Portfolio

We were really lucky to find Catherine. As first time homebuyers, we didn't know much about how the real estate market worked, especially around Berkeley. Catherine listened to what we wanted and had several houses ready for us to view on the very first meeting. We ended up liking one so much that we made an offer. Her expertise was extremely valuable here; there were lots of other offers, and Catherine knew what to do to make ours the most attractive.We were able to close in 20 days, which still astounds me. She had a house inspector lined up the day the offer was accepted, and also had various contractors come in to give estimates on work needed (we were able to take these estimates to the seller to get the price lowered). She stayed on top of all of the people involved: the loan officer, the title company, the inspector, the contractors, the homeowners insurance agent, and us.We can't…

We were really lucky to find Catherine. As first time homebuyers, we didn't know much about how the real estate market worked, especially around Berkeley. Catherine listened to what we wanted and had several houses ready for us to view on the very first meeting. We ended up liking one so much that we made an offer. Her expertise was extremely valuable here; there were lots of other offers, and Catherine knew what to do to make ours the most attractive.We were able to close in 20 days, which still astounds me. She had a house inspector lined up the day the offer was accepted, and also had various contractors come in to give estimates on work needed (we were able to take these estimates to the seller to get the price lowered). She stayed on top of all of the people involved: the loan officer, the title company, the inspector, the contractors, the homeowners insurance agent, and us.We can't say enough good things about Catherine. She was always on time, and responded to calls and emails extremely quickly. If we're ever in the market for another house in the area, we will contact Catherine without a moments hesitation.

Our real estate adventure in the East Bay started over a decade ago when our newly married daughter moved with her family to study,  work and live in Berkeley.   We fell in love with the area and started looking for a place of our own in the North Berkeley Hills.   We visualized our perfect house as the impossible dream.  We called it “Our Unicorn.”   For a while we tried simply looking at Zillow.  We favored a DIY approach.  Going to open houses when we were in town and putting in uninformed bids proved to be frustrating and unproductive.   We found that we were missing some great opportunities.  On one of those failed attempts at a purchase, we met Catherine Stern from Red Oak Realty.  She volunteered to find us a house.   As our relationship with Catherine grew we found that she was a professional with the deep knowledge, contacts and patience that brought us opportunities that we had…

Our real estate adventure in the East Bay started over a decade ago when our newly married daughter moved with her family to study,  work and live in Berkeley.   We fell in love with the area and started looking for a place of our own in the North Berkeley Hills.   We visualized our perfect house as the impossible dream.  We called it “Our Unicorn.”   For a while we tried simply looking at Zillow.  We favored a DIY approach.  Going to open houses when we were in town and putting in uninformed bids proved to be frustrating and unproductive.   We found that we were missing some great opportunities.  On one of those failed attempts at a purchase, we met Catherine Stern from Red Oak Realty.  She volunteered to find us a house.   As our relationship with Catherine grew we found that she was a professional with the deep knowledge, contacts and patience that brought us opportunities that we had previously missed.   Catherine had sized us up very well and used her experience and intuition to put us on a more probable track toward success.   Her greatest talent turned out to be reading between the lines of our stated criteria to find a house that was a perfect blend.   Catherine found us a reality that exceeded our dreams.  Catherine changed our lives. Hill People with a View