ZillowVERIFIEDI cant say enough about how amazing Carmela Achiche is as a Realtor and as a human. We recently decided to look for a cabin for a vacation home in the mountains about 3 hours from us, and I contacted Carmela (who is local to us) to see whether she would be able to help us, especially since we had seen a cabin we were interested in. Carmela said she was happy to represent us and that it would give her an opportunity to learn about a new area and climate. She immediately sprung into action by contacting the listing agent, looking up comparable properties, and getting answers to our questions about why the cabin was such a low price. Within a couple days, we were up in the mountains with her, looking at the property. We really liked the cabin, and Carmela gave us great advice about an offer price. She set the expiration of our offer to end before a scheduled open house, and the sellers accepted (which also saved their listing agent from having to do the open house!) Carmela provided us with much-appreciated advice about which inspections we should do for an old property in a snowy climate, and she set them up right away. A day or two before the inspections, one of the sellers declared bankruptcy. Carmela let us know, and then brought in her mentor/broker to speak with us because Carmela had not been through this type of situation before. I have so much respect for people who admit what they dont know and get guidance, rather than guessing and making mistakes along the way. We received excellent advice to stay in escrow but get guarantees that we could back out at any time for any reason. Carmela also canceled the inspections so we wouldnt have to pay for those until we knew more, and she even got the seller to reimburse us for the appraisal since they would need that information for the bankruptcy court. A few days later, Carmela noticed a listing for a much newer and larger property in the same area, and she sent us the link. We immediately fell in love; the cabin was more expensive, but was so much more house for the money, was far newer and in a better location. Carmela made magic happen and we went back up to the mountain a few days later to see the property (again, before the open houses). I had sent Carmela a list of all of our must-haves and nice-to-haves, and this cabin checked every box! When I had suggested a few options for offers (since we were hoping to offer cash for the furniture and furnishings), Carmela was so thoughtful and pragmatic about each scenario, explaining why certain suggestions were good or carried risk for not getting the offer accepted, alienating the seller, and so on. In the event that we fell in love, Carmela already had the offer written up so she was able to make a few changes and send it out, again with an expiration before the open houses. Our offer was accepted and the open houses were cancelled. Again, Carmela got to work getting all of the inspections lined up for the same day, and she went back up to the property to observe and ask questions during the inspections. One example of her proactivity was that she saw the property had a newish air conditioning unit. She noted the company who installed it, and called them to see whether there was a warranty and if it was transferable. We never wouldve known to ask about that - Carmela thought of EVERYTHING and took the initiative to research and ask questions without needing any prompting. We wound up running into some snags with the sellers trying to go back on our contracted agreement about the furniture and furnishings, and Carmela did everything she could to make it right by discussing the issue in depth with the listing agent as well as with us, and in the end helping us get a perspective about all of the furniture and furnishings that the seller declared they were taking after agreeing that our price included all furniture, furnishings, and wall art that was not in a locked cabinet. She even wound up getting us the most thoughtful personalized gift to replace something we loved that the seller took (which as it turns out was a generic Hobby Lobby decoration of three bears holding a canoe, in contrast to the one-of-a-kind wooden puzzle sculpture of 2 adult bears hugging a baby bear with our name on each bear that Carmela got for us!) In the end, we closed escrow within 21 days and have the perfect vacation getaway that only requires some minor projects. Ive been telling everyone I know in Southern California about Carmela (even those who currently dont plan to buy or sell), since I want everyone to know aEURoewhat good looks likeaEUR? by working with Carmela. Every situation has its stresses, but knowing Carmela was there to help us gave us so much peace of mind.