Testimonials

The Bellings Brothers recently helped my husband and I sell our house and buy a new house and I can't say enough good things about our experience with them -- they were truly amazing and surpassed all of our expectations. We were able to close on the sale of our home and had our offer on a new home accepted on the same day, which is virtually unheard of (especially in SF, where we were in a multiple offer situation) and I'm convinced it was all due to their hard work, preparation and hustle. We initially met Michael and Aaron at an open house and thought they had really engaging personalities and did a great job marketing that house, so when it came time to sell our house we called them. We interviewed several different Realtors® and in the end decided to go with the Bellings Brothers for a few reasons -- we liked how energetic, enthusiastic and professional they seemed, and they came …

The Bellings Brothers recently helped my husband and I sell our house and buy a new house and I can't say enough good things about our experience with them -- they were truly amazing and surpassed all of our expectations. We were able to close on the sale of our home and had our offer on a new home accepted on the same day, which is virtually unheard of (especially in SF, where we were in a multiple offer situation) and I'm convinced it was all due to their hard work, preparation and hustle. We initially met Michael and Aaron at an open house and thought they had really engaging personalities and did a great job marketing that house, so when it came time to sell our house we called them. We interviewed several different Realtors® and in the end decided to go with the Bellings Brothers for a few reasons -- we liked how energetic, enthusiastic and professional they seemed, and they came to meet us prepared with a market analysis, a marketing plan, and a lot of good insight and information on home sales in our neighborhood. They made us feel like we were important clients and would be their top priority, which was a stark contrast to a couple of the other Realtors® we met with who seemed to wing it in our meetings. After deciding to list with them, Michael took the lead on our communications and we were in regular contact with him as he prepared us for getting our house ready to sell. Michael took care of all the logistics and arranged things like a painter, handyman, and cleaners to get everything ready. He also did a great job with the printed marketing materials and using social media to market our house. One thing in particular that stood out was that most Realtors® do a couple of 2-4pm open houses on either a Saturday or Sunday, plus a couple of broker's tours, but Michael did his open houses from 1-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays as well as broker's tours and twilight tours. I felt bad that he sacrificed so much of his weekends, but I was impressed that he was willing to go above and beyond what most Realtors® do to make sure we got as many potential buyers in the door as possible. We ended up accepting a great offer and Michael helped us negotiate a rent-back so that we had time to find a new home before having to move out of our sold home. As we shifted our focus to finding a new home, Michael was totally on top of things and sent listings to our attention and also showed us listings that were off-market or hadn't hit the market yet. Throughout the process, we barraged Michael with a million questions and he always responded right away (even late at night), made sure we got a satisfactory answer and never seemed even the slightest bit inconvenienced or annoyed. Any time we saw a home that seemed like it could be a good fit, Michael would go out of his way to see the home in person, connect and establish a good working relationship with the Seller's Realtor®, and make sure we got all the information we needed to make a decision (Michael reviewed and did research for us on all kinds of things including pest inspection reports, condo association board minutes, etc.). When we finally found the home we really wanted, Michael did everything humanly possible to help us get it. He knew the Seller's Realtor® and spoke to him on numerous occasions to let him know we were serious buyers and had all of our paperwork and financing ready to go. Michael went to visit the home in person (and had Aaron visit and reiterate our strong interest in the home to the Seller's Realtor®) and did a ton of research on comps in the area. Michael also communicated with our lender to make sure they would be able to close quickly and helped us put together and extremely strong offer package. The end result was that in a multiple offer situation our offer got accepted! After our offer was accepted Michael worked with the Seller and our Lender to speed up the closing and we were able to close in 21 days! Michael even got the Seller to give us access to the house pre-closing to take measurements for blinds, furniture, etc. This was really important since I was almost 8 months pregnant and time was of the essence, and Michael used his relationships (and charm) to get all parties on board and get the deal done. One thing we really liked about working with Michael was that he always made us feel like he had our best interests at heart. Throughout the process he never made us feel pressure to do anything we weren't completely comfortable with. For example, when we were looking at homes to buy, Michael would point out both the pros and cons of the property and would always get us the information we needed to make informed decisions. It was awesome to have Realtor® with deep knowledge of the market who I felt like I could completely trust to give me good advice. I hope to be in our new home for a very long time but if we ever move we will definitely work with the Bellings Brothers again and I would wholeheartedly rec

