Amy & John D. Our house was a fixer-upper and Catherine worked above and beyond to transform the property into a place where the new owner is able to create a magical place of their own dreams. She did not leave a stone unturned and made the house to what it can be. The back yard is massive and there was a lot of work to be done. She employed the right contractors in every area of the lot. The staging of the house was done better than expected. There were 3 offers within days of the open house. Everybody was amazed about the potential of the property. All of this was a result of Catherine's hard work. She is brilliant, patient, detail oriented, and she worked with us every step of the way. There was a lot to be done to prepare the property for market. She is incredibly meticulous and she knew what would attract potential buyers. We would recommend her to anyone looking to sell or buy property. Her expertise is well worth utilizing. read more

I've sold properties in the Bay Area and Los Angeles; in my book, Catherine is one of the best in California. She's incredibly meticulous, detail-oriented, and has a network of experienced contractors to transform your house into a showpiece. She knows how to share good news to motivate buyers, and thoughtfully present challenging news with sellers to meet market expectations. She's a sophisticated negotiator who will leave no stone unturned to get you the best price on your home. And she handles it all with a level of sensitivity and confidence so that you're comfortable entrusting her with the entire process. We're very grateful to have worked with her, and recommend her to anyone who would like a private client-style experience throughout the sale of their home. read more

Catherine has a positive reputation in the area before I even began to vet her to represent me as a seller. I would receive some impressive mail solicitations from her and hear from the grapevine about her impressive sales in my neighborhood. From the beginning and through the sale process Catherine has displayed a high level of professionalism, guidance, reliability, and expertise in the RE field. Her emphasis in presenting relevant listing/sales data is a highlight of my experience with her. I definitely felt that she represented me accurately and 100% in my best interest. There were even a few obstacles and roadblocks along the way and Catherine helped to guide me through this. Providing comprehensive scenarios and options to ensure the best outcome for me. In the end I felt I came out of our transaction with the best possible outcome and meeting my expectations. I'm 100% happy and appreciative of the work Catherine provided me! read more

Catherine helped me to sell my house in February/March of 2019. She was very committed to getting the best results given the condition of my house and the real estate market at the time. I didn't have the budget to fully upgrade my house. She brainstormed the ideas to maximize my profit when I interviewed her, which is why I hired her over others. Even though my house didn't stack up with similar houses for sale around the same time in my area because of limited upgrades, Catherine didn't list it below the market for its condition to score an easy win. It turned out we didn't receive any offer by our deadline for accepting offers. Slower market at the end of the winter season was another reason for it. Then Catherine got into the full gear. She made many many phone calls to people visited the property. She negotiated and negotiated. Eventually she got 4 or 5 buyers to make at least tentative offers! In the end, a buyer made an offer over the listing price which was amazing! That's the results of Catherine's hard negations, during which many things were going on that I could barely keep track of. Through out the process, she kept a spreadsheet of my costs of repairs and upgrades and sent it to me from time to time. Because my savings was running low and I needed to find housing out of the Bay Area, the spreadsheet helped me make plans. Eventually I bought a condo contingent on selling my house. Catherine proactively coordinated with my buyer's agent. She spent a lot of time to schedule the closing of 2 escrows so I didn't have to spend too much money on moving and temporary lodging in the time gap. That's above and beyond! read more

I recommend Catherine and would happily work with her again. She exhibited an attention to detail, suggested improvements, had professionals available to make those improvements, as well as, for inspections and staging, in a timely manner and coordinated and scheduled them. She was readily available, kept me updated and provided me with schedules, invoices and necessary info for my records. And we sold, above asking price, in less than 1 week! I will consult Catherine for any future real estate needs. read more

Catherine Gortner was our listing agent for our house in the Santa Teresa area that closed in May 2021. Yes, the market was hot and the house would have sold whomever represented us but we think Catherine coached us to enhance the home, brought a team of skilled people to work on the property, provided a world class video and otherwise packaged the house and the deal so that we achieved a sales price that was $300K over our asking price. After looking at Catherine's previous reviews I see there is little I can say that is not already noted in her other 5-star reviews, especially Steve P's review of 4/23/2019. Perhaps all I could add to that is that she is currently just as great as in the past. We think Catherine is smarter than most agents and has design skills and attention to detail that is exceptional. We interviewed other agents, including one who's credentials included "60+ homes closed in the past year". Really. What kind of attention would you get from your listing agent in that case? You would end up dealing with a member of their "team" not the person who visited you. Catherine is a one-on-one agent who cares about your house, about your needs, is always available and quickly replies with thoughtful responses. She is a rare person and you'd be lucky to have her be your listing agent. read more

