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The Boston Home Team
Categories: Home Services Real Estate Real Estate Services Home Services Real Estate Real Estate Agents Real Estate Services, Real Estate Agents [Edit]
256 Amory St(between Porter St & New Minton St)
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Neighborhood: Jamaica Plain
(617) 828-7956
- Nearest Transit:
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Amory St @ Boylston St (48)
Stoneybrook - Inbound (Orange Line)
Stoneybrook - Outbound (Orange Line)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 8 am - 10 pm
About This Business:
Internalizing my clients goals while formulating strategies designed to exceed my clients' goals in a timeline my clients set forth. Establish a… read more »
13 reviews for The Boston Home Team
13 reviews in English
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Review from Ashley S.
Jamaica Plain, MA
8/12/2011
This spring, my girlfriend and I decided it was a good time to casually start looking for a Jamaica Plain condo. We went to a few open houses and realized we should find a local buyer agent. We found the Boston Home Team (thanks to Yelp) and set up an initial meeting with Will Brokhof and Jeff Stineback to learn about the home buying process.
That first meeting put us at ease right away. Will and Jeff were respectful (we had our concerns as young, first-time buyers) and were willing to explain everything to us. We felt very comfortable with them and appreciated that they had a sense of humor. This home-buying thing might actually be fun!
After that meeting, we worked exclusively with Jeff. He took us on some showings, which was extremely beneficial: he learned more specifics from us on what we were looking for in a home, and we learned from him what kinds of questions we should ask seller agents, and things we should be looking for at showings/open houses. Jeff was always willing to listen to our feedback and thoughts on condos we visited.
Although we ended up finding our future condo at an open house without Jeff's presence, we were able to confidently make the decision to start the offer process because of the knowledge that Jeff had given us. He kept us patient during the price negotiations with the sellers, which meant we were able to get the closing price down about 4.8% from the listing price.
Throughout the offer, acceptance, home inspection, and closing, Jeff was consistently available to answer questions (even late at night!), calm our nerves, and be our general go-to guy. He was even willing to go the extra step when needed--like speaking to our parents when they had questions.
We think very fondly of Jeff and would recommend him to anyone looking to buy in the greater Boston area! -
Review from Josh R.
Jamaica Plain, MA
7/19/2010
Conventional wisdom in early 2010 for home sellers:
-- Not a good time to sell (buyer's market)
-- Expect to be on the market for a long time
-- Don't expect to get 2005/06 prices
Thankfully, we listed with Will, and sold our house in one day for 5% more than we bought it for in 2006.
Sure, we had a beautiful condo in a great JP location. But Will did an excellent job of setting the price, marketing the open house, guiding us on staging, managing a bidding war, and most importantly, setting our expectations (which he then exceeded.)
He's not your typical hyper-caffeinated-hampster-in-a-Mercedes realtor, and has a seemingly laconic approach, but that masks great real estate intuition and a lot of hard work. He knows JP inside out, and you won't go wrong with him on either end of the transaction. -
Review from Alex R.
Boston, MA
4/2/2009
I used this guy! Will's cool. We would go into houses and be all oh hey, look, they got a shiny new refrigerator, we should buy this one! because we're idiots, and then Will would go down to the basement and point out a huge crack in the foundation. We miss these sorts of things. We are distracted by shiny things. We ended up getting a great deal on a house with a crappy old refrigerator and a solid foundation, and we just bought a new fridge. That was a good idea, because fridges are cheaper than foundations.
He and his lovely wife Christine (and Carrie Anne, who I think is Christine's sister) also do this thing called Arthouse (http://www.arthousebos...) where they pick a cool house that's on the market, put up a bunch of local artists on the walls, hire a DJ and throw an open house. That's a tremendously cool idea. You can go even if you already have a house! There's free booze! There's booze, and it's free!
They know Jamaica Plain absolutely cold, and they're really involved in the community, which I kinda appreciate. (Not that they can only do JP - Will showed us a bunch of properties all over the rest of town, too.)
We liked Will so well that we recommended him to our friends, and they were happy with him too, so that ought to prove that I mean it.
Coincidentally, he was recommended to us by another Yelper, the gone-and-totally-forgotten Dan P. - that dude went to law school and totally sold out. So if you use them for your real estate people it'll be like continuing a long, proud tradition. With free booze. -
Review from Kate S.
Boston, MA
4/3/2009
Seriously, Will and Christine (aka the Boston Home Team) are the best. We met Christine as we were starting our search for our first condo and haphazardly checking out open houses on our own and knew immediately that we wanted to work with her.
