Karen Douglas - Mortgage Genie Diablo Rd, Danville

I was referred to Karen and team by a friend who had a great experience working with her for his home purchase the year prior. He had nothing but great things to say, so I scheduled a call with Karen when I wanted to get my own home buying process started. After our initial call, I felt much more knowledgeable about the financial portion of the home buying process, and knew that I wanted to go with Karen. She walked me through the process and let me know what was needed and what to expect. Once I found my real estate agent, I put her in contact with Karen as well so they could align on how quickly we could move if I did find a property I was interested in. My agent recommended I get fully underwritten in advance because of the highly competitive market on the peninsula, and Karen made it happen. When I found the property that really felt like home and I wanted to submit a competitive offer on, Karen worked closely with my real estate agent so that we could offer a 15 day close. Karen also called me during the offer process to help me understand the financial implications of contingencies (or lack thereof when the seller countered and asked me to remove the appraisal contingency), so that I could understand what kind of money I would need to come up with if the property did not appraise for purchase price (it did appraise at purchase price, by the way!) Thanks to Karen's guidance and incredibly fast work, I was able to purchase my first home as a single mom - a place that I was proud to surprise my son with once I got the keys. We closed a day early even with our short 15 day timeline. My real estate agent was initially concerned that I was going with a mortgage broker in the East Bay as the market in the Peninsula moves very quickly and is highly competitive, but after the initial call with Karen my agent was put at ease, and once the process was done she mentioned that she really loved working with Karen and could not believe how fast she got things done. The escrow officer also mentioned how great Karen was to work with and asked how I had found her. Karen and Anna on her team were a pleasure to work with. They helped me understand every step of the process, answered all my questions, and got me set up to make the strongest offer possible with a short close and underwriting in advance. I can't thank them enough, and highly recommend them to any prospective home buyer.

I worked with Karen and Anna both when I bought my first home and also when I refinanced it. Both times they made the process so easy, answered all of my questions in a timely manner, and got me the best value. I will recommend them to all of my family and friends.