Payton + Binnings

This is THE BEST real estate team ever. After having a very bad experience with another SF realtor of a different agency (who incidentally I found on Unilocal and chose because of the many positive reviews — a reminder that in real estate, take with a grain of salt those agents who have a bazillion positive Unilocal reviews and wonder if they are really providing their clients with individualized, top-​quality service), I found Sejal and the Payton + Binnings team through word of mouth from a friend who used them to score a beautiful home in Noe Valley for a fantastic price.
On my first meeting with Sejal, I was impressed and realized how superior her quality of service was to any other agent we’ve ever had (and we’ve had quite a few in various major cities across the US). The whole team — Sejal, Arrian, Payton — are a real dream team in terms of real estate agents with Sejal, who has a true gift for this work and is incredibly smart and intuitive; Arrian who, as a former appraiser, helps keep everyone level-​set on what homes are really worth (critical as a buyer, to make sure you are not overpaying!); and Payton who has a keen eye for what is a reasonable fixer-​upper and what is not worth the trouble.
My husband always said, «I just want an agent who can get into our heads and know what we want and then go find it — for a price we can afford.» He might as well have been asking for a magical unicorn, given this crazy SF real estate market and how tough it is for buyers, and given our limited budget, and given how high our standards/​expectations are. But Sejal and the team totally did just that! They did the same for my friend at work as well. They immediately got into our heads to understand our style and taste. They never sent us to see something that they hadn’t seen and vetted themselves first, AND ascertained would be a good fit for us. Other agents had sent us on wild goose chases to see properties just for the sake of ‘understanding the limited inventory in this city’. Not this team. They understand the value of your time and are careful not to waste it!
One of the things we most loved about this team was that for 90% of the properties that we THOUGHT we might be interested in, they wouldn’t hesitate to tell us ‘no,’ and would tell us exactly why not. As a buyer, it’s so easy to start to feel desperate and compromise in ways you didn’t set out to. Even though it was against Sejal’s interests, she helped us hold the line and was willing to wait 10 years with us, if that’s what it took, to find the right house. (Luckily, it only took a few months!)
Sejal works harder than anyone I know. Her response times on emails, texts, and phone calls was unparalleled. Because my husband had his finger on the pulse of listings, he would ping her practically daily with inquiries about properties. She would provide detailed feedback, point for point, on every listing we inquired about and every question we had. It was clear she was working around the clock.
Most importantly, and what really sets Sejal and this team apart, is their brilliant strategic counsel. I am absolutely certain that we would not have won the bid for our house without her. And no, it wasn’t by paying an obscene price. (Our prior agent was constantly encouraging us to up our budget in order to be successful, which we felt any fool could tell us and was incredibly frustrating and annoying to hear.) Sejal provided outstanding counsel and advice through every step — helping us hone in on the RIGHT offer price, and laid out the strategy from start to finish. Hers was a strategy we would have never thought of on our own, and I’m positive most other agents (including our prior one) would not have thought of, either.
In the end, we won the house of our dreams. It was only our 2^nd offer. (And we are SO relieved in hindsight that the first offer/​house didn’t work out, for this second one was even better!)
I have been recommending Sejal and the Payon + Binnings team to everybody I know looking to buy or sell, for they are hands-​down, the best, most hard-​working, dedicated, and BRILLIANT team ever. We will absolutely be calling them again for the next time.

