Stephanie Passman, GRI, SFR

Here’s a nice testimonial from a client who’s been with me for four years, and through two transactions now. I appreciate his kind words, and like many clients, he doesn’t appreciate how much he helped the process. He made the right choices and decisions when approaching each task, and he followed my advice during each process, which made things easier. And he staged his townhouse well for showing – it’s always fun when a man appreciates our female suggestions for making a home more inviting. So, that’s my testimonial for him 🙂 Now here’s his testimonial for me:

I have known Stephanie since I first moved to Florida in 2014. She helped me find a great townhouse in St. Petersburg that fit just what I was looking for, and this was priceless to me since I didn’t know the area at all. She made that purchase process really smooth for me, and she’s done the same with selling – she helped me eventually to sell that townhouse and buy another place in the area.

There’s an art to selling it seems, and Stephanie knows it. She gave me great advice on how to make my place look as desirable as possible, and I had multiple offers within the first weekend of listing it. She showed me how to evaluate the offers and how to handle them with countering and contingencies. In all, this process went extremely smoothly, and we closed very shortly after listing.

Then I was a buyer again! Stephanie helped me find my perfect next home, which is new construction and again requires a different set of knowledge. Stephanie has lots of experience in the construction and contractor end of the business too, so this process is going smoothly also.

She has always been greatly willing to help me in any way possible. She answers any questions I have and she always makes herself available quickly whenever I call her. She even helped me find a furnished rental to live in until the new construction is ready – she knew that end of the real estate business too! She knows the area inside out, as well as how the values of different neighborhoods are trending, and she has a great ability to listen to what your needs are, and to be diligent in matching this with the right property. And finally, she gave me perfect information on movers and storage to make the transitions painless. I didn’t know real estate could be so comfortable – it’s actually a very stressful experience for many people, but Stephanie takes the stress away. I will definitely use Stephanie again and I recommend her wholeheartedly.

Sean Johnston, May, 2018

Here was a challenging situation with a military redeployment and no room for second-guessing. It was good exercise for keeping my skills sharp, and I appreciate the acknowledgements from these professional clients in this testimonial.

At the time I met Stephanie, we were a military family living in Germany and my husband was scheduled to report to MacDill AFB in Tampa by August. We originally started our home search by using a relocation program through our bank. We found that the agent assigned to us was non-responsive and less than enthusiastic in assisting us in finding a new home here in St. Petersburg. While looking online, Stephanie responded to a property inquiry we made for more information. After speaking with her on the phone it became evident that Stephanie was very knowledgeable about the area, was experienced, honest and forthright. After a short discussion with my husband we decided to move forward using Stephanie as our agent.

Stephanie is extremely efficient. We had a very tight timeline we were trying to work within, but Stephanie never missed a step. She quickly set up our search with automated alerts and responded promptly to our many questions. It’s not easy moving to a new area and it can be a bit overwhelming when you know very little about the area. After choosing the homes that appealed to us she would go through our list and delete any properties that she felt were not a good fit. Within a week I flew to Florida to start viewing properties. I only had two days so I appreciated the fact that my time was spent efficiently.

Once the offer was made and accepted, Stephanie orchestrated and attended all the inspections, provided insurance contacts and even helped us change lenders.

We all know that communication is key. We never had to wonder where we were in the process. If she sent an email – we were copied. If there were communications outside of email – she would follow up with an email or a call.

I can say without hesitation her professionalism and level of commitment to her clients is top shelf. It’s comforting to know when buying a home hundreds or even thousands of miles away, that you can have a calm, friendly, professional voice—available at all hours of the day—taking care of details to get you to closing.

I highly recommend Stephanie Passman to anyone looking to buy or sell a home.
– Arnie & TC Epperson, March, 2018

This testimonial makes a great point that anyone can shine when things are going well but it’s when there are setbacks that you need an agent who can keep you on target. I had to chuckle about “talking her off the ledge”. It never got quite that extreme 🙂

I first met Stephanie Passman when she assisted me with the purchase of my villa in Pelican Creek Xing in 2012. I had a great experience and didn’t hesitate to call on Stephanie once again when I decided I preferred a single family home and wanted to sell my villa and find a new place to call home. She immediately went to work looking at comps, agreeing to a list price, and getting all the documents (condo documents and application) necessary to place my property on the market. Finding a buyer willing to accept above average condo HOA fees proved to be quite challenging. We were getting plenty of traffic, however, the feedback was the same, shows well, but HOA fees are too high. After 3 months on the market I was getting concerned and discouraged. Stephanie was always there to listen to my concerns and help me get through the times when I felt hopeless and thought I would be stuck living in a place I no longer enjoyed. We finally received and accepted an offer and now it was time to find my replacement home. In a market with more buyers than sellers, this too became very challenging. This is where the rubber meets the road. We needed to be very aggressive in making offers and negotiation skills would be tested with multiple bidders and sellers with the upper hand. After losing out on a home I was head over heels for and two other homes that failed inspections with sellers unwilling to be reasonable in making repairs, to say I was distraught is an understatement. Stephanie was always there to reassure me, telling me not to lose faith, to be patient that we would find the perfect home and we did. The house was perfect, the inspection found only minor issues, however, the listing agent was relatively new and follow through on the side of the sellers difficult. Here again, Stephanie pushed through the many obstacles to get me to closing. It’s easy to appreciate your agent when things are going smoothly, but having an agent that can talk you off the ledge when things are not going as planned is where you need the skills and experience of a seasoned agent. Selling and buying wasn’t the smooth and effortless process I had hoped for, but I am grateful I had Stephanie in my corner. I’m not sure I would be in a home and neighborhood I love without her knowledge and experience.
– Jennifer Wojcik, February, 2018

This testimonial illustrates how important it can be to have an agent helping you remember your best interests in the heat of the moment. The home buying and selling process can get obscured by emotions very easily. It’s one of the agent’s biggest obligations, I think, to keep an objective view of the process for their clients.