Catherine helped us sell our home through a very challenging time. In the midst of Covid restrictions, Catherine ensured safety measures were followed for our family, service providers, and potential buyers that went through the home. She made herself readily available for questions and created an amazing video so potential buyers had an opportunity to see features of the home before arranging a visit. The photographs Catherine coordinated were spectacular, as well. Given we were in the middle of relocating, Catherine played a critical role in identifying quality service providers (e.g. painter, carpet installer, window washing, etc.) and helping to manage a very detailed schedule in order to meet an aggressive window to get our home on the market. Catherine answered all of our questions and stayed on top of everything related to the sale of our home. Catherine has an amazing eye for what will appeal to potential buyers and provided us with invaluable advice on what upgrades we should prioritize. Honestly, I wish we had her walk through our home when we bought it so we could have enjoyed all of the changes while we lived there. Catherine pays such close attention to detail that she ensured every room in our home looked amazing! Even after the successful sale of our home, Catherine has continued to help us through any follow-up items and we greatly appreciate the way she goes above and beyond. We would highly recommend Catherine for your real estate needs! read more

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Catherine is amazing, she goes above and beyond as a real estate broker. She gives valuable and honest opinions on the property rather than just trying to seal the deal. She is able to point out things which buyers usually won't notice with her abundance of experience. If you are in the market for real estate services, she is the person to go to. read more

We used Catherine as our listing agent and couldn't have been happier. Not only did she break the neighborhood price record; she also made it a great personal experience. Selling your house of more than twenty years is really stressful. Catherine worked with us step by step, throughout the marketing, showing, offer and closing parts of the sale. She partnered with us well, adapting to our needs and personalities. We worked together to create an end-to-end plan, which we all then followed. The sale went exactly to schedule. Of course partially because we were fortunate, but Catherine gets a lot of the credit as well. She stayed on top of the sale through every step. No surprises, disappointments, or miscommunications. When last minute issues came up, as they always seem to do, Catherine worked to a creative solution benefitting both us and the buyers. She was unruffled by a dubious last-minute change by the buyer's realtor and we respected the ethical way she approached and managed the problem to a win-win outcome. Catherine was recommended to us by a friend. We have done the same in turn. read more

Since Catherine handled the sale of my parent's home so expertly, we worked with her again on the sale of our own home recently without hesitation. She's added her 'Catherine's Concierge Service' and it was a godsend for us. There were quite a few key upgrades that our home needed after more than 3 decades living there. We gave Catherine a target budget to bring our home into a good saleable condition to receive an optimal sale price and a good return on the investment. We moved out prior to all work so we wouldn't be in the way, and Catherine acted as project manager for the entire process. She obtained all the contractor quotes and scheduled the work, and worked with all the contractors. She managed everything from the initial schedule, changes as they arose, providing us photos as each contractor completed their work and requested payment. We have relocated out of state so she acted as our eyes on the work, which was all completed as she originally scheduled, and on budget. I can't express the value of her network of contractors and her ability to manage them and the process. Of course, once again, her expertise to deliver a staged and well marketed property to bring us top dollar very quickly in a challenging housing market can't be overlooked. She worked with the top potential buyers to bring us three good offers to choose from, and she continued to follow up throughout the closing process. read more

Let me start by saying that I wholeheartedly recommend Catherine as your agent whether you are purchasing or selling as I've interacted with her in both capacities. I first met her 17 years ago when she represented a seller. She was honest, fair and quick to respond to questions. She so impressed me (and my father who was helping me find a house to purchase) that once I purchased that house, my father advised me that if I ever decided to sell it that I should use her as the agent. Fast forward 17 years, I decided to sell my home. I interviewed three agents (Catherine was one of them) and decided to move forward with Catherine because she was professional (like the others), but also warm, personable, and very familiar with the neighborhood in which I was selling. Like many other agents, she offered full service, but she went above my expectations. There was work that I wanted done on the house before selling it. She lined up the contractors and made it very easy for me to make decisions. She had the flooring contractor bring in the samples to the house making it super convenient and even took me to a few stone/marble places so that I could find what I was looking for quickly versus having to visit a ton of places. There are a lot of last minute questions that I needed answers for and she always responded quickly to phone calls and texts. I also felt like she was a a good advisor - whether it was how to price the house, when to time the listing (as it was during the summer with holiday weekends to work around) or how to negotiate with my buyers. I also want to point out that when unrepresented buyers (and there were a few) reached out, she took the time to show them the house herself. I was also very happy to see that she was honest and ethical in all her dealings. I sold the house within a 2-week period during the slow down (at least in my market) telling me it was priced and marketed expertly. Definitely take the time to reach out to her, as she's super experienced and a great real estate partner. read more

