John Corten

I live outside the Bay Area and used John to sell my house successfully. He was great at communicating every stage of our transaction and utilized updated technology to create a successful experience. John was able to refer a staging company and hosted an open house that brought 5 above asking price offers. I would highly recommend John and would use him again in future.
Tom from Pinole.

Above and beyond!
In our purchase, the seller used an Agent that was completely new to the business. John basically did the work of both agents just to help us close. Also, half way through the negotiations the seller attempted to play hard ball but thanks to John’s experience the final terms were better than we first went in. John is so good that in the end, the seller wanted John to represent him in another commercial deal. We strongly recommend John.

John was just fantastic.
We had a very bumpy escrow process due to the complexities of the apartment we were hoping to buy near Lake Merritt, in Oakland, and he was absolutely essential to us being able to get the apartment we wanted and close on the deal in anything resembling a timely fashion. He is knowledgeable, kind, not at all pushy, and willing to answer your questions and walk you through all steps of the process, even when emergencies arise at inconvenient times.
If you’re looking for an easy-​going but hard-​working agent, don’t look any further — John is your guy. Hopefully more folks will discover and utilize his talents, and the stereotypes about the real estate market and the agents who oversee it will begin to dissipate. If everyone doing real estate was as good as John, I think it’s safe to say that house-​buying would be a lot more popular, and a lot more pleasant!

After working with two realtors that were recommended by friends, and after getting highly frustrated with their lack of professionalism, I decided to start working with John. His professionalism, promptness, and ability to translate what I wanted in a property in real homes was amazing.
It says a lot about someone when they understand what the home buyer wants in terms of location, type of property, and finding it for the buyer in a market like this one. He was able to help me find my new home and make sure I got the winning bid in less than a month. Amazing! I travel for work, and John made my life easier by sending documents electronically for me to sign, while I was overseas. I closed in 30 days, and could not be happier with his market expertise and level of support. I will definitely use John as my realtor in case I decide to purchase another property in the future. I highly recommend him as someone to be considered when buying your next home.

Definitely going to jump on the 5-​star bandwagon here. My husband and I have been working with John for several months and are now in escrow on our first house. John has been awesome to work with in so many ways. He is not your typical type-​A real estate agent, which is blessing number one. He’s laid back, yet extremely responsive, understanding, and listens to your concerns and needs. Unlike a lot of agents, you don’t feel any pressure from him to purchase whatsoever and I genuinely think he wants to see his clients in the house that suits them best and is within their price range, regardless of how long it takes to find. Can’t recommend John enough. He really has made this process as pleasant as possible for us and we would wholeheartedly refer him to anyone looking for a real estate agent in the East Bay.

I had planned to buy my first home sometime within the next few years, but after hearing so much about how low the mortgage interest rates were and how now was the time to buy, I accelerated my timeline and began looking for a home in the East Bay. I was focused on Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland and expressed interest in a BMR (Below Market Rate) unit in Emeryville. John quickly respond to my inquiry. He helped me view the condo, learn about the details involved with a BMR and provided answers to any questions I had along the way. As a first time prospective home-​buyer I had a lot of questions! But he was always friendly, attentive, and patient with me.
We looked at several places together before I settled on the place I really wanted, a really amazing condo at the Pacific Cannery Lofts in Oakland. John represented me through the entire transaction, getting me a killer deal on the place (on our first offer)! He helped me with all the details of the negotiations, was in attendance at all inspections, guided me through the escrow process, and continuously checked in with me throughout. He first priority was always to have me feel comfortable with any decisions that were made, either by me or by the seller.
I consider myself both a New Yorker and a Bay Area native, having lived in both places for big chunks of my life and I’d say that John combines the best attributes of both Coasts: fast, no-​nonsense, direct, and has your back — yet also patient, personable, kind, funny, and always a pleasure to talk to and spend time with. I wouldn’t hesitate one second to recommend John to someone looking for the first home, their next home, or their last home. I am incredibly happy with my place, paid an amazing price for it, and found the entire process to be as stress-​free as one could possibly hope for. And I owe this all to John.

John has been a great resource for me while I’m deciding whether or not to buy my first home. He’s been keeping me updated about the market and given me a good rundown of what the home buying process is going to be like. Most importantly, he’s been patient and never pressured me at all. I’ve thrown quite a barrage of questions at him and he’s never blinked. That’s really important to me. When I do decide to buy John will be my agent and I’ve already referred him to a friend.