Carolyn was the best real estate professional we’ve ever worked with, and let me tell you why: Carolyn was an extremely strong recommendation from our close friends who’d worked with her to purchase their home a few years prior. They were so confident about their recommendation that we didn’t even need to look further. Carolyn has extensive local knowledge about schools, neighborhoods, and how properties will rank against others as they’re bought and sold in various market conditions. This was invaluable because as buyers we were more focused on envisioning the space than planning for our eventual departure. We could have made several mistakes without her. She also has deep knowledge about all layers of the process, and we leaned on her experience and advice for anything between neighborhood selection, upgrade/repair ideas, negotiations, and move-in readiness. Carolyn is extremely patient and makes you feel like you are her only client, even if things cool off or take a long time. We spent nearly 1.5 years looking for the right place and never felt pressure or impatience from her. At all times during our search she was responsive and ready to help. Our home search spanned a pandemic, the price & inflation battles of 2021, and the cooling that began in 2022. Each of these were challenging on their own and Carolyn navigated each of them as if she’d seen it all before. Her expertise showed strongly during each of these periods of chaos and uncertainty. Carolyn went far above and beyond the call of duty to help us in a wide range of ways. We were out of town for an inspection and she helped us do it remotely. She helped us locate professionals for various needed work on the home and personally coordinated and was present during an especially critical consultation. She followed up on items long after closing, including locating a document for us we’d forgotten while traveling. On top of everything else she was very kind to us and we felt like family with her. We hope to work with Carolyn again and refer her to everyone we can without any hesitation or reservation.
Grant Ayers

Being a first time home buyer is terrifying, thrilling, and stressful! Between reading contracts, negotiating, and submitting offers, it can be very overwhelming! What makes this process 10x easier? Having an amazing real estate agent like Carolyn on your team! Carolyn is professional, attentive, and supportive. She looks out for your best interests and helps you with each step of the home buying process. We were able to buy our first home (in Silicon Valley!!) thanks to the skills and expertise of Carolyn. You will not regret working with her!
Samantha Y.

Carolyn Botts Brokerage Skill.. Carolyn worked as the lead broker in support of two sales transactions for my wife and I in 2019. The two sales were worked on consecutively over an 8 month period. We were in virtually daily contact with Carolyn. The first transaction was the sale of a condo owned by wife’s mother in Mountain View and the second was the sale of our residence in Los Altos. The total value of the two transactions was in excess of $4.7 KK.

In both situations Carolyn displayed in depth knowledge of the local real estate markets. Pricing is critical and Carolyn was able to identify the best price ranges; in both cases our homes were sold almost immediately – meeting our overriding objective of moving quickly in a rapidly changing market.

With her experience in the local markets Carolyn has a long list of home service professionals she can call upon and recommend to do the detailed preparation needed for a successful sale. As importantly, Carolyn will very carefully tell you what she thinks should be done to sell your property effectively, but will leave the decisions up to you; she excels at making clear what the effects will be of either doing or not doing something. Once a decision is made she will support the effort wholeheartedly – even if the decision was against her recommendation.

Carolyn is always accessible, responds very quickly to urgent issues and is easy to work with. She is a detail-oriented advisor with a sense of humor that helps keep difficult situations from distracting from the ultimate objective. We had to work through several incidents that could have cost us weeks of lost time and sale revenue. Carolyn was a stabilizing influence.

In summary, Carolyn is an effective, pleasant and engaging professional. Listen carefully to her advice and counsel and you will be well-served.

L & N Ludgus

Carolyn is everything anyone could want in a real estate professional. She is responsive, accessible, extremely well informed, personable to a fault, efficient, open, and dependable. I would recommend her unconditionally to anyone in need of real estate services.
WD Andrews

Words do not convey my gratefulness to Carolyn Botts. Her wisdom and experience guided us through the sale of our house with such ease that when we accepted an offer, we were stunned! Carolyn heard our needs and provided the least stressful way to make this new phase of our lives begin beautifully. We were able to sell our house with only a small investment of time and money, and Carolyn urged the buyers to give us a wonderful price that will provide for us as we age. Thank you Carolyn! You are my hero!
Barb Berens

We put everything into Carolyn’s hands, and with a minimum out of pocket cost we sold our home for $235 k over the asking price. Everything happened in about a week. My wife and I are still in shock (the good kind). She is very personable and professional, with many useful contacts for getting things accomplished. I would recommend her to anyone.
Al Berens

