Dino Virella

"Above and beyond - These are the words that best describe Dino Virella. Dino was recommended to us by our friend. He said we would be in good hands, and Dino would take our best interest in mind. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our first meeting with him was via video call. We told him about our tricky situation with our condo. My parents were co-owners, and they were in the Philippines on lockdown at that time. Immediately, Dino put our minds at ease as he explained what his plans were. The following day he sent us a detailed presentation on the timeline of the process, what we needed to do, and what to expect. Dino made it very easy for us to understand everything. There were no stones left unturned when he marketed the condo. We were so satisfied with how the pictures and the virtual tour came out, and he also posted them on social media. Since we were still living there, Dino arranged for the buyers to visit the condo in a way where it was most convenient for us. He did not put any pressure on us whatsoever. He always considered our schedule before making any showing appointments. Dino was continuously checking in with us, whether there was some new information or none. Our expectations were exceeded when our condo got offers right away. Dino explained which offer was most suited for us. And since we did not have a house to move into yet, Dino requested the buyers allow us to stay for an extra month after closing. He even offered his assistance in looking for a temporary apartment for us. He made sure that the transition worked smoothly for us. While this was all happening, Dino was also helping us find our new home. At every house that we visited, he always explained the pros and cons of the property. He gave us a crash course in "Home Buying 101". We saw many homes, and Dino was very patient with us. Because our budget was limited, we finally decided to look somewhere else. Since it was outside his area, Dino recommended us to another realtor. We did not have any second thoughts about it because we trusted his judgment. Dino constantly checked in on our progress, always cheer us up, and gave moral support every time our offers weren't accepted. Dino treated us like family. Dino was always there to guide us until we eventually found our new home. We are so happy that Dino was recommended to us. He is a true and honest professional that will go above and beyond for his clients."
- LUIS & CLAIRE
"Selling our home of 18 years in the Bay Area was one of the most important things we’ve ever done. It was a home full of joyful memories: BBQs with our boy’s soccer and little league teams; pool party sleepovers with wet kids coming in and out of the house; Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families. It was so important that we pick an agent who was not only highly skilled in the financial and logistical parts of selling our home, but who also understood the emotional aspect of it as well. We interviewed a few agents and in the end, we picked Dino. And thank goodness we did! Dino immediately gained our trust by presenting us with a solid plan of how he was going to price, prepare, and market our home. We were concerned that COVID and the uncertainty of the upcoming presidential election were potential headwinds for the sale. Dino’s confidence never wavered and in turn, made us feel confident. Dino did things above and beyond what we expected. Our house was in pretty good shape, but also showed the signs of 18 years of living. In just a few weeks our home became highly marketable. Dino handled all the logistics of working with staging, painting, photography, virtual tour, and inspectors. The day we went live, the house looked amazing. That result was a combination of Dino’s industry connections and just plain old hard work. Here are some stats that speak for themselves: 25 Tours in 5 days, Received a 50% cash bid on the second day of the tour, 6 days after the first tour, multiple offers were considered on our offer date, The final offer was a no contingency offer over the asking price, Closed in 32 days (a few days ahead of schedule). Dino is a truly unique agent. If you’re buying or selling a home, know that Dino is super smart, organized, and friendly. He worked with us as people, not just sellers."
- CHARLES & STEVI
"Even in the middle of COVID-19, we found the perfect home thanks to Dino. Dino was the perfect blend of aggressive, go-getter house hunter tracking down leads, combined with a patient, kind, gentle presence when looking at homes. He was great at giving us space to explore homes, but always around if we had a question about something. We loved working with Dino and would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a home. And keep an eye out for his great assortment of face-covering bandanas!"
- HEATH W.

"It is difficult in normal conditions, let alone today’s changing and challenging business climate, to find a true professional to work with. Dino Virella is such a professional. He took the time to understand my needs and saved me time eliminating properties that were not exactly what I needed. Dino actually inspected each property before showing them to me. In a difficult buyer’s market, he found multiple properties that conformed to my needs and a 1031 timeline. He is quick to respond, thorough in his research, has excellent follow-through, easy to work with, maintains a positive attitude, flexible to change with the times, and always maintains a high level of professionalism I highly recommend Dino. He has represented me in both marketing and purchasing residential and commercial properties. Please feel free to contact me directly."
- MR. A.K.

