"To all:
This spring I had the absolute joy of working with Karen Cheong and Chris Sprague in an extremely complex and difficult real estate transaction.
From our first meeting, Karen and Chris thoroughly impressed me, not only with their marketing and legal knowledge, but with their ability to provide a vast network of support people to aid in the preparation of the unit for sale.
They were both extremely generous with their time, suggestions, and talents to do whatever was necessary to make this process the least stressful: from letting in work people, to being there in my absence for inspections, picking up materials, keeping all of us to our demanding time schedule and arranging for the staging of the unit.
This was an incredibly complex transaction involving a three unit condo conversion in the making, and the coincidence of six loans (three first loans and three second loans) all needing to close on the same day — with owners out of the US during the process!
The transaction went through without a hitch, though there were several last minute glitches that I was never even aware of until the escrow closed in my absence.
We were concerned about the market timing of the unit since the market was in a flukey period and were in contact on a daily basis from the first day of signing the contract to the closing day. Despite the sketchy market, Karen and Chris aggressively marketed the property through all media and after the very first Open House produced 7 offers for the condo — all significantly above the asking price.
I equate this outcome with their skill in marketing, ability to see potential in a unit, and their absolute and total commitment to the client — all carried out with impeccable honesty and integrity.
In the past six years, I have been involved in seven real estate transactions and have never experienced the level of diligence, expertise and commitment that Karen and Chris provided for this transaction. They are, without a doubt, not only the most effective professional realtors, but wonderful people ...the best!
Sincerely,
Vikki Williams"
"We found Chris and Karen on the Internet and would heartily and without reservation recommend them to anyone who is seriously considering purchasing real estate in San Francisco. Without question and after working with 3 previous realtors, they are far and away the very best realtors we've ever worked with.
Acclimating to a new city after moving across country, we needed to work with realtors who knew the market inside and out, could orient us to the different neighborhoods, and could help us make sense of the craziness of the San Francisco real estate market—a real shock when moving here from another city! The realtor we first worked with focused more on open houses and less on a personalized and detailed real estate strategy driven by our own personal needs and recent market data—the latter being the exact approach Chris and Karen recommended in our first meeting with them.
Chris & Karen had all the attributes we were looking for in realtors: responsive, honest, knowledgeable, analytical, enthusiastic but not pushy, friendly yet professional. They answered our questions fully and promptly, gave us candid and honest advice, arranged to meet us after work hours to see properties and write offers, and helped us create and execute a personalized and detailed real estate strategy driven by our own personal needs and recent market data. The success of their approach can be measured in the results we achieved: we moved into our dream home within 3 months of starting to work with them.
We've also benefited from the depth and breadth of Chris and Karen's knowledge as new homeowners. Their knowledge and experience extends into all aspects of owning, repairing, and maintaining a home. When we needed to repair the garbage disposal, they supplied us with names of various agencies with proven track records for us to consider in hiring for the job; we ended up using one, with whose work we were quite satisfied. It's hard enough to find good contractors, but it's especially hard when you're new to a city.
Chris and Karen know SF real estate inside and out. They use a consultative approach that yields real results. If you want to buy a home in SF, call them; you'll be very glad you did. " — Paul W. & Paul K.
"We had an excellent experience with Chris and Karen when we bought our San Francisco home two years ago, so we called them as soon as we learned that we would be moving out of state. They met with us and explained timing, pricing strategies, and what preparation would have to be done to get the highest sale price possible. They advised us on what would need to be done to the house to prepare it for sale and created a timeline to help us plan when things would be done. This was particularly helpful when so many things were up in the air for us. They also shared their valuable insights into local real estate market trends, and explained how those might affect us when our house actually listed.
Because we were both working and have a young son, the process of packing our belongings for the move consumed all our available energy and time—we just didn't have enough time to handle preparing the house for sale. But Chris and Karen came to the rescue and did it for us! Once we moved out, they really went above and beyond the call of duty getting our house ready to show in the best possible light. Not only did they coordinate all the service providers, including the painters, gardener, stagers, cleaner, handyman and plumber, they also picked out the fixtures that needed to be replaced and the plants that needed to be added to the front and back yards.