My husband and I had been looking for the right house off and on for three years, without success. Then we met Carolyn Botts. Carolyn helped us buy our dream home! She is knowledgeable, professional, supportive, honest, and a delight to work with. She took the time to listen and get to know us and understand what kind of home we were looking for. Carolyn is extremely patient, responsive, is always available to show us a house, and gave us the pros and cons of each home. She always respected our opinion, was never pushy, and didn’t try to steer us into choosing a house for the sake of completing the transaction. In addition to being a great communicator and organizer, Carolyn is also very courteous, professional, and thoughtful, and worked well with everyone involved in the transaction. We feel fortunate to have worked with Carolyn, and would highly recommend her to our friends.
Bill and Dez

We first heard about Carolyn Botts in February 2015. We were looking for the right person to assist us in selling our home and buying a new home for our family in Willow Glen. Carolyn was highly recommended by two people. It was noted that she provides excellent service to her clients and she is also very knowledgeable about off mls opportunities. When we were ready to sell our home, Carolyn made some recommendations to make small improvements to our home to attract buyers and to obtain the best price. She had contacts with service professionals who were able to complete the work quickly so that our home could go on the market in the time period that was desirable. Carolyn explained her pricing and marketing strategy for our home and we trusted her expertise. Our home sold in 5 days over the asking price and we were very pleased with her negotiations. Throughout the process of selling our home and buying a home, Carolyn was very responsive. We felt she truly listened and understood what we wanted and we believe she was looking out for our best interest both when we sold our home and later when we bought a home. Carolyn is experienced, knowledgeable and detail oriented. She is a top-notch real estate professional – the best of the best – and we highly recommend her!
Melissa and Relly L.

Carolyn was extremely helpful to get us our first home! We met 2 years ago when we were just thinking about purchasing a home. She kept in touch and when the timing was right she guided us through different neighbourhoods and helped us narrow down our search. She is very knowledgeable and introduced us to our mortgage loan officer. Both of them worked very well together to navigate all the hurdles we faced. She has worked with many brokers in Bay area and knows all the right people, which makes the entire experience better. On top of that she is good with communication and managing expectations. I will highly recommend her if you shopping for your new home.
Pavan

Carolyn was awesome to work with! We did several home tours. She was very organized and very knowledgeable about the area. She was very honest about the houses. She didnt try to sell us on every house we looked at. Pointed out some quirky and weird features of the houses that we may not like. Great person. Would highly recommend! After purchase threw in the home warranty as a gift.
K M

Carolyn was such a pleasure to work with. She is professional, kind, efficient and thorough. We always felt that she had our best interest in mind. We are so thankful for the opportunity to work with her and are grateful for her help in finding our first home! Carolyn was recommended to us through friends/coworkers and we have enthusiastically recommended her to our family and friends as well.
Anonymous

Words cannot describe how lucky I was to work with Carolyn Botts. I would highly recommend her to everyone. This was my first time purchasing a home in CA and I was guided the whole way through this crazy process with such care and professionalism. Carolyn understood the importance of getting my house and followed up on ALL angles possible to ensure that I would be able to attain my new home. She not only got me my dream home, but she made the process seem like a piece of cake. She kept me informed every step of the way, educated me on the process, and continues to follow up with me after the sale to make sure I am ok. I can’t thank her enough. She gives 110% and she is all about integrity and excellence. Extremely detailed and patient and on top of things, she is such a professional. I really can’t imagine getting any better service than this. In fact, she worked late hours helping me as I had to do a 10 day close. No matter what time or the level of my questions, Carolyn was patient and took my call. I can insure you that not all Real Estate Agents would have put so much energy in my home. If you want someone that sincerely cares about your purchase and gives you the professionalism you want, Carolyn is the agent to call! She is undeniably the BEST at what she does and I would recommend her to anyone.
Merrick

Carolyn is a true professional: she was very quick to understand what I was looking for and what my options might be, and she is not the sort of person who will ever push for anything other than what her clients want on the timeline that her clients are comfortable with. Once I had found a home that I wanted (after looking at quite a few), Carolyn knew exactly the right steps to take to make it happen for me at the right price, and helped me avoid quite a few pitfalls. She is extremely knowledgeable and very polished, and a pleasure to work with.
Elise

