working with julie
"We just closed on our home today with Julie Gardner as our Realtor.
Julie is extremely knowledgeable about the market and guided us through
every step of the home-buying process..."
- Celena C.
Tom C.
If there were 10 stars available to check, I would look for a way to check 11 stars. I am a 58 year-old single father, lawyer (please don't hold that against Julie!) who needed to sell his house mostly for financial reason. It was emotionally difficult and I needed the most money from the sale that was possible. Normally, I like to control things and (perhaps given my profession) I think that I "know best." The best thing I did was humbly explain to Julie why I was selling, that it was difficult for me and what I needed financially from the sale and what I had (or did not have) available in funds to spruce up the house. No, after doing this, the best thing I did was to fully trust Julie (you'll find that is not hard to do) and to actually turn over all major and most minor decisions to Julie.
Julie also did many little (big to me!) things:
The end result was a very favorable and fair price for my house. I feel so strongly about the professional job Julie did for me that I have invited her to give my contact information as a reference to anyone with any questions about Julie. Good luck in your "Process." Best, Tom Amy H. I love Julie's newsletter, The Piedmont Perspective! Although the newsletter is meant to be an update on the local real estate market, Julie always presents a wise perspective in her message. She has a lovely way of weaving her message into what is happening with the market without making people feel she is just pushing her wares. Carol S. With Julie's expertise, organizational skills and lightning speed, we were able to get our house impeccably staged and on the market with record numbers at the first open house in 17 days and were under contract 9 days later! She is an amazing force who has everything under control and stays on top of all the details around the clock. Accessible, savvy, sensible, diligent -- Julie lives, breathes and thoroughly understands the Piedmont market, neighborhood dynamics, and strategies to maximize curb appeal. What a joy it was to work with her; she IS as good as it gets. Jan K. Julie's Piedmont Perspective is not only fun to read but is very informative about both the market and our local neighborhood. It reflects the energy and detail she gives to assist her clients in finding the home that meets their needs. She knows her market, is willing to work hard for her clients and approaches it all with a sense of humor! Brian C. Julie Gardner is the best! As first time home buyers, my wife and I needed a lot of guidance, and Julie was there for us every step of the way. We initially had a different real estate agent, and eventually decided to make a change based on a referral. We are so glad we did. What a difference! Julie was always incredibly responsive to both emails and voicemails and always took the time to answer my many questions, quickly and thoughtfully. She also never pushed any houses on us and worked hard to make sure we found a place that met all of our needs. We love our new place, and could not have found it without Julie. She was also terrific during the negotiation stage. She consistently went above and beyond. Larry L. Julie Gardner just sold my house and she did as great a job as anyone could imagine--from setting the price; organizing repairs, painting, staging, you name it; to doing the perfect sales pitch and getting competing offers; watching out for and dodging trouble from new ordinances by EBMUD and the city; and getting a delightful buyer. Julie is a natural people person. She knows immediately how to get information from people and assess where they are coming from--buyers, sellers, contractors, you name it. And she is a genuine expert in many areas--and on top of things ranging from construction to banking. The house had only one Sunday showing and it was sold--thanks to her leading the way on many things. It was a privilege and pleasure working with her, and I look forward to working with her again--this time in buying my next house! Zen M. Julie is a such a gem! She is full of knowledge, perspective, and experience. Her personality is warm yet professional. Julie's website and newsletter are great resources full of valuable information and insight. We feel really lucky to have Julie helping us with our home search! Lawrence M. I have worked with Julie for 6 years. She is timely and thoughtful and has been a pleasure to work with over the years. She is always thinking of ways to improve her client's real estate experience. With her neighborhood parties, various volunteer efforts, and her wonderful newsletter "The Piedmont Perspective", Julie has become a solid knowledge-point for all things Piedmont. She is great to have in your corner when it's time to buy or sell your home. Elisse G. If you're looking for a realtor who will really go the extra mile for you, Julie's the one. She not only made sure our home was showcase-ready inside and out, she also provided a beautiful color brochure, postcards, and even incredible food for our first open house, in addition to her famous homemade cookies (yum!). Julie held several open houses for us herself, and is a wonderful salesperson: knowledgeable, warm, upbeat and enthusiastic. She is always impeccably dressed, stylish and lovely, and exudes class through and through. Most of all, she is the ideal Realtor in that she's assertive but not aggressive, personable but not invasive, and completely committed to her clients. We are immensely appreciative for all that she did to help us from start to finish, and highly recommend Julie Gardener as a realtor. Marianne S. I have used Julie as my selling agent and buying agent in the past year and both experiences have been easier than any other past real estate transaction (selling my 6th house). All I had to do was get my stuff out of the house and she and her wonderful colleague Jill took care of the rest. In the past, as a seller, I have always had to find contractors to take care of all the little details, etc. What a relief to just deal with the move and not have to worry about that. We had been casual friends before this, but Julie never pulled any punches. My home was on a busy street and had some foundation problems, and we had to face these issues head on. We received 3 offers and Julie helped the final offer go through smoothly. On the buying side, we faced many disappointments in this competitive sellers market. However, each time there was a home of interest, she took each one very seriously and made a best effort to make things work. I worried about agent "burn out" as we were outbid so many times, but she never gave up and now we have an accepted offer on the perfect house. She has so much experience, she has excellent perspective on what is fair and reasonable and demands nothing less. I hope not to need a realtor for a long time after this house closes, but if I do, I wouldn't hesitate to use Julie and Jill again. Lucy & Kevin As we are starting to emerge from moving and unpacking chaos, we wanted to express our sincere gratitude. Thank you for partnering with us for more than two years. It's been has long journey but we are so happy with where we ended up. You were always willing to visit a property more than once (or twice), always with a smile and a welcome perspective. We love your eye for design and appreciated your calling out concerns we might never have noticed. Your no-nonsense attitude kept us on track and made us feel confident in our most important (an final) offer. We couldn't have done any of this without you and appreciate the strong team you have built. As we settle into our (very bright) home and start decorating for the holidays, we can't help be be incredibly thankful for your support throughout this journey. |
Andrew A.
