfortable in making a quick decision, and submitted our offer before others could view the property. This allowed us to avoid aggressive bidding wars and come in under budget - something we didnt think was possible in the current real estate market. We are now working with her network of trusted, local contractors to renovate our new home.Sophia is truly the best - you will be in excellent hands!
We were drawn to Sophia after reading her rave reviews online of being an expert in the Alameda market. We reached out to her while we were traveling and she, too, was also traveling yet took the time to talk with us and we were immediately comfortable with her. The Alameda market is/has been insane and we knew we needed someone who was well connected on the island, after wed been mishandled by another agent. A listed popped up at 2pm, we were the first people to see it at 4pm, and we submitted an offer by 6pm. We loved the home and knew upon walking into it, that it was the one we wanted. Sophia knew the listing agent and was able to guide us with our offer, securing the property within hours of it being listed (and a competing offer).10/10 - She is fantastic, responsive, very thorough (she contested the appraisal), and is kind, personable, and friendly! To our surprise, she paid for a home warranty for our house as well.Thanks to Sophia and her team!
We had an amazing experience working with Sophia to purchase our first home. She really listened to us and honored our preferences and feedback. And even more importantly she invested the time for us to feel comfortable- going through every line of a disclosure report, meeting multiple times in person to see properties, and answering our multitude of questions. We always felt that Sophia was on our side so we could leverage her wealth of knowledge. In the end, I think it may have been Sophias strong relationships with the sellers agent that really helped us, which is huge.
Sophia is an excellent realtor who I cant recommend enough. She helped us find our dream home in Alameda, which was made all the more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through her network she was able to find our home off-market, and for a great price, completely avoiding the bidding wars we saw around us. Weve also relied on her network of professionals and contractors in the area to help fix up our new home after we moved in.Sophia was a pleasure to work with, and quickly helped us figure out what we were looking for in a home. She was really patient with us as we figured out what we wanted. We also lived about an hour away so she was great at scheduling multiple showings at once and working around our schedule. Her extensive local knowledge helped us find the right place in just a few months. I cant recommend her enough!
Sophia was very helpful guiding us through our home purchase. She’s very supportive and patient. We had issues w sellers taxes that needed resolving and Sophia handled the uncertainty w great communication and proactive resolutions w the seller’s agent. She also helped us walk through the property w contractors and architects during the escrow process which really helped us accelerate our post purchase plans. Thanks Sophia!
My family was so so so fortunate to have worked with Sophia. In July of 2020, in the midst of COVID, we decided to sell our house in Oakland. Working with Sophia was an absolute treat. She was very responsive from beginning to end and her understanding of the local market was crucial to our successful sale. Her guidance regarding renovations, listing strategies and marketing our house, especially during COVID, proved to be spot on and very savvy with the current climate. In short, from the day we decided to sign her as our agent, she and her partners renovated our home and listed it within 3 weeks. We took offers less than two weeks after listing and were absolutely blown away with the sale price.Additionally, Sophia was so keen on understanding our familys needs/desires, she tipped us on a home in Alameda that was off market and it turned out to be a dream home for us. With her help we were able to purchase a home in Alameda and we feel we got a gem for a good price. I believe her negotiation skills and savvy is what got us this home. Sophia is one of a kind and her care and expertise is everything we could have hoped for in an agent and we highly highly recommend her.
The Bay Area real estate market is the most challenging in the country and it is overwhelming for most of us to try and buy a house. I absolutely want to write this review as working with Sophia changed everything in our recent experience of buying a home. It was our first offer ever and we got the house, thanks to her strategy.BEFORE BUYING:We met Sophia during an open house, we were not ready with our paperwork and were just touring houses for the curiosity of the market. Sophia immediately made a very special impression and seemed different than a lot of realtors we had met so far. More focused, more present in the moment, more genuinely caring, versus making random small talks.Still before we were ready with paperwork, she took time to meet us in person and was very generous of her time. She asked amazing questions, dug deeper into our situation, dreams, tastes. After a long meeting, we already learned so much about the process and trusted Sophia to be our best agent to pursue this ambitious dream.SEARCH & BUYING PROCESSWe did our home search during summer, Sophia kept the momentum high and shared relevant listings through her platform. Sophia is available, calm, expert and will always answer questions and anticipate roadblocks.The people she connected us with for financial and other matters made us succeed in our project. She has an amazing reputation so it benefited us compared to other buyers.In less than 3 weeks weve found the house of dreams, the partners to help finance it. Sophia was present and active to make sure we would present the very best offer we could do once we were decided.Many times stress comes from unknown. There is no unknown with Sophia. She makes this process efficient, clear, honest, human and fun.AFTER PURCHASE:In many business relationships, you are a bit let down once the deal is done. Sophia is not like that. She was present at every step and advised us for so many things once we owned the house. She is an insider of the East Bay, knows and loves the place so she truly helped us feel welcome into a new community.Sophia is your dream agent, the perfect balance of personal, professional, expertise and warmth.Superstar!
