Ascent Real Estate

***CAVEAT*** This review was originally posted on another Real Estate company’s page. I was asked to remove the review and post here instead. The original was posted on November 3^rd, and things have improved since then. However, it took this review to light a fire under the management and receive much more acceptable service. We’ll see how it goes now!
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If you are a property owner looking to have someone manage your property, please look elsewhere. Ever since OB Sands (that’s what they’re called for property management, I guess??) took over in September, I have seen a gardener come by ONCE. We can probably harvest the banana tree that’s hanging over the sidewalk. My dogs are high stepping it through the grass, and it’s getting impossible to find their turds so that I can do my part in keeping the place nice. My neighbor (an older lady in poor health) actually took her machete to the bushes by the front gate to clear the path and to try to keep the spiders (I saw a black widow) under control.
I called every day last week, and a few times prior to that to ask when we can expect a gardener. I was told several times that someone would ‘look into it and get back to you.’ One time, Christian, who is apparently the guy handling this property, did get back to me to say the gardener would be here in the next day or two — but that didn’t happen. Most recently, I spoke to Stacy who seemed to take more accountability than anyone else there so far. But still no results.
We haven’t met anyone from the company. No one has come here to introduce themselves, check out the property, to clean up the laundry room, or see if there are any other concerns we might have. My other neighbor also said that she has requested maintenance, but has gotten a runaround, and ultimately nothing has been done.
I’m ok leaving one star, only because they offer online rent payment.
I wish I knew who the owner of this property was — if you’re out there reading this, please go back to Xila!
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Since I posted this, I received a call from Christian at OB Sands, who has provided me with his phone number and an email address with the promise of prompt service when necessary. Landscaping is happening on the regular now, and I have been assured that maintenance requests are being looked into. I will post an update in the future.

Buying a home is a stressful process, one you hope can be made to feel more at ease by having an experienced and confident real estate agent, NOT so in this case! On first impression our agent Jacqueline «JQ» Stearman (Coronado Office) seemed to be a nice and pleasant person to conduct business with. She did not seem to be an aggressive person, we even made mention that she might need to step up her game when it came to being assertive with other agents. In the fast pace world that is real estate, especially here in San Diego you need an agent who is a «go getter» there were often times we considered going with a different agent because JQ seemed unsure of questions we had and was timid when dealing with other agents on homes we were interested in.

We found our dream home! A little Spanish style home with lots of character, just what we were looking for. One side note is the owner was still living in the home and had a LOT of stuff, we ask our agent about getting something in writing that would ensure everything would be removed and the home would be professionally cleaned. We were told that an addendum would be drafted outlining just that (never happened). After negotiations were «done» and no addendum was created, even though we expressed and addressed our concerns as to the cleanliness of the home through out the process. We were told several times, no this was not the appropriate paperwork to insert that request, After realizing that she had missed her opportunity to address the cleaning, JQ offered to have a company used by her office to clean the home which she would be offering as a gift to us. Everything was moving along and we began to notice Jacqueline was becoming less available and harder to get in touch with… especially after she got us to sign the contingency removal, which we found out later was NOT drafted to protect us in ANY manor should an issue arise before the date of closing. We were advised (or ill advised) to sign the contingency removal prematurely, before termite repair reports and other things were reviewed. Once we signed that contingency removal any questions we had dealing with the home, which should have been addressed before the removal of the contingency were meet with irritation. We began to see another side of JQ, she lost her temper and became exacerbated after we dared to question her instruction to transfer the utilities in our name before the walk-​thu was conducted, more than a week before closing, and most importantly BEFORE the owner was even out of the home! After many unanswered phone calls, texts, and emails we were finally met with her deciding to back out of the professional cleaning she had offered us. Further questions were then met with her directing us to deal only with her broker for the remainder of our transactions.
Once we began to work with the Broker for Ascent we instantly saw how the relationship between realtor and client should have been conducted all along. They honored the cleaning that Jacqueline had promised and tried to back out of, and tied up a lot of loose ends which had not been taken care of previously, in short they made us feel more confident with moving forward and closing.

