Born in Boston and raised in Brookline and Newton, Stephen is a second generation real estate professional with over three decades of experience in eastern Massachusetts. Following his graduation from Boston University in 1992 he started his real estate career at Paragon Properties in Boston’s Back Bay where he helped build a thriving rental and sales practice. In 1997 Steve moved to Tel Aviv, Israel to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in Israel, where he studied for his Masters at Tel Aviv University and then continued his entrepreneurial pursuits in Israel’s vibrant start-up innovation economy. In 2002 Steve returned to Boston with his future wife Lisa, and a plan to start his own real estate business. His fascination with market research and data analytics led him to the world of real estate appraisal where he opened up APCO, the Appraisal Company, providing residential valuation services to top local and national banks, mortgage lenders, realtors, insurers, attorneys and investors. In over a decade he appraised over 3000 distinct residential properties in eastern Massachusetts for hundreds of clients.
Since Joining Hillman Homes, along with achieving his Realtor designation in 2018, Steve has combined his real estate valuation and analytical skills together with his marketing and negotiation experience to give his clients a holistically consultative and educational approach to buying, selling and investing in Massachusetts’ highly competitive residential real estate market. When Steve is not making his calls, following up promptly with clients & touring homes, he enjoys spending his time coaching and playing softball with his teenage daughters, hiking with his dogs and cooking for family & friends.
Rachel was friendly and easygoing, we had no idea what we were looking for but she showed us places that were real candidates in several towns. When we independently found a home on short notice she did not miss a beat and guided us through the viewing, bidding, inspection, and sale process. Her advice on strategy and relationships with other realtors made our offer a success in a tight market. Throughout the process, we've been very thankful to work with Rachel. She helped make it a very low stress process and was always quick to send a response back to off-hours emails. She was unperturbed by our questions or lack of experience. We feel like she's been an excellent guide through this and we're happy to have met her.
Shannon helped us find our most recent apartment in Newton, MA. Shannon is personable, honest and great to work with. She was incredibly responsive to all of our emails, followed up on the countless apartments we sent her and found us a number of really great apartments. We were anxious to be searching for a new apartment in the middle of COVID but Shannon made this whole process as easy as possible! I will definitely recommend her to my family and friends!
I had a outstanding experience with Hillman Homes. I dealt with a fantastic realtor, Andrea Butterworth. She was friendly, professional, proactive, and 100% on the ball. I enjoyed working with her. She only showed me listings she knew would be the right fit for me. She helped me find my dream home. I highly recommend her.
Rachel is phenomenal. We were first time home buyers who were, to be honest, a bit overwhelmed with the whole home buying process. Our first meeting with Rachel made it clear that she was who we wanted to work with for what was going to be the most important purchasing decision of our lives. She went well over time with us in that first meeting, walking us through what the entire process of buying a house entailed and what to expect at each step. She was realistic with us and our budget in this incredibly competitive market and was always positive we were going to find the right fit even when we began to get discouraged. Rachel’s strengths are many but what I most appreciated was her ability to help us think through our options when we found a house we liked, asking questions that helped us make decisions but not leading us one way or the other. She helped us find our Mortgage Broker, lawyer and inspector and her network of service providers is truly top notch! I would recommend Rachel to anyone but especially to anyone going through this process for the first time!
We are thrilled to have worked with Rachel. She thoughtfully and effectively guided us through both the sale of our last home and the purchase of our new one, in the midst of the pandemic. She gave us sound, practical advice, and dealt patiently with our bouts of indecision. It was clear to us that Rachel had our best interests at heart throughout the process, and that we ended up just where we wanted to be in large part because of her guidance, good humor and support.
I relocated to Massachusetts for a new job and was in a rush to find a home for myself and my two dogs. Rachel is super friendly and was a great help through the process. She provided valuable advice on each home we looked at. When I selected a home, the sellers were a little tricky to deal with, but Rachel handled it in stride. If I ever need a realtor in Massachusetts again, I won't hesitate to use Rachel again.
Rachel and I met over 10 years ago through the Newton and Needham Chamber of Commerce and became friends. She has a wonderful personality and is very professional. My husband and I knew that she would be the right person to assist in selling our home where we had lived for over 20 years. She made the entire process extremely simple and within one weekend, we had several offers and 2 were 20K+ over the asking price! We were moving out of state and with her recommendation of an attorney, we didn't even have to be there for the closing. Rachel listened to what we wanted and got it done so quickly and professionally, we would highly recommend her to anyone in need of her services.
Rachel and Shannon went above and beyond with the purchase of our house.
This was the first time we bought, andthey made the experience as smooth as glass.
WHENEVER we had a question, they answered our call (even while on vacation).
Their experience, and professionalism is second to none!
If you're looking to buy your forst home, or sell a home... you should bring your businesses to these fine folks. You won't be sorry.
One more thing... they're canine friendly too!
I had the opportunity to work with Rachel after 2 very bad real estate agent experiences so, to say that I was wary of working with another agent was a gross understatement. I was referred to Rachel through my assistant whom I trust implicitly. To my surprise and great relief, Rachel was simply AMAZING! In short, Rachel gets the concept of expert professional service to her clients, FOR her clients. What's more, she didn't just disappear after the sale was complete. I have wanted her input on issues since, and she is every bit as responsive, patient and professional as she was on day one with me. I am beyond happy with my whole experience with her.