I have known Sophia for 8 years, and have had the privilege to work with her professionally for the past year. Sophia is a gem of a human being who also happens to be one of the best Realtors in the East Bay. She is incredibly knowledgeable, hard-working, and professional, as well as an excellent listener. She is respected among her professional peers and very well connected, which gives anyone who hires her an edge.Sophias genuine care for people comes through in every conversation (including the behind the scenes conversations), and its clear that she finds true joy in helping people find homes that fit their needs. I have personal relationships with many families who have hired Sophia as their Realtor - they come from diverse backgrounds and financial situations, and every single one of them raves about how grateful they are to have had her help.
I have been in the mortgage industry for 32 years. I have owned several mortgage companies. I have worked with hundreds of real estate agents over the years. I have known Sophia Niu for several years. I have had the privilege of working with Sophia and her clients very closely for several years now. She is absolutely joy to work with. She is professional, accountable, hard working, driven, and kind real estate agent. What I love most about Sophia is that she is always willing to learn new ideas, improve her business, and follows her curiosity! I highly recommend Sophia Niu for anyone looking to buy or list in Alameda, CA!
I have known Sophia personally and professionally for the past 10 years and rarely have I seen anyone be more dedicated, whether it be towards clients or her family. She spends much of her time thinking of how she can better serve others in making their home dreams come true. Sophia truly understands the anxiety and stress that can come with buying/selling a home and has always gone above and beyond helping to alleviate this through being available, making sure her clients feel supported and understood. In a field that can feel like you are at the mercy of salesmen-like realtors, she is a gem in that she is an authentic person who really cares about the person, not the sale, has the best connections in the city to aid in the home process, and works from her heart. You really can not go wrong in selecting Sophia as your next realtor!
In October of 2020, I was finally ready to buy my first home. I researched and googled many real estate agents when I came across Sophias business profile. I reached out and we set up a zoom call (being in the middle of a global pandemic and all). I learned about how she operated and she learned about what I was looking for in a first home. Let me tell you, she did not disappoint. She was very professional, kind, patient, and most importantly, listened.I was patiently waiting for more condo listings, when she brought to my attention a spacious condo in my ideal location. Initially, I had overlooked the property based on the listing pictures because there were a limited number of pictures and they werent pretty. Sophia pulled out the pictures from the prior listing (about 3 years ago), which showed off the property in a much better light. That got me through the door, literally. I scheduled my first viewing. After talking to Sophia about the condo itself and the market, I submitted an offer that evening, and the next day, was officially in escrow.We planned for a 30-day close but the recorders office took a bit longer than expected due to the pandemic. But Sophia was a superstar. She knew the weekend after our expected close day, I was going to clean the unit in preparation for the move the following week (had to be out of my previous place by the end of the month) but I didnt have the keys yet. So she hired a cleaning crew to help cut down on prep time and definitely helped keep my stress levels down in an otherwise high-stress situation.Im so happy to have Sophia as my realtor. She made the process as stress-free as possible, answering all my questions through a pandemic, and even helping find paint colors and painters. Her knowledge and patience are invaluable. She is such an asset to Alameda. I highly recommend her if you are looking for a home in Alameda. I look forward to working with her again in the future.
