CIRCA Sales and Relocation

Chris is the best. I could not give a higher recommendation than hiring Chris as your broker.
My partner and I (having lived in San Francisco 8 years ago before this crazy tech boom in SF) were absolutely shocked to find how difficult it was to find a place now. I had about a week to relocate by the time we hired Chris, and it was the best decision we made.
Within 24 hours of getting my partner and me set up with all of the proper documents, files, photos, bios, etc. we would need to walk into seeing properties prepared and with the proper competitive advantage, Chris had us seeing a dozen or so places on the first day. He was very aware of what our checklist included, and was very transparent and helpful with managing expectations of what we should and shouldn’t expect considering the specifics of how we appealed as tenants. I can say that every property he showed was a contender and matched most items on our checklist (if not all); there wasn’t one that was a waste of time. By end of day-​one, we had found the place we wanted.
We saw 8 or so places the second day as well, but by then had already more or less made our decision. By 5pm that night (day-​two of looking), we had word back that we were accepted into our FIRST CHOICE and able to move-​in within days.
Now, this all sounds great and wonderful, until you take into account our factors. We don’t have great credit, we do have strong income, but our biggest hurdle of all (as far as SF landlords are concerned) we have a 55LB German Shepherd. That’s right, it took us about 72 total hours to find a place WITH a huge dog, not great credit, and on a time crunch. Now you understand that this goes beyond great and wonderful, and into absolute necessity. Chris was worth every cent, and at the end of the day, even gave me a ride to the airport considering our time crunch. Above and beyond, period.
The smartest thing you will do if you’re relocating to SF is hiring Chris.

Chris Parker is the real deal! My girlfriend and I are relocating from Arizona to San Francisco after I got a new job in the city. We did a ton of research on our own and realized how intense the whole process was. Landlords want you to give them just about everything short of your first-​born child in order to qualify for renting an apartment! Not to mention, we were at a disadvantage out of the gate because we had a 50 lbs Australian Shepherd with us. Even though our dog is a total sweetheart, the ridiculous weight limit that landlords and HOAs put on dogs was making our lives very difficult. Also, we were coming from out of state, so we weren’t 100% familiar with the neighborhoods. We could do some high-​level research on what neighborhoods were like, but we didn’t have that local knowledge to inform our decision. That’s where Chris came in.
We emailed with Chris to communicate our preferences, criteria and prior research to let him know what we were looking for. He also collected all of our information necessary to win a place (cover letter, standard application, pet info, credit reports, etc). He then contacted a whole bunch of landlords and put together a full schedule of places to see on the first day. The plan was to see a variety of apartments and neighborhoods on the first day, and then narrow down and focus on what we liked for the second day. And that’s exactly what we did. I think we actually ended up setting a record for the number of apartments seen in one day (10 different places)! Chris’ street-​level local knowledge really helped our search. For example, we found a place in the Mission that looked really nice on the inside, but happened to be in a sketchier part of the Mission, so Chris was able to alert us about that. Chris drove us around everywhere, offered us water, and had great feedback for us based on the places we were seeing. We are indecisive people, and we saw several places we liked that day. Talking to Chris helped us see things clearer and make better decisions.
Pro-​Tip: The chances are slim that you’re going to find EVERYTHING you want in a place. Between neighborhood, walkability, washer/​dryer in-​unit, parking, pet friendliness and commute time, you’re probably going to have to give up something to gain something. It’s all about making the right sacrifices. Chris will help you see that.
On day 2, we joined Chris to see a couple more properties, and also revisit a couple from the first day that we were seriously considering. By mid-​day, our choice was between 2 different apartments. After going back and forth for a while, we ultimately decided on a place. Chris facilitated the application process on Saturday, we flew back to Arizona on Sunday, and by Monday, we received an email that we were approved to rent the place we picked!
Overall, Chris was always extremely responsive in his emails and text messages, which I REALLY appreciated. Not only was he responsive, he was personable and real, which made everything really comfortable and enjoyable.
I’ll tell you from experience: If you’re relocating from out of state, don’t try to see apartments on your own. It might sound like something you can «just do yourself» to «save money». But moving to San Francisco is a different beast than any other city. Save yourself the stress and the heartache and give Chris Parker a call. You will not regret it.

