Richard Rosa Reviews
- Richard Rosa| 15
11/10/2012 - jkdagata
Bought a Single Family home in 2010 in Haverhill, MA.
Rich was an excellent during our first home buying experience. Our home search took 1.5 years During this time, he was patient, non-pressure, and professional. He truly appreciate his knowledge and guidance around real estate and the law during this process.
05/30/2012 - user0747411
Bought a Single Family home in 2012 for approximately $350K in Haverhill, MA.
We met with several buyers agents that we found on the Massachusetts Association of Buyer Agents in order to decide who we wanted to work with, and were blown away by Rich from the very beginning. He was laid-back, no-pressure, incredibly knowledgeable, and has a business model that benefits the buyer in every possible way.
Unlike most buyers agents, they don't require you to sign an exclusivity contract so you don't run the risk of being stuck with someone you may not like for the next 6 months. They run on the model that if you like them, you will keep working with them. In addition, all buyer agents there are also lawyers, so they will take care of all the paperwork and advise you on the legal aspects of buying a home. As we started seeing homes, it was apparent that Rich is very experienced at the home buying process, as he gave us objective professional opinions and advice at every step. He answered all our questions very thoroughly, never made us feel like any of our questions were stupid (even when they probably were), and was incredibly knowledgeable about everything real estate related. He also has a no-pressure approach, and I never felt like he was trying to get us to buy something so he could move on the the next client. He was very patient, and seemed genuinely interested in making sure we found something we liked and that was a smart investment. I'd even call him a de facto home inspector, as he has been to so many home inspections that he can often point out things in homes that don't look right that you as a buyer may have never noticed. Once we found a home to purchase, they recommend good people to use for other things we needed to do, such as home inspectors, insurance agencies, and mortgage companies. They don't pressure you at all to use those companies, they just make sure you have a list of good people to work with if you don't have someone in mind already so that you don't end up with sub-par companies. And at the end of everything, it is all completely free to the buyer. Unlike some buyers agents that make the buyer pay the difference between their negotiated commission and their standard commission, you never pay anything to them throughout the entire process. Any home buyer should definitely use an exclusive buyers agent, and I highly recommend Buyers Brokers Only. I tried for a long time to try to think of anything that "needed improvement" on a survey they sent out, but I really couldn't think of anything. I strongly recommend any buyer in Eastern MA or Southern NH use Buyers Brokers Only to represent them.
Unlike most buyers agents, they don't require you to sign an exclusivity contract so you don't run the risk of being stuck with someone you may not like for the next 6 months. They run on the model that if you like them, you will keep working with them. In addition, all buyer agents there are also lawyers, so they will take care of all the paperwork and advise you on the legal aspects of buying a home. As we started seeing homes, it was apparent that Rich is very experienced at the home buying process, as he gave us objective professional opinions and advice at every step. He answered all our questions very thoroughly, never made us feel like any of our questions were stupid (even when they probably were), and was incredibly knowledgeable about everything real estate related. He also has a no-pressure approach, and I never felt like he was trying to get us to buy something so he could move on the the next client. He was very patient, and seemed genuinely interested in making sure we found something we liked and that was a smart investment. I'd even call him a de facto home inspector, as he has been to so many home inspections that he can often point out things in homes that don't look right that you as a buyer may have never noticed. Once we found a home to purchase, they recommend good people to use for other things we needed to do, such as home inspectors, insurance agencies, and mortgage companies. They don't pressure you at all to use those companies, they just make sure you have a list of good people to work with if you don't have someone in mind already so that you don't end up with sub-par companies. And at the end of everything, it is all completely free to the buyer. Unlike some buyers agents that make the buyer pay the difference between their negotiated commission and their standard commission, you never pay anything to them throughout the entire process. Any home buyer should definitely use an exclusive buyers agent, and I highly recommend Buyers Brokers Only. I tried for a long time to try to think of anything that "needed improvement" on a survey they sent out, but I really couldn't think of anything. I strongly recommend any buyer in Eastern MA or Southern NH use Buyers Brokers Only to represent them.
04/22/2011 - NicholasZweig
Bought a home in 2009.
If you're going to buy a home and do not have a home to sell this is absolutely your best resource in the area!!!
After hearing about the first home buyer's credit, I decided to look into the potential of buying. I had rented my entire life, partly to be mobile and partly because I never seem to have time for things like home repairs. I contacted Rich Rosa at Buyer's Brokers Only (BBO) and signed up for the MLS listings on their website. I explained that I was just toying with the idea of buying, that I wanted to do some research for a few months and that I would contact him if I decided to move forward. He passed along a few great resources and his contact info and told me to give him a shout when I was ready.
The first indication that I was not dealing with a 'car dealership' style of sales was the fact that he waited for me to give him a shout, which was months after our initial contact. At no point during the sales process did I ever feel that he was working for a commission. He was honest and shared things about properties that were negative, which in one case led me to decide not to make an offer on a place.
I found the place I wanted. I had set up a showing to compare it with another property actually but fell in love. Rich explained that it was a short-sale (which by the way is some bank's funny way of saying long-sale). He explained all of the problems with short-sales, things that could happen, the frequency of their closing being about 20%. But I had found the place I wanted!
