As a buyer in the Oakland market, you cannot get representation to help find you a home from anyone better than Lisa Cartolano. Starting in the summer of 2013, we began looking for a larger home, as we had outgrown our 2-1 with the addition of our third child. We worked with Lisa for nearly 9 months by the time we got into our new home at the end of January 2014, and through the wild ride, she was our rock!
While there are so many things that make Lisa the ideal Realtor if you are looking to purchase a home in Oakland, my review will focus on the four qualities that I think make her the best.
First, Lisa has a lot of experience in the Oakland area, with solid relationships with other agents and the local real estate professional community. Having those connections greatly facilitated our access to information when we were structuring offers and counteroffers on the multiple homes we considered along the way. She would do her homework about the properties we considered and she'd usually know the listing agent and the history of the homes with details that were not always from the MLS. Whenever we would tell another agent that Lisa was representing us, each responded positively and that they thought very highly of her. This confirmed to us that she has a solid reputation in her own professional community.
Second, Lisa is smart and honest. She really listened to us and understood what we wanted in our new home. When we would stray from our goal or tried to stretch a bit too much, as many are inclined to do when met with competition from other buyers, she would steer us back to our reality. She kept us grounded, and helped us strategize in ways that were right for us, keeping in mind our own personal goals and budget. The process of buying a house is very emotional and Lisa kept us straight the whole time.
Third, Lisa is extremely accessible and punctual to a fault. Whenever we called to ask to see a home, she would usually have something set up within an hour of our request and at a time that worked with our schedules. With appointments, we would be on time, and she was usually there before we arrived, already waiting. We purchased our home right around Christmas, and Lisa was there through the holidays working diligently on closing our transaction.
Fourth, Lisa is an advocate, which is exactly what you need when dealing with multiple offer Bay area home purchases. Along the way, we made 4 offers, and each time, Lisa personally presented our offer to the sellers, pitching us and our family as the best buyers for the homes we wanted. We bumped into one of the agents to whom Lisa pitched one of our offers, and she told us that Lisa did a fantastic job for us in the presentation.
Needless to say, with Lisa's help, we ended up in a fantastic new home, which we love. It literally has all of the features we listed when we started the process. The close process for us was not the smoothest (through no fault of Lisa), and if Lisa had not been our Realtor with the connections she had, the deal very likely would have fallen apart.
Like another reviewer here, we also decided to rent our previous home, rather than sell it. Lisa helped us with that process with as much skill and professionalism as she demonstrated during our search to buy a new home. Lisa really can do it all, and I could go on-and-on about all she did for us.
The bottom line is that based on our experience, we would ask Lisa to represent us again in a heartbeat, in another purchase or if we ever decide to sell one of our homes. Thanks for helping make our dream come true Lisa! read more