My husband and I bought our first home in Alameda this August, with Sophia as our realtor (and honestly, she felt like so much more: a partner, guide, and advocate). We came to her on the advice of a friend, after we’d previously offered on three other homes. Sophia got to know us quickly and was extremely attentive to our needs as buyers and homeowners – and immediately proposed we consider a house we had overlooked (we assumed it would sell beyond our means). Her knowledge and experience in this extremely specific and competitive Bay Area market won the day – within a week of beginning to work together, we had an accepted offer on a dream of a home.Throughout the escrow process, Sophia was knowledgable, organized, and ready to answer any question we could throw at her and her team – homes aren’t sold without massive coordination, especially on an accelerated escrow timeline, and Sophia regularly kept everyone aligned, moving forward, and ultimately closing smoothly and on time.I have no doubt that without Sophia’s knowledge, guidance, and pure grit, we would have missed out on the incredible home we’re currently building our lives in. To top it off, she was an absolute pleasure to work with, and she’s been dedicated to us continuing to have a positive experience even after escrow closed.Even amidst the uncertainty of buying in a global pandemic, Sophia was an unshakeable guide and partner, with sound advice and incredible connections to the Alameda community, and we’re so, so grateful our paths crossed hers. We couldnt recommend her more highly.
I work in the lending industry, and I absolutely love working with Sophia. She is a stellar agent who goes above and beyond for her clients, without fail--I would recommend her in a heartbeat to anyone looking to buy (or sell!). She has great knowledge of the industry and the area; if theres a question about a property, Sophia will find the answer! When I see her named as the agent on a contract, I know all parties are in good hands.
I highly recommend Sophia if youre looking for a home in Alameda. Shes highly knowledgeable about the area and its inventory and she knew the ins and outs of purchasing a home in the towns only housing cooperative, which was tremendously reassuring to me as a first-time homebuyer. Sophia took my questions and concerns seriously, was never pushy, and stood by me every step of the way through the process of buying a home during a pandemic. Every other professional she connected me with along the way was as competent as she was, so I felt like I was in good hands throughout. I am now in my dream home, which was not at all guaranteed given the pandemic and the lack of inventory on the market, but Sophia made it happen. Im tremendously grateful for her expertise and help with the biggest financial decision of my life.
Sophia is an exceptional realtor. My spouse and I found ourselves in unlucky circumstances with the house we were renting and needed to find a solution in a very tough real estate market. When I reached out to Sophia, she responded right away, and then went above and beyond to help us. She listened thoughtfully to our circumstances and was very proactive in trying to find us a place that we could afford. I knew Sophia was always on the lookout for us, showing us listings before they hit the general market, and she ended up helping us close on a house in exactly the neighborhood we wanted and for the price that we wanted. She is kind and professional and I highly recommend her.
Sophia is extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and takes a very personal approach to helping her clients find their dream homes in Alameda.I approached Sophia on the strong recommendation of a friend and despite our unique needs and situation, Sophia diligently filtered through public listings as well as off-market opportunities help us find the perfect home. She has an adept understanding of the different neighborhoods of Alameda; she made us feel like we had an insider with the most accurate and latest information.Sophia prioritized finding us a home that we would be truly happy with, and I recommend her to anybody looking for their dream home in Alameda.
Sophia Niu is an amazing real estate agent offering high-touch, white-glove service that went above and beyond expectations. We literally moved out, handed her the keys, and she took care of coordinating everything — a minor kitchen renovation, replacing fixtures, painting, staging, landscaping, photography, and more.Sophia and her team (shout out to Jen McAnaney) advised us on what improvements we should make to our house that would make a big impact and would return a meaningful ROI. We came up with a plan, stayed below budget, and stayed on time.Someone stopped by every morning to make sure the house was ready for showings, picking up stray leaves in the yard. And again in the evening to make sure the house was clean, lights were off, and doors were locked.In the end, we received multiple offers, sold for more than we expected, in just one week.
Sophia was so wonderful to work with! If youre looking to buy in Alameda, look no further. As first time buyers looking to see houses during COVID, we had no idea what to expect. Sophia walked us through the precautions we would be taking to see houses safely (she even brought backup masks, hand sanitizer, and shoe covers in case we forgot ours). Once we found our perfect house she helped us move quickly and make an offer. Sophia was responsive and transparent at every step in the process and even afterwards as we wrapped up all the loose ends with the sellers. No question was every too small or too silly and we are so thankful for her hard work!
Sophia Niu is one of the most vibrant, generous, kind people I have ever worked with. She comes from contribution every minute of her life. Ive worked with Sophia for 2+ years and am always thrilled to see or speak to her. She genuinely has the best interests of her clients, colleagues and community first and foremost in her heart. I will continue to recommend her to anyone seeking assistance with Real Estate -- and life experience for that matter!