Carolyn is a delight to work with. She first worked with me in letting my property, then with selling it. She was always supportive, professional and straightforward. I always felt she was on my side and looking out for my best interests. She made excellent recommendations for improvements to make the property more saleable and carried them out quickly and efficiently. She showed excellent judgment of the market, and received several good offers well above asking price within the first few days on the market. She was unfailingly courteous and patient, always responsive and easy to contact. I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Laura Brash

Carolyn did a superb job for us! My schedule can be a challenge and Carolyn was extremely flexible and went out of her way to accomodate me. She is very knowledgeable, professional, insightful and was always on time for property tours as well as being timely when responding to our emails/questions. Carolyn was also instrumental in coordinating every facet of closing the deal including communication with the lender and all the closing document prep/signing. I highly recommend Carolyn and I know that I will use Carolyn again for any future real estate needs.
Cindy Walker

Carolyn is an extremely competent realtor and we were glad to work with her. We spoke to a few agents before her, but she was by far the most knowledgeable, professional, responsive, and pleasant. She paid careful attention to our criteria and previewed homes in the neighborhoods we wanted, which saved us a lot of time. She talked us through our options, the good local schools, and the buying process. She knew the market, researched and analyzed comparable sales, and was remarkably accurate about what to bid for a house (and what it would sell for), without going overboard. In this market that was a huge plus. She worked closely with our lender, referred us to professional inspectors, and coordinated well with the sellers’ agent. She’s prompt and thorough, answered our questions thoughtfully, and closed our escrow in what seemed like record time. A friend of ours recommended Carolyn to us, and we are so glad they did!
S&P Motafram

Selling a house is one of the most stressful life events….working with Carolyn made the whole process so easy. Her expertise and advice was invaluable. She gave excellent recommendations on how to prepare the house for market, hired a stager who made our home show its best side and managed the open house dates with zero stress on us. We received multiple offers and sold within 8 days of being on the market! Carolyn is the ultimate professional and we would recommend her to anyone looking for the best.
Jacques Rattaire

Carolyn was patient, gracious, and a pleasure to work with in the home buying process. She was always willing to talk things through, explore different areas and types of homes, and explain why a home was or wasn’t worth its price. When it came time to make an offer, she was very meticulous and gave her all in the offer presentation. Her knowledge of the market, neighborhoods, and process were very helpful throughout the search. I highly recommend Carolyn and felt like she made a difficult process far more comfortable.
Tim S

Carolyn is absolutely amazing! We feel so lucky to have been introduced to her about 5 years ago (2 years before we even moved to California). She is super patient and we never felt pressure to buy anything. There were so many times when we asked Carolyn to show us homes because we were curious. She never once said she couldn’t and never made us feel like we were wasting her time. Carolyn was always available to us. Once we finally found the house that we knew we loved, Carolyn knew exactly all the next steps to take us through the home buying process. We had heard about the pain in purchasing a home, and Carolyn made the process smooth and flawless. She minimized paperwork using digital document signing so it was all very efficient. Buying a home, especially in California, can be a scary and tiring endeavor, and Carolyn always made us feel good about our decisions. She is direct, honest and works with integrity. Now that our home is purchased, Carolyn is not out of our lives. She is 100% dedicated to her clients. We have contacted her with questions and concerns months after buying our home, and she responds immediately, always ready to help and guide us in the right direction. We will always recommend Carolyn highly. Quite frankly she is the best!
Tamer and Adriana El Calamawy

I couldn’t agree more with Melissa and Cameron’s recommendation. She helped us buy our house 2 years prior and we were more than impressed with her–we have highly recommended her to all of our friends (and now all of them have successfully bought houses in the crazy bay area market!). She always went above and beyond her job title–looking at houses before we did to see if it was worth our time, working any/all hours needed, coming to my work to sign documents, etc! As well, she is extremely professional and collected, yet also fun, pleasant, and just nice to be around! And, she really seems to care–she was one of our first visitors when we had our new baby! (and gave us one of the best baby gifts ever–our baby’s sleep lovey–can’t sleep without it now!). I couldn’t give her a higher recommendation. We are so pleased with our house purchase and her expertise!
Allison Collins and Jeff Kirby

