My wife and I often thank the universe for the day we met Carla back in 2015. We had by then been looking for a home for nearly a year and a half and then we met her and the rest was history. Carla not only knows the market extremely well but she is diligent, strategic and hard working, she coached my wife and I through the process and within 7 months of working together we had our keys of a beautiful house in the hills with a huge garden. Aside from being extremely good at what she does, she is a wonderful human being who we are lucky to now be able to call a friend. Thank you Carla! read more

Carla was referred to us by a friend. From the very first day of working with her, she was kind yet completely honest with us. The home-buying process can be so incredibly stressful, but Carla immediately made us feel supported, heard, and confident every step of the way. She listened to exactly what we wanted and went above and beyond to make it happen. Her honesty and extensive network were absolutely invaluable to our search. She knows what it takes to buy a house in the hot Oakland market and she worked with our lender and the listing agent to make the impossible happen. In fact, we are still in a bit of shock that we got a house we never would have even bothered to look at when we were searching on our own: She helped us find and secure a rare gem of an opportunistic find and we couldn't be happier. Carla is a real estate magician :) and we are forever grateful to her. Thank you so much, Carla! -- Jeff and Tina read more

My wife and I worked with Carla to purchase our home in Piedmont, and the experience was genuinely one of the best we've had with any professional -- in any industry. Carla is kind, honest, and refreshingly low-pressure. She listened carefully to what we wanted, remembered every detail, and guided us with patience through what can be an incredibly stressful process. It was a rare opportunity to work with someone at the top of her game. She has deep roots in Piedmont, with unique insights into local comps, neighborhood trends, and negotiation strategies. We 100% got our home because of Carla. read more

she's the few honest real estate agents left around. intelligent, determined and accountable

I've worked with Carla many times to buy and sell condos and houses over the past 10 years or so. She knows her business well, moves quickly and efficiently, and is also a pleasure to work with. read more

I am a real estate appraiser for over 30 years, and I found Carla to be much more knowledgeable than many agents I have encountered in my profession. She is also friendly and generous with her time, with a desire to help even when there is nothing in it for her. This is just my way of thanking her for taking the time to speak with me on the phone. read more

Carla was a recommendation from a close friend and I'm glad we were able to work with her in buying our first home. She was able to navigate a fairly complex and unusual set of circumstances pertinent to a seller financed property that we had our hearts set on. Her vast experience, thorough knowledge of the market coupled with her incredible rapport and reputation with buyers' agents was a key differentiator in her ability to negotiate and facilitate an agreement that was in our best interests. In addition to this she was able to connect us with high caliber resources for taking on home repairs / maintenance and improvement projects. Overall, she went above and beyond on every measure and it was evident that she was looking out for us the whole time and ensured we didn't make a false step. 6 months later, I'm glad she was available to us on short notice and I now realize how crucial it is to pick the right realtor who knows how to close a deal and 'land the plane safely' as Carla likes to say! PS: If yelp allowed it I'd rate Carla 10/5, that's how good she is, and you'd have to work with her on buying / selling property to know what I mean. read more

Carla was referred to us by a friend. We worked with her after our initial agent ran into some challenges with their brokerage over a seller-financed offer presented to us by the seller. She was essential to navigating this challenging deal. Thanks to her help we were able to reach an agreeable offer and take the keys to our new home on our anniversary, just 12 days after mutual offer acceptance! Carla was great with communication and helped explain the nuances of our transaction so we could confidently understand what we were signing up for. We are very grateful for her energy, support, and also her professional demeanor toward our prior agent- treating it as a teamwork effort. You can tell she is talented and has the experience you're looking for from the get go. We appreciate everything you did for us, Carla! read more

Highly unprofessional and biased agent. I was highly interested in purchasing a property for which Carla was holding an open house. However, my family and I were ignored upon entering, while touring, and when leaving the property. As a woman, attorney of color, I felt extremely disrespected. Beautiful home, terrible agent. I highly recommend Grubb establish unconscious bias training for all their agents. read more

Carla is definitely the realtor you want working with you! She paid attention to all of the details In What we were looking for and was incredibly knowledgeable about every step in the home buying process. She was skilled at negotiating for us to become the top offer on our dream home and also is honest and works with great integrity. We couldn't recommend her more! read more