It has been a year since our last transaction with Arrian and Sejal Binnings and four years since our first. I would never think of using anyone else for my San Francisco and Bay area real estate transactions — they are simply the best in every way.
I am writing this review now because once again they have proved to be exceptional, not only professionally, but also in the way that they support their clients emotionally — they really have our backs! They understand that buying or selling a property is fraught with emotionality and conflict about who we are, what we want and how we define our lives. They help us navigate, not only the transaction, but also the emotional roadblocks in this process. They are willing to stand up for us and hang in with us in spite of our «bad behavior».
My daughter moved to Portland, Oregon where the market for old charming homes is red hot and as competitive as in San Francisco. She finally scored on such a house while she was across the country and unable to see it in person. During her due diligence period, she asked her agent to give her a couple of extra days of thought before she spent her money on an inspection. At the time she was cramming to meet deadlines for an important assignments in her graduate program, while attending the wedding of a college friend, exploring a new relationship in another city and reuniting with her old boyfriend who had just found himself a new girlfriend! To say the least, she had lots on her plate! Her agent refused to give her two extra days, saying that it would interfere with the busy schedule of the inspector who might lose a day of work if she cancelled him at the last moment. It might also have embarrassed the agent to cancel the house purchase several days into the due diligence period. My daughter cancelled the contract and, a day later, she had second thoughts about canceling. Her agent’s response was, «Sorry, it’s a done deal.»
This was so much in contrast to the reasonable and flexible way that Arrian handled our son when he had second thoughts about buying his San Franciscan house last year. It was clear that Arrian cared only for our son’s needs over whatever anyone else thought about his crazy swings of indecision. He had my son’s back when he backed out of the deal on one day, only to reinstate it the following day. My son is now happily living in his million and a half dollar house, and has finally adjusted to the noise on the street, the tiny parking space (he gave up his car), the shared laundry in the basement and the lack of a wall for his big screen TV. Arrian helped him navigate his emotional roadblocks every step of the way. He is fearless!

How’s this for candor? I am a realtor as well and yet I still feel compelled to write a review for these guys as they truly are a class act.
Having had the luxury of closing a deal with them earlier this year where I represented the seller, I can say that they make it easy, fair and incredibly pleasant to work with. Throughout the transaction they were communicative with me and sincerely considerate to my client and for that and then all the kindness they exhibit long after the deal is closed (including hand delivering to me a favorite bottle of champagne for the holidays) they are one terrific real estate team (as evidenced by their supreme, well-​deserved success).
What more can I say? Simple. Were I not a realtor myself they would be the first I would choose without hesitation.

if you are looking for a realtor duo who go an extra 500 miles for you, these guys are it. sejal and arrian are a married couple and work so well together. we never felt pressured to buy anything out of our range and they would give it to us straight if a place was worth bidding or not. it also helps that arrian used to be an appraiser so he would guide us on what a realistic bid may go in these competitive times without paying too much for it. sejal would respond to our emails within seconds and at all hours of the day… even within 4 hours of delivering her baby! that’s right, she was PREGNANT during the time we were looking and literally the day after we got the bid, she had her baby boy in the hospital. what awesome timing but it blows my mind they are that dedicated to their clients above their own personal events. they prepped in advance and they had their partner Payton accompany us during the inspection since sejal & arrian were obviously attending to their new addition. even after the closing, they still made sure all was settled and got to see our new place after we settled in. even the sellers commented that they liked our realtor over theirs.

It was great working with Sejal and Arrian to help me find my new house. Over the past year they were extremely professional, knowledgeable, and helpful. I made several bids over the year, and closed my new house 2 weeks ago. Arrian’s price estimates & comparisons proved to be extremely accurate. Via leads in their local network, they were able to show me my new house and complete the bid before the house went on the open market. Sejal was a rock star during the closing process too, as there were complications due to unforeseen issues on the seller’s side, and she diligently kept on top of things and kept me continually updated. The Binnings are a great team — i highly recommend them.

Are you looking for the best Realtors ever? Sejal and Arrian are absolutely fantastic! From our first meeting with them through the final closing of our purchase, they were top notch professionals. When Sejal and Arrian are working with you, they find out exactly what you want and help you find it. They don’t send you out to look at stuff that doesn’t fit your parameters. Arrian’s background in appraising really helps in determining price and value, too. We know the property we bought is just right for us, now and in the future. They helped us find it, and we were confident they could help us get it.
Sejal was our primary contact, and she was in touch with us on a daily basis, working issues as they came up — even when she was on vacation! These days, real estate is quite complicated and it was reassuing knowing Sejal was working on our behalf.
We are not real estate moguls but we have bought and sold over the years. We have NEVER had anyone work so hard on our behalf. Besides being top notch professionals, Arrian and Sejal are really, really nice people. Thank you Sejal and Arrian!