A heartfelt thank you to Sophia Niu and her team for making the selling of our home well thought out and seamless from listing to close. I would highly recommend Sophia and her knowledge of real estate on the Island of Alameda. She is a true professional and deserves the title of Alamedas top agent!
Sophia is a consummate professional. She helped our family find our dream home. I bought and sold real estate as a hobby for the last 20-plus years using up to dozens of different realtors over the course of that time. Sophia was by far the most knowledgeable about her Market, and she was able to guide us through the buying process seamlessly. Lets face it every home sale has its bumps but she helped us navigate them in a way that made it nearly stress-free for us. She also went above and beyond after the sale of the home making sure that we were tucked in nicely. She stays in constant communication with her clients and has been super helpful with great advice while we navigate the sale of our current home. She is great and I would not hesitate to recommend her to everyone/anyone that I love.
I am not exaggerating when I say our house hunt took a decade. We had worked with other realtors in the past but it only took ONE DAY working with Sophia to find our familys dream home and have her inspire the confidence to make the right financial step for our familys future. We had the keys to our home in 14 days just in time for our kids to walk on the first day of school. Sophia is incredibly professional, kind and intelligent. It was a pleasure to work with her and I have referred her to friends who have also found she is a joy to work with - and incredibly effective in purchasing the right home for you and your family.
Can’t recommend Sophia enough!! We found a home that we needed to move very fast on. Our situation was not easy as it was a co-op, we were getting gifts from several family members to help with the purchase, and the seller was taking offers just a few days after we saw it. Sophia was on top of it!! She helped us at all hours and the weekend to get the paperwork together. We were highly stressed and she was always available to reassure us and was absolutely genuine about it. We live in the Bay Area where the competition for property is intense!! Sophia recommended an offer amount and she was exactly right!! We had our offer accepted and our offer was not much higher than the other offers. Sophia knows what she’s doing!!!!!!! She was also available at all hours during the escrow process. She never made us wait and was always responsive. When we closed she gave our then 7 year old, a large LEGO house set so he could also have a new house. She made us all feel really special and 3 years later she still checks in on a regular basis to see how we are. I think it is also important to note that we are a lesbian couple and were treated just as any other clients.Sophia’s own family is multiracial, Neurodiverse, and multi cultural. She has friends of all races, gender identity, and sexual identity. To accuse her of being racist in anyway is inconceivable to me.
When it came time to sell our house in May 2021, we contacted a few realtors. At the time, we were under contract on a house out of state and had plans to travel for the summer, so we needed someone that we could trust to handle everything on the ground here. One of them was very challenging to get an appointment with, another one was very good but we wanted someone local to Alameda and when we met with Sophia and her designer we knew we’d be in good hands. Sophia was responsive and we were able to get an initial meeting with her the week we reached out. They came to our house, walked around chatting about different ideas and gave an extremely thorough presentation about the white-glove service they deliver. The market in Alameda has always been very good but the time of our initial meeting was a strange time where there was extremely low inventory and houses were going off the market at extraordinarily high prices (even more so than usual). Sophia explored different options with us including: a) listing immediately without prep, b) prepping while we were still living there, or c) moving out and just turning the keys over to them. We discussed potential listing and offer prices with each option and what it would actually entail so I felt Sophia was very good at being clear and transparent up front so you know what you are getting into but at the same time was very much about giving us the ideal scenario we wanted and doing everything she could to make that happen. With her presentation we just knew she would be very hands on and on top of every last detail which was exactly what we needed.After deciding on option c, Sophia and her team were able to turn around a design proposal and very detailed reasonable budget within a few days. We had scheduled our move-out date for June 15 which was when we shipped our containers and car off to Austin and turned the keys over to Sophia and let her and her team work their magic.When she said they would deliver white-glove service, she wasn’t kidding. I couldn’t believe how easy and seamless the whole entire process was from the initial meeting to the day we got our check in the mail post-closing. Her team was able to completely transform our house to meet its full potential at a very reasonable cost within 3 weeks, and have it listed July 6 as scheduled. When issues came up (not that there were many) she would inform us, talk through options and then get it done immediately. Her marketing strategies were brilliant where she was able to really draw on the strengths of the location and space, and presented amazing photos and video tours. The next two weeks she kept us posted with open house turnouts, scheduled viewings, level of interest, etc and on July 20th we reviewed 17 offers. During this whole time we were visiting family in NJ, and literally all I had to do was just make decisions on solutions that she had come up with whenever issues arose.During the offer process, she talked through the different options with the offers presented, double vetted buyers, and presented a thorough due diligence report on our top offers. Deferring to her and trusting her process, we agreed with what would be best going forward and let her take the reins. We had a safety issue come up during inspection regarding handrails, and she managed to get that taken care of within a couple of days, and even had the buyer cover half the cost. The house closed on August 17 and a couple days later we had a check in our hands. We were AMAZED at how well it did and knew that none of this could have happened this PAINLESSLY and EASILY or done THIS WELL if not for all the hard work, and diligence of Sophia and her team - her designer, Jen, contractor - Omar, and landscaper - Beny. Thank you ALL SO MUCH for all the care, effort, and attention you put into 1716 Broadway. You all are truly a blessing and anyone working with you is SO lucky to have you on their side. We are so deeply grateful!
