Raziel Ungar

About Us:

Raziel Ungar has earned an extraordinary reputation selling real estate in his career. Combining his enthusiasm and passion for first class service, Raziel provides his clients with unbiased information, rigorous financial analysis, and CEO sharpness with the utmost respect for business ethics. In addition to his reputation for integrity, Raziel considers his greatest value to his clients to be his expert negotiating skills. In fact, Raziel is a graduate of Harvard Law School’s prestigious Program on Negotiation.

Raziel has tailored every aspect of his practice around ensuring his clients’ experience with him and throughout their transaction is second to none. Raziel sees his role as a fiduciary, counselor, advisor, and expert negotiator. Click here to read some of the nice things Raziel’s past clients have to say about him.

Raziel recognizes that spending time to develop solid, lasting relationships with his clients and colleagues built on trust is essential. He embraces the most modern technologies, whether it’s for finding your dream property or developing a strong web and print presence and exceptionally effective marketing campaign for your most valuable possession. Raziel employs a highly trained team of professionals to provide the highest level of expertise for his clients, including an assistant and transaction coordinator, graphics designer, architectural grade photographer, filmmaker, and interior designer. This team coupled with a business grown organically from referrals and past clients allows Raziel to spend all of his time working intimately with his clients helping them achieve what they want, rather than focusing on prospecting.

Raziel has enjoyed consistent success in the business, earning the rare sales distinction of International President’s Circle, placing him in the top 1% of Coldwell Banker agents nationwide for 2010, and in the top 1% of San Mateo County Realtors (Top 50). Raziel has earned the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) designation, which is widely considered to be the PhD of residential real estate held by only 1% of Realtors nationwide, and also has earned the Council of Luxury Home Marketing Specialists designation in recognition of his outstanding marketing for upper tier properties. Raziel is a sought after speaker at both local and national real estate events, having recently delivered keynote presentations on technology to the San Mateo County Women’s Council of Realtors, as well as leading interactive workshops on effectively utilizing video for real estate at national Realtor conferences. He is also a proud recipient of the New Sales Associate of Year award from Coldwell Banker Northern California.

Raziel actively contributes to the communities where he works. He is the creator of the well-known BurlingameBuzz.com website, which features over four dozen documentary style short films all about the Burlingame and Hillsborough communities. Raziel also developed My Monet: A Burlingame Children’s Art Exhibition which debuted at Art in the Park in June 2009, featuring over fifty works of art from kindergarten through fifth graders selected from several thousand pieces. He has served on the board of the Burlingame Library Foundation, the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School, the Burlingame Centennial Committee where he co-chaired the Burlingame Wine & Hot Chocolate Walk and the Burlingame Passport History Tour, and volunteered as a Big Brother and mentor to a 12 year old in San Mateo.

A second generation Burlingame native, Raziel commands an intimate and comprehensive understanding of the North Peninsula neighborhoods and is a recognized expert in the Burlingame, Hillsborough, and San Mateo residential markets. Every year, he brings together his clients and friends to spend a day building a home for Habitat for Humanity. He has also taught educational workshops to home buyers throughout the Bay Area, and currently teaches HomeBuying 101 at Community Education for the San Mateo Community College District at College of San Mateo, as well as teaching at City College of San Francisco. A UCLA Economics and Education graduate, Raziel is more than qualified to successfully navigate all aspects of your real estate transaction.

Visit Raziel's website at BurlingameProperties.com.

Areas of Expertise

Raziel focuses on the three communities of Burlingame, Hillsborough, and San Mateo as well as the surrounding communities. He is an expert working with first time home buyers, young couples and families, downsizers, and seniors.

Testimonials

May 28, 2011

To say that Raziel went above and beyond wouldn’t come close to doing him justice… But let us start at the beginning. More than a year before we closed escrow on our first home we first met with Raziel. Living in Burlingame at the time we looked at the yelp reviews of local agents to get a feel for our choices. Raziel’s stood out above the others, and the comments about his style and great personality drew us in. As with a lot of Yelp reviews you can wind up with hard to reach expectations, but Raziel exceeded them all. He was professional, attentive, listened to our desires and had intimate knowledge of the entire peninsula. We were only interested in a tiny segment on the water in San Mateo but every time a place came up that might interest us Raziel was on top of it, and often had us viewing the property that day, well before the open house. Once we found the house we wanted, Raziel’s shrewd recommendations on how to out negotiate our competitors is what landed us our dream home. Our offer was actually accepted over a slightly higher one. We can without a doubt tell you that we would not have our home if it was not for him. In summary Raziel is not only an ethical, skilled and professional agent, he is also a pleasure to work with. We were clearly slow playing the process but he treated us like we were his number one clients. All we can say is thank you Raziel, you make us almost wish we could do it again.