Aaron and Michael represented my fiancée and me as buyers' agents for the purchase of our condo in San Francisco in December 2014. As first-time home buyers, we did our due diligence when we decided which agents to work with in our search. The Bellings brothers stood out for a few very compelling reasons. First, they took initiative to win us as clients. We were browsing listings posted at Vanguard Properties' Castro office after dinner in October when Michael came out of the office to say hello. We enjoyed our conversation with him, and he and Aaron invited us to talk at their main office a few days later. Second, even though they work as a team, Michael and Aaron are honest when giving us their opinions, even when they thought differently from one another. It was clear from our first meeting with both brothers that we benefitted from having two minds and two sets of eyes on our side an…

Aaron and Michael represented my fiancée and me as buyers' agents for the purchase of our condo in San Francisco in December 2014. As first-time home buyers, we did our due diligence when we decided which agents to work with in our search. The Bellings brothers stood out for a few very compelling reasons. First, they took initiative to win us as clients. We were browsing listings posted at Vanguard Properties' Castro office after dinner in October when Michael came out of the office to say hello. We enjoyed our conversation with him, and he and Aaron invited us to talk at their main office a few days later. Second, even though they work as a team, Michael and Aaron are honest when giving us their opinions, even when they thought differently from one another. It was clear from our first meeting with both brothers that we benefitted from having two minds and two sets of eyes on our side and that their common goal is to get us into a home. Third, we felt that Aaron and Michael would hustle and think creatively for us in our home buying effort. Their drive to succeed for us was evident in their enthusiasm and willingness to help us with MLS listings and information even if we hadn't selected them as our agents. Once we got started with them as our agents, we had made a good decision to work them due to the clear communication, their ability to act quickly, and their experience in the SF real estate market. Michael and Aaron are always available to us via phone, email, and text messages even four months after our closing. Every call and email was answered, and we never felt like any question we had for them was a waste of their time. Especially as a new buyer in a competitive market, we had a ton of concerns and questions! Aaron was our main point of contact when writing offers and during escrow, and he really delivered on keeping us informed. This was crucial when our bank over promised on how soon they could finalize our financing after we went into contract with the sellers. If it hadn't been for both Aaron and Michael keeping us afloat during that stressful three weeks, I'm sure things could have gotten even more dire for us! Aaron was very forthcoming about how we bid on the offers we made. He was always more than willing to write as many offers as we would like to at whatever terms and prices we decided, but it was always great to have his advice on what a competitive offer for any specific property. In our case, we submitted two offers on two properties with minutes to go for their offer deadlines, and Aaron always made sure our documents and electronic signatures made it to the sellers completely on time. We almost did not put in an offer on the condo that we eventually purchased, and it was with Aaron's guidance and quick work that made it happen when we decided to bid. Even though Michael and Aaron are young real estate agents, their knowledge of the city and experience with the market from growing up in a real estate household really show. They helped is explore areas of the city that we never considered before. When we went on an open house tour, they made sure to get the inside scoop from the showing agents. Their relationship with the sellers' agent came in handy when we had to amend the contract due to circumstances out of our control. Overall, Aaron and Michael went the extra mile for us and helped us navigate the ins and outs of buying in SF. They found us a condo with all the features we were looking for during the low season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and they got all the right information to help us land a home for less than asking price. While we highly recommend working with the Bellings brothers, I also know for a fact that Aaron and Michael are the kind of guys who will make sure you get referred to the right agent of they don't end up being the right agents for you. It's that kind of customer service and helpfulness that make starting your home buying or selling process with a conversation with Michael and Aaron a solid place to start!

2020 was a weird year and despite the uncertainty, we noticed many people around the Bay Area buying homes to upgrade their personal work spaces while we were sheltering in place. My husband and I fell into this camp. This was the year, we decided, that we were going to take the plunge and become first time homeowners, in the Bay Area no less. I got the Bellings Brothers' names from a college friend of mine, and reached out to Aaron to dive into this extremely daunting process. From the very first conversation we had with him, Aaron put us at ease and assured us he would be there for us every step of the way. I approached our relationship with a bit of healthy skepticism, assuming all Realtor® make that promise initially. But Aaron absolutely, 100% delivered on his promise. Maybe it was because we had heard so many horror stories of house-hunting in San Francisco, maybe it was because my…

