We chose Katherine Russ-Hotfelter to represent us for three real estate transactions in the past four years. The first was in 2003 when we bought our first home, a starter home. The second was in 2006 when we bought our second home, a move-up. The third was in 2007 when we sold our starter home.

As first-time home buyers she took the time to meet with us to discuss our needs and explain the neighborhoods in Gilroy and the different schools that affect neighborhood desirability, price, and appreciation. Then she gave us a tour through Gilroy familiarizing us with the different neighborhoods. Since we were moving from San Jose, we really wanted a realtor that was familiar with Gilroy and would take the time to educate us about the different neighborhoods, so Katherine was the perfect choice.

After meeting with us several times to tour many homes for sale, we did not find anything we liked so we specified exactly what we were looking for and the price range we could afford. She found the exact house we wanted before it came on the market and was able to show it to us the very first day. Had we waited until it hit the internet listings someone else may have beat us to it. We put in an offer that Katherine presented to our buyers in person and it was accepted right away. The rest of the transaction went very smoothly due to Katherine attending all the inspections and appraisals and negotiating repairs. She even pitched in herself to complete a repair the buyers did not want to complete!

After we settled in our new home she sent us regular updates of the market so we could keep our eyes on the market because she knew we were planning on moving up in a few years. Whenever a house in our neighborhood sold she would send us an update as well as updated listings of homes we may be interested in buying in the future.

When it came time to move up she helped us negotiate to get into contract to buy the house of our dreams for 50k below list price (114k below the original list price.) That transaction went very smoothly and after moving Katherine worked with us to prepare our other home for sale. She paid to have it staged and even added her own personal touches to the staging. She put together an outstanding virtual tour, flyers, and write-up which really highlighted our home and neighborhood. Within two weeks of showing our home we had multiple offers in the middle of January during a very slow market! She had anticipated the average days on market of 90 days at the time, so we were thrilled!

When our pre-approved buyers couldn't get financing she put our house back on the market, re staged it even better than the professional stager had, and aggressively marketed our home for sale. She advertised, held, and personally attended open houses with refreshments almost every weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, updating us after each one. We received multiple offers again which Katherine helped us negotiate. One month after getting back on the market we were in contract again with an offer 10k above list price. Again, she did this in a very slow market.

With Katherine attending all inspections and appraisal, she worked hard to make sure this transaction went smoothly. She saved us hundreds of dollars and time on repairs with her referrals and warranty recommendations. We ended up closing within the time frame she had predicted before we had put our home up for sale. That was an amazing feat considering that she had generated multiple offers in such a short time frame TWICE and that in the meantime there was an unexpected sub-prime mortgage crisis that reduced our already small pool of buyers.

In short, Katherine is not just a Realtor, she is a marketing specialist that will sell your home quickly when most homes are languishing on the market.

Michael & Maylin Lema
Gilroy

"After a referral from a family member, we chose Katherine to assist us with the purchase of our first home. Since it was our first time,we were very unsure of how the process would go, and we literally knew next to nothing about owning or buying a home. Much credit goes to Katherine for patiently explaining every step of the home buying process. She worked with us diligently for a few months to ensure that we would get the home we were looking for within our budget (trust me when I say that this was not an easy task). Due to the fact that we are a young couple and first time home buyers, Katherine also patiently worked with our families to ensure that every member was satisfied with our purchase. Additionally, I cannot express the value of Katherine's persistence. We were able to close a loan right when the subprime mortgage fallout exploded that we most likely would not have been able to get with another realtor --- without Katherine's experience and determination during the last few days of escrow, we could have easily been another casualty of the housing crisis. I can say with absolute certainty that Katherine utilized all of her experience by finding a house that was an amazing deal in the perfect neighborhood for us and remaining a steadfast confidant in the stress of buying our first home. Katherine brings the total package to any real estate transaction, and I have to say that you will waste your time and money by not choosing her. Her professionalism and experience has earned her our business for life.

Christie Pitts & Nick Wilcox
Gilroy

Katherine was the sole bright point in the recent sale of our home in Gilroy. We originally listed our house with another local realty office. After enduring 3 months of open houses and walk throughs, we had no offers. That office advised us to lower the price of the house. Instead, we terminated their contract and hired Katherine. Eleven days later, we had an offer.

Katherine has the ability to describe a property in such a way that everyone wants to come see it. She actively markets a property using various methods: open houses, door-to-door flyer campaigns, recorded information that a potential buyer can listen to without actually having to speak to anyone right away (good for those shy ones out there!), and placing the property on her website. She even hired - at her own expense - a “home stager” to organize our home to make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Furthermore, if anyone is more diligent than Katherine in following up on sales leads, we certainly haven’t met them. If there are potential buyers for your property out there, she won’t let them get away!

After the offer, Katherine didn’t abandon us, either. She saw to it that all home inspections were done in a timely manner, and continually followed up with the buyer’s agent to ensure that all contingencies and financing arrangements were moving along smoothly.

If you are interested in selling your property, Katherine is the woman to do it!

Laurie and David Matt
Gilroy, CA

Katherine listed our home and sold it within 5 days, for the price that we wanted. Her marketing strategies drew multiple offers, and had realtors and clients beating down our door.

We upsized to a new home, and she was invaluable in helping us navigate through the process.

Having a thorough, knowledgeable, and savvy agent made all of the difference to us. If you are considering Katherine and her Real Estate Marketing services, she comes highly recommended.<