Erika Shinzato

Erika Shinzato and her partner David Chen did what seemed to be the impossible with the sale of my parent’s house—they got the sale to CLOSE during the COVID-19 pandemic. A little background about me: I was representing my father in the sale of his house. My mother recently passed and my father could not continue to live in the house without a 24-hour caretaker. Thus, he had to sell his home of 34 years. During this exact moment, the coronavirus pandemic was rapidly escalating in severity—globally, nationally, in California AND in San Bernardino County. My father was concerned that the window of opportunity to sell his house would be lost without a skilled realtor. I reached out to several realtors and received varying responses on sales marketing programs. I chose Erika to represent the sale of my parent’s house because she offered an incredibly detailed marketing plan typically used for trophy properties in West Los Angeles. The website she would create had all the marketing bells and whistles allowing the greatest market exposure. Erika also explained in detail how everything would work at each point in the sale. Erika and David were straight forward, never giving unrealistic expectations on the listing price. Erika intuitively answered all our questions. My brother and I knew immediately that she was the one to make the sale happen. Erika and David gave me extremely helpful tips in preparing the house for sale such as paint color and carpeting suggestions. I also took their suggestion to stage the house which made a world of difference is presenting the house in its best possible light. Erika’s team diligently worked to create the amazing property website. Mind you this is during the COVID-19 lockdown when non-essential travel was restricted and the State imposed restrictions on open houses and viewings. It was the perfect marketing plan to allow potential buyers to virtually experience properties. The property website had great photography, walk-through video, 3-D modeling, 360 degree viewing in the principal rooms, and aerial drone video footage of the exterior of the house and neighborhood. I have seen these marketing tools used for super high-end properties in Brentwood and Bel-Aire and was extremely impressed that they would be used for marketing my parent’s house in Chino Hills. Erika followed through on EVERY marketing point she presented to me. As a result of Erika’s diligence and hard work we received an immediate purchase offer. It was slightly less than asking but being in the middle of a global pandemic it was amazing that Erika found a buyer still in the market and willing to make a satisfactory offer. Honestly, I never thought the house would instantly sell while the nightly news cycle was apocalyptic. But Erika made it happen. All throughout the escrow period, Erika and David kept me up to date on every aspect of the sale. On communication and being forthcoming with information, I rate Erika and David 150 percent. I was never left wondering what was going on or if the sale would close. David made sure I had copies of all the documents necessary that could be signed on-line or on paper. My father only had to sign a few hard copies at the close of escrow. It was so EASY. Erika is responsive, insightful, and sincere. On setting the listing price, she was exactly on-point. Best of all, Erika guided the sale to close within the specified escrow period. If were to ever find myself in need of a realtor whom I know could bring a sale to close in a tough market I would call Erika. Erika makes it happen.