I drove him crazy over the next few months, waiting, not hearing anything, not knowing anything. The lack of knowing anything had nothing to do with Rich, it was just that there were so many people involved that no one had a clue what was going on. Despite my continuous calling and demanding info, he stuck by me and was very patient (I would NEVER agree to be my broker).
The last explosion of events was when one of the seller's banks wanted one thing and another bank wanted another and I was put in a very difficult position and had to make an extremely difficult decision. Rich explained in great detail the legal problems, liabilities and options. He went to great lengths to warn me about potential conflicts of interest. At the end he reminded me that I was the one buying the home, and that he merely represented my interests and had no personal interest one way or another (aside from not wanting to see me get screwed that is).
When I turn the corner and walk into my new kitchen I still stop, take a breath and appreciate that I am a homeowner. I still check out the Buyer's Brokers Only MLS Listings on their website. Now that I've moved, we're in the same community. Not only do I highly recommend Rich but I highly doubt he would ever work with someone with a 'dealership' style sales approach; any agent at Buyer's Brokers Only is surely going to leave you extremely thankful you chose them.
Oh, one other thing to mention. After the closing Rich had encouraged me to file a Declaration of Homestead to protect my property (and gave me the paperwork to do so). Trying to move, paint, and deal with about a billion things I forgot to fill out the form, have it notarized and returned to Rich. Despite the fact that they had already made their commission and would gain absolutely NOTHING from me for filing the Declaration, Rich's business partner Dave emailed me another copy of the form and encouraged me to complete it and explained the legal benefits of having it filed. He also offered to file it in Salem for free (well I paid the $35 filing fee of course). My point is that they proved to me that they were not just after my money, rather they clearly care about their long-term business and act in a way that encourages their company's referral growth.
I have referred a number of people to BBO, one of which did actually purchase a home using their help. She told me she was blown away by the level of service and how detail oriented her agent was. She thanked me for the recommendation; you will too.
After hearing about the first home buyer's credit, I decided to look into the potential of buying. I had rented my entire life, partly to be mobile and partly because I never seem to have time for things like home repairs. I contacted Rich Rosa at Buyer's Brokers Only (BBO) and signed up for the MLS listings on their website. I explained that I was just toying with the idea of buying, that I wanted to do some research for a few months and that I would contact him if I decided to move forward. He passed along a few great resources and his contact info and told me to give him a shout when I was ready.
The first indication that I was not dealing with a 'car dealership' style of sales was the fact that he waited for me to give him a shout, which was months after our initial contact. At no point during the sales process did I ever feel that he was working for a commission. He was honest and shared things about properties that were negative, which in one case led me to decide not to make an offer on a place.
I found the place I wanted. I had set up a showing to compare it with another property actually but fell in love. Rich explained that it was a short-sale (which by the way is some bank's funny way of saying long-sale). He explained all of the problems with short-sales, things that could happen, the frequency of their closing being about 20%. But I had found the place I wanted!
I drove him crazy over the next few months, waiting, not hearing anything, not knowing anything. The lack of knowing anything had nothing to do with Rich, it was just that there were so many people involved that no one had a clue what was going on. Despite my continuous calling and demanding info, he stuck by me and was very patient (I would NEVER agree to be my broker).
The last explosion of events was when one of the seller's banks wanted one thing and another bank wanted another and I was put in a very difficult position and had to make an extremely difficult decision. Rich explained in great detail the legal problems, liabilities and options. He went to great lengths to warn me about potential conflicts of interest. At the end he reminded me that I was the one buying the home, and that he merely represented my interests and had no personal interest one way or another (aside from not wanting to see me get screwed that is).
When I turn the corner and walk into my new kitchen I still stop, take a breath and appreciate that I am a homeowner. I still check out the Buyer's Brokers Only MLS Listings on their website. Now that I've moved, we're in the same community. Not only do I highly recommend Rich but I highly doubt he would ever work with someone with a 'dealership' style sales approach; any agent at Buyer's Brokers Only is surely going to leave you extremely thankful you chose them.
Oh, one other thing to mention. After the closing Rich had encouraged me to file a Declaration of Homestead to protect my property (and gave me the paperwork to do so). Trying to move, paint, and deal with about a billion things I forgot to fill out the form, have it notarized and returned to Rich. Despite the fact that they had already made their commission and would gain absolutely NOTHING from me for filing the Declaration, Rich's business partner Dave emailed me another copy of the form and encouraged me to complete it and explained the legal benefits of having it filed. He also offered to file it in Salem for free (well I paid the $35 filing fee of course). My point is that they proved to me that they were not just after my money, rather they clearly care about their long-term business and act in a way that encourages their company's referral growth.
I have referred a number of people to BBO, one of which did actually purchase a home using their help. She told me she was blown away by the level of service and how detail oriented her agent was. She thanked me for the recommendation; you will too.
01/14/2011 - Chiclet831
Bought a Condo home in 2007 for approximately $200K in Haverhill, MA.
Rich was fantastic through my whole home buying process. He was always there when I needed him. He was so accommodating. Whenever I had a question, he found the answer. We had a few complications with the selling agent and he was so helpful standing up for me. I wouldn't have bought my condo without his help.