We worked with Sejal and Arrian when we were staging a 6 unit building on Broderick, they were awesome to work alongside for the marketing of the properties!

Sejal and Arrian Binnings are fantastic real estate agents and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. They are hardworking, savvy, incredibly responsive, and go the extra mile to help you find your dream home (and win the bidding war for it!) On top of this, Sejal and Arrian are warm, friendly, and sincere– a great compliment to their intelligence and professionalism.
While Sejal and Arrian are San Francisco real estate experts, their strengths as agents translated easily to help my boyfriend and I navigate the equally complicated and competitive Berkeley/​Oakland market. We identified properties that we were interested in because we knew exactly what neighborhoods we were interested in, and Arrian and Sejal did all the legwork for us. They turn information around incredibly quickly and are super-​organized. We would never wait more than a few hours for a response to a question we had. They are incredibly hardworking!
I know without Sejal and Arrian’s help we would not have been able to purchase an adorable bungalow in the super-​desirable Rockridge neighborhood. Arrian’s background as an appraiser was key in determining the fair market value of the home and helped us come up with the right offer price and conditions to beat the 11 other offers submitted for this property. I have to credit The Binnings Team also for being so thorough and organized in the escrow/​closing process and making sure that everything went through smoothly. We cannot thank them enough for all of their help.

I should have updated this months ago, but the Binnings DID find us a wonderful house and helped negotiate an even better price — even though we were competing with several other buyers.
We had very specific parameters when working with them and, despite a challenging market in a limited geography, they managed to get us into the exact house we wanted. And I do mean they got us into it as opposed to us just finding the property and using their services — we had been looking every weekend for a year and it was the Binnings that found the winning property. If you’re looking in San Francisco, use these folks.

The thing I appreciated most about Sejal and Arrian was the way they really understood our priorities and what we wanted. At the same time, as first-​time homebuyers, they also helped us by pointing out things we normally wouldn’t think of when looking at a property. For example, how certain things about a property — even though we could live with them — might make it a challenge to sell later on, or whether the systems in a property were excellent or sub-​par.
It’s that balance that makes them trusted advisors. We never felt pressured and we never doubted their advice for even a second.
They’re super-​responsive and, even though we know they have other clients, we always felt like a top priority. Thanks to Sejal and Arrian, we found exactly what we wanted in the perfect neighborhood. We really can’t thank them enough.

After working with a few agents in the area, and not being able to find anything that would fit our needs, we decided to consult with Arrian and Sejal. Before we even had time to schedule the next in-​person appointment, they had already collected for us a list of units that were amazingly on target, and one of them turned out to be the one we decided to buy later on. I really appreciated the fact that they provided us with spreadsheets and charts that helped making our decision about which unit to invest in easier. And the best part is that we still continue to remain in touch with them long after the transaction is over because they are all about relationship building and enjoy the friendships that come out of working together. They are absolutely the best!

Arrian and Sejal are truly outstanding real estate agents.
I met Arrian by chance, when looking for directions to one of the open houses I was planning to visit in that same building. He kindly offered to guide me to that one and a few other similar units in the area. It wasn’t long before my wife and I felt we were in good hands. Arrian and Sejal are excellent professionals that utilized their appraisal knowledge to ensure that I would get one of the best units in my building: an opinion repeatedly confirmed after I moved in.
On top of everything, they even negotiated with the seller and got a top-​of-​the-​line refrigerator ($ 5000) and other appliances thrown in for free! None of the other residents I’ve got to know so far managed to arrange such a deal.
I definitely recommend them to anyone interested in a reliable team, that helps you find just what you wanted.

Arrian and Sejal are phenomenal real estate agents!
They are very knowledgeable of and great at researching and analyzing what is happening in the city’s many micro-​markets. They have great personalities, great negotiating skills, and are very detail-​oriented. And they are always willing to go out of their way to be helpful.
I would unequivocally recommend them to anyone looking for an agent in San Francisco.