Catherine is very professional, hard working, and really cares about her clients. She helped us get over asking price for our house and I highly recommend her. She is amazing at her job! read more

I interviewed several real estate agents before selling my home, and Catherine was by far the best. Other agents looked at my home and said it'd be easy to sell for 1.5M. They didn't do much research and didn't know the neighborhood very well. When Catherine saw our home, she immediately saw the potential. Would it sell as-is? Sure. However, with a little attention to detail, we could easily get much more! She went over every square inch of the home and pointed out everything that needed to be addressed. From the obvious task of repainting the interior, to the finer details of replacing every single doorknob and installing dimmable LEDs in the chandelier, she made the house pop! Catherine offers a concierge service that provides a team of expert contractors and handymen to handle all the details at very reasonable prices. Being a remote seller, it was comforting to know that she was on top of all the work being done, and she provided pictures of each step of the process. After prepping and staging the house in record time, Catherine held the open house. This is where her real value comes through. She properly assessed each potential buyer and laid out the options to attract the highest bid. Catherine is a very skilled negotiator, and she was able to get top dollar for our home and greatly exceeded what the other agents would have gotten. I have bought and sold many homes in multiple states, and I have always thought to myself, "these agents don't add any value; any idiot can put a home on the market and sell it". Now that I've seen how Catherine works, I know what to look for in future agents. This is a level of service that is truly world class, and it is backed by DATA that she presents in her track record. I would highly recommend Catherine as a seller's agent. She earned me $100k+. My only regret is that I cannot use her to sell my other homes across the nation! read more

Catherine did a fantastic job representing us twice: As buyers of our first home in 2016, and based on our great experience with her, again in 2018. We are super happy with the amazing work she did for us - and we wouldn't choose any other agent! With Catherine's help we purchased our first house in the foothills of San Jose in 2016. We had found a beautiful hillside property on Zillow, but as first time home buyers had fairly limited knowledge on how to navigate a competitive real estate market. We really benefited from Catherine's assistance guiding us through the buying process. She advised and assisted us in preparing a strong initial offer but also advocated for us to secure a pre-approval that would allow for some headroom to refine the offer. This allowed us to move fast in a competitive buyer situation and close the deal! It still amazes us that this was the first and only property we put an offer in and we were successful with Catherine's help on our first try! It is really her forward looking planning based on years of experience that sets Catherine apart and makes all the difference. Without her we wouldn't be living in our dream house today! In 2018 we dreamed bigger and wanted to expand our family estate with an adjacent lot. Initially, we had reached out to several of our neighbors to gauge their interest in selling but we didn't make any concrete progress for months. Again, reaching out to Catherine made all the difference! Catherine encouraged us to focus our energy on our favorite property and just "go for that"! Our favorite was a pasture across the road: A stunning lot, gorgeous view across the valley all the way to San Francisco, with a huge 30 acreage and a small, old farm house. This also made it a very unique and complex property; a very ambitious undertaking! We had done things informal so far, but Catherine advised us that the right strategy would be to put in a pre-emptive offer in writing. As this was uncharted territory for us, Catherine really did the bulk of the work for us. She did extensive research and sourced comparables (no easy feat on such a unique property), advised us on a strong and fair offer and put together a great packet, complete with letters from us and herself. This got us into negotiation with the seller! During the negotiation it was Catherine representing our best interest that really closed the deal and bridged the gap between our means and the seller's expectation. She is calm, fair, data driven. No tricks, full transparency - fantastic communication, we were informed and aware of every stage of the process. She an expert negotiator! She did a ton of work here for us and shortly after we had an accepted offer! Without her, we would have never gotten to that stage. Catherine is extremely knowledgeable, and a specialist in complex hillside properties. In addition to real-estate she is well versed in zoning and planning, differences between city and county ordinance and can advice accordingly. We could totally rely on her knowledge in this complex deal and she helped us to navigate successfully pitfalls property and seller's agent posed. Catherine's communication, organization and planning are top notch! She is transparent, direct, data driven and super knowledgeable. She has an impressive availability - she is really there for us when it counts! She is an outstanding real estate agent and she became a really good friend to our family! read more

