What clients are saying...

I remember the night my husband and I met with Justin for our first meeting, it was a Friday night, May 5th to be exact. This is where we told him on the spot he's the real estate guy for us, from there our journey began.  Justin took us to view many listings, he was always available, listened, answered our questions quickly and just really made it a smooth and fun experience and absolutely never made us feel pressured. The best part is that we knew he was praying with us and for us and that he lived like us in the way of we put our trust in God Almighty. 

Now I'll try to make a long story short here, we found our dream house! However it already had an accepted offer on it, Justin encouraged us to still view it....so we did and ended up putting a back up offer on the home knowing it was a big possibility that we wouldn't get it. Than one day while viewing another home, all 3 of us standing in that basement with a list of more to see that day, Justin received the text saying the people backed out and are we still interested in going through with our back up offer. Wow!!! I know this doesn't happen everyday but it did for us....of course we said yes, completed all the signing right away and by June 5th we had the keys and owned our first home!!! 

One month!!! That's all it took, from our first meeting to our closing date we owned a beautiful home! When your in the right hands, it really makes a difference. We are so thankful for the confidence that Justin's  expertise gave us and the encouragement he offered whenever needed.  As first time home buyers and now owners we would recommend Justin to anyone looking to buy or sell. He truly puts his all into it right until the very end!!! Who knew house shopping was so fun!  Thank you Justin, sincerely 

- Darrell and Tammy and Tikka of course

Justin meticulously went through numerous houses with us to make sure we found the right one. Towards the end of our shopping we found ourselves almost “expecting” that when we asked to see a house, he would say “absolutely! And let’s see these other similar houses nearby so we can make a good decision if we like it or not”. Justin was available 24/7 and provided us with experience that was invaluable to us finding the right home for us. Thank you for all your hard work Justin!

- Jake Kondor

It’s hard to put into words how appreciative I am of Justin and his team. I reached out when buying a home was just an idea. I wouldn’t have my home if it wasn’t for him. All star. Highly recommend.

- Drea Acadia

This could be a novel. But I'll try keep it short and sweet (I see all the ridiculous spam items in this section and I don't want this to be one of them). I was holding off on posting my review for Sandy Umrysh at Empower Real Estate Group because I was trying to find the best words and make the most meaningful and authentic recommendation possible.

Where to start? We weren't really looking. Well, we were kinda looking. We were that couple that didn't really know what we wanted, weren't too sure about the when or the where, changed our minds on styles and must haves, and generally kept things very "interesting"... and Sandy some how managed to support us on this journey every step of the way.

Sandy was very thoughtful from start to finish. Getting to know us and understand us, appreciating our quirks and eccentricities and thoughtfully guiding us when we needed the leadership. Sandy is that kind of realtor. Looking out for her clients and making sure we felt comfortable. Taking in the feedback and finding solutions. Calmly and kindly (Those could be her middle names).

I could probably gush even more but Facebook may flag this as spam. Too many nice words. But they are very heartfelt. 

Thank you Sandy! We were matched with the perfect realtor. We do appreciate you and happily count you now amongst our friends, even though our "business" is complete, for now (wink, wink). Highly recommended. I guess I could have summed up this review in those two words, eh? James & James

- James Leppan

My wife and I have worked with Justin twice now. Both times we have been impressed. Justin sold our house back in April of 2022. We had some hurdles in the year before that we hadn't anticipated which pushed our plan back. Justin stayed with us through it all and patiently helped us work our plan at a pace that made sense. When we were ready to sell, he was all in, made the process painless, and he was able to get us a return on our investment we never thought was possible. I cannot recommend him and his team enough.

- Josh Jacobs

We listed our house for sale in October 2019, and immediately after started looking for a realtor to help us buy in a different location. After looking at experiences other people have shared on Facebook, we contacted Sandy from MaxWell Realty. Right from the start, she was an absolute gem and we knew we had the right person for the job. She was real with us, and was happy to take us to different houses to get a feel for what we wanted. After living in a tiny mid century bungalow for so long, we didn't really know!!

Unfortunately, COVID arrived before we could sell, and it took 9 long months to be able to move forward with anything. In that time, we solidified our vision, with Sandy's help. We had some very specific requirements to meet in regards to health and security, so it wasn't the easiest hunt. She picked up quickly on what we were looking for, however, and she knew what questions to ask to help us make decisions.

She was knowledgeable about the areas we were looking in, and quick to relay anything she knew about different areas. She pointed out things in houses we wouldn't have thought to look at, and she learned to read us very well and figure out if we were excited about a place before we even knew ourselves.

The only pressure we felt from her was to be absolutely sure we wanted to close a sale. She didn't want us to go through with something we might regret later (and we had a couple of close calls). She encouraged us to sleep before making any decision first.

And when it finally came to purchase time, we saw a different side of her. We found THE house we wanted, several months after finally selling our own. She was FAST, EFFICIENT and RUTHLESS. She worked hard to help us get a lower purchase price, and was willing to push for even more of a reduction than we were. She knows what cards to play and where to draw the line.