"I started working on selling my San Francisco condo unit in February 2020. As you can imagine, it became the most anxious and stressful period in our lives as shelter-in-place orders were suddenly enforced in mid-March by coronavirus pandemic. Of course, as (bad) luck would have it, SIP took place after we moved all furniture and belongings into public storage. We were also finishing the remodeling of our condo. We were almost ready to bring in staging furniture into our condo to sell it, and the world stopped. We had no choice but to stay home without our furnishings, which were already in the storage facility. Before we met with Dino, we were working with a realtor who continually expressed little confidence to succeed in selling our unit. She had a defeatist attitude and a lack of positivity to help us get out of this tough situation as quickly as possible. Dino was there with a decisive, supportive, professionally knowledgeable, and amiable attitude. Hence, we made a quick decision to change agents and decided to work with him, especially with a desperate hope to move forward with some positive results. It was a perfect decision. First of all, Dino is a perfect partner. He is frank and honest with the best professional positiveness to get the success needed. That was precisely what I needed! He offered several actions to move forward, such as professional “virtual-staging” with various “outside the box” marketing of my property and, most importantly, in a very speedy way. Once active on the MLS, the buyer responses came very quickly. Within a week, the first buyer contacted Dino with a keen interest in my condo unit. I was very impressed that Dino was well experienced in negotiating with the buyer agent as well. The low-contingency purchase contract went into effect. It took only 32 days after the listing contract with Dino to close the selling contract with the buyer, and at a selling price above the listing price. Thank you, Dino, for your professionalism and patience to go through this tough time with us!"
- MR. H.E.

"What can I say but thank you for an exceptionally smooth transaction! It was tough for me to hand this over. I had my mom’s property for sale with another company (out of the Redwood City area) for five months (159 days) – had many, many people through on open houses. No offers – nothing! Hardly any private showings! Then I decided to make a change to a local area realtor. I asked for referrals first, checked the agent websites, then met with personal interviews – you sold yourself to us, and what better way for us to know that you would work your hardest to sell our property. It takes more than just putting the home on the “MLS” these days! Everyone has computer access, and people are searching all the time on the internet – you had your own ‘social media’ advertisement and many other ideas that were what we felt we needed. Many things can be ‘talked about’ during an interview, but you came through everything we discussed. We took the property off the MLS for 30 days while we got it ready for staging, professional photography, and many other tasks. As we were getting ready to go back on the market, you also promoted the property with your guerilla marketing campaign. Within nine days, still off the market, an acceptable offer came in from within your company and closed escrow in 25 days – excellent! And BTW, the contract you were setting us up with for the staging was too good to pass up – but since we had an offer so soon – we never even needed to stage the property! All these things are only available from someone like you who has many contacts at his fingertips! Even putting a few last-minute things (from decluttering the home) on Craigslist – free – come pick up! And they did, and the items were gone! You also helped to clean up – vacuuming, hauling, etc. All done with your help! You were there EXACTLY as you said you would be – kept us VERY WELL informed of everything with frequent reporting, texts, emails, and phone calls – you were always available. As you know, I still have my real estate license, but I am not a practicing realtor anymore. It was quite tricky for me even to think about going with a realtor that I only knew from a few visits. I am so happy that you were referred to us, and I hope if anyone is even questioning using you as their realtor, I know they should not hesitate to use your services! Dino, you are truly amazing, caring, and accommodating, and you performed well beyond our expectations!"
"These are three of many qualities that I observed during my successful home purchase which wouldn’t have been as smooth without Dino taking the lead. I’ll begin with the initial meeting which involved a series of questions to help Dino better isolate the properties and neighborhoods we were interested in. With his assistance, we were able to narrow our search down to a very manageable area. From there, it was a simple matter of doing the searching and letting Dino know when we were ready to look at properties. Without fail we were able to attend every open house and showing, and after a few weeks of searching, settled on a couple of properties. This is when Dino’s expertise kicked into gear. In the end, we really were able to purchase the property we fell in love with at a price that was less than we expected to pay despite the many offers. Dino’s knowledge of the housing market and ability to communicate quickly and transparently made all the difference in the end. No doubt we will be using Dino again in the future whether for our own needs or on a referral basis. Thanks again, Dino!!."
- Nora & Anthony