We feel so profoundly lucky to have found Megan. Our journey with her spanned several years, and…read morehopefully it will last a good many more.
As first-time homebuyers with a limited budget, we felt like finding somewhere in Berkeley was going to be a stretch - and it was - but it would have been impossible without her. We spoke to a few agents before Megan, and none of them felt right. After meeting Megan, we knew we had found something special. We connected with her immediately. What set her apart from everyone else was actually the reality check she gave us: with our budget, buying the dream house we had imagined was going to be tough. She was the only one who was straight with us and made choosing her a no-brainer decision. Rather than discourage us, this frank conversation led us to trust Megan and respect her integrity.
At the start, Megan told us that she gets people into the first home they make an offer on 85% of the time. We were certain we'd be in the 15%. But we weren't. Megan maintains that extraordinary statistic because of how she works. She's honest with her clients and realistic about expectations, but she balances it with being extremely attentive to the market, tenacious, well-connected, and creative. Honestly, what more could you ask for in an agent?
We waited for the right moment in the market, and she waited with us. When we were finally ready, Megan was immediately available to us - viewing houses the day we flagged them, always answering our messages, and available any time on the phone. There were times when we felt like maybe Berkeley was too much out of our reach-too competitive and expensive for our budget. Megan reassured us that it was all about being ready and finding the right place at the right time, and that's exactly what happened.
Through her careful attention to the Berkeley market, she noticed a little gem that had fallen off people's radar. It was exactly what we had hoped to find: a three-bedroom house in the Berkeley school district with space for a garden, and lots of future potential. She joked that we shouldn't mention it to other clients because they'd all expect a miracle. We couldn't believe our luck, and she really was the person who made it happen. She moved quickly, got us into the home immediately, communicated directly with the listing agent, walked us through all the disclosures, and coordinated closely with our lender to put us in the strongest possible position.
Putting our offer in happened very quickly (over the span of two days), and it was through Megan's professional connections and persistence that we successfully won against a competing last-minute bid. She negotiated tirelessly for more than 27 hours straight to make it happen for us. Needless to say, it was a stressful period, but Megan was communicative, hopeful, reassuring, and virtually held our hands through that nail-biting wait. On a beautiful Friday evening, we got the call: our offer was accepted. We were homeowners in Berkeley.
As academics, we instantly recognized Megan as an expert in this area. She explained things in a way that made sense and has a remarkable handle on everything from the minutiae of Berkeley city ordinances to renovating historic homes. Basically, we felt supported through the whole process. She was patient with our questions and graceful about our lack of knowledge, never making us feel rushed or ignorant. That was quite an achievement, given how quickly the market moves here.
To top it off, she has a real commitment to sustainability and green improvements and an understanding of how climate change will likely affect homeowners in the future. As much as anything, this long view is really what makes Megan special. She's not just trying to get you to buy the most expensive house as fast as possible. We never felt that from her. Instead, she created a relationship with us. It's because of that relationship that we have no doubt who we'll be working with if we decide to sell. We're already recommending Megan to everyone we know, so it's very easy to say it here as well.