David Kennedy gets my highest endorsement, and this is from someone who has not been a fan of the real estate industry in the past. Our experience with him was top notch from beginning to end. I found him on Angie’s List, where I first learned of something called an “exclusive buyer’s agent.” We knew that there were such things as getting a realtor to represent you as a buyer’s agent for one particular contract, but didn’t know you could get someone who was only a buyer’s agent full time, and did not take listings. David is one of the few, and possibly the only, such agent in the San Antonio area. The difference is that he is completely separated from the selling side of the business, will never have to become an intermediary agent mid-deal, and hence is released from the potential conflict of interest common to those who work both sides of the fence. Of course there’s the fact that unless you buy a property, he doesn’t get his commission, so you might wonder if you’ll still end up getting the hard sell. However, instead of pressuring us to accept a property quickly, he did quite the opposite. He’s been working in the industry for many years and used to be a State Certified Appraiser, so he has first hand experience with the construction and inspection of homes, as well as buying/selling. I’ve never seen an agent who had such an eagle eye for how a building was put together, how the internal systems work, how it’s situated on the lot, foundations, drainage, etc. He would scope out problems, explain what they were, and then describe possible solutions so that we could decide how much time and money we wanted to put into the house. (Note: he doesn’t give price quotes but describes the types of contractors you’d need so that you can locate someone and get an idea). In addition his wife, Jan, is also a licensed agent and on the rare occasions that David was unable to make a meeting she cheerfully stepped in. Both were attentive to detail and letting us know their schedules well in advance, hence no surprise disappearances. They have a professionally equipped, one might say high-tech, home office and are equally willing to meet you elsewhere, pick you up, drive you around, whatever your preference might be. David was a go-getter on our behalf. We had a somewhat unusual situation in that we were looking for something with enough room to move in the parents, whether a guest house, internal suite, separate floor, whatever. On his own he contacted builders to discuss possibilities, and while showing us properties that were already built he introduced us to different companies, explaining how they each approached building and what the advantages and disadvantages of the different building techniques and price points were. By the time we finally made our decision, we felt completely informed and very comfortable with our choice. This was the first time working with a realtor where, instead of a passive agent who simply showed properties and tried to encourage a sale, we had someone who was actively engaged and not in any particular hurry for the sale to happen until we were convinced we had the right property. We would absolutely choose him again and recommend him highly.