2020 was a weird year and despite the uncertainty, we noticed many people around the Bay Area buying homes to upgrade their personal work spaces while we were sheltering in place. My husband and I fell into this camp. This was the year, we decided, that we were going to take the plunge and become first time homeowners, in the Bay Area no less. I got the Bellings Brothers' names from a college friend of mine, and reached out to Aaron to dive into this extremely daunting process. From the very first conversation we had with him, Aaron put us at ease and assured us he would be there for us every step of the way. I approached our relationship with a bit of healthy skepticism, assuming all Realtor® make that promise initially. But Aaron absolutely, 100% delivered on his promise. Maybe it was because we had heard so many horror stories of house-hunting in San Francisco, maybe it was because my parents were going through a similar house-hunting process on the other side of the country and it was honestly a bit of a nightmare - but I was nervous that buying a house would be an extremely time consuming, harrowing task. Well it did take us a bit of time, but it was ridiculously painless because Aaron walked us through it every step of the way. A few examples of things that went great: The first time we absolutely loved a house, Aaron was honest with us about the fact that the bid we were considering may not be competitive enough to seal the deal, but he encouraged us to go through with the offer anyways so that we could get familiar with the process pre-approval, reading disclosures, signing the offer documentation, drafting an personal intro letter, etc. That first time was super nerve-wracking, but having Aaron walk us through the whole process helped us learn the ropes, even though we didn't end up getting the place. As first time home-buyers, we had a lot of questions especially since we were trying to buy during a pandemic. We wanted Aaron's opinion on everything, from working with lenders to how we should think through inspections, to how contingencies work. He always took great care in answering all our questions in great detail. I appreciated his patience and willingness to walk us through the basics. Aaron was very proactive about sending us listings. Many were misses, but he took all feedback seriously, factored it in, and kept sending us more listings until we found the one we loved. I think I always imagined that a Realtor® job was done once they got an offer accepted for you, but after we got the offer accepted was when Aaron actually stepped up his game even more didn't think it was possible. In the days after our offer was accepted, there were a lot of parties that needed coordinating with, a lot of documents to sign, and a lot of dates to keep up with. Aaron program managed the WHOLE thing and came in so so clutch for us. He was on top of all email correspondences, he followed up when we didn't hear back from someone, he kept us on track to meet all deadlines, he gave us clear next steps so we knew exactly what would be expected of us. This was probably the most value he added aside from getting us the actual dream home. Last but not least - they say they treat you like family, and I do genuinely feel that they did that. From keeping in touch with us after the offer, to checking in on us after we moved, Aaron has made time for us, and we genuinely appreciate it. Things that could have gone better. Wish we weren't in a pandemic. Sometimes Aaron would send us properties that were a bit over our price value, which could be frustrating because the places were awesome but simply more than what we wanted to spend. He was always super receptive to feedback and willing to adjust the searches, so I don't really even see this as a negative, more of him just testing out the waters with us. That's really it. I would highly highly highly recommend these guys to any of my friends, especially first-time homebuyers.

I sent an email to Michael and Aaron the day after we accepted an offer on my home that included the following appreciation: "When we first met in January, I found your initial proposal exciting, but it also felt a bit risky. And you know I have felt anxious at a number of points in the process. Very likely that would have been the case no matter which agent I worked with. But now that we are in contract, I have to admit that you delivered on everything I found exciting in the first place, with room to spare. I was keen to get maximum value and I do not think I could have done better. Conversely, I could easily have done a lot worse. I salute you as professionals who know what you are doing at every step of a high-pressure, fast-paced process." That expresses pretty clearly and concisely how I feel about this team and their work. One of the factors that influenced my decision to choose t…

I sent an email to Michael and Aaron the day after we accepted an offer on my home that included the following appreciation: "When we first met in January, I found your initial proposal exciting, but it also felt a bit risky. And you know I have felt anxious at a number of points in the process. Very likely that would have been the case no matter which agent I worked with. But now that we are in contract, I have to admit that you delivered on everything I found exciting in the first place, with room to spare. I was keen to get maximum value and I do not think I could have done better. Conversely, I could easily have done a lot worse. I salute you as professionals who know what you are doing at every step of a high-pressure, fast-paced process." That expresses pretty clearly and concisely how I feel about this team and their work. One of the factors that influenced my decision to choose them was their perfect 5-star rating here on Yelp supported by dozens of reviews. The qualities that make for a good selling agent and a good buying agent are different and I was most interested in the selling side. Having seen so much agent marketing in recent years, I was determined to go for a maximal approach to show the property to best advantage and get the highest price the market would support. I contacted the BB based on a postcard and my intention was to get a second opinion on the value of my property before proceeding with the agent I had been talking to. And their valuation was consistent with the other agent's. I liked that. The brothers are very temperate in the expectations they raise on price. What sold me on them was a feeling that they: a) were up-to-date on their marketing techniques; b) would bring a high level of polish to the staging (a 'showroom feel' to use Michael's words). I had many occasions to reflect on what five-star service means in this context. My baseline reference is fine dining where you expect beauty, serenity and comfort from start to finish. I'm sure there are such agents, but they are operating in a luxury market where the sale prices are many times higher than what I was selling for. And when I had moments of anxiety or annoyance, I reflected that I would take it out in the Yelp review. I sometimes felt the team had not paid attention to something I know I had said or the service people were careless in some small detail of their work. But looking back on it now, it's kind of breathtaking to reflect on what was accomplished. From the day I moved out of my condo to the day we accepted an offer was a bare five weeks. We tore up a ceramic tile floor and replaced with hardwood in one room. We made the surface of the walls smooth and clean in all rooms. We repainted the entire unit. We staged with attractive furnishings. We created a virtual 3-D tour. It all depended on their ability to mobilize a lot of tradespeople on a short timeline. And my moments of discomfort seem pretty small in the overall experience. I spent more than $23,000 on staging. It felt like a lot. But every expenditure served a purpose. I absolutely feel they adhered to their maxim of only spending a dollar to get at least five in return on the sale price. In my case, I'm sure the factor was more than five. But equally important, it was all very economical. I could not have had all that work done for anything near that price much less in a coordinated three-week effort. It's common to see a notice that some property sold for some high percentage 'over asking'. I think this is misleading. The lower you price a property the higher your over-asking percentage will be. But it also includes a lot of ground you need to make up just to break even. After our initial consultation they gave me a $50K range on the current market value of the property. So, relative to that our low-value target was 20% above asking price. But the actual sale price was almost 17% above that. Now that's what I call a good result.