What can we say? Carla Higgins is actually the greatest. In a matter of 5 months, Carla enabled us to buy our dream home AND sell our home of 16 years -- in one of the most competitive, fastest-moving markets in the country (Berkeley, CA). And she helped us buy our new home for below-market value and sell our old home at the very top of its value range. Carla knows the local East Bay markets well. She is a strategic thinker with genuine integrity, who keeps on top of the details and works exceptionally hard. (Heck, she's run marathons on all 7 continents!) She was a pleasure to work with on a daily basis and always there when we needed her. Most importantly, she never pressured us to move faster or to make a decision we weren't comfortable with. We can say from experience that this set of qualities is extremely rare in a realtor. We give Carla our highest recommendation and will not make another real estate transaction in the East Bay without her. read more

Carla helped me buy a new home and made the process seemed easy. She is knowledgeable, helpful and very skilled at navigating the real estate market. I highly recommend her. read more

We bought our house in Upper Rockridge through Carla in 2015. She was recommended by a business associate who was gushing in her praise. Can anyone be that good--I thought? Well turns out they can. Carla stuck with us through interminable viewings and offers--even helping us scope out a significant construction opportunity (which we finally got cold feet on). She has all the required attributes--punctual, well versed in the market, good connections (mortgage brokers, contractors, etc)--but she also has a great disposition, high tolerance for indecisiveness, and a great understanding of her client's needs (stated and unstated). We've got absolutely no hesitation in recommending her. read more

We worked with Carla on our condo purchase and had a wonderful experience. From the very get go, Carla was not only friendly and very approachable, but she kindly made her self available during the holiday season which really helped facilitate a smooth and quick escrow. For folks looking to buy, I would highly recommend doing your research and putting in your offer during the holidays (July 4th, Thanksgiving, December holidays, etc). We did not have to offer above asking price and were even able to negotiate on closing costs. We largely attribute this to 1) Carla Higgins 2) The holidays. Carla is very experienced, well connected, and everyone she recommended that we work with really helped make this a very smooth process. I cannot emphasize this enough: we had a very quick and seamless home buying process that we found very surprising considering how competitive the Bay Area market is. Carla was super helpful the whole time and she worked hard to help get us into a wonderful place that we now call our home. Highly recommended - thank you, Carla! read more

Carla is an incredible realtor and advocate. She has a strong understanding of the local market and tight relationships with numerous other realtors. Carla cares about the details and will ensure that you're fully informed and empowered at every step in the process. She works tirelessly and is willing to review disclosures and make offers at any point in the week or day if she believes it will help you win the house. I cannot recommend her highly enough. read more

We worked with Carla to buy a home in the Glenview area of Oakland, and cannot recommend her highly enough! Coming from out of town, we needed someone who really understands the different neighborhoods and the quickly changing market. She helped us find just the right home and her strategic thinking was key in getting our offer accepted. And then she goes above and beyond by helping us solve any other problem we throw at her! Whether it's contractors for work on our new home, to great restaurants nearby, we can ask her anything and she answers -- and fast. She is the best. read more

Second time using Carla, this time for buying AND selling, not just buying. She helped us navigate a difficult market and we ended up with a place that checked all our boxes. In addition, she gave us great advice on how to spruce up our house for sale including some very cost effective tips that ended up paying off very well. Carla is like family now and always takes the time to answer questions. read more