Even though the broker took over JQ’s responsibilities in the end and everything closed, I must say with absolute certainty that this was the most painful process I have ever gone through. I am writing this because I feel that her office, broker, and any future clients deserve to know what we dealt with. I feel like Jacqueline may still be a good person down deep, she may have had things going on in her personal life, or maybe she felt that one client should only take up so much of her time. In any case I think that real estate is probably not where she belongs.

Our experience was at an open house with JOHN IBARRA. He was fairly rude and seemed very inexperienced. The information he was giving seemed to completely contradict everything I have actually experienced and know to be true about appraisals and the purchasing process. He was very pretentious and made it very obvious he and his client wouldn’t bother wasting their valuable time on just any offer. They want asking price even if they know it won’t appraise anywhere close. I have never had an agent actually try to talk me out of purchasing a property. We left immediately.

This review is for Tom Kowalski. Tom is a great agent. My wife and I were referred to him by a friend and as first-​time home buyers, we had little knowledge about the process. Tom was very patient and understanding with us. He was willing to answer any question we had and was really involved in the entire process. He helped us save money and got us a lower price than the asking offer. When we entered escrow, he helped guide us through the home inspection, finding quotes from inspectors, and met with the inspectors when we were on vacation. He was always available to help and we felt comfortable calling and asking the most simplest questions about home ownership. You can definitely tell that he enjoys his work and is very good at it. Highly recommend Tom to anyone that’s thinking of purchasing a home in San Diego.

Robin Borrelli with Ascent Real Estate is a fantastic agent. My wife and I recently bought a home and sold our apartment; Robin Borrelli was our agent in connection with both properties. Robin did an outstanding job in both cases! As far as the purchase we made, Robin’s involvement in the transaction was critical to our offer being accepted. (I think we actually offered a little less money than another potential buyer, but our offer was accepted because Robin made a few good recommendations that made us more attractive than the other buyers). In terms of the sale of our apartment, Robin took care of all of the details and was very diligent in a number of ways that led to a quick sale at good price. I have already recommended her to two friends.

John Ackert of Ascent Real Estate is as pretentious as he is incompetent when it comes to realty. This diva would only show his homes, and fed us bogus information to the end of us buying his own properties. A wretched negotiator, I’m not sure what is worse, his skills as a buyer or seller. If you want to use Ascent, make sure you stay far away from John Ackert.
Recent update: Veiled threat from someone from this agency for having left this review.
Recent update: How would this agent have any record of me, I’m posting anonymously?

This review is for Joe Foty and looong overdue! Joe is by far and away the best agent we could have asked for! We first met Joe 5 years ago when he was the selling agent for a house we were interested in… at the time we were with an agent that was an old co-​worker, kinda shady and gave us absolutely zero effort, so we know what it’s like to be with a bad agent. We ended up getting a house in that same neighborhood, El Cerrito, where Joe actually lives too! He remembered us and was always super friendly when we saw him out and about. Fast forward a few years and we were thinking about having a second child and selling to upgrade so we called Joe, he sat down with us, crunched some numbers and in the end we all decided it wasn’t the best time. Fast forward another year and baby #2 arrives and makes it obvious that we are in desperate need of more room. Joe to the rescue! We called him and he jumped right in! He started showing us places in our neighborhood (where we definitely wanted to stay), was so patient and understanding (especially with our two year old!), got us an amazing place with double the square footage and simultaneously sold our house one day later! We think everything happens for a reason and are so lucky to have found Joe when we did!