Dave Parris & Jeanne Bergin
San Mateo

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May 11, 2011

When we began our home search, we had an almost impossible set of conditions; small budget, great location, house in great condition, school district with 900+ API scores, somewhere in the peninsula.

Raziel did a great job of setting our expectations upfront, and from that point continued to provide timely, relevant information ranging from the loan application proces all the way through closing. He is able to serve effectively because he is well organized and is very effective at using all potential tools at his disposal. For instance, when we couldn’t visit a home of our interest, he shot a video for us and uploaded it on youtube so that we can see the home right away. His efficiency and diligence is admirable and I am very happy to endorse him.

The icing on the cake was the great house he found for us, that met all of our expectations.

Prasath Candrasekaran & Daisy Mark
San Carlos

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May 10, 2011

I first spoke with Raziel over the phone and I immediately I felt that he understood the complexity of our situation. He walked me through everything that needed to be done to start the process of purchasing our first home. Then my wife and I met Raziel at our home. We explained our situation and he listened. Raziel was a perfect fit.

It was the end of December and my wife was 8 1/2 months pregnant so we needed to close the purchase by January 31. Raziel assured us that our time line was doable without settling for less than the home, ideals and location that our family desired.

Every step of the way Raziel was helpful, informative, personable and professional. His communication skills are excellent so we always knew what to expect and when to expect it. We always felt that Raziel was working very hard on our behalf.

One thing that Raziel said to us in our first meeting was that ” If he did not know the answer, he knew how to find the answer”. This was put to the test after escrow had closed, as we encountered some possible pesticide and chemical use on the property. Raziel swiftly got the right people involved. He knew that with small children there would be no time to waste. Raziel got the previous owner to come back and remove a green house. Meanwhile he got us in contact with the Department of Agriculture and the County Environmental Health Department. Within a few days the problem was resolved. We were grateful that Raziel continued to work just as hard after the close of escrow as he did before and during escrow.

If you are looking for an agent, let me tell you to look no further. In my opinion, Raziel is the best of the best. If you are a first time home buyer, Raziel will exceed all of your expectations and make you feel comfortable with every step. Just meet him and you will see.

Josh & Jennifer Kirkorian

San Mateo

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March 31, 2011

Raziel is phenomenal. He was our agent and helped us buy our home. We are so glad we met him at an open house and followed up with him- we could not have asked for anything more out of a real estate agent!

Here are just a few of the reasons we loved working with Raziel:
1) He is very thorough. He got to know our preferences completely and was a great listener. He made sure we had seen all the neighborhoods, all the houses of interest, and he always kept in mind our priorities.
2) He is incredibly quick and responsive. We would not be in our house if not for Raziel because he helped us turn around an offer literally over night. We saw an alert that a house had come on the market and Raziel was able to get us in to see it ahead of the open house- he literally drove down to meet us right when we called him and walked through it with us and helped us submit the papers by the following morning! His quick turnaround and dedication to us made the difference!
3) He is very knowledgeable – anytime we had questions about the area, the process of buying a house, particular houses we saw, etc, he always either knew the answer or worked to get it quickly.
4) He is a strong negotiator. Raziel helped us to put together a compelling offer package and represented us well. We were able to convince the owners to take our offer and not even have an open house (where we feared the house would have been bid up out of our range). It takes a pro to do this and make both sides feel like they are winners!
5) Have you seen his Burlingame Buzz videos? http://www.burlingameb…/ We thought these were so well done and his genuine passion for the area shines through.
6) No pressure – Raziel really wanted us to be happy and he was very patient through a lot of back and forth about a few houses before we finally found the one we bought. At no point did he try to rush us or convince us to make a decision. He was on our team 100%.
7) He has tons of energy and enthusiasm for what he does. He takes great pride in his work. He worked really hard and earned our trust and appreciation time and time again.
He is experienced. He is younger than many other real estate agents and I think this is a plus- he is hungry to work hard for his clients and has tons of energy to make it happen and a strong history of solid experience.
9) He is a really nice guy. He is the kind of guy you want to be around. This makes a huge difference because when you are in the process of buying a home you end up spending a lot of time meeting with or talking by phone to your agent. It’s a huge plus when you genuinely like your agent as a person!