Carla is one of the most amazing people you will ever meet. She's wicked smart, efficient, brutally honest, and will steer you where you need to go. We had complete trust in her judgement and because of her, we're finally homeowners. My husband and I had been searching for about 7 months, actively putting offers in for about 4 months before we met Carla. Our offers were all rejected and we understand that this is a hot market with the Bay Area being the toughest real estate in the country. We needed all the information we could possibly get and we weren't getting that with our previous broker. Your broker needs to know as much as possible and if they don't have the answer, they need to find it. We were starting to give up hope and ready to throw in the towel. One night, we decided to look at the houses we did like that sold within our price range to see which broker was getting them for their buyers and Carla had represented 2 of these homes in the past 2 months. We give her a call on a Friday. By Monday, she's taking me to multiple homes, in the evening to accommodate my schedule, and telling us whether we even have a fighting chance or if it would be a waste of time to put in an offer. We had seen maybe 3 homes and I asked if she knew any off the top of her head that might be good for us. She gave us an address, told us offers due in less than 24 hours, got us in, and told us exactly what we needed to offer. The next day, we get a call saying our offer was accepted. I cried. We weren't even the highest offer, but we wrote a love letter that touched that seller and the seller's broker said Carla is a trusted name which is what helped us get accepted. This was Wednesday. Carla got us a home in 5 days in this crazy market and at 20% below our max budget. We love our home, it's an oasis in a cozy Oakland neighborhood. It fit our needs perfectly. For me personally, I've never lived in a single family home. I've never owned nor did my family when I was growing up. I moved across multiple states and many apartments, all of which temporary. I never felt like I could establish roots. Carla helped my family and I find the home to complete us and made a dream come true. I never thought I'd be able to have a home in a town I love. Go to Carla. She's kind and smart and will take good care of you. She's an extremely skilled negotiator with a big warm heart and because if that, we felt completely at ease. Thank you for helping us find our home! read more

Carla was one of several agents I interviewed to sell our property. From the get-go she expressed great enthusiasm for the property pointing out all the highlights before I could. She also had a superb vision for inexpensive ways to improve the property at a very low cost to us that greatly improved the marketability of the property. She had a list of experts who came in, under her guidance, to do the work. Things such as changing the interior paint color, changing the kitchen floor, some landscape improvements, a light fixture update -- all fairly minor & inexpensive but what a huge difference it made!! We immediately had several offers over asking after the first open house. The whole process could not have gone more smoothly if we scripted it out ourselves. Carla is 100% positive energy. Thank you, Carla, you are a Superstar !!!!! read more

Carla Higgins changed our life. Thanks to her - we bought our dream home in Piedmont / Oakland. While struggling with the challenges of the Bay Area real estate market (like almost everyone), we were lucky enough meet Carla. She is perhaps one of the most patient and empathetic - thoughtful and knowledgeable - caring and connected PEOPLE we've ever met. As an agent, she's in a league of her own. We looked at several houses and made several offers before finding what was to become our home. It all happened very quickly - and on the 4th of July no less. With every offer, Carla patiently walked us through every detail of the disclosures, the inspection, and the offer - but the incredible generosity she showed with us on a HOLIDAY - sitting in her office - laboring over our decision - truly redefines the definition of a real estate agent. She guided us into a winning offer (there were five others) through her incredible knowledge of the market and the strength of her relationships. And today, we are in home we hope to never leave and will always celebrate on Independence Day. If you're looking for an agent that is patient and understanding - while also being incredibly strategic and connected - Carla Higgins is a great choice for you! read more

Carla's professionalism and client-first approach to the home-buying process made our experience as simple and stress-free as possible. Due to my husband's inflexible work schedule, Carla met with us late at night to write multiple offers and consistently made herself available to respond to any questions or concerns we had. Despite not making the highest offer, Carla helped us purchase our dream home by connecting us with top-notch professionals at every step. She truly had our best interests at heart and we can give her nothing but our highest recommendation. Thank you, Carla, for all your hard work! We appreciate you and this is long overdue! read more

Carla made our dream of owning a house in the Bay Area a reality and exceeded all of our expectations. We thought it would take us many more years before we could find something we liked and could afford. Carla asked what we were looking for and sent us some homes to review. One of homes ended up being perfect! I was on the East coast for work, so Carla offered to show the house to my husband. He FaceTimed me so I could see it and I immediately knew we should make an offer. We were shocked that we got it, esp. with how competitive the housing market is in the Bay Area. It is a small house, but on a nice size lot. We hope to renovate and build on it next year, so Carla asked a contractor she knows to meet with us to discuss the possibilities. I've never worked with a real estate agent before but I know that most would not go above and beyond in the ways Carla did. She was extremely helpful and patient. Being first time home buyers, we had a lot of questions and some concerns. Carla was so knowledgeable and made the process not stressful, but fun. On the day we signed the papers, she met us at our new home with a SOLD sign and bottle champagne so we could celebrate. She made the entire experience so special and memorable and we will forever be grateful for all she did. She has become a great friend and we feel so lucky to have met her. read more