Once that was complete they went over the house with a fine-toothed comb to verify that all the little details had been taken care of, and did a lot of the touch-ups themselves. They did far, far more than we expected from realtors, and helped us feel confident that our house was looking its very best. During all this activity, they did a fantastic job of keeping us in the loop as to what was happening and when things were being done.
We are so pleased with their service and the outcome. Their creativity, amazing industriousness, and refreshingly intelligent approach maximized our selling price while minimizing our headaches. We especially appreciated the care with which they helped us think through our options when bids arrived, and we were impressed with the tact and people skills they brought to the table when it came time to talk to potential buyers about hard numbers. It's hard to imagine getting better, more focused service anywhere else or with anyone else. We wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone thinking of selling in San Francisco. — Chris & Kinnari Cowell-Shah
"We purchased our home with Karen and Chris two years ago (referred by our friends) and had a really fantastic buying experience. When we decided to move back to Seattle, we called Karen and Chris, and are extremely happy that we did!
Because of our move and new jobs in Seattle we had a lot to get done in just a few weeks. Karen and Chris totally stepped up to the plate and were responsive to our aggressive timing needs. They advised on what we needed to do in order to sell our house for the best price, helped us coordinate service providers (on tight timelines for competitive rates), helped us choose paint colors, and even pitched in themselves to help with some of the work.
The thing we liked most was how clear and organized they were as we prepared to list our home. Karen gave us a timeline of when things were happening and when things needed to be completed. They gave us an easy to follow task list so we could keep track of all the prep work. They kept us educated on competitive listings as they came on the market — so we could better understand our competition & pricing. They also encouraged us to put together a very thorough disclosure packet (which we did) so potential buyers would feel so comfortable with the house that they could offer without hesitation.
They advised us on pricing strategy, and we took their advice, despite family and friends' feedback to the contrary. Thank goodness we did! Despite a slowing market, we got multiple offers and a price that was at the high end of our expectations.
They are wonderful to work with — super proactive, helpful and efficient. Now having both bought and sold with them, we will definitely recommend them to our friends and anyone else thinking of selling or buying a home in San Francisco." — Jenny & Steve Copson
"I was referred to Karen and Chris by a friend and went in for their buyer strategy session. It was my first home purchase and given San Francisco is a fast-paced and aggressive market, I found it very helpful and informative. The information session also gave me a chance to get to know Karen and Chris before plunging into the market. By the end of the presentation I felt very comfortable with them.
Shortly thereafter, I went out open housing with Karen. She is a straight-shooter and was very honest about what we saw and what I could expect given my price range. She also provided invaluable insight regarding resale and development potential, which was of particular interest to me. After open housing, I made offers on a couple of places that I was outbid on. As the search and bidding continued, I found a flat that Karen and Chris actually advised me not to move forward with because the lay-out was too awkward. In reality, I just wasn't that excited about the apartment and their advice made me realize that I had become caught up in the market.
Days later, they uncovered an opportunity for a flat offered as a pocket listing in a building where I had considered another unit. Within an hour of viewing the unit they had prepared an offer-I was very excited about this flat. I wound up getting the flat at the asking price and without competition.
After I had closed escrow and moved in, I discovered the sellers had left a bunch of trash in the unit and a number of partially painted doors in the garage. They quickly called the listing agent and had the former sellers agree to pay for removal of the trash. Chris later called and invited me to bring the doors over to their home to help paint them. Karen and Chris take their long term commitment to theirclients seriously and take care of them even after the deal has closed. I have already recommended them to two friends!" — Chad Stegeman
"To Whom It May Concern:
As you consider real estate agents to represent you in one of the most critical financial decisions that you will have to make, please consider our personal recommendation of Chris Sprague and Karen Cheong. Working as a team, they professionally and accurately guided us through the many important and time-sensitive steps that must be accomplished in order to have a successful selling experience. Their advice was tempered with realistic appraisals of the value and opportunity currently available in a changing San Francisco real estate market.
We had to move quickly because of a job transfer out of state. Karen & Chris did a great job of educating us on what we needed to do in order to get our house ready to market. They then helped plan our calendar to coordinate getting our things moved out, and getting the house cleaned, prepped and staged. That calendar really kept us on track and helped keep all of us on top of the many things that were going on. They gave us task lists that were helpful in keeping us organized and helped everyone know what was going on and who was accountable for what action item.