Johanna & Ben Werther
Burlingame

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February 6, 2011

Raziel helped us find and buy our wonderful home in the Hayward Park neighborhood of San Mateo in the fall of 2010. (And we found him on Yelp!) If you are looking for a home on the Peninsula, Raziel is your man. He knows the area better than anyone, and is great at what he does. When we first met, he sat down with us for more than an hour to get to know us and talk about what we were looking for. He identified and showed us multiple properties over the next couple of weeks, always patiently. We then stumbled upon our home, and here is where he really stood out: Our offer was one of three, and was not the highest of the bunch, but Raziel presented such a solid offer package that the seller chose us. He exudes confidence, responsibility, and professionalism; sellers and their agents see that, and impute it to his clients as well. I have no doubt that if Raziel had not been representing us, our bid would not have been selected. Raziel continues to help us as we settle in to our new home and neighborhood, and we would recommend him to anyone. Thanks Raziel.

Justin Berger
San Mateo

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January 20, 2011

Upon the passing of my mom, we decided to sell her home in Burlingame. However, my only experience in buying or selling a home was when I purchased my home in San Francisco during the height of the market, so I had a better idea of what I did not want in a realtor versus what I was looking for in a realtor on the listing side of the transaction. I spoke to a number of realtors in Burlingame and even from within my community in San Francisco, and did not find anyone who stood out enough that we feel confident selecting to represent us. When I began to go through my mom’s old papers, I came across a letter to her from Raziel Ungar, dated 2006, asking her should she ever consider selling, please consider listing with him, as he knew the Burlingables neighborhood extremely well and even grew up in the home next door. I set up an interview with Raziel, and during our interview, Raziel listened to why I was there, and then he laid out an impressive plan for listing, marketing and selling my mom’s home in the event I selected him as the listing agent. Together we looked at comps for both sold and listed homes in Burlingame.

I concluded at that point, Raziel was the one I wanted to represent me and list the home. After we arrived at a listing price, Raziel heavily marketed the home, and sold it within 15 days within 2% of the listing price in a challenging market where many comparable homes just sat and never sold.

Raziel kept me informed every step of the process. There were no surprises from the listing side. Situations that did come up, that could have resulted in problems, were resolved by Raziel to everyone’s satisfaction.

I highly recommend Raziel to anyone who is considering selling their home in Burlingame or anywhere on the peninsula.

Youngsil Lee
San Francisco

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October 12, 2010

Once again I put pen to paper to extol the virtues of Raziel. He would, I’m sure, be an unparalleled jewel at any task he attempted. Luckily for us, he has chosen to be a realtor. The bare facts: after 10 days of marketing our home we received 8 offers, most of them above our asking price. We preferred a couple with children but their offer was lower than some others. Raziel talked them into raising their offer and everyone was happy. If you want to buy or sell a place to live in this area engage Raziel as your agent and you will have done the right thing.

Lance and Billie Darin

May 9, 2006
Raziel Ungar is what every home-hunter hopes to find–a caring eager available and knowledgable real estate broker. We are certain that this man has a long and illustrious career ahead of him and will leave legions of happy howeowners singing his praises. Should the reader find this difficult to believe, feel free to contact us for details. Or, better yet, meet Raziel!

Lance and Billie Darin

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August 3, 2010

Raziel represented our family trust in the sale of a home in Daly City. It was the first sale of property for our family and Raziel impressed us with his organized and professional approach from the day we met him. Early on, Raziel reviewed the process with the family, made suggestions for improving the value and described what we should expect at every stage. While this small house was generally in great shape, Raziel brought in an interior designer to stage the home. In addition to the staging, the interior designer recommended simple, easy changes to make the home appeal to anticipated buyers. He brought in many professionals to complete inspections and resolve issues thereby removing any potential contingencies for prospective buyers. The marketing was also top notch. He had excellent photos prepared and marketed the property with a zeal. The open house was a smashing success and offers started rolling in. Within a week we had eight offers, everyone over the asking price which everyone thought was a slight bit on the high end for this rather small home. In the end, the buyer accepted the home without contingencies and we closed within 30 days from the day we put the home on the market (3 weeks from acceptance of the offer)!

Raziel was very accommodating of our family during the process. Family members lived throughout the Bay Area and the primary trustee was not a computer user making achievement of this timeline all the more challenging but with Raziel’s help we did it! Finally, Raziel is a great person, highly engaged in both his community and professional. On behalf of the Family Trust, I highly recommend Raziel Ungar as your Realtor.