She made the process easy. She was very easy to communicate with throughout the entire time we worked with her, was fun to be around and made the game of the hunt fun instead of frustrating. She was super attentive to our needs and requests, and helped us get into the house we never would have dreamed of getting.

Finally, after nearly a year and a half of working with her, I am excited to be able to fire her as my real estate agent, because she did such a great job that we no longer require her services.

If you can't tell by the rest of the review.....

I highly recommend her. Thank you, Sandy.

- Krystal Elder

I started my search for a condo a couple months ago and was really nervous about finding the right realtor but my dad had recommended someone he knew from Burlingtons (a cigar shop on whyte ave) and i was a bit skeptical at first because it sounded like he would be the typical old boys club cigar guy but my dad laughed and told me i should meet him so i did. I was sent a book to flip through before the consult and being the over achiever i am i read pretty close to the whole 500 page book before the consult. As i read through the book i realized how chill and  honest the people at Empower obviously are so i went to the consult having filled out the worksheets and with an open mind. Justin was awesome from the word go. He always had my best interest in mind and if i sent him a listing he thought might not be a good idea he took the time to explain why it was a risky decision or a good one while stressing that it was up to me in the end. The first condo i almost bought seemed like a great idea -until we got the docs. Despite the nearly 12000 of balcony repairs i would have had to pay within the first year there we tried to make the deal work by having the seller budge on certain things. Justin never showed he was stressed but through the updates he gave me it was clear he had wanted it to work as much as i did while keeping the deal legal and by the book. The other agent eventually told us a firm no and honestly i think both of us were relieved, the whole process had been a whirlwind of back and forth. Throughout the back and forth Justin always respected my schedule while keeping me informed of developments. Ultimately what could have been a disaster of stress bombs and chaos ended up being a great learning experience where all chaos was managed and filtered through the amazing realtor that is Justin. Seriously though i cant imagine not having a realtor, the things i didn’t know or the ways in which this could have gone wrong are endless and Justin makes it look like a relaxing walk in the park so if theres one thing i recommend its getting a realtor. 

Fast forward to where i am now; keys in hand moving in to a condo that is a million times better and felt like home the second i walked in.  Thanks Justin your the best

- Malone Murray

Approximately, one year ago I met with Sandy Umrysh and Justin LaFavor at their office.  They were well-prepared for our fist meet and very professional.  Although this wasn’t my first real estate transaction, they took the time to throughly explain pricing strategies and current market conditions.  Once complete, I asked where the documents were for signing and they stated it was a no-pressure environment and I could think about it however I pressed for the paperwork and listed with them before leaving the office.

A few weeks later (staging, photos, video, social media and website), the listing was live and I departed with my children for a summer vacation.  As I passed the house keys to Sandy, I asked that she sell it before our return, and 5 days into our trip, it sold.  

A few months later, I bought our current family home with Sandy acting as my agent, once again.  My father had come with us to a few showings and noted that she was truly working on my behalf.  This prompted him to use her services for the sale of his family home (deal closed about 3 weeks ago).

Thank guess you can say, Sandy is now a family member and I look forward to future home sales and home purchases with her!

- Anna Marinic

We had listed our in laws property with another agent previously who did not listen to our concerns and ultimately was unable to produce results.  

I've known Justin for a long time and recommended him in the first place and we ended up listing with him after we terminated the contract with the first agent. He was able to sell the property quickly with multiple offers on the table! Moral of the story? Justin will get results. End of story.  Also...it was nice to be able to tell my wife "I told you so" for a change haha

- James Mah

Our biggest concern was finding a real estate agent who was ready to work.  Hungry, Motivated.  And to find someone who was more tech savvy given the market nowadays, making sure that our home got the exposure it needed to the right people. 

We were very impressed with your second consultation, when we were discussing price.  You could’ve listed our home like any other agent and just put it on for what we initially wanted... But after seeing how things played out, there’s no way our house would’ve sold for that much. You had the integrity to tell us the truth about what we needed to do. We had a lot of respect for you being real and honest with us. 

In terms of marketing our property for maximum value, in this economy, with all the tech-stuff... You did AWESOME. When I saw the video you produced I said “I want to buy that house!” And then I realized that I owned it! And when you had the drone company come out, I just thought that was fabulous. 

You had a daytime photoshoot, a nighttime photoshoot, the drone company, and the videographer. And then you had a few facebook live videos as well. And in today’s market, that command of social media is so key. Our first showings came as a result of those facebook videos. There’s a lot of power in that.  There was a cool story too, with all the social media marketing you did... I walked into Restoration Hardware, just to scope out new lighting for our next home, and I was talking to the sales guy there. I said “I just sold my house” and we started chatting and I mentioned where it was. And he goes “I know that house! I saw that  house!” and then he brought it up on his iPad! Not only did he see our property, but he remembered it! In terms of our overall experience, we feel confident that we made the right decision in partnering with you. And not only that, but we’d have no hesitation referring you. And we totally will!  (And when we’re ready to sell our next place, you’re selling that for us too!) 

- Ron & Audrey Vanderveen