Sophia is a realtor you can put your trust in to work for you and your best interests. Sophia is smart, communicative, responsive, and empathetic. She was always willing to jump on the phone to address our concerns/last minute fears. We cant recommend Sophia enough if youre looking to buy a home.
Sophia is one if the most positive and kind people I have worked with. I see these negative reviews and it is obvious they are a spam campaign. This has been happening a lot. There is some sort of smear campaign going on. Sorry to see Sophia caught in the web. She has only ever had raving reviews from her clients and people that work with her. Having been a teacher she takes great pride in guiding her clients through the purchase or sale of their largest asset. Because she is so good at what she does we often ask her to train agents. She is one of our top mentors with a tremendous skill set. She has a servants heart and loves giving back to the community. Please whoever put these false reviews up, take them down, you are hurting a truly good person.
Sophia helped us buy our first home earlier this year. We were referred to her by a friend after a mismatch with another agent. Within the same day of reaching out to her, she set up a call and scheduled us to go see three potential houses SAME DAY, two being off market. She guided us through the process expertly and to an accepted offer within 3 weeks of working together. She even referred us to many vendors and resources after we moved in to make sure it was a smooth transition. Thank you Sophia!
As the longtime owner of a mortgage company, I have worked with hundreds of real estate agents over the last 26 years. And, I can say unequivocally that Sophia is among the best of the best. She is extremely sharp, articulate, professional and accountable. She is also simply fun to be around. I have had the privilege of watching her career take off and her extraordinary success is no surprise at all.
Sophia Niu is one of THE most professional Realtors I know. She is a hard worker, genuinely cares for her clients and is ALWAYS working in their best interest. The 1 star reviews on here are totally fraudulent. Sophia is literally THE best Realtor in Alameda.
As a local appraiser, I’ve worked with Sophia a number of times. She is always gracious and kind. She is respectful of others and has a deep understanding of the Bay Area local market. But most importantly, she works tirelessly for her clients. I would not hesitate recommending her to anyone looking for a realtor!
Sophia is an absolute joy to work with! She is incredibly knowledgeable about the industry and is very communicative and responsive. Sophia is a great negotiator and will always go the extra mile for her clients.
Sophia cares deeply for her clients and will go the extra mile to get them into their dream home. She has the respect of other real estate agents in the area because of her professionalism and that gives her clients an edge in negotiations.
Sophia is a wonderful agent to work with. She is very professional and takes great care of her clients. If you are looking for someone to guide you through the real estate transaction process look no further.
Sophia is a WONDERFUL real estate professional. She has the knowledge of the local market and the experience to make things run smoothly...The best part about her service is that she goes above and beyond the call of duty...is always responsive and adds a lot of care and small personal touches that make it a pleasure to work with her!
Working with Sophia is such a pleasure! She’s sharp, resourceful, compassionate and professional. I never had to worry about her being on top of things. Her attention to detail is second to none. She is serious about being the best and it shows.
Sophia is an absolutely amazing realtor and KNOWS Alameda like the back of her hand. You literally cant go wrong by choosing her to help with anything real estate related. 11/10 would recommend :)
Such a wonderful person to work with - A true class act. You wont find anyone better than Sophia. She really listens and understands the challenges of real estate in the Bay Area.
Sophia is great agent. She is incredibly knowledgeable, kind, and knows how to listen to her clients!
Sophia is wonderful to work with! Very smart, kind, and takes great care of her clients!