Chris is the man! My sister and I just had one weekend to find a place in SF. Chris gathered all of the materials that we needed, contacted landlords, picked us up and drove us around the city to look at places. We saw almost 25 apartments in 2 days until we found a place that we liked, and then Chris made sure that our applications were approved ASAP.
Chris is honest, knowledgable, efficient, and fun to spend time with.
Thanks Chris!

Chris is AWESOME!
My boyfriend and I relocated from Maryland to San Francisco for work. Once we started researching apartments, we realized that we were way in over our heads because the San Francisco rental market is crazy! We also faced a huge problem, because our dog is considered an «aggressive breed.» It is notoriously hard to find rentals if you have pets in SF and impossible to find a rental if you have a restricted breed. We started by contacting another relocation company, but they refused to work with us and told us that there was absolutely no way we would ever find a rental in the city. That is when we contacted Chris.
Chris was completely honest from the beginning that it would be (almost) impossible for us to find something, but he was willing to try. We flew out a month later to start the search. Chris was able to line up 6 places that would consider our dog. I believe he typically lines up more places, but we were a special case– and we were surprised and thrilled that he even found those! We ended up finding a place that we absolutely loved and Chris guided us through the entire process to get it. He contacted the owner on our behalf, advised us, and checked in with us over several days until we had the executed lease.
I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally would not have found a place in San Francisco without Chris. Plus, he was very responsive and gave us helpful insight and advice throughout the entire process. We would highly recommend him to anyone and everyone that is relocating to the city!

My husband and I are making the big move from Boston to San Francisco. In the past I’ve managed our local moves around Boston (scouring Craig’s List, visiting a ton of places). For the move to San Francisco, I knew we needed help from a professional. With Chris, that is exactly what we got.
Chris lead us through every step. From preparing the application materials in advance (which got us our place over other candidates), to understanding all the details about each neighborhood we explored, Chris was there with great advice and expert guidance. His professionalism and affable demeanor made our apartment hunt an efficient and enjoyable experience.
I recommend him to anyone, and will do so for anyone I know moving to San Francisco.

Chris did a great job. He was responsive and professional. Would definitely recommend Chris! 5 stars…

Finding the right apartment in the right area of town is very hard when you don’t know much about the city. Chris made this as easy and as enjoyable as possible. His communication was always immediate and he was honest and realistic with feedback. We found a great spot at a good price because of Chris. There is no doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t have found it or something similar on our own.
If you are moving to San Francisco and don’t want the stress or headaches of moving to a new city, I highly recommend using Chris. The value you receive far outweighs the cost.

Chris Parker was an absolute wonder to work with and I would recommend his services to anyone looking for a place to live in San Francisco. He shared his extensive knowledge of the city’s rental market and helped us narrow down our search to a digestible number of places. Chris arranged for viewings and brought us all around the city to each place on our list, even taking us back to one a second time in the same day because we really liked it. In fact, we liked it so much, we ended up living there… after just one day of looking! Legendary.

My Husband and I were relocating from Chicago to SF with two not-​small dogs. Most of our friends in SF told us that it would be nearly impossible to find a rental apartment that would take both of our dogs… let alone one.
Chris Parker @ CIRCA took on our challenge and like the other reviewers; we found that using him was worth every penny. He must have the magic touch because he found a place for us that ended up far exceeding our expectations in terms of budget, location, space, and quality of the apartment. He is very professional to work with but also a lot of fun. I highly recommend hiring him for your relocation to SF!

I signed up for Unilocal so I could give Chris a solid review.
My wife and I are relocating from Sweden to San Francisco and we heard how crazy it had gotten in the rental market. I used to live here 10 years ago so I had a couple of neighborhoods in mind. We had pretty specific wishes and an aggressive budget.
REALITY CHECK! At first it was totally discouraging but Chris stuck by us and lined up a bunch of apartment showings. Some of them ended up being real dumps because of our budget but eventually we finally got lucky and struck gold.
You’re in good hands with Chris. He’s efficient and responds to emails/​text immediately which is great in a stressful situation like this.
Couldn’t be happier and if we do decide to move in the future we know which way to turn!