We were extremely pleased with the work Carolyn Botts did representing us as real estate sellers. She was very assured and proactive in preparing our home for sale in an “as is” state and positioning it in the market. She counseled us wisely in this process and managed the various vendors well in our tight timeline. She successfully created a momentum such that it sold within days of going on the market. In reviewing offers, she was again proactive in protecting us from any downside risk although in the end, as she did such a good job in managing the entire process that there was no downside risk. We received a price over list and the entire transaction settled in less than 30 days. We can wholeheartedly recommend her services.
Marie Colbert

We asked Carolyn to help us out of a very challenging situation with the sale of our house during the downturn, and our attempt at purchasing a home that was on short-sale. She gave us excellent advice that no one else had given, she worked her extensive local network to get us information about the short-sale deal, and in the end, helped us find a home that is perfect for us. She is a no-nonsense advocate for her clients, a skilled negotiator, and a true professional. We are so thankful that we had Carolyn in our corner during this very challenging time, and give her full credit for getting us into the best home for our growing family. She is, by far, the best realtor we’ve ever worked with.
H & J Speaks – Bagby

Just a note to thank you for the great work you did in the sale of my home in Los Altos Hills. From beginning you came prepared, you laid out the complete marketing program, you got back to me with ‘real’ comparison properties, and you showed me one of the properties so I could see for myself. You were right on the pricing where others missed the mark. You really scrambled to get my property on the market in a very short amount of time. Your marketing borchures and virtual tours were excellent, and you were great at following up with the agents and individuals who viewed the property. Most importantly, you saw what I saw in the property and were able to represent that to others.
J.M. Dean – Los Altos Hills

We wanted to thank you for all your kindness, patience, and support you extended to us during the purchase of our first home….. We found your knowledge of building construction to be extemely informative and vital to our search. Your ability to notice and explain contruction and structural ‘issues’ helped to make us better informed and confident homebuyers……
S & S Stillman – San Mateo

……Trust is a major concern of many perspective home buyer… from the get-go upon meeting Carolyn, she had a calming, understanding, and trustworthy quality about her…. we enjoyed our experience so much and tell everyone we know, Carolyn is second to none. We hope to be upgrading in a few years…. when we are ready, Carolyn will be the only call to make.
P & A D’Errico – Redwood City

…It is without hestitation that I both professionally and personally recommend the expertise, advice, and services of Carolyn Botts. I am contantly impressed by Carolyn’s integrity, thoroughness, follow-through, and her vast knowledge of today’s market. She is an absolute pleasure to work with, and I count her as one of my most trusted advisors, associates, and friends.
H. Grant-Valdez – Palo Alto

Carolyn recently helped my family buy our very first home in a competitive bay area market and we give her our highest possible recommendation. Carolyn was wonderful with the practical things that you expect from a realtor: she knew the market well, was spot-on with price estimates and had creative solutions to finding a home that fit our tight budget. She was so much more than this though, and completely exceeded our expectations in every way. Here are some examples: -Her availability and work ethic are unparalleled. We still haven’t figured out when Carolyn gets a day off, because no matter what day or time we called her, she was *always* available. She offered to call us in the late evenings after our kids went to bed because she knew that we had a hard time talking on the phone with our 1 and 2 year olds in the background The weekend we decided we were “too tired” and “needed a week off” from house hunting, she went out house-hunting for us anyways (on her own), and actually found our eventual house that weekend! When we weren’t sure what to think about the school district, she researched multiple school options in the area (private, charter, public, etc) and even got us contact information for other parents in the area so that we could get real time information on parent involvement and student happiness. -Other real estate agents respect her. One of the major reasons our (lower) offer was accepted on our house was because the listing agent felt Carolyn would be the most professional to work with. -Carolyn has continued to work on our behalf, even after the purchase of our home was complete. She has helped coordinate termite tenting, painting, landscaping, and contractor visits all while we were at work. She has knocked on our neighbors doors to get information about the neighborhood, and personally took off a lock box on our door that no one else knew how to remove. She even brought us (much needed) pizza and drinks on moving day and had dinner with us to find out how things were going and whether there was anything else she could do to help. Even though we are months out from the completion of our purchase, she still checks in with us to see how things are going. In summary, we are absolutely thrilled with our new home and with the entire home buying process with Carolyn. We recommend her whole-heartedly
Melissa and Cameron