We just bought our first house in San Francisco with the Bellings Brothers who were highly recommended by two of our friends. We worked primarily with Aaron Bellings throughout the process and had a fantastic experience throughout. First, he was very upfront with us and set expectations about price ranges for the house we wanted in the neighborhood we wanted. Our initial budget was below where it needed to be. He suggested other neighborhoods we could consider that were still nice and within our current budget. We had our hearts set on staying in the Sunset, so we decided to wait two months until we could set aside enough money to get what we wanted. There was never any pressure in any direction, no rushing us at any time. He just presented his advice and let us come back to him with our decision. Second, we super appreciated how much he knew about the neighborhood and houses and differe…

We just bought our first house in San Francisco with the Bellings Brothers who were highly recommended by two of our friends. We worked primarily with Aaron Bellings throughout the process and had a fantastic experience throughout. First, he was very upfront with us and set expectations about price ranges for the house we wanted in the neighborhood we wanted. Our initial budget was below where it needed to be. He suggested other neighborhoods we could consider that were still nice and within our current budget. We had our hearts set on staying in the Sunset, so we decided to wait two months until we could set aside enough money to get what we wanted. There was never any pressure in any direction, no rushing us at any time. He just presented his advice and let us come back to him with our decision. Second, we super appreciated how much he knew about the neighborhood and houses and different processes. As we reviewed house disclosures, he let us know what were common issues across most of the older houses here, what would be a costly repair, what would need to be repaired more urgently, what to look out for with ceiling height regulations and permits (we were specifically looking for a home where we could turn the unfinished bottom floor into an in-law). He also was very informative about the probate sale process and walked us through our first offer on a probate house. Unfortunately, the winning bid was above our pre-approval amount, so that house didn't work out for us. Third, we had a lot of fun bouncing renovation ideas off of him and getting his opinion on what makes sense for us versus what could add value and what would or wouldn't be worth the pain/cost. My husband was bummed that Aaron was not enthusiastic about the cost/value of adding a third floor roof deck to a house. He was in favor of a lot of our other ideas, though, and had great suggestions for us. Fourth, he had great vendor suggestions and helped us get flooring guys in quickly to refinish our hardwood floors before moving in. They did a fantastic job! We didn't really know what to expect and were genuinely impressed. Great cleaner recommendation too. We're having our broken seal windows replaced next. It's nice to not have to hunt around for vendors and just have a list to start from. Fifth, and most important, he fought hard for us to win our house. It was the second offer we were making, and we were feeling a little defeated. The inventory from the start of the year was super low, and we just felt like this house would go way above our pre-approval amount. Aaron said if he didn't think it was possible, then he wouldn't bother going through submitting an offer with us. We decided to give it a shot and submitted our top offer last minute on the off chance we could get it. He stayed on top of the selling agent asking for updates consistently throughout the day. It finally came back that we were one of the top offers, and we were asked to submit best and final offer. We didn't have anymore we could offer. He pushed hard with the selling agent that we would be a great buyer team to work with and suggested we write a personal letter to the seller. It happened to also be our 3 year anniversary the next day, so we shared that in the letter and went with Aaron's idea to bump our offer up by $3,000 to mark the occasion. The next day, he called us with the phenomenal news that our offer was accepted! We honestly couldn't believe it. It's still pretty surreal for us. We are just super grateful and appreciative of all of Aaron's enthusiasm and energy and optimism. Besides being a master real estate agent, he's super friendly and fun to be around. House hunting can be tedious at times, so it's nice when you enjoy spending time with your agent.