The next day, in her office, we met her other half, Will, and it was a total bonus. Nothing like having 2 real estate agents working with you to make you feel like you got "people". They are a great team, with Christine's knack for finding great listings and Will's extreme attention to detail. That guy doesn't miss a thing. And he plays Devil's Advocate like no other, forcing you to consider the good and the bad on every property.
Will and Christine were patient with us, our never-ending questions, and our low budget as first time buyers. One of the reasons why I have recommended them to several friends for buying, selling, and rentals is because they always made us feel like we were their only clients. They worked tirelessly on our behalf to help us find the perfect house, and basically schooled us in all that was cool in JP. They know JP (and Boston proper) inside and out, and are super involved in the community.
When we did finally find *the one*, they met us at their office at 10pm on a Friday night to write the offer so that we didn't have to cancel our dinner plans. Dude!
These guys are great. Straight-shooters, hard workers, and good people. I highly recommend the Boston Home Team to anyone looking to buy, sell, or rent in JP, Rosi, West Rox or Boston! -
Review from Carpenter A.
Jamaica Plain, MA
4/5/2009
I worked with Will and Christine for the first several Art Houses* that they coordinated in Jamaica Plain and I have to say, they are fantastic, detail oriented, kind people who really get that buying a house is more than just sinking your money into a building - it's choosing a life, a lifestyle, a neighborhood, and a particular community that you are hopefully going to become an active member of. They have a great aesthetic, are patient and efficient, and they see things through to complete the original vision. Most important to me is that they care about nurturing the creative community that they both live and work in and seek to bring people together through really positive experiences. Good comfortable people all around - definitely worth working with. Good luck finding your new home, especially if its in JP!
(*"Art House" is an event where they collaborated with local artists to furnish open houses as galleries so that our art would gain exposure and the homes would look extra stylish! A brilliant idea which was also wonderful for those of us participating... http://www.arthousebos...
Thanks guys! ) -
Review from cathy r.
Jamaica Plain, MA
7/23/2010
My husband and I were first time homebuyers AND new to Boston when we started working with Will. When we decided we wanted to buy there was no question that Will would be our buyer's agent. He knows every block of JP and is heavily involved in the community (ie. proactively helping to improve the quality and safety in JP). Quite simply he lives and breathes JP!!! It's difficult NOT to get excited about this neighborhood after talking to Will.
After a couple of weeks of looking at houses in our price range and not finding anything that we were absolutely in LOVE with--I was beginning to get a little discouraged that we would not find the 'perfect' place. Will kept us encouraged and one morning I saw an MLS listing for the a condo that looked PERFECT for us. When we called Will around 10AM and he told us that he already had an appointment for us to see the place. Of course we instantly fell in love with the condo and with Will's help we put an offer in the next day. We were the first buyers to see the house and I sincerely do not think we would have gotten the house if that were not the case (the location and layout is very unique to the area). He also kept us in check as to what we SHOULD be paying for the house.
Thanks to Will being in tune to what our needs AND wants were, we'll be happily living in JP for a long time! -
Review from Deb C.
Boston, MA
4/10/2009
My husband and I worked with Christine and Will for about 9 months. We were looking for a specific kind of property, and we wouldn't budge on location or price. ... Both professionals spent a lot of time with us, showing us around town, which I would have expected of any buyer's realtor, actually.
This is what I did not expect:
getting gently dissuaded from a property that they could see was not right for us; getting a call from Christine the second our dream property came on the market; expert negotiating on our behalf at the time of deal-making; recommendations for house repair stuff; advice and help on our situation AFTER WE HAD FINISHED WORKING WITH THEM!
Christine and Will work hard to help you get what you want, and they are honest, clued-in, reliable people. Mail me if you want more details. -
Review from Ken C.
Boston, MA
7/8/2009
First time homebuyer here. My wife and I came to Will a few weeks ago without even being sure we wanted to buy or keep on renting. Will sat down with us and gave us the lay of the land. He conveyed a flood of information but explained everything in a clear and concise manner so that it wasn't at all overwhelming. After meeting with him, we decided to start looking seriously in Jamaica Plain.
It didn't take us long to find a place that we fell in love with, head over heels. Will immediately crunched some numbers and came back with a comparative market analysis that showed the true value of the place to be significantly below the asking price. We were prepared to pay more, but we made an offer based on Will's numbers. Well, the sellers weren't too happy with our offer. And this is where Will earned his pay. He went to bat for us, and actually convinced the sellers that their asking price was out of line with comparable properties, and talked them down to the number he got from his analysis. And after getting a professional appraisal as part of the mortgage process, the appraised value was EXACTLY what Will said the place was worth.