If you ever need any information of where to go when you are ready to buy a home, Aaron is the guy to go to. He is a realtor with Ascent. Even if you are just thinking about buying and not ready for possibly years to purchase a home, he is the best time investment you will make to get all the information you will need to move forward in this decision. I am currently in the «wanting to buy but not knowing what to do next» phase. We want to buy but we do not know where we want to buy and we do not know exactly when we want to buy. Aaron is being patient with us because we have had to hold off for a bit until we really know what we want to do. Our situation is that we have children in a school district that we adore… but our rent is cheaper than it will be to buy at this point due to the HOA and the Mello Roos in this area. It would be over $ 1,000 a month more in expenses if we buy in this area… but we do not want to move from this area yet, until they are done with this specific school they are in… so we are holding off for now. Aaron has been amazing in understanding this about us.

This review is for the awesome team of Andrea Frank and Francisco Bazan. They helped us buy our gorgeous South Park Craftsman home in 2010, and then helped us sell it (at a very nice profit!) in 2014. As both buyer’s and seller’s agent, they did a top-​notch job (which is why we used their services again). Their knowledge, communication and attention to detail were superb – which was especially important to us as first-​timers, both buying and selling – and they are experts when it comes to the Uptown neighborhoods (North/​South Park, Uni Heights, Hillcrest, Normal Heights, etc.). Most importantly to us, they are very personable and warm, which made the entire experience a pleasure (and as a result, they became good friends as well as business partners). I can’t imagine using any other real estate team in San Diego. Take 30 minutes of your time to meet them, and you’ll want to hire them too!

I should have written this review a year ago but it’s just as fitting now… The folks at Ascent have been nothing but fantastic. They consistently knock it out of the park. I have relied on their expertise/​services many times over the years. Every time they deliver top results. Always professional, friendly, respectful and honest (even when I’m not meeting them half way). I could not imagine using anyone else in town.
I would specifically like to mention Amy O’Dorisio who did a great job helping us sell our North Park home. She’s a total pro. I highly recommend her.
Ken Pecus helped me pull off the impossible… Without his expertise and foresight I never would have been able to sell my condo under the time constraints I faced. Wow!!!
Darius Perez has helped me countless times over the years, provided expertise and advice, and I would consider him my go-​to guy for anything involving real-​estate. Very, very knowledgeable.
The whole team at Ascent deserves praise. You guys do really good work.

This review is for Lisa Ashkins:
We first met Lisa at an open house we happened upon almost 4 years ago in University Heights. We chatted with her and explained that we were looking for a property in the neighborhood but were not too serious just yet… just in the «thinking» stages. She simply told us to call her if we ever wanted a personalized search set up and we went on our way. Lisa never pushed us or made us feel obligated to rush into the house buying process and because of her casual and calm demeanor we contacted her a few weeks later to set up a search under the pretense that we may be a ways away from being ready to purchase which Lisa respected in the utmost professional way, checking in via email every once in awhile… never making us feel pressured. Within that year we found a condo we wanted to purchase and Lisa guided us through the process seamlessly. The property was a foreclosure and we were first time home buyers, so she had her work cut out for her. A few years later when we found out we had a baby on the way we called Lisa without a second thought and told her we were ready to start looking for something bigger and in a different neighborhood. Again she guided us through the process from start to finish without so much as a hiccup. We found a lovely family home in Allied Gardens/​Del Cerro and are excited to move in next week. She helped us see the «potential» in an older home and because of that we were able to remodel it to fit exactly what we wanted. My husband and I would recommend Lisa to any of our friends and will use her again if we ever sell our condo or home or look to upgrade.

This review is for Amy O’Dorisio. She is amazing! She was always available, always helpful, and I can’t say enough nice things.
We got into escrow on the first house we put an offer on, this was 4÷30÷13. She explained everything fully, wrote us a great offer, and sent me wonderful examples for letters to write. The offer got accepted and into escrow we went! Working with her preferred broker, Kathy Sirkis, was a dream. This is the All-​Star Team for sure. Our escrow only lasted 23 days, not the usual 30 or 45, and we are so pleased with our new home! This was our first home-​buying experience, and it was perfect.
Thanks Amy!