Catherine provided excellent service and support over the past year as we sold a multi-million dollar home in Menlo Park in a tough market. It was as advertised truly "concierge" level. Her awareness of the market patterns, savvy as to what buyers would be looking for, attention to detail in helping us prepare for and present the home to the market, counsel on pricing strategy and negotiation, and determination to help us get the best possible price that the market would bear were all superb. In the end we got the price we sought, notwithstanding the market headlines. I was prepared to settle for slightly less than what we ended up getting, but Catherine assured me that our home was worth more and if we stayed the course we would benefit -- and we did. I am a huge net promoter of Catherine Gortner Properties! read more

Catherine is a shining star in the University Square neighborhood! We chose Catherine because of her stellar reputation and deep knowledge of our unique neighborhood. Every interaction we had with her exceeded our expectations. What distinguishes her among other agents is her unique understanding of the buying and selling culture of the bay area, she taps into that rhythm and expertly generates the buzz and excitement for your property. She is the consummate professional; always 10 steps ahead of all the logistics, extremely prepared and responsive, and has a reputable network of resources to complete the preparations for your home. Her expert ability to market and articulate the value of our home coupled with strong negotiation skills led to yet another of her record sale prices in our neighborhood. We highly, without any hesitation, recommend Catherine to be your realtor! read more

We had an amazing experience with Catherine. We found her here on Yelp and called her and spoke for a bit. She was really flexible with our house search - never pressuring us to consider a certain thing or make a decision. She had great advice and pointed out things we never would have thought of, but without being pushy. She really wanted to get us into a house we would be really happy with, not just whatever came first. Once we were under contract, she was incredible. She recommended a bunch of additional inspections and brought in really qualified people. She negotiated extremely well and was constantly available and in touch. Even after we have closed, she's still checking in with us, seeing how she can be helpful. This was the 4th home we have purchase and by far our best ever experience (and we thought we liked the last agents!). read more

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! My sister and I were looking to sell our inherited property and we found Catherine on yelp. She was a superb agent. She made it so easy. She took care of everything for us. She was very friendly and so nice. She really went ABOVE AND BEYOND to make sure we were satisfied in every aspect. We got our full ask and the process was so simple. I have already recommended her personally to family and friends:) read more

Have to say, working with Catherine was a great decision and a wonderful experience. I was appointed as the person to facilitate the sale of my Aunt's home in San Jose. I interviewed two agents before I met Catherine and knew - based on her stellar track record and extensive knowledge of the market she was "The One." I appreciated the fact that she organized both the professional staging and the very cool virtual tour. Both were off the charts.She is a high caliber professional; I loved that she kept me informed about the smallest details. Her suggestions for the necessary upgrades to obtain top dollar were superb. Her negotiating skills are impressive! Seriously. She is very smart, very resourceful as well as being conscientious, and honest. Three of my friends have since used her and loudly echo my sentiments. I would highly recommend her if you need a top notch real estate professional. read more

Catherine did a marvelous job of selling my home. Starting with the expert advice on staging (which comes as part of the package, not an additional charge!) my home, the company that she hired to do a wonderful video tour of the home capturing all the unique features and fantastic daytime and evening views of the city, to the professional brochure on high quality stock that was present in the home and at the curb. Everything that presented my home was top drawer! This attention to detail, I felt brought in top quality buyers and ultimately the offer that sold my home. Though my home was set up as an equestrian property, she concentrated on the larger executive market, in order to "cast a wider net" of prospective buyers. This singled her out from the other 4 agents I interviewed before selling and brought a better selling price for my home. The most important part of Catherine's skills however were in the negotiations with the buyer and their agent and with me. There were sticking points and Catherine was able to negotiate between them and myself so that in the end we all felt like the deal went well for both parties. I am happy with my sale and the new owner is happy with the home he always wanted in the country. I referred my neighbor to Catherine and she sold his home only 2 months after mine closed. He was counseled by friends to do a FSBO, and after discussing the pros and cons of using an agent, he listed with Catherine. He is very happy with the outcome. I have bought and sold over 11 homes in my life. Catherine ranks as one of the top agents I have dealt with in this process. I have seen the good, the bad and yes, the ugly of agents over my time and she is one of the best. read more

