Ron & Travis

Helena Zaludova worked with us on the purchase of our first home. We originally met her at an open house over 3 years ago. We looked extensively for about 4 months, putting in an offer on a long shot, then finally cooling off on our search.
We looked her up again in August and by September we were closing on our house. We ended up in a home we never thought we could afford in a great neighborhood of SF.
Helena handles multi-​million dollar homes regularly, but we never felt that we were getting anything less than her full attention. She has a great way of being forthright without being rude– she won’t blow smoke or over-​promise, and she will manage your expectations well, which is important in SF. She is very knowledgeable, not only about the market here, but also about the things to look for in a home, including red flags.
We had a great experience and couldn’t recommend her more highly.

I highly recommend Simone Kwon from Paragon Real Estate Group, Potrero Hill Office at 350 Rhode Island, Suite 350. She works smart, has passion for her business, compassion for her clients and creatively works to make things happen.
We had the best experience with her. She bought us a client looking for a property like the one we owned, she acted as Agent for both the Buyer and the Seller, moved fast on documentation and helped us sell our property for more than we ever thought we could get! Simone, If you ever see this, Thank You!

I went to an apartment viewing last week that was hosted by Laura Gray and with how competitive the rental market is in San Francisco, it was really great to work with a realtor that was friendly, responsive and encouraging.
Unfortunately Paragon started a bidding war over the apartment and we lost out, but Laura was helpful and honest throughout the process and has agreed to keep us in mind as she has new listings come available. Hopefully she can help us get the next one :)

Gary Snow = Be careful, Gary is a shady character who pulls cleaver tactics, be sure to carefully read all documents over in its entirety as he plays the bait and switch tactic. As my wife says it best, Gary is a «Jamoke» goggle that!

I’ve worked with my agent Michelle Bouchet several times. She’s honest, thorough, and an absolute straight shooter. Her advice has been driven by wanting to see me sell advantageously and buy a home that’s right for me, not her commission. I’m a tough client, but she has earned my trust. A great communicator with solid insight, who gets good results.

I recently had a bad experience with Paragon. The women we worked with made herself sound like a intelligent and reputable agent but she was definitely not. The experience was regarding a condo rental. Maybe it’s not worth a real estates agents time in the SF market, I don’t know. She was impossible to get a hold of and it took 5 days to find out we were not selected. This company is not worth my time as I was clearly not to them.

Helena Zaludova was our agent when we sold our Richmond District home in October 2012, and we can’t say enough good things about her.
I actually knew Helena before she was doing real estate, and it was clear to me that she was going to be a natural in the business. She is honest and direct but empathetic, giving you the facts and backing up her recommendations with clear and convincing evidence. I felt 100% comfortable that Helena knew what she was doing, and I am glad we accepted all of her recommendations.
Helena’s communication was outstanding throughout the process. She jumped on top of issues that required attention, and she chilled us out when we got wound up about unimportant stuff.
In retrospect, it’s clear to me that Helena’s pricing and marketing strategies were perfect, and the vendors that she recommended got the job done. Most importantly, she got results; we received two offers and ultimately sold for about 2.5% over asking.
Helena gets my highest recommendation. There may be other agents of her caliber in San Francisco, but it’s hard for me to imagine anyone better.