Sincerely,
Jeff Schwob

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August 4, 2010

Raziel is the best realtor we’ve worked with. He’s very honest, motivated, and the antithesis of sleaze. He helped us buy a house in a very competitive market…
I am convinced that his efficiency and professionalism were key to our bid winning a multiple offer situation. I would recommend him to anyone trying to buy a home.

Miles Conrad
Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology
Section of Interventional Radiology
University of California, San Francisco

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July 26, 2010

I have had the pleasure of working with Raziel Ungar while in the position of President of Coldwell Banker Northern California. Raziel is without a doubt the finest, most ethical, knowledgeable and honest Realtor and real estate broker you could possible work with. I should know, I spent almost 20 years working with over five thousand agents. His care, concern and passion for each client and what he does is evident from the moment you meet him. Raziel is deeply involved in his hometown community. Raziel’s deep knowledge of Burlingame and the surrounding peninsula communities is an amazing resource for any buyer or seller. The buying or selling of a home is the most important and costly transaction of your life and should not be left to just anyone. You need a Realtor with local knowledge and vast resources which Raziel possesses. Raziel will treat you like family and your transaction like it was his own. I urge you to have a conversation with this fine gentleman before you embark on a real estate transaction.

Larry Klapow
CEO, Rena Professional Networks

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May 25, 2010

Raziel Ungar was an incredible asset to us as we looked for and bought our home in Burlingame. A personal friend recommended Raziel and from the time we touched base via email to our first in-person meeting, he was the most prepared, knowledgeable, friendly and realistic realtor we met with. He also helped us find a San Francisco realtor to work with us to sell our TIC/conversion in the City.

Every step of the way, Raziel was a source of information, guidance and humor! Raziel knew Burlingame–every neighborhood’s pros and cons. When we found a house we were interested in, and it dropped in price, we wanted to move quickly–except that we were out of town in Washington, DC! Late nights and early morning phone calls were not a problem for him and he was incredibly responsive at any time. Raziel worked with us using the latest technology to get our offer prepared and presented in a timely manner. Within 24 hours, our offer was accepted!

Raziel’s recommendations for mortgage brokers, handymen and other contractors were also appreciated and very helpful.

Finally, on the day we were moving out of SF, we were also suppose to close on the Burlingame home. That morning, we got a call from the title company that some paperwork needed to be redone within an hour or we would not be able to close and we needed to drive to Burlingame to do the signing. This was totally unforeseen and impossible to do. Raziel got on the phone with us, took charge and drove the title agent to SF to sign the papers. His commitment to us and his stellar working relationships with the title company allowed him to remove a huge source of stress for us as we entered the final hours before the close and our move!

Since moving to Burlingame, Raziel has not been a stranger. He has dropped by the house, bearing house warming gifts and checking in to make sure our transition was smooth. We could not recommend Raziel highly enough. For anyone looking to buy a home in Burlingame or on the Peninsula, Raziel is the only person we would suggest working with.

Sincerely,
Matthew Shevach

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April 18, 2010

As first time home buyers, Annie and I could not have asked for a better agent than Raziel to guide us in our quest to find the perfect house. We had a fantastic experience and would highly recommend Raziel to anyone that is considering buying or selling a home.

We began our search with a very daunting list of requirements. Annie, whose family is in the real estate development business, was very particular about the flow and room arrangements of the house as well as the location (Easton Addition in Burlingame and Baywood/Aragon in San Mateo). Additionally, we were extra meticulous on the building quality, finishing details, as well as budget. Raziel rose to the challenge – he stuck with us through thick and thin to find a house that met all of our requirements and helped to negotiate a great price within our budget.

Selecting a realtor is a very important decision and choosing Raziel helped us position ourselves for success. Annie and I had been previewing homes for a while, almost two years, before committing to buy. During this period, we had encountered a lot of realtors but none stood out until we met Raziel. Annie was very impressed with Raziel’s sincerity as well as knowledge of the neighborhoods so we decided to give him a shot. Our experience working with Raziel has been nothing but exemplary. Raziel is honest, responsive and always very resourceful. When we had concerns about the cost of fixing certain issues in homes we considered making potential offers on, Raziel sought after opinions from professional contractors to give us an accurate estimate. When we had doubts regarding the legitimacy of some added square footage or quality of the remodel, Raziel checked permits and records at city hall for us. Raziel never gave us any nebulous answers to our questions and always provided facts for us to reach an informed decision.

