"We had found our dream home in the East Bay much sooner than we expected and needed to sell our home in San Francisco quickly. We interviewed three real estate agents and chose to work with Karen and Chris because of their knowledge of the market, the way they addressed our concerns about timing and the cost of preparing our house for sale, their satisfaction guarantees, and their plan for improving our place quickly and within our budget so it would sell for the best price.
We have incredibly hectic lives, were closing escrow on and moving into a new home, and have several pets that we take care of - we didn't have the time or the energy to deal with all of those things in addition to preparing our house for sale. Karen and Chris really stepped up and coordinated all the service providers: the painters, cleaners, gardeners, window cleaners, stagers and a sliding glass door replacement company in a very short amount of time. They communicated with us frequently so that we knew what was going on and what our options were. Their help made the process so much less stressful than it would have been otherwise. Our house was looking amazing and was on the market within 3 weeks of our first meeting with them.
We took their advice on pricing strategy and on how to prepare the most complete disclosure package possible, and are we glad we did! We received multiple offers and they greatly exceeded what we had hoped we would get both in price and terms. We are extremely happy with the result and are glad we chose to work with Karen and Chris. We would recommend them to our friends and anyone thinking of selling their home in San Francisco." — Sarah Piepmeier & Emily Brown
"We had traded up to our new house with Chris and Karen when the market was in a cooler period and had decided to rent out our condo until market conditions were more in sellers' favor. Chris and Karen do a fantastic job of keeping their clients up to date with what the market is doing with their newsletter. In it, we read that the market was getting hot again so we gave them a call to talk about selling our condo instead of dealing with the hassle of renting it out and being landlords.
We met with them and talked through the market conditions, strategies and timing and decided to move quickly to take advantage of the market. Within two weeks of our decision to sell, Chris and Karen had our condo ready to put on the market. They really made it as easy as possible for us. They coordinated all the cleaners, window cleaners, stagers, the plumber, disclosure gathering and even did some fine tuning work themselves. All the details were pulled together so that our condo would like the best it could. It was amazing! When we walked into our old place after they were done, we hardly recognized it.
We took Chris and Karen's advice on pricing strategy and within 6 days we had received 7 offers in a competitive bidding situation. Needless to say, we are extremely happy with the results.
We have and will continue to refer them to anyone who is selling their home in the city." — Cindy Schlichte & Alex Wong
"I had bought into another property with a partner and wanted to sell my home quickly. I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of work that I knew needed to be done to prepare my home for sale. I was also concerned about rising interest rates and the slowing market.
I interviewed three agents. I chose Karen and Chris because I found their well-prepared presentation to be the most impressive, highlighting their knowledge, full service marketing plan, and fantastic referrals. They demonstrated the energy, vision, resources and the organizational skills necessary to prepare my home for market in an extremely short period of time. In addition, one of my criteria in hiring an agent was that they conduct themselves in a professional manner and work with integrity. To this end, Karen and Chris certainly met this criterion with flying colors.
I was deliberating whether to put the house on the market in late Spring or in the Fall. I was concerned about the impact on affordability of rising interest rates so I decided to go ahead and put the house on the market sooner rather than later. I wasn't sure that they could pull the house together in enough time before the market slowed in July. Karen and Chris really stepped up. In 2.5 weeks an astounding amount of work happened — the house was completely transformed. They organized and managed interior and exterior painting, landscaping, replacement of light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, roof repair, plumbing, cosmetic kitchen makeover, cleaning and staging. It was like a completely different house! All my friends and relatives commented how wonderful the transformation was and couldn't believe it's the same house!
When the house went on the market, I took Karen & Chris's advice on pricing and within 12 days I had 3 offers over asking, in a market where many properties were just sitting, the influx of new listings growing, and competition seemingly heating up week by week. They did a great job of always keeping me informed and managing all the details of the transaction, easing any anxiety I may have had. They were also perceptive, anticipated many of the questions I had, and were very responsive in providing me the answers regarding the progress of the sale, making the whole process as easy and stress free as possible for me.
With the quick sale of my home, I now have more latitude to make other investments, therefore enhancing my opportunity to reach my retirement goal sooner. I am now a convert myself! I would gladly recommend the "Dynamic Duo" to all my friends who are thinking about selling." — Kathy Tam
"When we were introduced to Karen & Chris by our mortgage broker we were skeptical that they were any different from the stereotypical real estate agent. We're so glad that we were wrong! Working with them has restored our faith in the real estate industry.