*** JOHN SOLAEGUI ***
I’ve been procrastinating writing a review about John Solaegui for the past 4 months because frankly, it feels kind of like nothing I have to say will really do him any justice.
He truly is an amazing human being and an excellent realtor.
My husband and I are extremely data-​driven, and when we were looking for property, knowing how much money was going into it, we treated it like a full time job. We went to open houses every Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday for at least 2 months. And for over a year and a half prior, we would randomly go to open houses just to see where the market was. By the time we bought our house, we had definitely seen over 100 different properties across 2 years.
Still, nothing that we learned from our own surveying of the market could’ve prepared us for the unique rules, regulations and real estate climate of SF. Without John, we probably wouldn’t have learned half as much as we have. John took the time to educate us, spent an average of 10+hrs a week across 2 months on Open House tours, e-​mails, correspondence, and generally answering any questions we had regarding anything from Owner Move-​Ins, the Ellis Act, SF Rent Control, construction, seismic retrofitting, general inspections, and more.
I can’t imagine that working with us was ever easy for John. Our home purchase was probably one of the more complicated he’s had to deal with, as it involved working with my dad (who lives in Indonesia) on his limited schedule while he visited the US for a week, accommodating major changes to the budget/​type of property we were looking for as our needs evolved based on new information, and did an incredible job of extensively communicating and keeping everyone in the loop — four different contacts for just the one purchase.
We did (rarely) go to a few Open Houses without him, and usually without informing him in advance as we were one of the more proactive (some might call it obsessive) buyers that would spontaneously decide to see what’s available on the market whenever we had any free time. Almost each time we informed the sellers’ agent that we were working with John Solaegui, everyone reacted immensely positively. Many agents from various real estate firms raved about what a great guy John was and how lucky we were. We rarely encountered an agent who didn’t instantly warm up to us when they knew who we were working with.
John is usually working with multiple clients at the same time, whether they’re first-​time home buyers, landlords, or international investors with higher budgets. At no point did we actually sense this. I honestly have no idea how John manages to accomplish as much as he does with so many different people simultaneously, though I’ve heard from other agents that he’s got a rep for being quite the workaholic.
John even went out of his way to take the time to follow up with us long after we closed escrow. He sent us a list of all of the local utilities we would need to register with, and asked us about whether or not we had installed a new mailbox. He sent us a CD filled with copies of all the documents and contracts related to our home purchase. He invited us to a nice dinner upon closing escrow and sent a gift basket to the sellers’ agent when the sale was over. He also spent money out of his own pocket to provide a hefty bonus to another agent who’s help he recruited when we decided to look into a market he felt unfamiliar with — the East Bay. I must add, he truly is more of an expert with regards to San Francisco than any other agent we’ve talked to. and we did meet SO many before we finally made the smart decision and settled on John. We asked him how much, and he graciously declined to tell us. My husband and I plan to invest in more property when we can finally afford it sometime down the line, so we still get excited about receiving regular updates with statistics and news from John about the real estate market in SF.
On a more personal note, we were working with John around the same time I discovered I was pregnant. Throughout my first trimester, he was extremely thoughtful and sensitive to any of our needs. As a future Mom, I recall wondering (more than once) what combination of factors it is that can contribute to the development of someone like John Solaegui. I would feel blessed to have children who were as wonderful.
I cannot reiterate how important it is to find a kind, caring, professional, educated, transparent and well-​connected agent. And I cannot recommend John Solaegui enough.
Thanks to John, we know for sure that we made an informed & educated decision with regards to our home.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
We will always consider him first for any future real estate needs that any of our friends/​family may have in the city.
In fact, when my dental surgeon started discussing his plans to purchase a home during a tooth extraction, the first thing I talked about once the procedure was done was John Solaegui.

I find myself questioning our City’s collective intelligence when I work with these folks. I kept looking.

Laura Gray was our real estate agent and was instrumental in helping us find an apt that satisfied almost every single one of our unreasonable expectations. She was prompt, fair, honest, and diligent in her assistance to get us an apartment that we otherwise wouldn’t have even been considered for had we dealt with many of the other agents we came across (and we looked at over 40 showings in 5 days). Laura, who was still very busy, found a way to accommodate my pestering ways and always maintained a smile on her face. Laura, if you read this anytime soon, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for fighting for us and paying attention to the defeated look we had on our faces when we got to you. We love where we live and we have you to thank for that.

My boyfriend and I started working with George Limperis four months ago as our buyer’s agent to navigate the SF housing market. Given where interest rates are we jumped in to start looking for a home to own. George is so knowledgeable, patient and responsive. He’s been in the business for over 15 years and I really respect his opinion and enjoy our time working together. He answers my questions well, really has a sense of what we’re looking for and helps me be patient as we wait for our first home to come on the market.
To-​date we’ve put in two offers on homes where we’ve either been out bid or didn’t accept their counter. While the general process is stressful for a buyer, it’s great to have a seasoned agent who can give great guidance and a reality check. Let’s just be honest, if you’re buying in SF, you’ll spend the first three months recovering from sticker shock based on what’s out there. Regardless, we continue to search and I would recommend George to anyone who needs the expertise of a seasoned SF real estate agent.

No idea what the setup is like here, but I worked with Tim Johnson of Paragon as the seller’s agent of a property I was buying and was really impressed. He was really polite and thorough and friendly. Weeks after we had closed I called him for a recommendation for a garage repair person since my outer keypad was on the fritz. Within a couple days he had contacted the people for me, met them and paid to have the keypad replaced! My experience with him was limited but enjoyable, and my Realtor had good things to say about working with him as well.