Our journey with Raziel led us to our dream home in the Baywood Knolls neighborhood in San Mateo. Throughout the process Raziel made it fun and entertaining. At each showing, Raziel listened to our feedback and kept all our preference in mind. For every property that we considered making a potential offer for, Raziel always had a clear negotiation strategy for different scenarios while sticking to our bottom line. Raziel never pushed us into any bidding; rather he truly wants us to get a house we like at the price we are comfortable with. At times we felt frustrated and wondered whether we should settle for less, but Raziel stayed cheerful, patient and believed that we would find the “perfect” home.

My wife and I absolutely enjoyed working with Raziel. In short, Raziel protects his client’s best interests and handles real estate transactions with professionalism. I have no doubt that when Annie and I look for our next “perfect” home, Raziel will be there for us. We have no reservations recommending him as your realtor.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Yang
Senior Product Manager
Symantec Corporation

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January 30, 2010

Raziel was everything I was looking for in a Realtor and then some. From the first time we met with him to start talking about what we wanted in a house, he was bright, friendly and easy to talk to. It was clear that his goal was to make buying a house the easiest possible for you, and also make sure you got into the house that you wanted. Throughout the whole process he was very responsive to our needs, as well as our schedules so we could make sure that we got to look at houses, and got offers in in as timely a manner as possible.

The last house we looked at(and ended up buying) was a good example of Raziel’s level of service. We saw that a new house had gone on the market on Thursday night, we emailed Raziel to set up a showing for Friday. He got everything put together, we looked at the house and had an offer in by 5 pm friday night, which probably has a lot to do with why we live in that house today.

His service didn’t end with the purchasing though. Throughout the process of buying the house he was fast, supportive and totally willing to answer any questions and assuage any worries we had. He even helped cover for failings by other people in the escrow process to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible.

Raziel is everything you could want in a Realtor, I have recommended him to everyone I know thinking about buying or selling a house in the near future, and anyone who works with him will find out what buying a house should be like.

Andrew Fisher

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January 6, 2010

After interviewing a few agents we decided to work with Raziel because of his enthusiasm and knowledge of the Peninsula real estate market. We also liked that he didn’t come off as “salesy” as most agents.

Our search was very narrow (waterfront property in San Mateo), but he was great about following up with properties that matched our MLS list searches. Though the first offer we made wasn’t accepted, we really appreciated how he offered insight into the market, listened to our opinions about the value of the house, and followed through on the offer even though we weren’t meeting the asking price. Additionally, we were out of town when most of the paperwork was being done, but that didn’t prevent him from sending us documents electronically and being available by phone whenever we had a question. He explained each step of the process to us and happily answered every inane question we could throw at him.

After this first offer, he suggested several other properties, and we soon found another we felt comfortable making another offer on. The house was still occupied, but Raziel was persistent with the selling agent to get us in to see the home quickly, and handled our offer with amazing speed. He personally presented the offer to both the seller and the selling agent, and we feel he did a great job representing us. He must have, as the offer was accepted!

I appreciated that he offered referrals to related professionals (mortgage brokers, estate planners, etc.), and coordinated arrangements with the several inspectors needed (pest, structural, and chimney) in the short days after our offer was accepted. He continued to be helpful and informative throughout the close of escrow, rent-back period, and occupancy. He even helped us organize the paperwork and post a professional looking listing to get our original house rented! A professional in every regard.

Sarah & Brock Hubbard

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October 2, 2009

My wife and I interviewed several real estate agents before Raziel, but we both agreed we had found our agent before we even left building following our first meeting with him. He is organized, professional, and exudes competence. Raziel is young but experienced, has an outstanding work ethic, and runs a very tight ship. He is also a very nice and very patient person, he was always upfront with us, and he’s an all around great guy. He’s involved in his community, he volunteers, and seems to know everyone. During our house search and buying process he never steered our decision making for us, instead he made sure we were focused on the important issues about our potential future home. Our home buying process was not easy to manage, but he succeeded in closing the deal at the price we wanted. Even though the selling agent lost emails, ducked phone calls, and even went on vacation, Raziel and our mortgage broker were able to close in less than 30 days (and we were buying with a FHA government-backed loan). When our inspector found some minor trouble with the house, Raziel successfully negotiated that the sellers take care of it. During our last walk through we found that they hadn’t taken care of the promised work even though they argued it was done. Raziel stayed on them until the work was completed to our satisfaction and we were able to move in to our house as planned with no delays. We love our new home and plan to stay here for many years. However, when it comes time to move on we know who our real estate agent will be!

