Mr. Jamie Tsai from SMI Realty helped me to rent my property in Pasadena. I am very satisfied with his professional service and recommend him without reservations.

After purchasing the property, I had several questions that still needed to be answered.  Therefore, I looked in the Yellow Pages and found many real estate agents in the Los Angeles area.  Most of them were unable to answer my questions, and found any excuse to end the conversation, such as not being familiar with the area.

Fatefully, Mr. Tsai´s ad was also in the Yellow Pages.  His website described him as having "patience, good listening skills, and honesty," qualities I had not found in the real estate agents I had called so far.  Still, I didn´t expect much when I called him.  To my surprise, he analyzed all of my problems, and patiently explained the solutions. He was very professional, knowledgeable, and eager to help.

Eventually, I decided to rent the property.  I initially tried to do it myself.  But I had little experience as a landlord, and was unsuccessful and overwhelmed.  I needed professional help. 

Mr. Tsai was the first person on my mind.  However, I hesitated asking him for two reasons. First, his office is in Westwood, which is far away from Pasadena.  He´s spent twenty years specializing in the areas of Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Westwood.  Would he know the Pasadena area? Would he be willing to drive to Pasadena to show the property? Second, the commission for renting a house is much less than for selling a house, yet renting requires similar effort.  He may be a nice person, but would he be interested in this job? If he accepted the job, would he take it seriously and put enough effort on it? I recalled the bad experiences I´ve had with real estate agents in the past.

When I called him at last, it had already been several months since our first conversation. Amazingly, he still remembered me.  I brought up my concerns, and he insisted that they were not issues, so I decided to give it a try and signed a contract with him.

My doubt didn´t last very long. He came to my property and we walked through it together. He pointed out the strong and weak points in the property and offered suggestions on improving them. Although he had been formally trained as an engineer, I was still impressed with his attention to detail. For example, he noticed that one switch in bathroom controlled both the light and ventilation fan that prevented moisture from accumulating inside the bathroom. He noticed that the ventilation fan was of high grade and was very quiet. He even noticed that the color of doorknobs was gold.  This assured me that he knew about this business.

On that same day, I learned how efficient and proactive Mr. Tsai is. We signed the contract and walk through my property late Saturday morning.  By that afternoon, he had posted my property on several real estate lists, and by that evening, he had showed the property.

At no point did I feel like he had reduced his service because I had a rental property.  He was always willing to tell me things that I should know about being a landlord and answer any questions I had.

The property is now rented. Without his knowledge and efficiency, the property would not have been rented as soon as it was. And without his patience and eagerness to help, I would not understand as well how to be a landlord. I am lucky to have had Mr. Tsai´s services.  I hope other people like me would get the same help. I am very satisfied with his professional service and recommend him wholeheartedly and without any reservations.

Wei and Nancy Kuo

April, 2008