Anthony Associates

I bought a house that Tom Anthony had completely renovated back in the spring of 2010. My wife and I were initially planning to stay away from «flipped» houses, because while everything seems shiny and new inside, they are often renovated extremely quickly with the cheapest finishes available. But this house clearly was no quick flip. Sure, Tom probably made a nice profit, but he also clearly poured a lot of money into the renovation, as evidenced by the craftman details he retained (hardwood floors, fireplace mantle, ceiling and doorway mouldings), and the more contemporary finishes he added in the kitchen and bathrooms.
About 7 months later, we had some heavy rains, and I noticed some bubbling in the paint in the hall bathroom, as well as dampness. I assumed the roof was leaking, so I decided to call Tom, and he sent someone over to look at it. It turns out the roof wasn’t leaking… the paint had just bubbled from shower steam, and it felt damp because of, well, the steam. He fixed the drywall and paint, and that was it.
Five YEARS later, this past winter, I noticed some mold in the corner of my garage, coming down the ceiling. The garage is a stand alone structure. I checked the garage roof, and the El Nino rains had left a large pool of standing water. It was clear that the roof was not sloped properly to allow all of the water to get to the gutters. So after weeks of sitting up there, the water eventually found a way to penetrate the roof where the gutter spout came through. I decide to shoot Tom an email about it. He immediately sent a roofer over to patch the leak. After some discussion with his associate Andy Pitarre, he then agreed to repair the roof slope issue, remove the molded drywall, and patch it back up. For free. Almost six years AFTER I bought the house from him.
Have you ever heard of a home builder/​contractor/​property investment company that would do that for you? I sure haven’t. Sure, it’s possible that the garage roof wasn’t sloped properly because of Tom’s work, or it’s possible that the slope issue was there before Tom renovated the roof (the house was originally built in 1924). Either way, Tom clearly stands by the quality of his work, and went above and beyond to make sure I was satisfied. And for that, Anthony Associates deserves five stars.

Andrew Pitarre of Anthony Associates worked with me for 5 months, four offers and a few «almosts» before I finally closed on a duplex in Berkeley. He knows the East Bay market very well, has a contracting background so is great at helping you visualize upgrades and estimating the costs. He is extremely savvy at reading the tea leaves in multiple-​offer situations to help you pick the price point and other aspects of a competitive offer. He has worked with small condo/​apartment developers so is knowledgeable about rent control, zoning and condo conversions which was important for someone like me looking for both income potential and a place to live. I highly recommend him.

Our experience with Andy Pitarre of Anthony Associates made buying our first home a pleasure. We were expecting a baby when the search began so our house hunting timeline was limited. Andy was highly available, responsive, easy-​going, and professional. His insights regarding inspections/​construction/​lifestyle needs were on point, and throughout the entire process we truly felt like he had our best interests in mind. He discouraged us from situations that he knew wouldn’t fit our lifestyle or budget. The associates, mortgage broker and inspectors he recommended were equally awesome to work with, so the overall experience was pleasant, exciting, and fast. We couldn’t be happier with our new home and would recommend Andy to anyone interested in working with a trusted advocate in this crazy real estate market.

Andy Pitarre of Anthony Associates was a great help in expediting the process of selling our property. It was a complex project involving the offering of a lot for a variety of opportunities from remodel to new development and Andy handled it all with ease and expertise. He has a vast experience with a wide variety of property types and this knowledge came through in a great result for us.
On top of all this, Andy has am easy-​going personality and a good sense of humor — all very important for this type of business!

Andy helped us purchase a condo that was recently converted from an apartment. It was also in the midst of being renovated when our offer was accepted. We then embarked on a nearly 3 month long process of working with the sellers and their contractors to modify and complete most aspects of the unit to our specifications.
During this time, Andy was punctual, organized, and professional. We encountered several unexpected changes and delays on behalf of the seller, contractor, and loan officer, but Andy helped us tackle these challenges in stride. I’d recommend Andy to my friends and family after seeing how he successfully managed this fairly complicated and demanding process from initial offer to closing.

I am the lucky owner of a remodeled home done by Anthony and Associates. This house was a total crack-​house dump that they rebuilt and sold in 2011. Everyday, I am grateful to live here in the beauty of what they created. Everything was redone with the integrity of the time the original house was built. The attention to detail, in-​laid wood floor designs, double-​paned windows, elegant materials and colors are the work of an artist. There is nothing about their work that reads as cheap or rushed.
I also hired them to build my open attic into a living space and Tom is the only contractor I’ve ever used who came in on budget and on time! Tom and his crew were fabulous to work with, totally considerate of my needs, and continue to come over to help me when little things need to be done. They stand behind their work, even years later.
Generally speaking, contractors are not my favorite people to interact with, but Tom and his workers are a complete exception. I can recommend them with the strongest endorsement. They are a rare find!

I am a small business owner and have renovated a handful of properties in Oakland. I happened to meet Tom coincidentally when he renovated my neighbor’s home. I was immediately impressed by the integrity of his work: he has an excellent aesthetic, addresses repair issues thoroughly, and stands by his work.
I have also consistently found Tom to be incredibly generous with his time, offering advice and guiding me through new development experiences. He has done so without any expectation of compensation. Tom is a generous man and offers his experience freely to support other small business owners to be successful.

My husband and I recently bought a renovated 1912 house from Tom and we are loving everything about it. The house was completely updated and the craftsmanship is amazing.
Tom and his construction company, Asset Construction, really know how to do quality work and they stand behind it. As any homeowner knows, there are always things that pop up after you move in that still need to be addressed. Tom put us in contact with his head contractor, Duncan, who was in charge of the renovation work on our house before we bought it. Duncan has helped tremendously in fixing things himself or getting guys out to fix things at no cost to us.
Personally, I believe this service is unheard of when purchasing a house. I know I never offered that service to the people who bought my last house in Texas. I definitely recommend purchasing a Tom Anthony home.

We had a wonderful experience working with Danielle Abramson at Anthony Associates, who recently helped us buy our house. We had been looking to buy on and off over the last couple of years and Danielle really took the time to figure out what we were looking for and to make sure we were aware of new listings and good opportunities that could work for us. We were trying to buy in a very competitive market while also about to have our second child and she helped us find a good fit and was very strategic in submitting a preemptive offer. Danielle also went above and beyond the call of duty during escrow, scheduling inspections (and even paying for one of them when my husband forgot his checkbook). We could not recommend Danielle more highly.

We can only thank Tom Anthony for the competent work, sense of quality and excellence and good business practices.
We heartily recommend Anthony Associates as builders and realtors.
Thilo Ullmann

Their agent Hany was a huge headache to work with whenever we needed proper heating in our unit. We informed him that the place was inhabitable and that he was breaking the law by not providing proper heating. Hany and another agent Tom continued to quote some made up law and never actually provided written evidence or reference for these laws. We ended up leaving our apartment because the relationship had soured so much.
Also, their office is really disorganized. Whenever I called to make sure my rent payment was received no one knew where my check was to be found. Once, they even CASHED my check and then called me and told me they didn’t receive my rent for that month. I told the lady on the phone that I was looking at my bank account right now and it says you cashed it. She put me on hold for 5 minutes and then came back and said oh okay we found it! They’re smoking some serious crack in that office…