Ben Gross & Genoveva Llosa

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October 14, 2009

I met Raziel at an open house in Burlingame. He was very attentive and was not distracted from our conversation by all the people coming in and out of the property. I was impressed enough by the conversation to give him a chance, which I don’t take lightly since a home purchase is about the biggest financial step in my life. Raziel’s techniques and talent for placing a bid and negotiating are exceptional. He successfully got my offer accepted, though there were other buyers with one above my bid. While considering what to offer, I asked for his advice, and the response I received from him was his job is “to make sure they are still talking to us”. This is not an easy task, as emotions are always in play in home selling/buying situations, and it takes patience, perseverance, and excellent mediation skills. Raziel did not stop there, once my offer was accepted, a flurry of inspections had to happen. My case included the following: home inspector, chimney inspector, two termite inspectors, roof inspector, plumber/sewer, an HVAC company, geotechnical engineers, and a geologist. He researched people and companies to make sure they were legitimate businesses and rated well. Those two weeks prior to releasing contingencies, he showed perfect timing, organization skills, and readiness, which I think lends to his accomplishments as an outstanding realtor. He was always available for any questions and skillfully coordinated all of my inspections, as well as with the mortgage broker to ensure my closing will go smoothly. In that time, I always felt that I knew what was going on, I was regularly updated, and he was very supportive as far as any concerns I had. At the end of closing, we got to talking about other deals he was currently working on. I believe he had closed escrow on 2 other houses while we were trying to close mine. I realized then how unique he is because through that entire process, Raziel made me think that I was his only client.

Veronica Juan

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January 20, 2009

We looked at houses for over 10 years before buying one, so we met a lot of realtors over that time. After putting a few offers on houses, we had both good and bad experiences with realtors, but it wasn’t until we met Raziel at an open house he held and Maria said “I really liked that guy, he seems honest and straight forward and he knows the Burlingame market” that we decided to use Raziel for our next offer.

The first offer we wrote with Raziel wasn’t successful but the experience helped secure our confidence in him as our realtor. Six months later when we found another house, we didn’t hesitate to call Raziel again. We listened to his advice on making the offer and we let him present it to the sellers as he wished. His presentation apparently impressed the sellers and his advice on our offer impressed us. We’re convinced the advice he gave on fine tuning our offer helped tilt the sellers in our favor and we got the house.

The reasons we recommend Raziel come from our experience with Raziel during those two offers, not from the fact that we got the particular house we liked at a price we thought was very fair. Don’t let his handsome youthful looks deceive you, he is profoundly serious about his profession and his expertise exceeds his age. Every step of the way his advocacy for us did not waver, he truly was our advocate throughout the process. He helped us work through our reasoning for writing the offer as we did, he put a personal touch to it in his personal presentation to the sellers, he helped us through the process of meeting the contingencies and he helped us when we spoke with the loan officer for the first time.

Raziel is focused on the Burlingame area, and his familiarity with that market was very helpful. He understands the importance of developing long term relations with the residents and businesses of Burlingame (he has volunteered and hosted numerous Burlingame civic events) so he has stayed with us as a realtor and a friend.

In short, we recommend Raziel based on his integrity, expertise and ambition. If he represents others with the same sincerity and thoroughness as he did us, we’ll be seeing Raziel in the Burlingame real estate business for many years to come.

Steven Crocker and Maria Patino

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December 28, 2008

My wife Laura and I first arrived in San Mateo a little over a year ago from Canada, renting a local apartment to allow ourselves time to understand the local real estate market and find the right home to purchase. During one of our many neighborhood walks visiting open houses, we met a local agent who seemed to have a level of patience and enthusiasm that set him apart from the crowd.

Over the next several months, Raziel Ungar patiently acquainted us with the local neighborhoods, helped with preliminary enquires on a few properties of interest, and hung in with us during an extended process to secure financing. Ultimately when the right opportunity did come along, Raziel was instrumental in planning a strategy to take uncertain market conditions to advantage, and secure the deal at an extraordinary price.