I have worked with Sophia for 2 years and she is absolutely lovely!
Ms. Niu is very hard to reach. On top of that when you do get in contact with her, she has an attitude when speaking to potential clients.
A true professional and always looking out for her clients. One of the best agents in the business
Take your business elsewhere. She’s flaky, responds late/hard to get ahold of, and honestly wastes time.
I would not recommend going to her for business, she is extremely unprofessional.
A joy to work with!
4.6 (56 comments)
Review №1
2022-04-11It was a pleasure working with Sophia to purchase our first home! Sophia took the time to learn about our requirements and preferences and provided honest and straight-forward opinions about the properties we toured with her. She shared a lot of valuable knowledge about Bay Area neighborhoods and about the every-changing housing market. Sophia was instrumental during the closing process, fighting for us during negotiations and helping us evaluate different options in response to unexpected developments. We would definitely recommend Sophia to anyone buying a house in the Bay Area!
Review №2
2022-02-07Sophia is amazing! If youre looking to buy or sell in Alameda, go with her. Shes a long term local resident, knows all the ins and outs of home searching and buying and gives constructive advice narrowing in on homes and when viewing. We really appreciate that Sophia was able to point out things around the house that would need work and give us ball park figures. I feel that it might have been her speed, the fact that she knows everyone, and perhaps good luck, that we were able to close on a wonderful home. Finally, even after closing we still hear from her and Gina, it just feels like there is genuine care for us - its just a wonderful neighborly feeling! Thank you Sophia and Gina!!!
Review №3
2022-02-16Sophia was incredibly patient with us as we navigated the craziness that is home-buying in Alameda. She was responsive to all of our inquiries and offered the most helpful insight on many occasions. She encouraged us when got outbid (an inevitable part of Bay Area home purchasing!) and continued to search high and low for the perfect home for our family of 6. She always made us feel heard and valued, and we trusted her to act in our best interest throughout the entire process.If you are nervous about the real estate market in Alameda/the Bay Area, I would highly recommend Sophia. She is extremely knowledgeable without being condescending and very warm and friendly, which is exactly what we needed in this cutthroat market!
Review №4
2022-05-03As native Alamedans, we had dozens of Realtors on our radar to help with the purchase our new home. When a good friend (and local commercial Realtor) suggested Sophia to help us navigate our first home-buying experience I knew she had to be something special.For over a year we met with Sophia at over a handful of homes looking for just the right one. With the housing market getting hotter by the minute we almost lost hope until Sophia encouraged us to look at one not even on our radar.The home was bigger than we thought we could afford, in a neighborhood we thought was beyond our reach, and a house that we were convinced we would be outbid on several times over. With Sophias guidance, pulse on the Alameda market, and strong relationships with fellow Alameda real estate agents - including the sellers agent - we put in our best offer still expecting the worst. Less than 12 hours after our offer was submitted, the house was ours!The closing process was equally as smooth with Sophia on our side. Due to a new employment opportunity in the midst of closing, we shortened our closing day by over a week and Sophia didnt even flinch to help make it happen.Sophias patience, communication, and deep knowledge of Alameda real estate is truly a gift to any homebuyer. We HIGHLY recommend her to anyone looking to buy their own slice of our island city.
Review №5
2021-11-11Look no further, friend. I was in your position just a couple months ago, reading all her great yelp reviews and thinking, if it was all true. Rest assured - Sophia is THE agent you want on your side!Sophia was just the right person we needed, especially as we started gearing up for open house visits. She is smart, personable, and very attentive to details. As housing market newbies, we had a lot of questions and she was always patient with us and informative, so easy to talk to! Shes very knowledgable of the current market and was helpful when we went to different viewings - showing us what to look for, what to avoid, things to consider. On multiple occasions, she gave us insight into houses that we viewed, which we now look back on and we are SO GLAD she did.Within weeks of meeting Sophia, we eventually settled on a home that we otherwise would not have looked at (thinking it was beyond our budget), had Sophia not recommended a quick viewing. She helped us strategically facilitate an offer before their next open house weekend and we were able to close on a beautiful home, all within our budget! In an area we otherwise would not have considered!This review is long overdue, as it has been several months since we moved in (late Summer 2021). There is truly not a day that goes by where I am not relieved and grateful for the beautiful home and neighborhood we now live in. I would not hesitate to recommend her to all of my friends and I look forward to working with her again in the future!
