Julia Zagatsky and Maria Sky-Topf – JZMax Realty and Mortgage

I worked with Maria and Julia to get our dream house in Castro Valley. Though our case is a bit difficult given we bought the house before we started to sell the previous one and my loan agent was not very responsive, Maria and Julia were very professional and very patient. The house had a 18 years old water heater that was recommended to be replaced, Maria helped us to get a home warranty and eventually resolved the issue. I would highly recommend Maria to all my friends who are buying/​selling their properties.

Julia was extremely helpful and knowledgeable assisting us with our refinance. She guided us through the process with patience and understanding. Refinancing a home can be a long drawn out experience, but Julia used her expertise to quickly and painlessly complete the process.
We would highly recommend her to anyone who needs assistance with buying, selling or refinancing a house.

Julia is amazing! Very knowledgable and experienced broker. She helped us with our first house and guided us through the whole process, patiently and professionally answering millions of questions from us. She got the best rate for us! The whole process went so smoothly with no stress at all thanks to Julia.
Loved working with Julia and highly recommend her!

Julia is a fantastic mortgage broker! Extremely knowledgeable in all aspects. She helped me to go through the approval process and to get a great rate on my loan. She followed up with me each day, sometimes several times, to make sure all of my questions were answered and that everything was going smoothly and very quickly. When it came time to close she went above and beyond by working with an incompetent escrow company and even helped do their job (sellers agent picked that Escrow). With her extensive knowledge and experience and very quick turnaround I was able to close 10 days early. Thanks Julia!

Julia is amazing agent: full of positive energy, very experienced and smart. She helps for real not just working for herself. I recommend Yulia for anybody: whether you getting first home or 3^rd commercial property she will do it great! One of the most important points is that she is doing everything in time or sooner. I called her ~12 hours before offer time and we got it! Thank you, Julia!

This review is for Julia Zagatsky who deserves more than the 5 stars that are given here. Julia was recommended to us by a good friend who said that she is the best when it comes to financing. We were skeptical; however, very quickly we learned that we found the best. Even though we have never met Julia face to face she was always there for us whenever we had questions either day or night including weekends. She explained each step of the process and never got tired of repeating or going over the same topic. I felt as though she was truly on our side like she was part of the family somehow.
When we had short deadlines Julia worked tirelessly and continued to push through to make sure to complete and submit the paperwork on time. She checked and triple checked all the documents to make sure there were no issues or mistakes. Julia is a very professional individual and freely uses texts and emails and responds promptly.
The process of buying a home can be stressful, however Julia’s constant support and attention made the process enjoyable. I would work with her in a second and will be giving out her contact to everyone I know. I highly recommend her!

What can I say about Julia Zagatsky? Well I can say so many positive things and go on and on. In short, I do want to say that Julia is definitely a great person. She went above and beyond to look out for the best for myself and my wife, so we can have the best experience when purchasing our very first home. Julia made things happen when we thought they were a lost cause. She got many different types of things included when we didn’t ask for them. So if you have any questions about looking for a realtor please look no further than right here. We thank so much for what Julia did for myself and my family and hope that she will continue to bless others as I know she will.

Julia is a wonderful realtor. She helped us purchase our new home last month. She was always very diligent with her work. Always on top of everything. She responded to our questions very quickly. She was with us very step of the way. Julia is very knowledgeable and trustworthy. We feel very fortunate to have found Julia and she will be our realtor and good friend for many year to come.
We love you Julia.

Julia Zagatsky is so intelligent and an expert in her industry! She will make time and meet anywhere that his convenient for her client. In our case, it was our Kitchen Table and it worked out perfectly! She spends time with you and explains all the details and value of her loans. She makes everything very clear.
We refinanced our loan 6 years ago and I am absolutely loving the outcome. We had a very difficult loan and she was still able to come through like a shining star!
I would recommend her to anyone looking for a home or needing a mortgage!

I just want to be short ! Julia has been helping me with any financial operations for last 10 years. I am so blessed to know someone like Julia to guide me through financial success. Our last transaction has Saved me over $ 140,000
It’s a nice chunk of change.
If You have any questions or future plans, only and I repeat Only work with Julia and her Team. Even if You have someone already, still talk with Julia !!!

When we finally had an offer for a house accepted after over a year of searching we needed financing quickly. I was just about to use another mortgage broker that I wasn’t particularly fond of when I decided to call Julia at the last minute. She came to our apt that very evening and we were very impressed. The market was crazy back in 2000 but she took the time to see us immediately and gave us sound advice that suited our needs. The type of advice that was hard to come by back then. We have refinanced through Julia several times since and have never been disappointed. I strongly recommend Julia. She is someone who works hard for you and shows genuine concern for your needs and has been consistently reliable through boom times and through bust times as well.