Our expectations for Raziel’s involvement ended there, but his intentions certainly did not. As first time California home buyers, his guidance on inspections pre-close was essential, as was his coordination of the myriad of forms and disclosures that bewildered us. He guided us through the closing process, and has subsequently assisted us with referencing contractors, trades, and other services that we will require through the next few months of renovations. The next surprise came with a Welcome-Home card from Raziel, complete with four hours of complimentary “handy-man services” for all the unanticipated fix-it jobs we faced. Then to top it all off, Raziel visited us the day after our move with a week of groceries so that we wouldn’t have to worry about shopping post-move.

Given previous experience with real estate agents, we expected a traditional level of service surrounding just the transaction. With Raziel, we have experienced a level of service far beyond just the transaction.

Chris Stratas and Laura Drabik

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My dad met Raziel at an open house and was speaking to him about our desire to sell our house and move into a neighborhood with better schools. We spoke to Raziel and a number of other realtors in the San Mateo area. After a few meetings, we felt really comfortable with Raziel. He really listened to us and delivered on every wish. He is the consummate professional. Not only did he sell our house, but he also negotiated and helped us purchase our dream home for under the asking price. There was a lot of work ahead of him and he was relentless in the process. He provided his Real Estate expertise, and was available to us with his advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Raziel did not miss a single detail. Working with Raziel has only been a pleasure. We’re very happy to have met Raziel and will continue to work with him in the future. He’s a fantastic realtor and he’s also a very genuine guy. Best of luck!

Jennifer Mark & Mark Van Looy

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August 6, 2008

We first met Raziel while he was doing an open house. Although we weren’t interested in that particular house, we just started talking about the real estate market in the areas we were looking to buy a house, namely, Burlingame and San Mateo. It became apparent to us that having grown up in Burlingame, Raziel knew these areas very well and could detail the pros/cons of each neighborhood and even streets! We had a follow-up meeting with him and continued to be impressed with his professionalism, knowledge, and ability to understand what we wanted in a house.

Ever since we committed to Raziel as our Realtor, he has been very thorough in researching all the relevant information that we needed to make informed decisions without coercing us into making offers on houses which were not that appealing to us. When we did decide to make an offer, he made the process of putting together an offer as pain free as possible (especially given that we had never made an offer before). He also has no qualms about writing and presenting offers considerably below the asking price. In fact, we bought our house for below the asking price as well. No matter what the price of the offer, Raziel presents the offer with very convincing arguments as to why the offer is very fair and competitive.

Another quality that we really appreciated was that he always made our offers in person. We feel that this approach really improved our chances of convincing the seller of the compelling nature of our offer.

Beyond excelling at the handling of real estate transactions, Raziel was also very dedicated to helping us find the right house. Whether he had to come to the train stations to pick us up (if one of us happened to be without a car) or meet us at odd times of day and night to see houses, Raziel did it with enthusiasm. You could also reach him by email or phone at any time. He really wanted to put in the maximum effort to give us the best chance of seeing houses in a timely manner.

Above all, Raziel is just a fun person to be around. In our case, it took a while to find our “dream” house at a great price! So, we spent quite a lot of time together. Raziel was always cheerful and made the whole process fun. We have no hesitations in recommending Raziel as a Realtor and have no doubts that his list of satisfied clients will continue to grow at a rapid rate!

Sujai Chari and Shilpa Chari, M.D.

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February 21, 2008

Raziel,

I have been meaning for some time to write you as note to say thank you for your help with the purchase of our new home in Burlingame. We could not be happier with the way things have turned out!! We absolutely love our new home that you found for us and I know that we will be happy here for many years to come.

In particular, I wanted to compliment you on a few specific areas of your work as our agent. First, during the offer and negotiation, I was particularly impressed with your abilities to negotiate a great price on our behalf. Your skill in this area saved us thousands of dollars without a doubt. Second, I wanted to say that I appreciate your willingness to work at our convenience which was sometimes at night, early in the mornings, or over the weekend. Since we have a new son, Jack, we had very limited flexibility in our schedules. I appreciate that you were willing to go the extra mile and give us the level of service that we desperately needed to complete this transaction. Finally, and maybe most important, I want to say I appreciate your honesty and integrity. You were always our advocate no matter how large or small any detail was in our offer. Your level of professionalism in this way made what could have been a nerve-racking, stressful process very enjoyable process. I appreciate that you were willing to share honest opinions and advice with us. It was a huge relief to know that you always had our interest in mind in everything that you did for us and that we could trust you.