I just got the key this morning to a gorgeous home on the hills of East Foothills, all thanks to a wonderful and caring real estate professional who treated my purchase as if it was a home she was purchasing for herself. In a hot sizzling market where newly listed homes get multiple bids upwards, she somehow managed to get a lower bid accepted by the seller, and she then proceeded to negotiate for me an additional amount of seller's credit at the time of closing. Let me tell you, Catherine is worth her weight in gold. She is, hands down, top of the line, highest quality real estate professional I have ever met. Since my knowledge of the buying process was severely limited, I was very appreciative of the constant and empathetic hand-holding and guidance she provided which allowed me to weave my way past all the pitfalls and thorny issues that a home purchase could potentially spring on an unsuspecting buyer. She was very responsive and stayed in communication with us throughout the process, usually via emails, but also through multiple phone calls. We scheduled viewings all over the hills with her, and she was always there to take us through the homes, never flaking on us, and never making us feel as if she had more important clients to take care of than us, even though I know she had other properties she was listing at the time we were looking for a home. When it came time to put in an offer on the house, we had to go out of town on business, but she was able to work around that by allowing us to sign the offer documents via our cell phones, at 11 pm on a Saturday night, while she talked us through the process via phone calls. We live and work in Silicon Valley, and still, I was impressed that she was able to take advantage of high tech to make the process as smooth as possible for us. I was also wary about purchasing a home on a hillside because of the potential for serious issues with regards to the foundation and shifting soils, but she got us a good foundation expert to take care of our biggest worry, and after that, I got her Concierge List, which is a short-list goldmine of all the best services providers that a new home-owner should have. I am not kidding when I say that every single person I have interviewed who has been on this list is top notch and I have shared it with my friends who own homes because I have found it to be so useful. Her knowledge of her profession is impressive, but more than that, she is a warm and caring, conscientious, and honest person, and I would highly recommend her if you need a real estate professional. I will most definitely contact her again for our next purchase, which will be some time in 2015. read more

I have worked with Catherine on both Commercial Out of State real estate deals and California Residential deals for 20 years. She really knows every aspect of the industry. I trust her judgement. I would not negotiate a deal, neither buy nor sell, without her. On a personal note, she always puts her customer's interest first. She is also a valuable contributor to the Sierra Road Mutual Water Co. We make not business decisions without her input. read more

I strongly recommend Catherine Gortner as your prospective realtor; Catherine represented our property for sale. I first met Catherine when my wife/I were looking for a home to purchase; and she represented another seller. I was at her property when the video was to be made that day; and Catherine was surveying the property for last minute fixes -- for example, she noticed that one of the lights was out; and asked for it to be fixed asap. While I was there, the seller was also there and thanked Catherine for her efforts and mentioned how they appreciated her staging results. I was impressed with her attention-to-detail, as well as how she coordinated the different moving parts of a sale (e.g. the stagers, the video person). When the time came for us to sell our home; we asked Catherine to represent us. She knew the right resources/personnel (e.g. painter, carpet installers, gardener, stagers) to get our home quickly ready for our sale (~ 2 weeks of prep time). Throughout the process, Catherine was responsive using multiple methods of communications (e.g. email, text). Our home ended up selling with multiple offers and an at-the-time record home price by square footage, with which we were very pleased. When we looked for a realtor, we were looking for someone we could trust and properly represent us, as well as our property. We believe we found the right person in Catherine. read more

First time selling a home, we needed someone who is trustworthy, able to take charge and can guide us through the process. We found a few agents who has impressive Yelp reviews and scheduled interviews. Catherine was the first person we interviewed, we liked her right away because she is so easy to talk to. She is straight forward, honest and courteous. She meticulously explained the entire process of selling a home to us, along the way answering all our questions and addressing our concerns with patience and fineness. I like Catherine so much that I wanted to cancel the interviews with the rest of the candidates, but since this was our first time hiring selling agent, we thought we should at least talk to a few more people before making a decision. Catherine set the bar so high, we called her back as soon as the last candidate left our front door. Catherine knew we needed to sell the house soon because we were in escrow with another house. She went to work right away, assembling a team of professionals to get the house ready for listing. She sent us email with a very organized schedule of what needs to happen on what day and at what time. She kept us informed when things change. I love how organize and transparent she is! Catherine took charge during the entire process and we just followed her lead. Although she was making most of the calls, she welcomed our input and respected our choices. She is sensitive to our needs and limitations, and genuinely cared about my family's well being. She always returns our calls and responds to our emails swiftly. And she made time to meet with us whenever we need her. Our house was ready to be listed within 3 weeks and sold well above asking price. Thanks to Catherine, the entire process was stress free, and we learnt so much from her through this journey. Our relationship with Catherine did not just end when the house was sold. She is still looking out for us, making sure we transition to our new home smoothly. She knew we were looking for contractors to remodel the new home, so she referred contractors to us. It was such a pleasure to work with Catherine. Thank you Catherine for all that you've done for us. read more

