Karen J. Sotomayor of CENTURY 21 Sylvia Geist Agency

I'd met with another broker earlier the same day. When I arrived at the Sylvia Geist Agency and began my meeting with karen, she had already compiled a folder with all the comparable homes which had sold/were on the market in the East Brunswick area. I was immediately impressed with how thoroughly she had prepared for our meeting on such short notice…and knew for certain during out meeting - that I would recommend to my family that we sign on with karen and Sylvia Geist Agency. Yes. Here (below) is the letter I emailed to Chris and Bob Geist this past weekend, thanking karen for all of her wonderful efforts. Hello Chris and Bob, On behalf of my family and myself, I'd like to thank Karen and the Sylvia Geist Agency for your wonderful work and successful efforts in selling our home at 60 Gates, Avenue, East Brunswick. In particular I want to express our special gratitude to Karen for all her efforts. Simply put, our family feels blessed to have had Karen as our realtor. With her genuine modesty, Karen will say she was just doing her job. But there is so much more for which we thank her. It goes back to the first day I met with Karen at your offices. Although I'd only spoken by phone with her briefly earlier that day, when I arrived at your office she already had a complete booklet of comparable homes in East Brunswick - those which had sold recently and those still on the market. We were able to review the photos and details from the start. Karen asked what our plans were for the house, and we discussed several aspects for about one hour. Within a few days Karen visited our home and met with me and my brother Dan. The next day she sent us the attached email with a summary of initial improvements needed to enable the house to become more marketable. Not only was Karen correct with each of her recommendations (and future recommendations) - she also provided us with a list of contractors for each of the improvements. Although we obtained quotes from other contractors - in each case we wound up using the contractor Karen had recommended in the first place. These included contractors and suppliers for: removing the oil tank and converting the furnace over to gas supplier of kitchen cabinets and countertop exterminator-inspector plumber who installed new sink in basement carpenter who replaced damaged wood on the large enclosed porch painter and all-around repairperson - Nelson Basden, who became a key person in completing all the home improvements required We needed to purchase new vanities and toilets for both bathrooms. Karen took the time to accompany me and my sister-in-law in helping us select attractive and appropriate models. By the way, many of the salespeople at Lowe's and Home Depot already knew and were friends with Karen. We also needed to replace all the ceiling lighting fixtures. Karen recommended installing attractive combination lighting-fan fixtures for each room. These became a significant improvement and selling feature for our home. Note: Karen arranged to have a beautiful living room and a family room set of furniture displayed as part of staging the house. The new furniture was effective during the open house dates and for the on-line photos. Karen re-swept the floors prior to taking the photos...we'd done an OK job but Karen made sure everything appeared its best. We originally listed the house for $420,000, although Karen had suggested listing at $400K to attract more buyers. After two months of interest but no offers, we lowered the price to $400K. Within one week we had two families who submitted offers for the house. It was clear to me that both families, their realtors and lenders trusted and respected Karen. What can I say? Karen guided us through the bidding process and communications with the buyers' attorneys the way a great conductor conducts an orchestra...she truly did. The result was one family making an offer for $410K which they s

Good Job - liked that she spoke spanish

Karen did a great job researching the comparable homes in the area in order to come up with a competitive price. She was influential in affordable upgrades that would attract buyers. Overall she is very efficient and trustworthy. I was very fortunate to have her as my realtor.

Karen was great. Very professional and knowledgeable about the local market. She was warm, friendly and extremely patient throughout the entire process. I would definitely recommend her to anyone trying to sell their home.

Thanks

Because I lived out of state, Karen went way out of her way to work with my periodic absences. She stood in for me and arranged things in my stead many times, saving me from another 4 hour drive from Virginia to New Jersey. She worked around my confusing schedule, and made it all happen.