Ascend Group

Steven and Dan are one heck of a team. They were referred to me from an old colleague of Stevens. Professional in every way, helpful, and stick around until the job is done. They helped me look, identify, and purchase a great investment property in Oakland. I enjoyed working with them and getting to know both of them. I highly recommend working with them if you are buying or selling something. I have already referred them to friends. Rest completely assured they will do the best job in negotiating your deal for you.

When my husband and I started looking for our first house after living in SF for 4 years, we were referred to Dan through a friend. We ended up working with Steven due to his familiarity with the East Bay (which was more in our price range for what we wanted). Steven was great! We had worked with one real estate agent previously and our experience wasn’t the best so I assumed all real estate agents would be pushy and aggressive. Steve was the opposite of that. He gave us information about the neighborhoods we were interested in, answered our questions patiently, and let us make our own decisions. He showed us places from Bayview, SF (ok we hadn’t quite given up on SF) to Oakland, to El Cerrito, to Richmond. Without him mentioning it, we may never have started looking in El Cerrito, which is where we eventually bought our home. All told, from the moment we met Steven to the moment when the house was signed over to us, only 2 months elapsed. We were lucky that our first offer was accepted and I can say we wouldn’t have been able to do it without Steven’s guidance and experience.

Daniel Risman-​Jones and Steven Huang did an excellent job with my house sale.
First, they offered to assist me even though my house was a small fixer-​upper in faraway Pinole. Second, they agreed to represent both me and my tenant, who was buying the house. Third, they pulled together a number of appropriate comps featuring houses that were nearby and of similar size and condition. We toured the comps together and compared and contrasted the houses, yards and locations to mine. Fourth, they estimated all the improvements that could be done to the house, and how much the improvements would add to the sales price. Using all of the superb data and analysis, I negotiated a sales price with my tenant (in the first offer!) that was acceptable to both of us. Fifth, they worked closely with my tenant to ensure her finances were secure because she was borrowing from a personal account instead of getting a traditional mortgage. Sixth, they guided my tenant and me through all of the complicated paperwork, answering all of our questions and responding to all of our concerns. Seventh, Daniel and Steven were patient and understanding when a burst water pipe delayed the house sale until repairs could be made. Lastly, when repairs were complete, they finalized the sale efficiently and professionally.
I plan on purchasing a condominium or house in San Francisco and will definitely be working with Daniel and Steven as my realtors.

Buying a house anywhere is intimidating. Add in being a first time homebuyer plus the crazy insane San Francisco real estate market, we needed a ton of help. Dan & Steven took care of us and quickly brought us up to speed on how to navigate this market.
They were always available to answer questions, find more information about properties we were interested in, and guide us through placing offers & negotiations. They also have a deep bench of fantastic bankers, contractors, and inspectors that helped us get through closing. Dan & Steven are the most professional, kind, and proactive agents in the city.
A massive thank you for their expert guidance. We highly recommend contacting Dan & Steven. They’re the best!

Daniel and Steven are the best real estate agents I’ve seen. They’re diligent, knowledgable and great to work with. We were introduced to them through a common friend and found the perfect house with their help.

Dan Risman Jones knows the San Francisco housing market well — accurately advising us on what price points would make a winning offer, a strong offer, and a competitive offer.
We made our first bid at Dan’s recommended competitive offer price and it tied the other highest bid. We got the first house we put an offer on with our first bid! One shot, one kill.
Before moving in, we needed contractor recommendations to get the floors refinished and a woodboring beetle infestation checked out. In both cases, we used contractors recommended by Dan and and are quite happy with the quality and cost of the work done.

Dan is a great person in terms of understanding the needs of the customer. He totally makes a good match.
He is very communicative, friendly and respectful. He does his best at every stage (house visits, closing period, moving period).

We were looking for a home in San Francisco while living in NYC. We stumbled across Daniel by chance and are extremely grateful we did. Dan quickly understood what we wanted and would contact us whenever he saw a possible opportunity. We would then fly out for a couple of days and, not once, was that trip for naught — Daniel’s instincts were spot on. The place we eventually bought was found by Dan before it went on the market. Daniel was there every step of the way. He helped us through the bidding process with a thorough look at recent sales, similar properties and intuition about the mind set of the seller and even the other bidders. We were in constant conversation and Daniel was always there for us. Once we bought the property, he did numerous FaceTime walk throughs with us, stayed on top of the work that was being done to complete the house and walked us through the closing process. He really went over and above. I’ve worked with a number of real estate agents and Daniel is in a league of his own. He made the process simple and pain free.
I would highly recommend him to anyone considering buying or selling a property. We would most definitely go with Dan again.

Looking for a new place to live for the first time is a terribly difficult and daunting process. When my partner and I started the search we turned to Dan to help us look at properties. he first took time to show us a range of options in various parts of the city and he helped us to understand the merits and detractions of various properties and neighborhoods. Dan ALWAYS painted a balances and realistic picture of each place we looked at.
What we especially appreciated was work Dan did to show us places that were just about to hit the market, or that were only being shown privately. He kept a head for what we could afford to purchase and searched diligently. Dan kept a keen eye for the type of house we were looking for, AND was always on the watch for opportunities in our preferred neighborhoods, which we previously has ruled out as too expensive.
His hard work paid off and we are in the process of moving into a home that will allow our family to grow AND keeps us conveniently located to all of the things we love.
I highly recommend Dan — you could not find a better agent.

I’ve known Dan for many years on a personal basis (I’m friends with his sister), but got to know him professionally when he helped me and my husband to purchase our home in San Francisco. I am normally hesitant to mix business with personal, however Dan has shown me that it is possible that you can combine both. Dan is really great to work with and very helpful. He took us around when it wasn’t even clear if we were ready to buy. We did find a house that fits our needs and Dan made sure the process went smoothly every step of the way.
I highly recommend Dan would definitely use him again for our next purchase.

