Simone Koga

Simone is a leading expert in real estate and has vast knowledge of the East Bay. Oakland in particular is an extremely competitive market and a top notch professional is needed. We were in the process of selling our condo and purchasing a new home. Our agent who helped us close our condo had to abruptly re-locate and referred us to Simone and team (within Compass). Simone picked up right away and lost no time on our home viewings and in less than a week we got our offer accepted. We felt very confident in her and the team right from the beginning. Simone is very good at providing the right advice and navigating the hurdles/weighing options. We put in a bid for a home in our top choice neighborhood. We weren't the highest bidder, but Simone's offer package was so tight and professional that it edged us out on the seller's confidence for acceptance of our offer. Simone and team worked so quickly and tightly with the lending team, escrow, and the selling agents that the close went like clockwork. We were supposed to close within 25 days and we closed within 21 days. A joy to work with, extreme knowledge of the market and unprecedented professionalism made Simone the absolute best agent we could have hoped for. We love our new home and we couldn't be happier on how everything turned out. Simone will always be our top choice for any future real estate endeavors.

Our time with Simone was short and sweet since we ended up buying the first house we put an offer on! Being first time home buyers, Simone really set the stage for the entire home buying process and realistic expectations for what was to come. From recommendations on lenders to neighborhoods that were a good match for us, our experience was almost seamless. She was so responsive to our questions and did regular check ins through the loan and escrow process. When we did have a big hiccup in our closing, she was right there with us coming up with out of the box ideas to make sure we were taken care of. I would recommend Simone to any friend of mine in a heartbeat.

Simone and her team are absolutely wonderful! She is really knowledgeable about the market and is such a great resource for my fiance and I, as first time buyers in the Bay (I say "is" because even though we closed on our first home, Simone continues to help us with issues and questions that have come up since). We started seriously looking for homes mid-July and within a month, Simone and her team/contacts helped bring us up to speed on everything we needed to know to place an offer on a home. Her professionalism helped us close on our second offer! Simone helped us find an amazing lending team, and we will be keeping those contacts for life and recommending the team to all of our friends looking to buy in one of the craziest markets in the world.

Simone was incredibly helpful and professional throughout the process of us buying our first home. During some of the worst months of the pandemic, when open houses were not permitted, Simone took time out of countless weekends to meet us and show us homes. She’s a wealth of information on what to expect at each step of the process and made sure we were well prepared. When it came to making an offer, Simone helped us stay competitive while also staying within our budget, and in the end, we walked away with the keys to an incredible home! Buying a home in the Bay Area can be difficult, but Simone was supportive and optimistic from start to finish. You won’t be disappointed!

We just bought our first home thanks largely to Simone! And that’s not an exaggeration—we crossed paths with the seller’s agent while taking a walk past our future home during the closing period and were told Simone was a key factor in our offer being accepted! Simone was always available to answer our questions and made sure we were kept up-to-date through every step of the process. Simone has a way of explaining everything to you in a way that is easy to understand without being overwhelming, and all of her estimates were spot-on! We went from our first meeting with Simone to closing on a home in 45 days. Working with Simone felt like working with the dream team. Her genuine love of the East Bay was readily apparent, and her warmth and good humor made every interaction we had enjoyable. As first-time home buyers we could not have asked for a better experience!

I've worked with many realtors in the past, but nothing compares to Simone. Since the first time we talked, she went over my goals, budget and ideas and offered me such an amazing advice that matched all my expectations perfectly. Not only that, she has great financial connections and in the construction industry. Therefore, she was able to put me in touch with the best loan agent I needed at the time. As a result, we were able to put an offer on the house we wanted and outbid everybody else. Simone was also very honest and realistic with my initial offer price, she is so knowledgeable with market prices that she told me the exact price I should offer in order to outbid my competition. She wasn't wrong. We have also worked with Simone when we sold sold a couple of properties. She always teams up with great photographers and staging companies, converting the property into a dream home. Her marketing is always top. In addition, she has great advice on how to make minor improvements to attract more buyers. Moreover, if there is any disadvantage in the property, she comes up with such a creative ideas to minimize it. For instance, we didn't have a parking spot and she went above and beyond to find nearby parking rentals. Lastly and most importantly, she is a great negotiator not only when selling houses but specially for buyers. I would highly recommend Simone to anybody that is looking into buying/selling in the Bay Area. And let's not forget what a wonderful human being she is!!!

Simone Koga is a ROCK STAR! My wife and I had a condo in the East Bay that we decided to sell. My wife had been in poor health and I was her caregiver, so it was extremely difficult for me to travel 90 minutes each way from Santa Rosa to take care of the business of preparing the condo for sale. Simone was referred to me and lucky for me, I hired her. She is a total sweetheart. She globally took over the entire process of finding, hiring and overseeing the painting, reflooring and the changing of older fixtures in the apartment to prepare it for sale. She consulted with me regarding crucial decisions every step of the way and in real time, communicated with me when glitches were encountered. Simone recommended the ultimate pricing and staging of the condo. The whole process, which Simone carried on her shoulders from start to sale, lasted only 6 weeks (it was under contract within one week of being put on the market) and I was able to sell for over asking price. This sale also occurred in a market which has historically been weak for condo sales. I never had to visit the apartment once during this process as she had all the bases covered. I strongly recommend Simone for any potential client looking to buy or sell property in the East Bay. You just cannot do any better!

Simone is a fantastic realtor and extremely nice person. She's honest, patient, and very knowledgeable. We really appreciated Simone's help looking in the East Bay, Mont Claire, Redwood Heights, and Castro Valley. We watched a lot of Simone's videos on how contracting works, the differences between different county transfer taxes, and more. Buying houses in the Bay is so chaotic - Simone can help you close the deal while avoiding hidden traps that new buyers aren't aware of (termites, structural damage, etc.). Thank you Simone!