My parents worked with Stephanie to find the perfect winter home in Indian Rocks Beach. Macaulay and I met Stephanie at the showing of my parent’s new home. Stephanie was nothing but professional and provided her honest opinion and options in regards to possible improvements. She made the home buying process smooth and seamless for my parents. Thus, there was no question my wife and I would work with anyone else but Stephanie.

When it came time to find a different home more suitable to our needs and desires, we followed Stephanie’s advice on things we needed to do to get our house market ready and get the highest dollar amount for our home. Within two weeks, we were on the market. Our house went under contract fairly quickly and now it was time to find a new home that checked off all our boxes.

Before we started our search, Stephanie wanted to know all of the things that were important to us in our next home. She kept us on track and focused on what was most important to us. There were a couple of homes shown to us that we liked but compromised some of our “boxes.” However, Stephanie was quick to remind Macaulay and I of our top “boxes’ we wanted to check off – pool, playroom for our daughter and a place to park our boat. It is amazing how easy it is to get caught up emotionally with a home that looks and feels appealing, while forgetting the things most important and needed to make a home a perfect fit. Stephanie was always the voice of reason. It is very rare to find someone willing to risk an easy sale and commission to stop you from moving forward and making a mistake you will regret in the future. We feel very blessed that Stephanie was there for us and always kept our best interest as priority.

Stephanie is honest, knowledgeable and always conducts herself professionally. If you are looking for someone that can guide you through the many facets of buying or selling a home, I highly recommend you seek her services. Stephanie is more than capable of maneuvering through the many obstacles in today’s market and is always readily available to answer any and all questions, no matter what time of day. Your needs will be met before her own. You can trust you will be in good hands!

Nick Cardinal, March 2018

This testimonial comes from a repeat client – always the most comforting to receive. I try hard to treat every transaction with equal diligence and never to take people for granted. A review like this tells me I did.

We’ve known Stephanie Passman since 2015, when she helped us find a home in St. Petersburg, while we were still living in Wisconsin. In the process we came to develop a lot of trust with Stephanie as our eyes and ears, not only to find the perfect home for us but also in moving to a new state. She has a great talent for understanding perfectly what suits people the best. Her skills in dealing with complicated procedures are what gave us a smooth ride.

This time we were sellers, not buyers, as the time came to sell my mother’s vacation condo on the beach. We had multiple offers to choose from and relied on Stephanie to help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of each offer. We went under contract within a couple of days of being listed, but with the right offer that appeared most certain to close. We’ve learned enough to know that anyone can present an offer, but getting to closing is the tricky part of real estate, especially when satisfying lawyers and all parties to bring the sale to conclusion. The condo was held in trust, and there were legal issues involved (including my mother’s passing away shortly before closing), but Stephanie always rises to the occasion when complex matters present themselves.

This was an important transaction that we had to do right. Stephanie was our first and only choice to help us through it. She’s conscientious and hard working, and always stays in touch. Once again, we can wholeheartedly recommend Stephanie Passman to anyone looking to buy or sell a home in the Tampa Bay area.

Tim and Debbie Costello

This is a lovely testimonial from a client who was fun to work with, in a recent transaction. Happy to help, Anastasia!

Stephanie Passman is beyond just professional. She works with you on a personal level to make sure you find your perfect home. This to me is of utmost importance.

On a whim, my partner and I decided to relocate from Los Angeles to St Petersburg. Luckily we stumbled upon Stephanie early on in the process. Unlike others we dealt with, she called us after we emailed her about a property that we were interested in. During that call she took the time to find out about us. She asked us questions about our lives and lifestyles and paid attention to who we are as people as opposed to just budget and square footage. We knew then we were dealing with the right realtor.

Immediately we started receiving listings tailored to our parameters. We worked together closely despite time difference and distance. That never even played a part in anything because Stephanie’s communication was seamless.

Stephanie is honest and knowledgeable. She is patient and kind. She made the grueling process of buying a home easy. She talked us through every step. She comforted us in knowing that there were no stupid questions. She answered every call. Listened to me cry when I was frustrated and was the first one there with a hug when we found our perfect home. Basically, it was as if we were dealing with family or a close friend.

Stephanie’s work doesn’t stop when the offer or closing does. She makes it clear that she is still there for you with referrals to make the transition go smoothly.

Stephanie Passman exceeded all of my expectations. I feel that mere words will never be able to express her skills. She is truly amazing and I would without a doubt recommend her to others.

– Anastasia Panagiotidis, August, 2017