Crestview Solutionwebsite redesign:before & after

Crestview Solution is a California firm that works on bank-owned houses, from securing an empty property to closing the sale.

Its own site says it was founded in 2017 by Hector Garibay, a Certified REO Specialist and California real estate professional, and that it has overseen more than 100 bank-owned properties. Services include property preservation (boarding up, lock changes, debris removal), asset management, cash for keys, and title and closing management. It also works with individual homeowners and investors.

The people reading this homepage are mostly asset managers and investors who have a property to deal with and are comparing a few vendors. They want to know quickly that this firm does the job, works in their area, and how to reach a person.

This is not an agency rebuild. I gave the concept about 2 hours and spent them on the fixes that do the most for customers: the 20% of the work that gets 80% of the improvement.

To show how much that improves, I score every original homepage and every concept on the same 100-point checklist. Most checks are yes or no, and a script runs the technical ones (speed, mobile, accessibility). When in doubt, the point goes to the original site.

The original does real things right. It has a named founder with a real portrait, a full address and a DRE license number in the footer, industry certificates at the bottom, and a page that loads with no broken images. The trouble is the order. A visitor sees a welcome line before anything about the work, and has to scroll for the proof and the form. One note on the capture: the "Testimonial" menu link goes to another page, and I only scored the homepage, so I count no reviews here.

The first screen and the mobile view, original on the left and concept on the right. The slider at the top of the post compares the first screen up close.

First screen

01Say the job and the area first

A "Southern California REO Specialists" tag sits over the headline, and the paragraph under it names the work (distressed asset resolution, property preservation, REO management) and who it is for.

02The form beside the headline

A four-field form (name or institution, phone, email, service needed) sits in the hero. The original's form has six fields and starts in the fourth screen.

03Proof moves up

The 2017 start and the 100+ bank-owned properties are in the hero text. "Certified REO Specialist" and "Licensed CA Realtor" sit in a row under the buttons; both come from the original.

Mobile

01One clear button

The original's two stacked buttons are each about 60px tall but only pick a service. The concept has one filled "Partner with Us" button and a quieter outline "Our Services".

02A header button that wraps

The "Get in Touch" button in the concept's mobile header breaks onto two lines and crowds the menu icon. I list it below.

1. 01Lead with what you do and where. "Welcome to" wastes the biggest text on the page. "Southern California REO Specialists" tells an asset manager in ten words that they are in the right place.
2. 02Put your best number in the first paragraph. "More than 100 bank-owned properties" is buried in an About block. It is the line a comparing vendor most wants to see.
3. 03Pick one main button. Two service buttons joined by "Or" turn the first click into a quiz. One contact action, and the services below, is easier.
4. 04Keep the contact form to four fields. Name, phone, email and the service needed is enough to start. Subject and message boxes can wait for the call.
5. 05Make the phone number tappable and put it in the header. A number in small footer text is easy to miss on a phone, and it is not a link.
6. 06Show your face where the visitor is deciding. Hector's portrait is a real asset on the original, but it is in the fourth screen. Someone hiring a vendor for a bank-owned house wants to see who they will deal with.

The concept does not score 100. About 2 hours doesn't fix everything, and the checklist applies to my work too:

• Two of the numbers are mine, not the business's. "A+ Institutional Reputation" is not on the original site, and "7+ Years in Business" is my sum from the 2017 start, which is out of date. Crestview needs to confirm each one or drop it.
• The inquiry form is not connected. It goes nowhere yet, and "We respond within 1 business day" is a promise I added. Only Crestview can say if it is true.
• Real photos are missing. The concept uses a stock photo of a modern house, and Hector's portrait is gone, replaced by his initials. The original's real portrait should come back.
• The phone number, email and street address are gone. The original footer has all three and a DRE license number, and the concept shows none of them. A property manager who wants to call has no number.
• The reviews are missing. The original's "Testimonial" page needs real, named quotes on the homepage, with their source.
• Mobile text is 14.4px. It should be 16px or more, the "Get in Touch" header button wraps onto two lines, and the accessibility scan found 2 serious issues.
• Mobile speed is 86 on Lighthouse. The original scored 56, so it is better, but I would push it above 90.

If I were talking to Crestview Solution, I would say this: the facts you need are already on your page. Founded in 2017, more than 100 bank-owned properties, a named founder with a real portrait, a license number. The old homepage just puts a welcome line in front of them. My concept mostly moves the same facts up.

The choice I am least sure about is the form. Putting it in the hero suits a firm that wants inquiries from institutions, but some asset managers would rather call than type, and I dropped the phone number, which is a mistake to fix. I also went with a green, modern look, and the original's black and gold might read as more established. That is a taste call for the owner.

What the concept does not solve is trust. It lost the founder's photo, the certificates and the address, and it has no reviews. Layout cannot replace those. Two hours got the first screen to say who Crestview is and how to reach it, and the business has to bring back the real proof.