Thanks for laying out the next steps through escrow, and for the good counsel, in your letter. BA and I couldn’t be happier with the result of your and Jill’s combined efforts in selling 6120 Harbord! We loved working with you and really appreciated how you both managed every step of the process from developing the pricing and sales strategy through staging and promoting the home to representing us in final negotiations. We think of you as not only as top real estate agents in the area but as good friends too. When escrow closes, we’ll hoist some lattes in celebration! Bettyanne G. Julie Gardner has been stellar to work with! To me she is the perfect combination of tough cookie and soft heart - you want an agent who is going to advocate for you, be on top of any contingencies that could happen and deal with them immediately, get you the best and fairest deal possible, and our experience has been that Julie has done all of the above. At the same time, she understands how personal one's home is, is open to working with - and around - her client's personal life and preferences, and always has a positive attitude. That's the balance I want in a real estate agent! I also admire that she's worked with her clients throughout these past tight, uncertain years - we had a house that wasn't selling (an albatross!) and she stood by us with solid, candid advice, went above and beyond to make the sale happen. Over the last 25 years I've bought and sold houses in many parts of the country, so many agents have crossed my path - I would recommend Julie to anyone! Sean P. Well it looks like the seller/agent relationship has come to an end and it all happened in the blink of an eye (sort of). I was driving home yesterday thinking about how quickly we sold our place and wondered how it would have played out should we have chose some other company and agent. My thoughts - probably would have sold, maybe not as easy or quick and not as fun and seamless ;). I do want to say that my wife did have an idea of who she wanted representing us on our sale and told me to do some research on this person and I did. Honestly, I had no idea where to start, so the fact that she had someone in mind made things much easier. After reading the Bio and Blog of this person, I knew we were good and should she accept our agreement to sell, then we would be taken care of...and we were. We want to Thank You so much for making this happen for us. You portray exactly what an agent should be and you handled every aspect of this sale without a hitch - it almost seemed like very little work on your end (from our perspective), but we all know what time and effort is put into selling or buying a place. Clearly if we could all do it ourselves, we would...but the fact of the matter is, their is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we dont see and thank you for handling all of those things. One thing is for sure, when we do search for a new place or sell the next place, we know who to call. You have met all our expectations and really made selling our place as easy as could be. We learned a lot about selling from you and though its not something that happens often for people, I think we would be better prepared when buying and selling as we know what goes on from each end now - from house prep, reports needed, documentation prep, etc.... Julie, we cant express how Thankful we are to have had you as our selling agent. Thank you for everything these last few weeks, it truly has been a very simple transaction for us and I know its mostly because you made it simple and represented us well. We'll see you around town and will definitely recommend you to any of our friends and family in the market to buy and/or sell. Its been a pleasure working with you and look forward to any future transactions. Julie is definitely sharp in all aspects of the job - from having all documents a seller/buyer needs and wants nicely in a binder to ensuring you had a calendar of all proper dates needed for each appointment she sets up so you would have no surprises. Her communication has been key in making us feel comfortable and she surely does not disappear after signing papers like many might. She would communicate EVERYTHING she was doing - when the listing starts, proofs of what was being posted, etc. Everything that would normally take tons of work for some was essentially a day or two for her. She basically walked through the entire process with us - not giving too much info if we didn't need it and answering any questions should we have had any. Expect only the best - I know this review for her is a lot to live up to, but I'm comfortable posting exactly what we experienced. She probably doesn't realize the great work she does because it comes natural - some people just have it and Julie is one of those few. If Yelp had 6 stars, she'd get that! Thank you. Laura L. We met Julie, when we are looking at properties in Piedmont last fall. She was open fun and friendly. We however, didn't want to contact any agent until we knew where in the Bay Area we wanted to settle and found the right house. That only happened 9 months later when we found a house that we fell in love with on a casual Sunday ride. We called Julie on Monday morning and on Wednesday, our offer had been accepted. It took only 3 weeks to clear our loan as we had been pre-approved and Julie made sure that it would only be 3 weeks. Throughout the process, she was reachable, responsible, responsive, and fought on our side to make sure everything would run as smoothly and fast as it could. On top of that ,she is very positive, inventive, professional as well as a fun and kind person to work with. I also love that Julie is honest and speaks her mind about things, so you know where you stand all things considered. After we moved in our new house, she was very helpful with tips about services that we needed to find and we really liked her recommendations. I cannot praise Julie enough, I really can't, she was the perfect representative for us. We feel so lucky to have met her. Dhira K. Julie is the most knowledgeable real estate professional in the Piedmont, Oakland, and Berkeley areas. She has lived in the area for many years and knows everything about the neighborhoods and schools. She helped us buy our home three years ago, and has continued to be a great resource for our family to this day. I can't say enough great things about her. She is detail-oriented, diligent, and just the person you want on your side if you're trying to buy or sell a home. Jennifer J. In June 2017, I moved from Piedmont to Texas. I turned my house over to Julie and Jill Shortley and drove off to Dallas. They did a beautiful job of making the house and cottage "market attractive". The house was in contract within 2 weeks and closed on time. I was thrilled with the results that their hard work had generated. I highly recommend Julie and Jill. They know the market, are up front and honest and stayed in communication with me through the process. Kevin & Dawn W.