My husband and I were relocating to SF because of a job offer, and a friend in the area recommended Chris. We were moving from out of state and had never lived in California before. We had less than a week to find, and move into a place, and Chris made it a reality. We kept coming across scam after scam on Craigslist and other websites, and were making no progress on our own. Chris replied to emails within minutes (if not seconds sometimes) and was never pushy. Hiring him was worth every penny.

Chris was an amazing person to work with and was successful in fulfilling the requirements me and my wife had for our move from Washington, DC to SF. We had a big budget restriction, needed parking, and the apartment needed to accept two dogs. At the beginning of our search we were overwhelmed with the SF rental market and drowning under the amount of no’s we received for having two dogs. We were lucky to find Chris and also lucky that he accepted us as clients.
Chris put in the extra effort to find various places in the city that fit all of our requirements. He drove us around and informed us of the neighborhoods. He was never fake and was upfront and honest. I look forward in recommending Chris and also using his services again in the future.

This is my 2^nd time using Chris for apartment finding and we have NO regrets, best money EVER spent. He did it when no one else could; Chris is an amazing agent; not only did he find me and my pup a fabulous place to live last month, but he found my company an amazing apartment on the 40^th floor of a building that my CEO requested, even though I was told they were all unavailable, he continued searching until one came available and made it happen within weeks, unheard of in SF.
Chris arranged a meeting with the buyer’s agent, negotiated our terms and got us in, it was amazing.
If you are second guessing Chris, then you will be second guessing the decision you made without him and a 12 month lease in SF cannot be broken, just saying, this city is cut throat in the rental market.
Good luck and trust me, go with this guy.

Hiring Chris was the best decision I made when relocating from Seattle to SF. When trying to search myself, I quickly realized how difficult it was to navigate the SF housing market; and as soon as anything I liked popped up, it was either taken that same week (if not day) or it was a scam.
From day 1 it seemed that Chris was ALWAYS available; he answered emails within minutes and continued to send me links to gauge my interest in addition to providing very thoughtful input on neighborhoods and concerns on links that I sent back. When we arrived, Chris had our first day’s schedule made and drove us to each appointment while pointing out areas of the neighborhood. On one day he even offered to get us MUNI tickets so I could see what the commute of a potential apartment would be!
Unlike other agents, he was never pushy and genuinely cared that I found a place I loved. I was hunting for a «unicorn» of a place and had difficult needs to commute to 4 different hospitals and had a narrow budget; Chris was patient and worked several late nights to help me find a place. When I finally found the place, he was integral in helping me secure the lease as there were 10+ other potential tenants asking for the place (a couple made offers sight unseen!).
Chris was the best and I would highly recommend him to anyone moving to SF.

Chris was very nice and very helpful. He helped me find an apartment outside of his area and was very fair about the cost for his service. Without a rental broker good luck finding an apartment in the bay area. I would use them again.

Relocating sucks, lets face it. So if you can, I highly recommend using Radar to ease the burden. I worked with Chris Parker and he was awesome!
After signing the agreement and paypaling the retainer fee, I sent Chris an idea of the neighborhoods I liked, my home criteria, as well as, some Craigslist postings that peeked my interest. He called a few of the potential landlords and viewed some of the properties then sent me full 360 degree videos of the properties, adding commentary on the pros and cons. I loved that!
Chris really wanted to get a sense of what I wanted before he started bombarding me with a bunch of postings.
After about a week of listening to my likes/​dislikes of the various properties, Chris began sending me postings. All the postings he sent me were way better than the ones I found. Knowing my preferences, Chris encouraged me to check out properties in neighborhoods I hadn’t identified. I mean you only know what you know and an expert would know more, right? I thought so and I’m glad I did!
I only ever had to look at one property in-​person (the one I rented) and I didn’t even have to do that. I just happened to be in town which worked out great.
I mean what a fricken time saver! Are you kidding me? In a tough market like SF, relocating can be such a depressing and time-​sucking adventure but I found it so fun with Chris. I couldn’t wait to check my inbox everyday to see what he sent me.
I ended up signing a lease two weeks after first talking to Chris in the coolest little flat imaginable in a neighborhood I would have never considered on my own. All but one of my preferences were also met, which is pretty good.
Here are the facts: I paid a retainer fee of $ 500 to Radar at the time of engagement and another fee of 50% of the monthly rent at lease signing.
Money very well paid in my opinion. I would definitely use Radar again should I need help finding a place to rent!