I have no doubt that you will continue to flourish as one of the best agents on the peninsula and in Northern California. Please let me know if I can ever act as a reference for you. I would be happy to speak with any potential clients that might have questions about your services.

Sincerely,
John and Melissa McGuire

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January 16, 2008

We were in the process of looking for our 1st home when we bumped into Raziel at an open house. We were not yet working with an Agent and because of his friendly and professional demeanor, we thought we’d give it a shot and sign up with him. As it turns out it was a fantastic move. His preparation, professionalism and quick response is the reason we are now sitting in our dream home. We chose our home and closed on the sale all in the matter of two weeks (in the middle of the hectic holiday season, no less!) Among the many great skills Raziel brings to the table, the one that impressed me the most was how well he was able to negotiate. There were a few times during our very emotional negotiation process that I thought we were going to lose the house. Raziel was so good at keeping everyone grounded and talking that in the end everyone got what they wanted. We were so impressed with him professionally as well as personally that we referred our friends to him. Needless to say, they too are now sitting happy and comfortable in their new home thanks to Raziel. Not only was he amazing with the home buying part of the processes, he also provided assistance with the insurance agent and other miscellaneous neighborhood recommendations. Even after we were all moved in, Raziel still checks back with us to make sure we are comfortable and have everything we need. There is nothing he can’t help any new homeowner with! You will not find another Agent who is as enthusiastic, thorough and organized as Raziel. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell their home. Raziel, thanks again for everything…and then some!

Paul and Jasmin Limbrey

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July 15, 2007
Dear Raziel,
Thank you for assisting me in the successful sale of my condominium. When I met you at an open house here in the complex, I instinctively felt you were the realtor who could get me started in complex task of selling and moving on.
Your guidance in preparing my place for marketing was skillful in many ways with connections to first rate personnel in advice on staging, carpeting, and painting. We sold in less than a week.
The labrynth of paper work was presented with patience and clarity. Your attention to detail and negotiating with a buyer made the process pleasant and painless.
Raziel, your enthusiasm and conscientiousness was most appreciated. Finally, as a former English teacher, I enjoyed your beautiful grammar and vocabulary.

Wishing you continued success,
Judy

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July 17, 2007
To future homeowners,
My fiancé and I have been looking to purchase our first home together for some time without much success. We were constantly bombarded with pushy realtors who we felt did not have our best interest in mind. Our experience with finding our first home was drastically changed when we met Raziel.
From the beginning, Raziel has been the most professional and hard working realtor that we have encountered. He has extensive knowledge of the San Mateo/Burlingame area and has answered all of our questions and concerns with honesty. His attention to detail and strong work ethic got the deal closed quickly with no fuss. He has gone out of his way on many occasions to ensure that the entire process ran smoothly. Additional to his excellent work, Raziel is also a great guy! It is hard to ask for anything more. Thank you Raziel for making our home buying experience a pleasure!

Barron Hong, D.D.S.

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November 10, 2006
This last summer, I had the pleasure of working with Raziel Ungar as listing agent in connection with the sale of my mother’s home in Millbrae, California. After he had performed an initial market analysis, he urged us to consider renovations and updating that would enhance the value of the home and command a better selling price. We followed his advice, and as a result the home sold very shortly after it was listed.
In my professional career I have worked extensively with developers, builders, and rel estate sales organizations. Based on my experience, I msut say that the level of service provided by Raziel form the initial market analysis through the date of closing exceeded my highest expectations. His guidance throughout was thoughtful, upbeat, and very effective. I commend him to you unconditionally.

John H. Heald
Attorney at Law

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September 12, 2006
Dear Raziel.
Thanks a million would be at best just scratching the surface – our gratitude for the excellent service, honesty and professionalism with which you cared for us is beyond words! Your sincere desire to help us find the perfect house, as expressed in your own words, “no matter how long it takes”, truly made us feel like you were always going to look out for our best interests. And when the time came that we did find the right house, you were indeed looking out for our best interests – you saved us $50,000 dollars on our dream home! Even though you were aware that we were willing to spend the extra money to secure the house, your keen understanding of the market, your ability to negotiate on our behalf, and your ability to build strong rapport with those you work with, put that money back into our pockets.

Raziel, you exemplify integrity and have a work ethic that is a rarity. Even after the sale, your cornucopia of knowledge is helping make our transition back to the Bay Area and into this wonderful home a smooth one. So, for lack of a better way to express our heart felt gratitude – thanks, thanks, and thanks again!

Best regards,
Helen Miranda and Steven Crooks