Boy, are we glad we met Lana at an open house, were immediately impressed by her knowledge of the Lamorinda area, and clicked with her personality and style.

For months we looked casually for our "next" home while we waited out the seasons (holidays/winter) and the market (interest rates) and simultaneously prepared our "old" (then-current) home to sell. Lana would stay in touch by sharing new listings, pocket listings (homes not yet publicly listed but coming soon), and even some homes in neighborhoods we liked that would become available months in the future (we think her relationships with other realtors and with homeowners in those neighborhoods gave us an advantage). She would also gather information on homes we saw listed, suggested neighborhoods to consider, would follow-up with sellers' agents, etc. as a way to advance our research and our understanding of homes, neighborhoods, and the area housing market.

When our "old" home sold in one day with a 10-day close, she and we turbo-charged our search for the "new" home. She and we intensified and broadened our home visits, open houses, private showings, etc. We saw a few houses we liked and one we loved, but didn't think the timing would work out. Lana contacted the seller (who was also the selling realtor), learned that an offer was in hand and just accepted, yet she still gathered as much information as she could to give us insights into what might be possible. We made a backup offer, the seller countered, we countered with a best-and-final, but the original offer was still in play. Within 24 hours, though, that offer fell apart as the initial buyers backed out, and we got the home we loved! That's evidence of being hard-charging, tenacious, opportunistic, and doing what it takes to win -- all qualities we appreciated in OUR representative.

We closed quickly on the new home, have just moved in, are mostly unpacked, and still love the new home despite its quirks -- all of which we knew about because Lana ensured we were thorough. As we have a moment to revel in this new life, we reflect on and appreciate the integral role that Lana played in helping to make it happen.

During and very stressful and unsettled time -- from the very beginning and throughout the process -- Lana was friendly, cordial, personable, easy to work with, yet professional, responsive to our various questions and requests, and always detail-oriented.

She represented our interests as the buyers -- as our advocate to the seller.  That seller was also a licensed realtor selling their own home of many, many years and representing themself. Imagine the added complexity this can introduce as the seller also has emotional ties to the property and needs to be dealt with and handled firmly yet gingerly.

Lana actively protected us from potential pitfalls, exposures, and bad deals. She was the tougher partner, making sure our emotions (enthusiasm) didn't color our actions.  For example, she walked the house with us just before we made our final offer to look at the items called out in the official inspection report and seller disclosures and to check for any other issues we might find, to ensure we went into this with eyes wide open.

Now at the other side of the home buying process, we are very pleased with our new home, and we are grateful for Lana and appreciative of the central role she played in guiding us and representing us. We recommend her without hesitation.