Testimonials

We had the absolute pleasure of working with Paulo Prietto as our buyer’s agent, and I can confidently say he is the best real estate professional I’ve ever worked with. From day one, he was nothing short of amazing—patient, knowledgeable, and incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. It took us over a year to finally find the right home, and during that time, he never once made us feel rushed or pressured. Instead, he consistently took the time to carefully walk us through the pros and cons of each property, helping us make informed decisions every step of the way. We spent countless hours touring homes together, and he always remained positive, patient, and committed to helping us find the right fit. What stood out the most was his deep expertise in the Laguna Beach areas. His insights into the local market were invaluable and really helped me understand the neighborhoods, pricing trends, and long-term value of different homes. I’ve worked with several realtors in the past, but none have come close to the level of professionalism, integrity, and genuine care that Paulo brings. He truly went above and beyond, and I’m so grateful for everything he did to help us find our home. My wife and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell—it doesn’t get better than this!

I never felt compelled to write a review for anyone unless they are exceptionally good, and Sylvia Ames is THAT good. We first met her during an open house while we just began searching for a weekend vacation home in Laguna Beach. We put an offer in for that house but ended up being outbid. Sylvia has been very attentive and patient in learning the specifics of what we were looking for and a week later informed us of another house that just fell out of escrow due to the buyer being unable to secure a loan. She scheduled us a last minute private tour since we were driving in from really far and we submitted an offer right away! The house is EVERYTHING we were looking for and is much better than the first one we bid on. Sylvia is very experienced and well connected with the local agents to guide us in the right direction that eventually helped us get the house among several other offers. She is extremely professional and reliable, and went above and beyond every step of the way during escrow to ensure a smooth closing. She also personally assisted in contacting the local vendors for refinishing our floors, helping us bringing packages inside the house while we couldn’t make it for the delivery, and had her husband help us installing and programming our garage door keypad. She is super responsive anytime we have any questions and is always there to help in the best way she can. I can go on and on as there is endless nice things I want to say about her. You can trust you are in very good hands with Sylvia. I won’t want to look for another agent for any future buying or selling in Orange County when you have someone this good. Thank you Sylvia!

Mike Johnson was masterful in telling me what repairs to make prior to selling, how to effectively market the home, how to price it, how to smoothly work through the escrow process and how to make the move out and closing a piece of cake. My home had 7 offers, all above list price after 3 days on the market! He was always responsive to my questions and an extremely easy person with whom to work. I highly recommend him.

I have had over six transactions with Michael Johnson's group and I keep going back because of the caring and professional manner they conduct themselves. Michael Johnson sets the standard for his group and they are all wonderful.

Mike and his group have been exceptional to work with. He is easy to work with and always available. I was able to do everything remotely. They are true professionals.

Mike and his team have supported us over the years with purchases, rentals and sales. He and his team are incredibly professional and responsive whether or not there is an immediate transaction involved. Mike knows his profession intimately and takes a long-term relationship oriented perspective with his clients. He is also extremely well connected. Most recently he helped us with a multi-year search for the perfect long-term home for us and fortuitously sold our previous home off-market in a single day. We would highly recommend Mike for any real estate brokerage assignment.

In owning a construction/development business. I’ve worked with many different brokers. You and your boutique brokerage are at the very top in terms of knowledge, integrity, professionalism, and ability to execute. My business has grown as a direct result of your help. Working with you has been a pleasure as you also have a very personable personality. I look forward to working with you as I continually build my real estate portfolio. I greatly appreciate your insight and ability to follow through. I wanted to inform you that I am very pleased with the real estate services you so graciously provided me.

We closed escrow on our family home of more than 20 years. After several days of negotiations with multiple offers, on the exact day the“shelter in place” (from the Coronavirus pandemic) was publicly announced. The day after the announcement, in unchartered territory, we moved all of our furniture with a moving company, to a remote storage location (to be handled at a later date). We proceeded to tent our house for termites (as per the inspection report requirements), and three days later, with masks and gloves, my husband and I cleaned our house from top to bottom by ourselves. We even rented a carpet cleaner from a local hardware store, because there were no businesses open for hire at the time to do the job. Looking back, everything seems very surreal — but we got through it with the help of Mike Johnson, Sylvia Ames, and the entire team at Mike Johnson COMPASS Group in Laguna Beach. Thank you for making a VERY difficult circumstance so easy and seamless! Hard to believe now but every moment of it is true! Tom and Margarita Solazzo San Juan Capistrano.

I have purchased 3 rental properties from Mike in a very short time period. Not only does he make each transaction painless, he handles every detail and gives advance notice when the client needs to be involved, transfer money to escrow, or anything on a list of endless things that need to be taken care of. He is an outstanding advisor (providing extensive research on competitive pricing, competitive rentals and the overall market trend. Incredibly fair to all involved in any transaction and thorough beyond my highest expectations. Mike regularly sends me new listings that he thinks might be of interest to me, including new and sold listings in my own community, to keep me updated on current sales that relate to the value of my own home and my rental properties. There is no one else I would use to represent me in a real estate transaction.

Mike and his entire team handled the sale of our home with the highest attention to detail and service. We were so impressed with his knowledge of our market and felt confident in his pricing recommendation and expertise of the real estate market. The entire team was always punctual to any showing request and went the extra mile to accomplish the sale of our home in the challenging COVID market conditions we live in. We would confidently recommend Mike and his team to any seller or buyer knowing Mike and his entire team handled the sale of our home with the highest attention to detail and service. We were so impressed with his knowledge of our market and felt confident in his pricing recommendation and expertise of the real estate market. The entire team was always punctual to any showing request and went the extra mile to accomplish the sale of our home in the challenging COVID market conditions we live in. We would confidently recommend Mike and his team to any seller or buyer knowing he will be a reliable partner in the process.