Catherine was a great agent and she made us feel comfortable at every step of the way. Being first time buyers we were a little nervous about the whole process but she was very knowledgeable and helped us close a house in the middle of the pandemic. She was great at negotiating on our behalf and she suggested that we make a preemptive offer which I think is the main reason for us getting a house we liked in such a hot market. Even after closing, she was very helpful and gave us a lot of useful pointers and contacts to help with small repairs. read more

My husband and I began working with Catherine, 3 years ago. Upon meeting her at an open house, I felt an instant connection and trust in her. She is prudent, honest and operates with the upmost professionalism. She is diligent, detailed and exercises reasonable judgement. Did I mention she is extremely patient. It was 3 years until my husband and I finally decided on a property. Catherine helped us put together a strong preemptive offer and was incredibly involved in the escrow despite being on vacation during a portion of it. What I love most about Catherine is there is a mutual respect she has with her clients. She is not a pushy sales person, she trusts her clients and demonstrates care and their best interest. Catherine will continue to be our realtor so long as we are in the market to buy or sell. read more

Catherine is an amazing realtor! She is pleasant, competent, informative, organized, good strategist, and a true professional. She never left any questions unanswered and always responded promptly. She always wants the best for her clients; she catches small problems and doesn't ignore big ones, so we didn't have any hidden, surprise problems with our house. She offered excellent advice and helped us make right decisions. We trusted her judgment and the result was excellent. In couple months she made our dream to buy a new house a reality. Even post-closing, Catherine was helping us with advices and recommendations on contractors. We worried about getting a realtor too early in the process but Catherine didn't pressure us into buying a house we didn't want and she took the time to find the perfect house for us. We are extremely pleased with the buying of our home and recommend Catherine to anyone looking to buy. Thank you Catherine for the time and effort you spent with us! read more

It's a pleasure to write this review for Catherine. She did an amazing job and made the sale process so much easier for us. At first my husband and I were a little nervous about selling our home but after meeting Catherine we felt so much better. It turned out to be a beautiful experience for several reasons. Catherine was a professional from beginning to end. She always responded to my calls and emails right away. And always provided me with intelligent, ethical and caring responses. My home sold very fast (less than 1 week!) and it was because of Catherine's hard work. She hired the most amazing stager and also helped me make small home improvements. She made this process so much fun too! Catherine showcased our home so beautifully online that it quickly created a high interest from potential buyers. It was so high that Catherine decided to have our open house earlier then originally planned. So Catherine decided to postponed her family vacation to attend the open house because she wanted to do what was right for us! We knew Catherine was extremely dedicated but this act was so kind. Turned out that there were about 60 people at our open house and Catherine worked very hard to make everything run smoothly. After only 4 days from the open house we already had several offers on the table. All were well over the original asking price. Catherine has amazing negotiation skills and we couldn't be more thrilled with the end result. Catherine's biggest joy is to make her clients happy. And she sure made us happy! I will forever be grateful and feel so blessed that our paths crossed. read more

We are extremely happy with our experience working with Catherine. Although most of the reviews we read about her are from sellers, she proved to be an excellent choice as a buyer's agent. It hardly bears mentioning that the property market in the Bay Area is, at the time of writing, an extremely stressful one for a prospective buyer. Inventories are low and the pressure to bid well above asking and remove all contingencies is high. We were therefore pleasantly surprised that the first offer we wrote was successful, and that the process ended up being much smoother than anticipated - all thanks in large measure to Catherine's character, skill and experience. From the beginning of our home search, we were encouraged by Catherine's approachable demeanor; she is honest and trustworthy, and responded to our questions quickly and gave good advice. We did not feel pressured our pushed in any way, except by the property market itself! She is also a good listener who understood our needs and desires, and was able to guide us accordingly. As we viewed homes, she helped us see things we otherwise would not have, and taught us a great deal. When we did find a home we wanted to write an offer for, her experience as a negotiator worked well for us, enabling us to put in a successful bid at a good price. During and after closing, she continued to be engaged, and provided us good advice on contractors for renovation and touch-up work. She was and has been willing to field general home ownership questions as well, which has been helpful and reassuring for us as first-time home owners. It is hard to imagine how we could have been better served by a realtor, and will strongly recommend her services to our friends and acquaintances who are looking to buy a home in the area. read more