Three years ago, I didn’t think I could ever own a home, much less in my dream neighborhood: North Berkeley. But after the stars aligned and I got married (house fund in lieu of traditional gift registry), promoted at work, and received a generous offer of assistance with a down payment from my grandmother, things started looking up. We never could have accomplished the goal, however, had we not worked with JZ Max Realty. First of all, they assessed the market conditions and let us know that we needed to move quickly if we wanted to take advantage of the buyer’s market that was still in effect in summer 2011.
Julia is the mastermind. Once she understands your goal, a barrage of administrative necessities is each backdated in her mind in perfect order. She knows what you will need to do first, second, third and so on, in terms of preparing paperwork and substantiating documentation. Because Julia worked in the banking industry for more than 20 years, she is always one step ahead of their requirements, rules and regulations, however arcane. Real estate can be a treacherous business with multiple parties at work and numerous pitfalls. Like a medical doctor, Julia keeps all the risk factors in mind and weighs the pro and cons of every possible strategy. Ultimately, she chooses the course that’s best for the patient and that’s you, the client.
Since Julia began working with Maria Sky-​Topf, JZ Max has become a full-​service shop. To say that Maria is single-​minded is an understatement and her tenacity is just what’s required to succeed in the Bay Area real estate market. Maria works patiently with clients but keeps them on course. Like Julia, she is systematic in her approach to a deal, whether it’s a purchase or sale. I’ve been involved in two deals with Maria, one in which she helped a family member sell a home that had been in the family for generations. She was sensitive to the emotional nature of the transaction, but also got the best price for my relatives as the sellers. The other deal was for our home, which we bought in 2011. Maria visited houses with us on each side of the Bay and helped us define our priorities in the process.
Bottom line: JZ Max Realty will get you into the home of your dreams.

Let me first thank both of you for your incredible professionalism and service in helping us buy a condo in Walnut Creek! Everyone knows we are in a very tough market but Maria and Julia always remained positive. Only because of their advice and expertise we were able to get a house after only a month of looking. Furthermore — the first offer we gave was accepted. We expected the process to be stressful, long and complicated, but with Maria and Julia’s help our experience was none of those things. From start to finish, the process was painless. They took the time to answer our many questions with detailed explanations in terms that we could easily understand. I also want to thank them for working around our busy schedules; I know it was not easy. Needless to say — we’ve been telling everyone we know about the great team of highly professional agents that will make your dream home come true.

I am so thrilled to write this review! Maria and Julia are excellent to work with and I was able to purchase my first home entirely due to their expertise, perseverance, and tireless work ethic. My home was listed as a short-​sale, a highly complex transaction that proves notoriously difficult for most realtors. Maria has a deep background in short sales and took ownership of the entire process, from negotiating with the banks to ensuring that the loan was in order. In short, her management of the transaction was flawless, and I could not be happier with the result. If you are considering any kind of real estate transaction, you should definitely get in touch with Maria and Julia, you will already have several legs up on the competition!

Thanks to Julia (and her assistant Miranda), we refinanced our home at a remarkably low rate and will be saving ~$ 600 a month on our mortgage from now on. Julia made the process as easy and straight-​forward as possible and was very helpful/​supportive when various hurdles arose. Needless to say, we are so happy and appreciative that we had Julia on our side throughout this refi!

Julia worked very hard and beyond what was expected of her to help me with my mortgage loans. I didn’t have to worry about anything, as she always kept me informed and up to date on all aspects of the loan process. She also helped me improve my credit history and even opted me out from phone number/​address lists (which credit score companies sell after credit checks), so I got a less less telemarketing calls and spam mail. Thank you Julia!

It was a pleasure to work with Julia during our home purchase process.
She is very knowledgeable in her trade and explained all our options very clearly. She was patient with us as it took us over a year and a half to finally settle on a property to purchase. She got us a great loan and we couldn’t be happier. The process was easy and and not stressful at all. Julia was great in communicating and updating us on the status of our loan and we always felt like we were in good hands. I would recommend her in a second for anyone looking to get a great loan.

Beyond amazing. Julia worked day and night to help us out with our sale. She made a rather difficult process seem easy for us. We are beyond thankful to have had Julia on our side working with us on the best deal. We could not recommend her enough for all of her hard work, dedication, and knowledge of the industry. Thank you Julia!

Julia Zagatsky was amazing in representing us in the short sale of our house. We were in the middle of moving and didn’t have all the documents together, but still she was able to minimize the impact we had with the first as well as the second mortgage.
Super happy. Thanks so much Julia.

Very knowledgeable, professional, helpful, and easy to deal with. As first-​time home-​buyers, Julia nursed us all the way through buying the home we now live in and love. Her help was invaluable, as well as her explanations of all the different aspects of mortgage and anything related. My wife and I both highly recommend her for your house-​buying or refinancing needs.