Review №6
2021-11-22Sophia is simply AMAZING!The reviews almost seem too good to be true, but I can say from first-hand experience that the very positive reviews you might have read are right!Sophia and her team helped my sisters and me sell our mother’s duplex home in Alameda. In just 3 weeks, they completely redesigned and remodeled our kitchen (down to the studs), refinished the floors, painted the whole interior, and put a lawn in the backyard. All of this at a reasonable cost.To get this done, Sophia and Jen put together mood boards and a detailed plan for the remodel. After the work was complete, they staged the house and took loads of photos. It looked fabulous!! The house sold after just 2 weeks, with six good offers and well above asking. We couldn’t be happier!Sophia and her team were dedicated, organized, and very professional. They negotiated bumps in the road with clear thinking and positive attitudes. Plus they were delightful to work with.We feel so fortunate to have worked with Sophia!!
Review №7
2022-03-05Sophia helped us buy our first home in 2019. In 2021, we contacted her again with plans to buy our next home, and we also asked her to help sell the first property. She made some excellent suggestions, eg. in re: timing of listing, that would never had occurred to us otherwise. She and her team took care of landscaping, design, and staging, sending us layouts along the way, and to us, the plans showed an impressive understanding of the current real estate market in Alameda. We were pleased with the offers we received. As always, Sophia was an excellent communicator, respectful of clients schedules, and willing to research and answer questions. (FWIW, she also always wore a mask and distanced appropriately during our covid-era interactions.)
Review №8
2021-11-03Sophia was first referred to us almost 4 years ago by a coworker who successfully purchased a home in Alameda. We moved to Berkeley then but after outgrowing our home in Berkeley decided to use Sophia’s services for our new home in Alameda nearly 3 years later. Sophia was very engaging and actively listened to our wishes and feedback about the type of home and neighborhood we wanted. She was very good at profiling our needs and what would fit in today’s market. Her wealth of experience and knowledge really stood out as all our questions were thoughtfully answered. We saw a wide range of homes/price points and Sophia was open and prepared for each of the advantages and disadvantages specific to the property. Ultimately the home we purchased - Sophia had taken specific attention in pointing out the listing to us. She had evaluated the pricing and suggested it to us even though our normal Redfin/Zillow browsing would have deemed it unrealistic or probably unattainable. Sophia is very even keeled and communicated very closely with the listing agent/buyers. This type of service and correspondence would have definitely not happened if she was not a strong and active presence in the local area. Sophia’s advice worked and our offer accepted. Sophia forwarded the listing to us Monday night, saw the house on Friday, made an offer Friday night, and then offer accepted Saturday afternoon. In this crazy market it’s especially important to have such a steady local partner who knows all the ins/outs and isn’t caught off guard. We look forward to referring Sophia to our friends and family and continuing our relationship as neighbors in the community.
Review №9
2021-08-18I hired Sophia to list my house this past summer, after hearing great things from a neighbor who sold their house with her and has amazing results. Sophia had a great vision of how to upgrade the house and property. When you hire Sophia you also get a collaborative team including an interior designer, contractor, photographer, and stager. I’m so glad I took her recommendations for improvements, as our house sold quickly and at the top of the market. The whole experience was great, Sophia managed everything effectively, communicated well and regularly, and took charge of nearly everything. We couldn’t have even imagined the results she got us- just incredible all around!
Review №10
2020-08-10Another seamless partnership of awesomeness. Sophia was spectacular in helping us sell our home. Three years ago, she helped us find it. When the time came to sell, we knew that there was only one choice in realtor.She knows Alameda like the back of her hand. She also knows the market like no other. She came in with a strategy and executed it flawlessly. What an amazing experience. Oh how we wish every realtor was as amazing as Sophia Niu. She is amazingly responsive. Any time we had a question, she was there to answer it.We packed up our home and cleared everything out. She did ALL the legwork in arranging for cleaners to come in a scrub the place from head to toe. She coordinated the staging of our home and made sure that it really popped. When the house went on the market, it generated an immediate buzz. We had OFFERS almost immediately. We ended up selling for $102,000 OVER ASKING. And this all happened while we were already in another state. She even put our trash cans out to be picked up after we had already moved.Now thats what I call service. Thank you so much, Sophia. You truly are amazing.