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A Buyer's Story

By
Real Estate Agent with CATARRA CA BRE# 01871201

I love working with my clients. One of them sent me, a story about her experience buying a home. It's nicely written and I like it so I want to share it with all of you.

I have had such a wonderful experience working with Carla Dimond, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share this experience. I started searching for a property in October of 2011. I was desperate to find a duplex, so that I could live in one unit and rent out the other. I met a very nice male realtor, who ended up showing me several properties, ranging from a few single family homes, to a few duplexes. I had never worked with a realtor before, so I had no expectations. In fact, I thought he was doing a good job only because there is this stereotype about realtors always being out to get commission, and not really caring about their clients. I would not put him in that category, but he definitely did not have that connection with me, enough for me to give him my trust -- a connection I later found with Carla.


While I was working with my first realtor, I was still figuring out my budget, what kind of property I wanted, and I must have been extremely frustrating to work with. I wasn't sure how involved my parents would be, especially since my mom wanted to find a cheaper investment property, while I wanted to find somewhere to live and to rent out. You may or may not know that the price difference between a duplex and a cheaper investment property could be as vast as 250k. Anyway, he started to contact me less, and has never even followed up with me after showing me three or four properties. 


I continued the quest on my own using MLS, Zillow, and Redfin. I found a property on Zillow that I wanted to see. That's when Zillow referred me to Carla Dimond. I did not want to meet with another realtor, because I understood how much work my first realtor put into showing me homes, so I just e-mailed her with questions when he did not get back to me. I figured I would just continue the search, and give him the commission if I found something on my own. 

I found several properties on Zillow, and I would shoot Carla an e-mail asking if the property was still for sale. What I love about Carla is that she is very prompt in returning my calls and e-mails.  She was so committed to answering all my questions, and I had not even met her yet. I figured, I have to at least meet her. We met in East Palo Alto to see some of the new condo's there, and that is where our relationship first formed. After that, she showed me several properties, both in my price range and our of my price range, completely remodeled, and a few places that needed to be knocked down. What is incredible is her patience, and self control. If I were in her position, I might say, "What are you doing, that property stinks!" But she met me at every property I wanted to see, and told me the pros and cons of the area, and the house itself.

Making that connection with Carla was the most valuable decision I made in my home buying experience. Carla always has such a positive essence and energy about her. She immediately felt like someone I could trust, or a long lost friend. She is always in a good mood, she is very laid back and simply gives you all the facts you need to know about the property. She does not push you to buy a house, in fact she is very honest. I really appreciate that she never says "no" or "that's not a good idea." Carla is very supportive, and I greatly appreciate all of the personal, financial, and overall advice she has shared with me. 

I feel like Carla has become a confidant, and a mentor in the few months that I have known her. Especially since I can relate to her consistent happiness and relaxedness, shes always fun to be around, pleasant to work with, and extremely knowledgable. Carla is very tech saavy. She knows how to utilize docusign, she is on facebook, has a blog, therefore she can reach out to various types of people. I really appreciate that she schedules a face-to-face meeting when she makes an offer; in fact Carla and my lender Dennis Greene with Princeton Capitol, both met with the listing agent to present my offer. I felt so confident and completely backed once my offer was in. I won the offer and I'm waiting for escrow to close in the next week or two! I can't be more excited! I also appreciate that Carla has advice about remodeling, appliances, contractors, renting your property, etc. I dont think there was any question that I threw at her that she could not answer. I have been very lucky to have had such a pleasant experience with my realtor and lender, Carla and Dennis.

On her Keller Williams website, Carla says, "I am not here to sell you a house but to help you find a home." This statement really rings true to her method of working with people. It shows that everything she does is in the best interest of her client. I have too many nice things to say about Carla, and I am happy to recommend her to you, and all of my friends and family.
Posted by

Five Star

 

Comments (2)

Bryan Robertson
Los Altos, CA

Great testimonial Carla.  You are an excellent agent and your client was lucky to have you.

Sep 28, 2012 02:03 PM
Carla Dimond
CATARRA - Mountain View, CA
(Silicon Valley)

@Bryan, thank you so much, you know you are a hero of mine:-)

Sep 28, 2012 02:07 PM