ZillowVERIFIEDBeatrice Kopilenko helped me purchase my new home just in time for the holidays this past year. Before I met Beatrice, I'd been looking for a new home for well over a year and was starting to get antsy due to the rising costs of everything in the Bay Area. I had a bit of a down payment lined up, but was sort of flying blind when I went out to open houses. I'd been to many open houses and every real estate agent would always pry into my personal business, with little concern of knowing me personally. They'd then ask the question "Do you have an agent?" I would always say no, but I emphasized that I was in fact seriously looking for a house. Despite my sincere house-hunting claims, I was disregarded almost 100% of the time. Then I went to look at a beautiful two bedroom close to the Excelsior neighborhood and Beatrice was the realtor hosting the open house. She asked me the same prying questions but seemed genuinely interested in what I was looking for (not just an easy to read customer with x number of assets). She was extremely personable. When I told her I wasn't represented yet, she casually looked me in the eye and asked me, "Can I represent you?" I took her card and went home and thought about it for a few days. After considering my options and knowing that I needed to be taken seriously, I called her back; mainly because she simply asked for my business: dozens of open houses and she was the only agent that legitimately wanted to sell me a house. Up until then, I felt every other bay area agent I came across was universally snooty or glib. Other agents seemed so pampered by the booming market that they never really have to ask for someone's business. I forgot that agents are supposed to work for the customer not just print money for the agent. Beatrice simply asking "Can I represent you?" spoke volumes of what I would expect. Beatrice went off to the races quickly. She made spreadsheets of everything that I had been looking at with their expected closing price or their actual closing price. She put everything in perspective and showed me what to look out for, how to navigate the choppy market etc. She was very knowledgeable. She helped me draft a few offers for places that I wanted in SF but she warned me I wasn't likely to get. She may have helped me draft "less competitive" offers for a couple of reasons: to put on my training wheels for doing the paperwork, and possibly to knock some sense of reality into me of the tenaciously booming Bay Area market. Throughout the two failed offers, she always kept a wonderful demeanor and appropriate professionalism, and certainly kept me from getting frustrated when things were looking a little gloomy. Those "training wheel" offers eventually lead to me expanding my search beyond SF-proper: when it did, she helped me search in places like Daly City, San Mateo, and South SF. I found a pretty great townhouse in the nearby burbs' and Beatrice helped me make an offer for what I believed was unreasonably low compared to other places in the area. To my surprise, THEY ACCEPTED MY OFFER FOR PURCHASE, and for less than what I assumed I would pay. I was really grateful that Beatrice was able to calculate the right amount she believe the house was worth and position it in such a way that they accepted right away. Then the real speed bumps happened. The house was a short-sale, so there was lots of bumps in the closing. The sellers bank didn't approve some contingencies, and hurdles with inspections, financing, etc. My mortgage company dropped the ball hard when it came to on time appraisals. Despite that, she had a rapid backup plan every time we hit a block. She found me a new lender who approved me extremely quickly and helped me close fast. She helped speed along the appraisals, talk to the title company, etc. Every delay was overcome quickly due to her diligence and follow-through. All-in-all it took from September 4 when we made the offer to November 15 to close. I PROMISE YOU, those were the two MOST STRESSFUL months of life! I felt like giving up many times; both before purchase and during closing. With someone even slightly less put-together than Beatrice, I might have given up and rented forever. I'm happy and proud to say that I'm a homeowner in the Bay Area. I feel like I'm laying the ground work for many successful years here to invite friends over, build an investment, and maybe raise a family in one day. I have enough space to stretch my legs and I'm still only a ten minute drive to San Francisco, the city that stole my heart a few short years ago. Beatrice kept me grounded and sane. I'm happy that she was the agent that facilitated this transition and milestone in my life. I would (and have) recommended her to my friends and anyone else who's looking for an agent in SF/Daly City/Oakland. She also just sent me a nice gift basket to celebrate the New Year, which was a nice little cherry on top of a stressful, but rewarding 2016!