We can not recommend Carla highly enough. She is incredibly professional, fun and puts the needs of her clients above all else. Having moved from the UK we were completely overwhelmed by the market and buying process but Carla was the epitome of patience. She ensured we were well informed throughout and knew what we had to do every step of the way. Carla is great at listening to her clients needs and honing in on what really is important. With her vast knowledge of the area, every home she showed us hit the mark and put a smile on our face. She also has an incredible understanding of the housing market which means she is able to manage her clients expectations appropriately and get them the best deal. Thanks to Carla we have a family home that we love and also someone we now value as a friend. read more

I am glad I chose Carla as my agent to sell my house then buy a condo in Alameda. She is very knowledge, professional and easy to work with. Very responsive and willing to answer any questions. She always maintained a positive attitude. She continued to offer help and answer questions after the sale was completed. I highly recommend Carla to anyone considering buying or selling a house. read more

I cannot say enough positive things about Carla. I was selling my parent's home, among difficult circumstances, and not only was she incredibly kind to my mother but she was extremely effective in getting our home sold. She not only had the house on the market a short period, helped us get top dollar, and helped with the title company. I highly recommend her! read more

Carla Higgins is the best!!! I would give her 6 stars if I could. Friendly, diligent, knowledgable, well-connected. You could not ask for more in a realtor. read more

Carla was great! We worked with her on the sale of a house that listed in the 600s and sold around 20% above asking. She was respectful of our wishes and goals in the sale, but was also very good at making decisions when required. She was particularly skilled at working with the many personalities that were involved in the sale process, and her expertise in the market was a big part of selling the house quickly and for a good price. We would highly recommend her and happily use her again ourselves. read more

My husband and I happened to meet Carla by chance and this just goes to prove that we have some luck in life! We had another realtor but weren't happy with him and so we decided to visit some houses on our own one day. We met Carla who was the seller's agent for a house in a neighborhood we came to love. She was so open and helpful with us the first time we met (when we weren't even clients) that we decided to work with her going forward. You find quickly that this is just how she is! We were new home buyers and the process was daunting but she helped us every step of the way. She set up several open houses in the area and clearly knew a lot about this market. She ended up helping us secure our house only a short while later in that same neighborhood where we first met her and really wanted to live. She was a very savvy advocate for us in the buying process and helped us come out on top in a very competitive bidding process for our desired house (and was creative about it too - we had a hard maximum on what we were wiling to pay but she helped us find other ways we could make our offer stronger and ultimately successful). She also was able to use her very strong network of good relationships to help us out at various points in the process. We kept in touch and, fast forward almost 4 years, we found ourselves moving abroad so it was time to make some more home decisions. Once again, we called Carla. She first helped us debate whether we would keep the house to rent it or sell it. Armed with her advice, we were then ready to go and made the decision to rent it. That's when we got to watch her work her magic again. I contacted her on a Saturday, and she immediately went into action to set everything up so we could have a successful open house the next weekend!! I had no idea moving that fast was possible but she made it happen and she executed it very well. The open house was so successful that we received several great bids and ultimately she helped us navigate the process of evaluating our offers. We're now all set to turn the house over shortly to our new tenants. Less than 2 weeks went by from the time I contacted her to start the process to having signed the paperwork... she's seriously amazing and anyone considering renting, buying, or selling in this area will be lucky to have her on their side! read more

I don't know where to start writing this review, because I have so many wonderful things to say about Carla Higgins. My family had been having such a hard time finding a home in the Bay Area- we'd spent months unsuccessfully looking and bidding until we met Carla. She helped us find our dream home, and somehow, won it for us. I can honestly say that we would NOT be living in our house without her- she navigated the bidding war we had to enter like a true all-star. She works so hard, is available whenever you need her, gets the impossible done, and on top of all that, she is a wonderful, nice, friendly person. Do yourself a favor and use Carla!!! read more