The short version:
We have used Chris at Relocation Radar twice. He’s AMAZING and worth every penny!
The long version:
The first time we used Chris’s services were at the end of 2012 when we relocated from Charlotte, NC. Knowing we would only have a few days in the city to look at places, Chris made sure we had a lineup of appointments to check out as many rentals as possible. Before our arrival, he even went so far as to go to open houses for us, taking pictures and videos of potential places and sending them our way so he could get a better feel for what we *really* wanted. (Let’s be honest: moving from NC to SF meant making sacrifices — the sooner you know what you’re willing to sacrifice, the better!)
When we finally flew out for our string of appointments, Chris took us around pretty much everywhere! He’s super friendly and so easy to talk to; he got to know us really well. The best part of the whole experience is that on a hunch he added another place to our list at the last minute; when we saw it, it was perfect! It had everything we needed. Maybe it was timing (Chris watches the listings like a hawk); maybe he just read our minds… whatever it was, he found us our dream flat in pretty much the best neighborhood in the city!
We recently asked Chris to help us look for our next rental. Deciding to leave the city in search of a backyard and parking, we shipped him a whole bunch of potential listings in the East Bay. It turns out we’re not the only people making the great journey across the bay: competition is FIERCE. If you’re looking for an edge in this insane rental market, USE RELOCATION RADAR. Chris sent over all of our information to a potential landlord *before* their open house. Once we arrived, they knew who we were and were very excited about potentially renting to us! Then, when the bidding wars started (did I mention the fierce competition?!), Chris was on the phone every step of the way. At the end of the day, we didn’t get the house…
BUT.
When another house became available on the same street, Chris seized the opportunity and worked with the rental agent from minute 1 all the way to the lease signing. We couldn’t be more excited about our next place!
Thank you SO MUCH, Chris! Definitely give him a call next time you need to find a place in the Bay Area — he’ll save you so much time and stress! (Tell him Basher sent you ;-))

I moved to San Francisco from Seattle in the fall of 2012. I had a narrow window of 2 days in October to find a 2 bedroom apartment in SF for November 1. I contacted Chris at relocation radar in September and he was incredibly helpful. During the two days I was in SF for the apartment search we saw many places, some were good, some were dives, but the market was so tight there was little to choose from that fit my budget and criteria. Chris went to bat for me and we found a great, spacious place close to amenities and public transport. Thanks Chris, I couldn’t have done it without you!

I moved away from San Francisco for two years. Two years doesn’t seem like a long time, but it was long enough for rents in SF to go from expensive to super duper expensive.
I tried looking, on my own, for a few months… NIGHTMARE! I would see a place, that looks great, then it would either turn out to be a scam posting, or I would show up to a viewing, along with 6+ other hopefuls, some who were willing to outbid each other. NO THANK YOU! Since when was the list price the «starting offer»?! That being said, the apartment would get rented… that day.
A lot of the best apartments I was seeing, online, had the name Rental Radar on them. Every time I would e-​mail, they were gone to «clients». I decided I NEEDED to be a client. I emailed, and I was, immediately, contacted by Chris… OH HAPPY DAY! Chris asked me what I was looking for… specifically. I gave him every detail I could think of, including my budget. He was open and honest with me…“You are not going to find everything you want for under _​_​_​”. He was right. I decided I wanted a nice place more than I wanted solidarity, so I grabbed a roommate, and the search began. In no time, at all, Chris was able to find us several things that fit our needs, wants, and budget. Not only is he attentive, and persistent, he is kind, funny, and super cute! I, HIGHLY, recommend Chris and the Rental Radar team.