Julie is a phenomenal Realtor that went above and beyond for us in selling our renovation project. She was incredibly hands on throughout the entire process, both literally and figuratively, in that she coordinated all the landscaping for our property, while also coming by to help us plant and situate foliage, which was a tremendous help! She even offered to front both the cost of staging and landscaping for our project prior to its sale, which came just two weeks after being listed on the market. There was great communication throughout and we were always kept in the loop, down to the smallest details, such as coming by to check up on the property and turn on the lights, which meant so much to us. Julie and Jill move quick and are a fun and friendly powerhouse of efficiency to work with and we could not be more pleased with them. Kevin N. & Jennifer D. What can I say about Julie that others haven’t already said? Julie is, most of all, hardworking, dynamic and caring. In our high-priced, competitive real estate market, working with the right Realtor is key to buying or selling a home, and it is never an easy decision as there are so many agents to choose from. When we went to sell our family home in a very sought-after neighborhood, we did our due diligence and met with a few top agents. There were agents that we knew personally (Julie being one of them) and agents we knew by reputation. They were all good but only one agent stood out above all others: Julie Gardner. Julie is professional, energetic and prepared. , , and direct. Yes, very direct. With Julie, we knew we could say what was on our mind. She does not do what I call the “agent doublespeak”. Julie will tell you what she thinks will produce the best results. With Julie, we got an agent who takes charge and gets things done: she shows up, schedules contractors, inspectors, cleaners, etc. Then, she comes with work gloves and tools and her assistant, Jill, and they both turn the yard into a garden. (Jill, by the way, is Julie’s twin and assistant.) As a team, they are unrivaled. After all, they are twins so it is like getting two for the price of one. Julie works with sellers and buyers. We have referred friends and family to Julie and she has secured homes for them in competitive biddings. The reason that I strongly refer Julie to close friends is I know she will take good care of them. She has renovated many homes and knows everything from roof to foundation and does not hesitate to tell a buyer to walk away from a house with too many problems. That is an agent you want to have representing you. Kimberly B. I cannot say enough good things about Julie. We had no idea what we were getting into selling our house in Montclair. Luckily, Julie knew EXACTLY what to do and guided us (sometimes not too enthusiastically, on our part) every step of the way. We followed her guidance while she took care of every last detail. We couldn't be happier and are absolutely thrilled with the results. While other homes sat on the market or didn't get competing offers, our home was extremely competitive and sold very fast. My husband and I highly recommend hiring Julie (and her sister Jill who was also a huge help) for your real-estate needs. I should also mention that her chocolate chip cookies are the bomb : ) Amal S.
We worked with Julie and Jill on the sale of a rental property in the Laurel. It had great bones and character but had been a little roughed up over the rental years. Their vision, creativity, and savvy turned a tired property back into a charming home. Julie and Jill know their business. They will tell you the hard stuff and come up with ideas for how to address those issues. They were partners with us all the way, providing alternatives and advice, listening to what was important to us, and ultimately helping us end with several strong offers over asking. Because of all the comprehensive prep work, the close went through smoothly. You don’t need to look further to find a team who gets the big picture and manages the small details. Jeff N.
Last winter’s storm triggered a huge leak in the ceiling of the first floor of our three story home. Our original contractor couldn’t help as he had retired and his team had scattered. Who do you call? I called my favorite, most experienced Realtor, Julie Gardner and she recommended a superstar who not only diagnosed the root cause of the leak and repaired it properly, but also offered to fix other issues that had persisted untouched for years. So thankful I thought to call a Realtor whose knowledge and connections exceeded all expectations! |