Will is laid back and very casual with his clients, but make no mistake, he knows how to play hardball and get the job done. Ours was clearly not his first rodeo. We've gone from lifelong renters to timid prospective buyers to homeowners in the span of 10 weeks (after we close in a couple of weeks), and we have Will to thank for making the process smooth and saving us tons of money on a home we couldn't be more excited about moving into. You won't find a better agent. -
Review from Flavia G.
Boston, MA
8/31/2010
When you work with Will and the Boston Home Team, they work FOR YOU. We enlisted him to help us buy a house that didn't meet minimum occupancy standards in the middle of the housing crisis of 2009 . We had to get a 203K loan through the federal government, we were trying to purchase the home from a lawyer/executer, and there was complexity and uncertainty at every turn. Will was calm, helpful, and navigated the evolving drama with us in a truly helpful way. He can be trusted to do everything possible to get your needs met, whether it's buying your dream home or selling your home for the best price. He knows the market and how to maximize it!
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Review from Laura W.
Brookline, MA
7/28/2010
We highly recommend Will Brokhof. We were first time home buyers and a little clueless, so having a realtor we trusted was so key. We got a great vibe from Will right away, and we really appreciated his honesty and no nonsense approach throughout the process. He lives and breathes JP, and he was perfect for showing us the ropes since we didn't know too much about JP in the beginning. He planned our first trip so that we saw a couple places in each area of JP and could learn which areas we wanted to focus on. It was a great way to learn our surroundings and to understand what's out there. Will was really in tune with what we were gravitating towards, and he structured the rest of the process to keep honing in on exactly what we wanted. We were impressed by Will's work ethic and diligence, and he made the process really fun and easy.
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Review from amy b.
Newton, MA
3/9/2008
We were referred to Will because, while our relatives' condo had been on the market for over a year, Will sold the unit across their patio in 2 weeks. Our condo had been sitting on the market for 8 months. We hired Will and he immediately brought us confidence and much needed hope. He performed turnkey services to re-stage it with furniture, art, and new paint. Its appeal and value was then apparent, and we had multiple offers after only 4 days on the market. And it didn't stop there. Will's advocacy in negotiating the offers made it absolutely clear that our interests as his customer were all that he had in his always-working mind. Will's performance is truly superior, and our family is deeply grateful.
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Review from Will S.
Jamaica Plain, MA
1/23/2010
Will is a great broker. He has sold eight of my properties.
Will Brokof sold me and my wife a house 7 years ago and quickly became a friend.
As was an architect and have since started developing property and have always trusted Will on both ends of the deal. He helped us find many of our projects which requires a great deal of 'vision' to see a building's potential as well as an understanding of our style and what would interest us. During the development process, he has also provided insight in to features that would help a property sell. Since he is meeting with so many buyers and knows what is available on the market at any given time, he knows what people are looking for and what is out there for them to buy; this has helped us develop unique properties that find that niche between supply and demand. It goes beyond comments on finishes and fixtures, but larger planning issues such as a need for 3 bedroom units since there is a glut of 2 bedroom units, or a knowledge that there are no units out there with garage space, or an understanding of people wanting something open, fresh, unexpected and new.
When it comes time to sell, Will has always delivered. He puts careful research into pricing appropriately and has always met or exceeded our expectations. Not only do we feel like we got the best price, but he finds a client that immediately knows this is the place they have been looking for. For us, finding buyers that appreciate and share our vision is a job well done. Thank you Will! We are devoted clients and would never use anyone else. -
Review from Chris C.
Middlesex, MA
7/27/2010
My Girlfriend and I were first time home buyers in February 2010. We started looking for a home on our own, we then decided to use ZipRealty. The Realtors on ZipRealty that we kept getting set up with were impersonal, and took a very long time to get back to us. Being first time home buyers, we really did not know much about the process, except our approximate price range, and the all of the amenities that we were looking for. We found the Boston Home Team in the Jamaica Plain area where we were very interested in buying. After setting up an appointment we met with William Brokof who took an entire night to go over all of the paperwork we would be seeing, and basically walked us through the entire process of buying a home, realizing that we may not even choose him as our realtor. Our meeting with him impressed us both and we decided to go with Will as our guide through the long process of buying a home. He thought it was important to show us properties that we would not like and properties that were a little on the higher end just so that we could get perspective into what were necessities and what we could live without. We thank him for his patience as he eventually steered us to the house that both of us fell in love with and bought. We started looking in February, and closed on April 30th, Will made it an educational and fun process with an extremely happy ending, and of course was there for us ever step of the way from walking through the properties, answering questions, and closing. He even set us up with a number of his own resources from people who helped us get approved for our mortgage, to lawyers that helped with the actual closing. I can quite honestly say that i didn't think that home buying was going to be so painless. I strongly recommend Will Brokof if you are looking for an individual who goes above and beyond to get you the home that you will want to make your own.