We engaged Carla to lease our home in Crocker HIghlands and would highly recommend her to others seeking a realtor. She found a highly qualified tenant and did not try to push us toward applicants who were not financially qualified. Carla has many resources for getting work done at reasonable cost (plumber, handyman, roofer, etc). Her advice on how much fix up and painting to do and not to do saved us enough to cover her company's fees. She is always forthcoming with help and advice, even well after the deal is done. Carla is very easy to work with, and we would use her again. read more

Carla came highly recommended to us after selling my grandparents' home and our experience with her was fantastic. Throughout the process there were little details that showed her friendliness, dedication, and skill and I know that Carla was a key factor in getting us our place in this crazy real estate market. This is our first home purchase, so we had plenty of questions for Carla about the home buying process. Carla was amazing, always patient with clear explanations of what's going on and what we needed to do. We were so impressed with how responsive she was to our questions and how efficient she was with navigating this competitive market. Carla also molded to our schedule, often working with us in the evenings when we had time to discuss after work, but also available during normal business hours. In addition to going to open houses with us, she helped us arrange other showings and inspections when we needed them. One of the big things I really appreciated about Carla is that she would tell us what we'd need to do to be the most competitive for a bid, but didn't pressure us if we couldn't or weren't comfortable doing all of them - she was strategic, but was there to provide us information we needed to get into the right place, not just to get the sale. We were fortunate that when we entered into escrow, the other agent and sellers were great people to work with, but we had a few of the almost inevitable speedbumps. In those moments, we felt like we had an experienced ally in Carla and knew that we could get things worked out in a way that would be good for everyone (and we did). At the end of the sale, Carla even talked through paint ideas with us - we ended up using her suggestions after looking at a bunch and love how the place feels now. Carla is a total pro, is great to work with, and is fun to talk to as well. My spouse and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for an agent. read more

Carla is the best - and we have worked with many real estate agents over the years. Not only did she help us buy an amazing house in Oakland at a great price, she made the entire process enjoyable. Exceptionally professional, responsive and personable! She recently helped us find tenants for a rental on our property and we will go to her without considering anyone else when we sell our current home next year. read more

Carla is a consummate professional, and more importantly, has become a friend in the brief few months we have known each other. Having been disappointed with another realtor, I was referred to Carla, and I give her full credit for finding my new home. As a first time buyer, especially in this market, things can very quickly become overwhelming and discouraging. However, Carla took me under her wing, and for that I will be forever grateful. She answered every question (sometimes more than once) and explained each and every step to me throughout the process. Moving over to the East Bay from San Francisco, I had limited knowledge of Oakland neighborhoods, and after a brief conversation regarding my likes, dislikes, personality, and what I was looking for in my first home, Carla very quickly recommended a neighborhood that was new to me, yet I immediately fell in love with. It was like she could read my mind! It was important to me to work with a realtor who was not only knowledgeable and experienced, but personable and willing to fight for her clients. I could not have asked for a better advocate during my housing search. After falling in love with a house but it being too early in the my search to commit, I lost out to another buyer. Carla diligently stayed on top of the listing agent, and with a bit of luck, the sale fell through, and because of her persistence, we were able to jump on the opportunity. Fast forward to the middle of escrow and more mishaps occur out of either of our control, and Carla very patiently guided me through the process. She was always transparent and a source of emotional and mental support, holding my hand through a hugely stressful process. Now, I'm happy to say that, instead of looking for a house into the spring, like I originally anticipated, I'm sitting at my dining table in the house that Carla showed me on the very first day of us meeting. read more

Carla handled the sale of our condominium beautifully last November. From start to finish, we benefited from her many years of local experience. She handled every aspect of the transaction as thoroughly as we could have hoped for. Her unwavering attention to the myriad details & guidance thru each step until final closing was a blessing. She was one step ahead the entire time. I don't know how it could have happened any better or smoother. Thank you Carla. read more

I worked with Carla to buy a home in Oakland. Buying a home is one of the most important and stressful experiences, because it's your life savings that you have on the line and where you plan to live for a long, long time, so I'm very selective about who I work with. I expect my realtor to be knowledgeable about the local market, honest and responsive. What made Carla stand out is that she genuinely wanted me to find my forever home even if it wasn't with her. I wound up buying my home in SF with another realtor. She recommended I find a different realtor as that wasn't her area of expertise. After showing me dozens of homes and writing 2-3 offers, I wound up getting a different home that better matched my needs and she happily helped me even though she wasn't making the commission. I really value people like that and would have no hesitations recommending her for anyone looking to buy in Oakland. You're in good hands with Carla Higgins. read more