My longtime friend, SANDRA MAHER, decided to pursue a career in real estate about 6 years ago and she joined Paragon. It was the perfect decision because she is a great agent. I have connected her with several friends who were looking to purchase homes/​condos and they all rave about her. She is an expert negotiator who will fight like a tiger to get her clients the best possible deal, and she is also very responsive. In fact, she helped us purchase our condo 4 years ago and the process was as smooth as silk.
When looking for an an agent who is highly competent and results driven, definitely choose SANDRA.

If only I could leave zero stars.
Jay Pon was supposed to «help» my business parters and I when we moved to San Francisco. Over the phone, he was courteous enough, and told us that he would help us find a place to open our business when we arrived in the city.
If you think you’ve ever met anyone condescending, think again. This guy takes the cake. Not only did he spend a good portion of our time together explaining that we weren’t worth his time and that we were practically charity, he then went on to brag about how much money he’s used to making. I’m sorry, but if we’re not worth your time, then why are we here?
After our wonderful first impression with the guy, he took us around town to show us where we should open our business. Only he only showed us stuff that was either out of our price range, in the wrong part of town, or invisible from the street. He either didn’t listen to a word we said or didn’t care. Either way, it was obvious to us that we were wasting each others time.
If all of this weren’t horrible enough, throw in a few racist and sexist comments about pedestrians we saw (and one that he almost hit!) and it was pretty much the worst afternoon of my life.

When my business partners and I were looking for commercial property here, were ended up talking to JAY PON of Paragon Real Estate Group. The whole experience was unbelievably awful. Jay spent the majority of the time telling us how he makes his money, and that to help us would be charity work. Then with the rest of his time he was busy trying to suggest properties that were not visible from anywhere, or next to the most established businesses in the industry we were wanting to start. All of this was of course between his racist and sexist comments about the pedestrians in the street. I don’t know about the rest of the Paragon Real Estate Group, but this guy was a real jerk with no goal besides being a millionaire, and stepping on whoever he had to, to get there.

Had a similar experience as Drew and felt very close to also being royally screwed by our Paragon agent. We were first time homebuyers and limited in our price range. In retrospect, we were probably ideal pickins’ since we were inexperienced, trusting, and probably a little naïve.
Its hard to believe that simply forwarding publicly available listings downloaded from
would lead any agent to believe an exclusivity agreement would be warranted. It isn’t! Also the Paragon agent seemed to value a quick close above everything else, like for instance customer satisfaction.
In any case, we were pressured to enter into an exclusive relationship with our agent and to agree in advance to a commission percentage, despite having barely seen a single property w/​the Paragon agent.
Our Paragon agent also advised that we consult w/​a mortgage «broker» affiliated w/​First Security Loan Corp. (imploded in March 2009 but may be doing business again), who was especially condescending (perhaps he could sense our inexperience), impatient, and unprofessional (separate review coming shortly).
The mortgage «broker» referral, by the way, seems to be an easy way for real estate agents to filter those w/​sufficient financial resources to actually purchase a home from less financially resourced (and trusting) randoms who happen to stumble into Paragon’s offices hoping to land a dream home and had the unfortunate luck of meeting w/​an unprofessional agent. Anyway, this experience should have been a red flag (mortgage brokers generally do not add any value whatsoever) but there were plenty others along the way so it wasn’t so crucial that we missed this red flag.
We did emerge from this distasteful experience without losing our shirts and do have some advice for those looking for a trustworthy real estate professional.
— the vast majority of real estate agents want to work w/​you BUT only you decide the terms of the relationship
— there are literally thousands of bad real estate agents and we happened to chance upon one at Paragon so SHOP AROUND
— be especially wary of agents more concerned about their economics than yours
— make sure you are comfortable throughout the entire process — initial meet and greet, house tours, phone and email exchanges, negotiation of price, etc.
— its one of the largest investments you’ll ever make so do not ever cave to others’ demands if they seem inappropriate and/​or make you uncomfortable (agent, broker, etc.)
Deciding not to settle and with a slight amount of work, we managed to find a great agent and the perfect place of our own in the City. We also maintained throughout the process direct relationships w/​several banks (avoided mortgage brokers altogether) that were competing to provide the most favorable loan terms, which helped to assure us that we were getting the most competitive rate. The bank even picked up our closing costs.
It could easily have been financially disastrous and we are very glad for how it all turned out. Although it was painful working w/​the Paragon agent, we learned a lot about the (subtle) shady parts of the residential real estate business.