I honestly feel that a lesser experienced Realtor would not have gotten me in to my first choice of homes as a first time home buyer! To start from the very beginning, I interviewed two Realtors who both told me basically the same thing; that what I was looking for, in my price range, was going to be very difficult (if not impossible) to get and that they really weren't interested in helping me as it wasn't a good return for them. When I explained this to Catherine, she said well yes, it may be a challenge, but I'm willing to give it a go if you are! And so was the beginning of a fantastic experience with Catherine! The home I ultimately purchased had over 32 offers and despite my not having the preferred 10-20% down, she was able to negotiate with the sellers and demonstrate that I was a well qualified buyer purchasing well within my means. She also went above and beyond creating comparable sales analysis for the appraiser to ensure my townhouse was valued most favorably. Catherine explained every step of the process and really held my hand through the entire purchase, for which I was most grateful. Upon closing, Catherine provided great resources for some improvements I wanted to make prior to moving in, such as flooring contractors and painters. And, knowing I was Catherine's client, they took very good care of me! A huge load off for someone not at familiar with home improvement and dealing with contractors. Aside from her considerable professional attributes, Catherine is a caring person who I felt really gave her all in helping me through a very stressful process. She was genuinely thrilled when we realized that I was in fact going to get the home that I really wanted! Should I have need in the future, or should anyone ask for a reference, I would for certain contact/refer Catherine immediately, no doubt about it! read more

Cathrine is the most professional realtor we have ever worked with and both my wife and I would highly recommend her if you are planning on selling your home. Her knowledge of the area and selling skill was most impressive. Additionally she was very attentive to our personal needs and was keen to follow up on all issues related to the sale. Catherine implemented the use of a professional stager, creating strong appeal to buyers eventually maximizing the sell price of our home. Catherine was also very capable in negotiating on our behalf as she was able to get multiple offers on our home which led to a significantly higher sell price than what we had listed for exceeding our expectations. Thank you Catherine for making this experience so very positive! You are the best! read more

A few years ago, we sold our first home and purchased a new home in Mountain View through Catherine Gortner. Her knowledge of the market and assurances throughout the selling process really helped us to feel confident. In fact, our home sold right in the estimated timeframe she had projected. Since we had purchased our first home directly from a builder, we were unfamiliar with buying a home on the open market. She patiently walked us through each step of the process, made herself available for viewings, and offered us valuable insights into how to best present an offer. She also went above and beyond in researching zoning regulations, and ultimately tracking down all the construction permits on our new home in order to assure that all additions were up to code. She insured that we had all comparable sales information in our new neighborhood and that the appraisal process was a smooth one. There were multiple bids on the home we purchased, and we believe that it was her due diligence that encouraged the sellers to accept our offer. We love our new home, but if we do move again in the future we would most certainly rely on Catherine's expertise to help us find another house. There are a lot of real estate brokers out there, but very few excellent ones. She is one of the excellent ones. read more

Catherine is one of the most extraordinary agents that I have ever met. This is our third time buying/selling a home and wanted to find a trustworthy and reliable agent. Catherine was just that. I'm retired and my family was in the middle of moving out of state and Catherine made sure to make a detailed plan for us so we had time to prepare. She was always in constant communication with us throughout the whole process and was honest about what needed to be upgraded in order to get top dollar for our home. Her team of contractors, painters, gardeners, and stager did amazing work and did it at affordable prices. She helped me handle the pressure and stress of renovating our home and took our input into consideration. I've never met an agent who worked with so much care and consideration for her clients. Any questions we had for Catherine were always answered quickly and thoroughly. She was able to sell our home 'within days (of course it depends on the market) and made sure that our transaction was as smooth as possible.  Catherine, we are grateful for the outcome and the "burden" you have shouldered for us. You truly went above and beyond the duty of a real estate agent. Thank you for showing a guy who has lived and worked in Silicon Valley for over thirty years what true professionalism is. Dan Nguyen read more