If you plan to purchase property in S.F., then you are going to need a real estate agent that is willing to work directly with you and have your best interest in mind, all the time. We were very fortunate to have Dan Risman-​Jones as our real estate agent.
Dan has great communication skills. He constantly followed up and checked in with us on the status our inquiries and requests every step of the way. Dan exceeded our expectations through his experience, patience and determination to «seal the deal».
We highly recommend him when you’re ready to sell or buy your real estate property. Dan «is the man» and you can trust him to help guide you through our crazy S.F. real estate market.

Enjoyed working with Dan, who was our real estate agent and advisor for our first home purchase. He provided great advice and coaching on a challenging short-​sale process from beginning-​to-​end. We found the home that we wanted and he worked closely with us to navigate through the journey step-​by-​step. We had weekly status calls to discuss progress on the short-​sale and Dan provided current information, options and his professional opinion. One of the memorable things about Dan was knowing that he worked for you behind-​the-​scenes trying to make things right for our family, which brought a good sense of comfort. In the end, we accomplished our goal and got the home we wanted. We consider him a friend and continue to refer several of our friends to him. We recommend Dan!

Dan was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. As a first time home buyer, I found his approach very soothing and laid back. However, he was savvy enough about the market to help me get my offer accepted. He knew exactly what to put in an offer to make it appealing, and he was with me every step of the way, even checking in with me after I’d moved in to make sure everything was fine.
I highly recommend him to anyone looking to sell or buy.

Dan was very skilled in negotiating numerous obstacles to closing on the loft in the Dogpatch that is now my home. It was a short sale complicated by the issue that the building was under construction (which complicated the appraisal). Dan managed to work patiently with numerous parties (the seller, the loan officer, the appraiser, the management co., and the construction company) so that everyone was satisfied and the sale could go through. It worked out great for me as, three years later, my palce is worth way more than I paid for it. I would highly recommend him.

I loved working with Daniel! He is kind and curteous and knowledgable about the market as well as understanding the neighborhoods. When we first met, I told him the type of condo I was looking for and the neighborhoods that interested me. That same day, he set up an MLS profile for me and I was notified of all the potential listings. I only bid on two places before getting my condo! He walked me through the whole process, and the great part was the secure online signing of all documents. This really saved me time. Dan was also willing to meet me at a moment’s notice and even speak to the seller’s agents to let me see properties on non Open House days. I would absolutely recommend Daniel to my friends and family.

Dan was a pleasure to work with from listing to closing. His approach to marketing the property was exceptional, and he was never too busy to address questions and concerns on a timely basis. He was able to get the desired results in spite of the fact that there were tenants living in the property during the sales process, and I (the seller) was living a continent away from the property. There is no question that I will use Dan as my agent if I have another property to sell.

To purchase a property in SF you need to be on top of things — react quickly and understand the dynamics of the market and the nuances that differentiate each neighborhood and each property. Dan is set to help you exactly with that. He cannot tell you how much you are willing to pay or where the market is going (nobody is a prophet), but with his pleasant, positive attitude, patience and great interpersonal skills he helped me get the edge needed to get into contract and close.

As you can see from all the reviews, Dan’s exceptional work and service as a real estate agent can and will supersede any and all expectations when it comes to finding and buying a house.
It seemed so long ago, May of 2012, when my partner and I started the grueling process (at least for us) of looking for a house to buy. We have lived in San Francisco for years but decided that West Oakland was where we needed to be to get the space we wanted for the money we wanted to spend.
Day after day, week after week, Dan was there to show us anything we wanted to see. He was fearless and persistent in getting us in to all the properties that had just come on the market driving us back and forth via the Bay Bridge.
We made multiple offers and counter offers on multiple single family homes, condos and town homes and throughout the entire process, Dan was there to educate us and give us sound advice when we needed it. When deals fell through, all of which were no fault of Dan’s, he was right there to get us back up and running again. And when deals were happening quickly, he was there at every second.
8 or 9 months down the line, a unit came on the market that was in the same development that we saw the very first time we started looking. Dan was fast to act and about 1 month later, we are now living in a town home that we absolutely love.
Dan’s knowledge and experience has helped my partner and I obtain a big part of our dreams and we can only expect that he will, and can, do the same for anyone else looking for his services.
5 stars without hesitation or doubt.
Thanks Dan.
Jason

Dan Risman-​Jones has superseded my expectations in every aspect of our relationship. Dan’s thoughtfully prepared quarterly real estate updates exhibit his business acumen, insightfulness and understanding of the nuances of the quirky SF real estate market.
At every stage of the process of searching for a single family home and selling my condo, Dan was attentive, prompt, proactive and gracious.
He has gained a great deal of experience early in his career which shows in his ability to predict and address issues in advance or quickly as they arose. I felt confident in his representation of me as a buyer and seller. He listened to my needs and followed-​up on action items in a very organized manner.
He made fantastic recommendations for staging, window cleaners, etc… Giving me options at each stage… Amazingly enough, I found myself selecting the first recommendation he made each time.
It was a thorough pleasure doing business with Dan. I could not have pulled it all off in such a short time frame without him.
Sincerely,
Naveen Chandra

Dan, THANK YOU!
As a first time home owner in this very fickle market, your patience, your wisdom, your expertise and your calm and consistent follow up was exactly what I needed to get me through a challenging time.
You know that I am a returning customer!
I highly recommend Dan if you are maneuvering through the housing market whether you are wanting to buy or sell.
With a 5 STAR rating and a home full of gratitude,
Ken