My experience with Ascent Real Estate was horrible. I would never recommend Bruce Weinkauf as the realtor. The number one thing you must have is trust and after my experience that is was he lacked the most. From all his years of experience he showed none in the partnership that it takes to buy your dream home. He basically excluded the wife factor in most if not all the decisions. He gossiped about other realtors in his office and other realtors in the business. He frequently complained on how many houses he has showed us and that we need to find one fast. Another example of his lack of professionlism is that I had recenlty given birth and and all Bruce wanted to do is put offers on several houses we had only seen once or twice. Trying to bully us to pick a home. Well guess what idiot, my hormones are going crazy and if you had any common sense you would have told us to take time to enjoy the birth of our baby. We had to tell him to back off.
Why my husband still wanted to work with him still baffles me. It was because he found my husband his first home.
In my experience we were bullyed into a home that I will sell in a few years, Bruce got his commission check and we have not heard a peep from him. REALLY
My husband has now been able to see that Bruce was horrible and when we buy again, we will NEVER RECOMMEND OR USE BRUCE WEINKAUF.
On a side note: I spoke to the owner of Ascent Real Estate group recently to express my dissatisfaction with their realtor. I will report back as to how that goes.
In the meantime be careful when picking your Realtor. TRUST IS HUGE and of course a realtor that includes husband and wife in the buying decision.
Thank you for reading this.

This is a testimonial for Robin Borrelli, who is a real-​estate agent with Ascent. When it comes to making a transaction as important and stressful as buying or selling a home, working with a true professional is essential. It does not take long after meeting Robin that you know she treats her clients with the utmost care and respect. As a financial professional myself, the ultimate compliment I can pay another professional is to refer them to my clients. I am always excited to refer clients to Robin as I know she will be honest and keep their best interests in mind.

5 stars straight to Rose Castagnola of Ascent!!! Poor Rose– I don’t want to think it was ME that was difficult, but rather the situation and the market? I was on such a specific budget, & had such specific needs regarding where I was willing to purchase, what the yard had to be like, etc… etc… She went above and beyond, and at times SHE was the only thing that kept me going, as I was ready to give up. she responded to every off-​hours text, drove out to every property, walked me through every question & scenario I had… Low and behold, I found a property that I never thought I would get– it seemed too good to be true, and I was so burnt out from searching that I figured it would be another waste of time. Rose had us out there asap, & amazingly, its now my home. I cant thank her enough for her patience, diligence, and help through every step of the process. She even referred me to a loan officer that I was so thoroughly impressed with, he’s my next review:-) Highly recommend her to anyone in search of a home!

I used Ascent Real Estate to process the short sale of my condo and I couldn’t be happier. From the first visit, their team addressed all of my concerns and they were confident they could be successful in selling my house. They did not disappoint! We had an offer within a week of being on the market and less than four months later the sale closed. They handled all of the paperwork and interactions with the banks and made one of life’s most stressful events relatively pain free. Thank you Ascent!

About Ascent Real Estate and a true asset to the company: Lisa Ashkins.
My wife and I were interested in moving to San Diego several years ago. We couldn’t make moving out here work until we sold our house. Long story short, it took about three years, but Lisa was with us to help in many ways even before we started looking at homes here in SD.
Lisa was very patient with us before and after we physically arrived in San Diego.
Lisa was able to answer the many questions that we had about homes and neighborhoods in general. We found two homes we really liked, and unique situations arose from each one. Each were very tedious situations, but Lisa has the professionalism, patience and knowledge to steer us through it all.
Lisa Ashkins is exceptional, both as a Realtor and as an individual.

5 stars for Celeste! We are very happy with our purchase and Celeste was very helpful. She was realistic with no BS. She fought for us and was very attentive. I am writing this review now because I wasn’t Unilocaling back then and feel she deserves it.

I recently bought a house and this company did a great job helping me find it, and through the process of the purchase. Top notch agents and the referrals for loans and such were also of the same caliber.

Denise Lisa a superb aggressive hard working agent. Followed thru from beginning to end on the purchase of my condo. I was so impressed that my friends are using her too. I will always call Denise for all my purchases.