Catherine helped us sell our house in East Palo in the summer of 2014. She gave us wonderful advice about what improvements to invest in as we prepared the house for sale, then she staged it beautifully, and finally brought multiple offers to us from prospective buyers. We ended up getting an offer well above our asking price and I give Catherine the credit for that. I'm happy to recommend her. read more

I have to give Catherine credit for her professionalism in the whole transaction and courtesy as a representative, the transaction was very smooth and satisfactory. read more

Catherine Gortner did a great job slling our home in the East Highlands of Alum Rock. She was great with texting and email, calling when a longer conversation was needed. Also the virtual tour photographer she hired was a great bonus. Going pending in December is generally tough to get a high price, but she helped with negotiating a fair-to-slightly higher price, accentuating the best features. Allowing me to host my own open house helped as well to have real conversations with buyers from a first hand knowledge standpoint helped a couple of parties to have interest. The home was pending in about 25 days after just one price reduction. read more

What I can say about Catherine that has already been said about her,but I have to say my piece it it's only fair, Catherine is a Professional in every sense of the word, She knows and enjoys her job, our experience selling our home that is not easy task, but with the knowledgeable guide of Catherine became bearable, her recommendations for the necessary upgrades to obtain top dollar were right on the money, she provides professional staging, virtual tour and works hard until the last minute of the transaction, always keeping informed from the smallest details. Knowing and working with Catherine was a wonderful experience read more

We wanted to write this letter of reference for Catherine Gortner, because she did such a phenomenal job of representing us in both the purchase of our new home in San Jose, and the sale of our prior home in Burlingame. Having discovered the home of our dreams in San Jose, we had occasion to meet Catherine at an open house. She helped us get through a difficult negotiation with the sellers, working on our behalf to get a nearly 15% discount off the asking price of the home. She worked closely with the selling agent and the sellers to get them to become agreeable to our offer, despite the significant price discount. Then she worked relentlessly through the closing process to manage the banks, mortgage broker, and inspectors to ensure a timely close of escrow, which definitely would have slipped had Catherine not intervened. Catherine then turned around and did an excellent job of showcasing our Burlingame home. She assisted us in preparing the home through staging tips and suggestions on repairs and touch-up work to create the best first impression. She prepared a beautiful, glossy brochure for the home, the quality of which we had rarely seen except for luxury homes. She also advertised our home with a photo virtual tour on popular real estate websites, thus increasing the visibility of the listing. Once listed, Catherine was relentless in holding open houses until we had a great offer in hand. When it came to the pricing and negotiating, Catherine really helped us receive the maximum amount for our property. Despite an increasingly tough housing market, she encouraged us to go for a slightly higher than expected asking price given our property location and condition, and then succeeded in closing the transaction at the asking price. This was in a market where we were not expecting to be in a multi-bid situation, yet she was successful in encouraging the buyers to act quickly and decisively. She truly managed to get us the full value of the property. Catherine is simply a wonderful agent to work with. She has always been very responsive, savvy, friendly, and enjoyable. Simply put, we highly recommend her! read more

We had an awesome experience working with Catherine. She did an outstanding job of marketing our home in a way that really helped to showcase all the work we had done and maximize it's potential. The staging, flyer and showing of our home was all done with a degree of professionalism beyond our expectations. She skillfully navigated us through multiple incoming offers and we were very pleased with the results. Her extensive knowledge of the area and understanding of our dreams made the house hunting experience a pleasure. She used her remarkable savvy to negotiate us into an off-market home that turned out to be an amazing opportunity. She was great to work with, not only for her professionalism and knowledge of the real estate industry, but more importantly for the personal interest she took in making our experience as smooth and stress free as possible. Whenever we started freaking out, Catherine was patient, understanding and sensitive to our needs. She was also responsive, hard working and paid attention to every detail of our transaction. We highly recommend Catherine and we would definitely work with her again. read more

Catherine is the best real estate agent ever! She responded to our request to represent us as buyer agent in less than 20 minutes when other agents did not respond quickly or at all, advised us to get a property inspection even though the seller had one and we found out the chimney was broken and needed repair so she negotiated some extra funds for us for the repair. She prepared all papers fast and was in constant communication with us, seller agent, inspectors, title company, insurance etc. so we were able to close escrow in 2 weeks and move in. It was fantastic experience to work with her! read more