I couldn’t agree more with Melissa and Cameron’s recommendation. She helped us buy our house 2 years prior and we were more than impressed with her–we have highly recommended her to all of our friends (and now all of them have successfully bought houses in the crazy bay area market!). She always went above and beyond her job title–looking at houses before we did to see if it was worth our time, working any/all hours needed, coming to my work to sign documents, etc! As well, she is extremely professional and collected, yet also fun, pleasant, and just nice to be around! And, she really seems to care–she was one of our first visitors when we had our new baby! (and gave us one of the best baby gifts ever–our baby’s sleep lovey–can’t sleep without it now!). I couldn’t give her a higher recommendation. We are so pleased with our house purchase and her expertise!
Allison Collins

Buying a home for the first time can be one of the most daunting and gut wrenching experiences in your life. Everyone has a vision of what they want their dream home to have: a nice neighborhood, great schools, functional floor plan, updated features, etc. The problem is that everyone else out there wants the same things as well. Add to that all the negotiations, paperwork and budget restrictions and you can imagine that it can become very stressful. That of course is where the skills of an experienced realtor comes in. Carolyn Botts was referred to us by friends who also used her as their agent when buying their home. We had been casually attending open houses for a few months and meeting a few agents in the process. A few seemed nice though none really stood out and a few were downright questionable. I suppose having been recommended gave Carolyn an automatic edge, but after meeting with her a few times, we felt comfortable with her and never once felt like we were pressured into something we didn’t want to do. The search for the home itself was fairly straightforward. After initially meeting to view some properties and get an idea of what we wanted, Carolyn started sending us weekly listings based on our wish list. If one caught our eyes, we would let Carolyn know and she would try to preview the property beforehand and give us her thoughts. We would then go see the house ourselves and have a conversation with her about it afterwards. It took us a few months, and we had to meet with Carolyn a few times to re-evaluate what we absolutely wanted versus what we were willing to compromise, but we finally found a house that we loved and wanted to make an offer. Once we decided to make an offer on the house, Carolyn put on her cape and really started to make use of her skills. Without going into too much detail, our house was in a multiple offer situation and Carolyn was spot on with what we needed to offer. She used her experience and skills to give us the advantage and we eventually got the house. Once we were in contract, Carolyn always made herself available for any questions or concerns. She was at the house for every inspection and even dealt with our lender to make sure they were on task. Even after purchasing the house, Carolyn still makes herself available and tries to help us if she can. After finally completing the process, we feel that Carolyn separates herself in three distinct aspects: First and foremost, Carolyn was always there for us whenever needed her. She was prompt, always prepared, and always had a smile. She was patient and never made us feel like she wanted to be somewhere else. She answered all our questions and always followed up if she didn’t have one right away. At the same time, she wasn’t overbearing or too aggressive. She gave us her honest critique of the homes we saw, but she never tried to sway us in any way. On the topic of honesty, Carolyn was always honest and straightforward with us while making sure we stayed focused on our ultimate goal. She always acted with integrity, and she never sugar coated anything or said things just to appease us. In the course of purchasing a home, one can very easily become caught up on the little things that can ultimately end with a deal falling through. But Carolyn made sure that our emotions didn’t get the best of us, and she made sure we stayed grounded in reality. In hindsight, I’m positive that we would have regretted losing the house more than “winning” a little spat with the sellers over a minor detail. Third, Carolyn effectively utilized her skill set to get us our house. Quite simply, she knows her game. She knew all the nuances involved with the home purchasing process and she had a lot of tricks up her sleeve to give her clients (us) the advantage. An example of this is the way she makes good use of technology, which I think greatly helped us throughout the course of the purchasing process. The final thing I will say about Carolyn is that she reiterated to us several times that her own reputation is of utmost importance to her. While this may sound selfish and raise questions about her priorities, in the end it really benefits her clients. All of the things I mentioned above help to foster her reputation, both from a client’s perspective and also from the perspective of her peers in the industry. Because she maintains a good rapport with lenders, inspectors, title companies, and other realtors and agents, they in turn are easier to work with and make the process much easier. We have already recommended Carolyn to others and we are sure that their experience with her will be pleasant and rewarding as well. Though we do not plan to purchase another home anytime soon, Carolyn will be the first on our list when the time comes.
Eugene Tom & Kathryn Gopez