Several years ago I sold my place, moved up to the city and asked around for agent referrals. Some established agents seemed very slick but you know that their staff would be doing most of the work (sorry I’m paying for face time with the primary… not their staff). Other agents seemed distracted and you know that returned calls would not be their priority until you were ready to make an offer. Then there was Helena — the kind of person who takes the time to get to know you and make you feel as though you are their only client. So after interviewing 4 highly qualified individuals, I decided to go with my prior realtor’s recommendation: Helena Zaludova.
However after an unsuccessful period of searching for something that just wasn’t out there at the time, I stopped and paused and then decided to start all over again in a completely different direction. During the downtime Helena kept in touch and still provided market information.
In this particular sale it was really a great opportunity to see what value an agent can bring to the table when problems arise. Not just simple problems, but complex issues that were out of our control and that could have easily ended the deal. Helena had the contacts, patience and negotiating savvy to see these problems through to resolution. She was also able to keep balance in the discussion between what the seller and me as the buyer, were asking for without compromising her representation of my interests. Keeping the focus on the goal is very important when emotions are swayed by roadblocks. Helena was particularly excellent at that.
What I also found admirable is that she acts as your agent — not as your therapist or mother. She offers neutral advice and doesn’t push you in any particular direction just to close the deal. At no time do you feel like there is any pressure which allows you to look and bid on something that suits you and not your realtor.
In the business of real estate — the agency is important but most important is the relationship between you and your agent — I trusted that Helena had my best interests in mind and would recommend her to anyone.

Even though I appreciated the work of my agent, I came away with a terrible taste in my mouth about Paragon due to their greedy and uncreative «policies.»
I brought my deal to the table, having found an off-​market property, and Paragon insisted that the only way they would allow my agent to do the deal is by charging me the full half of the commission for a normal (on-​market) sale. I feel like they took advantage of my situation (I *had* to leave for business travel during the contract stage and the seller could not await my return). In retrospect, I should have simply hired a real estate attorney to take care of all the contracts.
Make sure you negotiate a reasonable commission rate IN WRITING for an *off-​market* deal… because in this town, it could very well happen and you don’t want to get screwed like I did.
I’d love to do business with my agent again, but cannot as long as she remains working for Paragon. That agency left me feeling very ripped-​off.

I would highly recommend Helena Zaludova if you’re in the market to buy or sell in San Francisco. She helped us purchase our first home in Hayes Valley and we found her highly professional and super savvy. After several bad experiences with other agents and mortgage brokers, I didn’t have a lot of faith in finding a good real estate agent — but then one day while we were just visiting random open houses we found Helena. From the moment we met, we were impressed with how knowledgeable she was about the city and her positive attitude.
Professionally, one of the best things about Helena is her follow up. Although she has several clients, she is never too busy for you and always returns your calls promptly. When she promises to do something, it’s as good as done. Also, we appreciated how she more than once was flexible enough to let us ruin her Friday evening by meeting because it worked best for us.
It’s been more than six months since we purchased our home and she continues to follow up with us to make sure we’re happy with everything.
I also really liked how she provided honest and reliable feedback. Buying your first home is not the easiest decision to make and she was very patient with us.
On a more personal note, Helena is a stunning woman, so beautiful, incredibly chic, and someone you’d look at and think «totally out of my league». Not to sound self deprecating but I expected her to somehow be too good for us, but surprisingly she was incredibly welcoming and warm… something you’ll find out if you ever have the chance to meet her.
Helena’s website is
. Check her out!

We used Myrel Glick several years ago to sell our house in the Mission, and it was such an awful experience that I don’t think I will ever want to sell a home again.
We naively believed that we could sell our house for the sky-​high price she set and signed a six month exclusive. In that period of time she brought over exactly three prospective buyers to look at the house — one of whom made an offer for $ 350K less than what the house was listed at. She told us she would hold open houses — but «forgot» to put the ads in the paper two times — the Chronicle also made «mistakes» a couple of times and didn’t put the ad in. She told us she would buy a home warranty for our house to make it more marketable — but never did.
Yeah, OK.
We had gotten to the desperate point because we had made an offer on another house that was contingent on the sale of our house — remember, this was nearly 11 years ago and those kind of deals were common. The listing was about to expire and we told her we were going to go with another agent. She finally brought in a buyer and we sold our house for the price that the other realtors we had interviewed (and didn’t go with) recommended — less than $ 400K than what she had advised us to list it at.
It was an awful experience, she was a big pain throughout the process. If I’m still talking about it several years later you can figure out how bitter we were about it at the time!
I would never recommend her.