Carla goes the extra mile.....she was our renter, and when she was ready to make a move, we were pleased to employ her as our real estate agent. She is conscientious and handles every aspect of the process. She uses her expertise and recommends painters, electricians, plumbers, or whatever services need to be provided to get the property ready to show to prospective renters. She has consistently placed quality renters in our unit. She handles every aspect from readying the unit, to advertising, open houses, vetting the prospects, finalizing the documents and delivering the keys. We highly recommend her. read more

Carla and I went through a very difficult and complicated buying process caused by neglectful and irresponsible sellers. However no where in the process was I worried or blindsided any step of the way because of Carla's knowledge and communication with myself. She also helped me fight out of the woods and get out of a mess and into a wonderful home that im very happy with. Going into this process I didn't understand the value of a realestate agent but you need representation to deal with all the pardon my French, crap, that's involved with purchasing a home. She's been part lawyer, part therapist and just a great friend and ally in the process. A great agent makes all the difference in the transaction process, get a good one and you won't find yourself stressed out because you'll know they are doing everything they can on your behalf. Carla is that agent. She makes you feel like your the absolute priority as a client. I would use her services again in a second. read more

Carla spent 10 months with our family of 3 working through an incredibly tough market in Oakland for buyers. We had rather pointed requirements, and were very focused on specific neighborhoods. Her knowledge of these areas was precise and she understood the nuances in housing stock and so forth from street to street. Naturally, these were highly desirable neighborhoods that frequently saw 10-20 offers on each listing. Carla skillfully took us through the process of reviewing the home and disclosures, and submitting an offer -- 7 or 8 times (maybe more?) -- with grace and professionalism. Ultimately, she helped us secure a home exactly where we wanted to be, never once losing her cool or sense of humor through a long and arduous process. We can't recommend her highly enough, and will most certainly use her again read more

My husband and I recently worked with Carla to purchase our home in Oakland, and working with her was fantastic - definitely recommending her and would hands-down work with her again! Not only is she patient, a complete joy to work with and totally honest (definitely didn't yes us to death), what we appreciated most was that fact that she was ALWAYS available to answer questions, help make decisions, and meet us at properties on short notice. In addition, she is extremely knowledgeable about the East Bay and as she is super connected she was able to help find contractors, inspectors, etc. on a moment's notice. My family sold our house in SF before we were able to purchase in the East Bay, so as you can imagine we had a pretty short timeline to buy. Once we found the house we loved, Carla did everything in her power to make sure we had the strongest, most compelling offer. Selling our house first and then having to buy pretty quickly is always going to be stressful, but I can honestly say that Carla made this experience as quick and painless as possible. She was recommended to us and was a great find - if you are looking for an experienced realtor in the East Bay, you must contact Carla! read more

i would actually give carla higgins 10 stars!! i met her 10 years ago.. i had just moved to oakland and was buying my first property here.. in this transaction, she was the seller's realtor.. knowing that i did not have much of a working knowledge of the areas of oakland, she made it clear to me that i should be careful and really check out the neighborhood before i made my decision to buy. i was amazed at her honesty and concern for me even though she wasn't even my realtor.. she was actually the seller's agent!!!! ! my husband and i recently wanted to sell our home and buy another.. without hesitation, i phoned her.. once again, she approached both transactions with the same degree of honesty, integrity, and extreme competence.. she put together an entire highly efficient team from photographer to mortgage broker (jeff sokol, who i also highly recommend) and handled all the many details.. both transactions turned out to have complications and became difficult.. carla really moved us through them with alot of compassion, her indominable spirit, her skilled ability as a negotiator, and solving any "twists and turns" that arose during the process.. we were one of 12 bids on the property. in this highly charged market, she proved to be inexpendable in getting the job done. as i write this, we are settled in our beautiful new home, having sold our old one, all in the course of just over 6 weeks.. thank you, carla!!!! read more