They arranged for the painters to come in, the stagers, the cleaners and even did the landscaping and power washing of the front steps themselves — all under a relatively tight time line! With both of us working and one of us transitioning to begin work in a different state we were happy with their organized, thorough approach to getting the house ready for sale. Because of a seasonal slow down in the market the month we were selling, we received five offers that were lower than what we had hoped to receive.
Chris & Karen did an amazing job of rustling up another offer $50,000 over the highest offer we'd received, within 48 hours of the original offer date. We are extremely happy with the results they got for us. We had to move out of the house and get to our new place quickly, before escrow closed. We knew that Chris and Karen would be there to wrap things up properly from getting the stagers to remove their furniture and clean up, put out our garbage bins and forward our mail. We would recommend them to any seller.
Based on their character and integrity, we extend the highest recommendation to you to engage the services of Chris Sprague and Karen Cheong for the sale of your property.
Kindest Regards,
Jim and Debbie Bell"
"I had an extremely bad experience with another real estate agent before I met Karen and Chris. I attended their home buyer seminar and it was far and above what I was expecting both in the amount of useful information they provided as well as the amount of time and care they gave to answering all of my questions. They really listened to what my criteria were for my home. Within 3 days of attending their home buyer seminar I found something that I liked. Karen and Chris were great at sifting through all the disclosures for me and pointing out all the points that affected me. They advised me and negotiated on my behalf and I saved $10,000 off the purchase price! I never could have done that with any degree of confidence that I was doing the right thing or that my interests were protected without their guidance.
They also provided great resources along the way including an excellent mortgage broker who was very responsive in addition to a structural engineer who addressed my concerns about liquefaction. They took all my concerns seriously and addressed them so I would feel comfortable throughout the whole process. They were also fantastic at keeping me up to date as to what was happening with the transaction so I didn't have to worry. It was one of the best buying experiences I've ever had. I am insisting that all my friends use them." — Katherine Mendonca
"Having reached retirement age when my last tenants moved out, I decided this was the time to sell my rental condo in San Francisco which had been tenant occupied for over 18 years. I knew the price I wanted to get, and was willing to spend some money sprucing it up as long as it yielded a positive return. Karen and Chris were amazing. They provided not only great suggestions, but excellent sources for everything I needed. They kept everyone on schedule and were always ready to meet a painter or a plumber if I couldn't be there. When the work was complete, I was thrilled with the results!
Like many sellers, I was concerned with the slowing market, particularly for properties listed at over a million dollars. I again took the advice of Karen and Chris on pricing and timing strategy. Despite incredibly rainy weather, I was in contract within 11 days of the first open house, with a sale price over asking!
Karen and Chris did much more than I ever expected from a real estate agent. I knew that they always had my best interests at heart and I will refer them to any of my friends who are thinking of selling property in the city." — Wendy Soule
"My elderly father had been thinking of downsizing from his 4 bedroom family home to a more manageable 2 bedroom condo on one level after my mom passed away. For three years Karen and Chris were happy to provide answers to our many questions and provide us with resources without ever pushing him to sell before he was ready to make that transition. When he finally found something he wanted to buy, they stepped up to make sure that he was able to transfer his property tax base to the new property, and also started the process of preparing his previous home for sale. They knew this home was special for us and prepared it with lots of care!
They recommended and coordinated estate sale people, the painters, the stagers, an arborist, cleaners, window cleaners, suggested what things needed to changed and improved, picked paint colors, checked in on the progress daily, problem solved and adjusted timing to accommodate my father. When offering advice about pricing the house and the timing of placing it during a very complicated market , they explained very clearly what the risks and possible outcomes were. They kept us fully informed of what was going on at all times and continued to give us their perspective as they saw the market conditions shift around us and as different situations arose while the property was in contract. With their advice on strategy my dad was able to get a price he was quite happy with.
I would highly recommend Karen and Chris. They truly care about their clients and do the best they can for them. They are unique in the way that their hearts are in whatever they do! Bravo!"— Cynthia Brattesani