We have two very young children, busy work lives, were finishing a condo conversion and were planning an out of state move. As a result, we had little to no time to spend on preparing our condo for sale and finding the right service people to help us do that. Karen and Chris readily accepted that challenge. They advised on us on what improvements to make, found us service providers who did great work for less money than we'd been quoted by others, organized and coordinated the timing of all of them, and got a ton of improvement done in an incredibly short period of time. They never ceased to amaze us.
Our property fell out of contract twice because of buyer issues which was incredibly nerve wracking. Chris and Karen did a phenomenal job of re-marketing the property to get it back into contract within three days — at the same sale price and without any buyer credits.
We got the price that we were hoping for and we are extremely happy with the results. We would gladly refer them to our friends and would use them ourselves again."— Britt & Lori Bohn
"I had already relocated to LA for business and needed to sell my house quickly. The whole process was a stressful affair, as I wasn't in the city to deal with preparing the house for market and I was occupied by long hours at work. Enter Chris & Karen.
They got my house ready to show in 2.5 weeks without much contribution from me. Taking the initiative, they coordinated everything from repainting certain rooms, staging the house, and cleaning to re-landscaping the yard. In addition, they timely forwarded the appropriate disclosure documents to me in LA for my review. They did a superb job marketing the house.
In total, I received 10 favorable offers, and ended up getting substantially more than the asking price with no contingencies! Throughout the process Chris and Karen worked hand in hand and apprised me of what was happening on a regular basis. I recommend this effective duo to any San Francisco seller wishing for piece of mind and a team that is detail oriented." — Shawn Silk
"I needed to sell my house quickly as I had bought another home on the Peninsula. Karen & Chris were great at coming in and getting all the disclosure documents ready and the marketing prepared for showing the property to the public within a very accelerated timeframe.
They sent out 383 hand-addressed envelopes to neighbors to generate maximum demand and had a virtual tour up on both their website and the MLS within 12 days. They had some excellent suggestions about how to reduce clutter and do some minor cosmetic work as inexpensively as possible so that the house would show well and appeal to the widest range of buyers. They also did a lot of legwork with calls to various service people to get the house ready at the last minute.
I was always kept informed as to what was happening in the marketing process and through-out the transaction. They priced it right. I sold my house for $150,000 over asking in just 8 days after the first public showing. I couldn't believe it. I would recommend them to any seller." — Alison Morbey
"We were referred to Karen & Chris by family members who were thrilled with their service. When we met with Karen & Chris we were impressed with their advice on timing, preparation for marketing, pricing strategy and knowledge of the market so we decided to work with them.
They helped us with advice on what improvements to make for sale, coordinating repairs that needed to be done to the condo, and all the service providers that had to get in to make the place look its best. They have great attention to detail and made sure everything was ready to go.
During the offer and acceptance process we found their advice really valuable. We also were kept in the loop the entire time so we always knew what was going on.
We're really happy with their service and the outcome. We would definitely recommend them to people thinking of selling in the city." — Rick & Steve Newhauser
"We had decided to move to the East Bay but we found the prospect of selling our house fairly daunting. We knew that we had to prepare our house for sale but with long hours at work and a two year old daughter at home we had absolutely no time to devote to getting the house ready to sell. We were also concerned about the changing market and what potentially negative effects it might have on our sale price.
After interviewing several agents, we chose to work with Karen and Chris because of their integrity, their comprehensive marketing package, and their willingness to step in fully and coordinate the house preparation.
We set a budget for getting the house ready for marketing and then they came in and took care of it all for us. They coordinated all the painters, plumber, cleaners, window washers, carpet installers, gardeners and stagers. Within 2.5 weeks the house looked amazing and was ready to show. We don't know how we would have done it without their help!
We were nervous about getting the sale price we wanted. We took Chris and Karen's advice on timing and pricing strategy and within 8 days we had received 7 offers in a competitive bidding situation. We were surprised and thrilled by the sale price the competitive situation yielded us.
Chris and Karen are fantastic. We will be referring them to all of our friends and co-workers who are thinking of selling in the city." — Anthony & Rebecca Bedwell-Coll