Results-focused. Responsive. Professional. Highly communicative. An absolute pleasure to work with, and a true expert in her craft. This was easily the best and most successful real estate experience of our lives.
My family recently had the privilege of working with Kara Kay to manage the sale of a condo in San Diego. The situation was somewhat complex because we are all located on the East Coast of the United States, and we needed an agent who could handle every aspect of the transaction without us ever needing to travel.
My parents were understandably daunted by the idea of having to clean out a fully furnished condo from over 3,000 miles away and then figure out how to prep the unit for sale. From the moment Kara finished her listing presentation, all fears and concerns were assuaged, and we knew we found the right person for the job. Kara made it clear that she and her Team of professionals (who are all just as great as Kara) would handle everything from A to Z, including the clean out and clean up before we even went to market.
The entire Team at Kara Kay & Associates far exceeded our expectations and lived up to their promise! The condo was show-ready over the course of a single weekend, and within 36 hours of hitting the market we were already in receipt of multiple offers! The entire transaction was seamless. My parents are thrilled with the outcome.
Kara is incredibly thoughtful and thorough, she has a deep understanding of the local markets, and her approach to pricing and negotiation strategy is second to none.
We truly appreciated her constant communication and reassurance during every step of the sale. There was no question left unanswered, no part of the process she didnt explain in detail, and her results speak for themselves. Throw in the fact that Kara is one of the nicest people on the planet, and you have the perfect combination of industry knowledge and personality to get things done the right way.
When it comes to selecting a real estate agent, most of us want the same things. It ultimately comes down to picking someone we trust, who we believe is going to work the hardest and get the best possible price. For my family, we have no doubt that Kara Kay was that person, and we would highly recommend her to anyone buying or selling property in southern California. She is amazing!
Kara and team are the best in the game. Please do believe the hype! We started this journey during a difficult time in the market and stressful time in our lives but Kara and her team put our nerves at ease by not only being an expert in the industry but also an infectious positive light every time we connected. Its rare to find this combination. She was able to answer all of our questions, then find and close on our dream home within just a few weeks, when based on other stories from people who used other realtors, we fully believed it would be months of struggle and let downs. If you not only want the best real estate team on your side that will fight for you but also want to enjoy the entire experience, go with Kara! 2022
I don't leave many reviews, but this one is well-deserved.
In a crazy housing market, Kara did a fantastic job navigating the landscape. We were first-time home-buyers, and she did an excellent job helping us understand the process while taking quick action so that we had the best chances of getting our offer accepted.
She was professional, always came with a positive attitude, and was well organized, making the buying process smooth. As a result, we were able to secure our home (without even having the highest bid), so we're thankful we had Kara by our side.
We feel extremely lucky that Kara helped us buy our first home. Surprisingly, it wasnt a long process for us in this difficult market, all thanks to Karas expertise and guidance every step of the way. We were always 100% confident that she was looking out for us and our best interests. Kara was extremely attentive and acted quickly to make sure we got exactly what we wanted..and we did!
We knew nothing about the home buying process when we started out and Kara took the time to explain each step to ensure we were clear with the process and comfortable/confident with our decisions. She continued to advocate for us and went the extra mile until the end.
We 10/10 recommend Kara when buying or selling as I assure you shell exceed all of your expectations! 2021
I don't know where to begin! Kara is not only a great realtor, her customer service is outstanding and her honesty, integrity, hard work ethic and commitment to her clients is unmatched.
My husband and I are first time home buyers and we are so grateful for her representation. She was always available to answer our questions. She kept us apprised of next steps, appointments, and was beyond helpful every step of the way. Her responsiveness and communication not only helped with the logistics of the transaction, but also made us feel comfortable and secure.
Kara is organized, knowledgeable, and her positivity through what many people consider a stressful process is an absolute asset in this tough housing market.
I can't speak highly enough of Kara as our real estate agent. She provides the utmost professional and personal service which we appreciate and respect. She is not just our realtor anymore, we consider her our friend! 2021
Kara was absolutely amazing in helping me both find and secure my dream home in Pacific Beach. She found this gem that met all of my (many) requirements and helped make sure I didn't pay any more than the highest offer. She is professional, truly knows the market, and attentive. Her whole team is fantastic! I would highly recommend working with her.
As a (fellow) native San Diegian who wanted to move home, Kara was incredible at helping me find the option that worked best for me and was honest / open about all tradeoffs. The SD real estate market is tough, but you can do it with Kara & team on your side! Again, would highly recommend to anyone looking to buy or sell. 2021
Don't hesitate, don't wonder, just grab your phone and call Kara Kay if you are looking to buy or sell real estate. You couldn't be in better hands!
Kara was there for us any time we had a question or concern, and made the process as painless as possible. Joined us for viewings, helped us submit competitive offers, and then once we had an offer accepted handled everything quickly and professionally. We couldn't be any happier with our new home, and we couldn't be any happier with the work Kara did for us. I don't anticipate buying another home any time soon, but if I was I would immediately call Kara. And if one of my good friends asked me for a recommendation, I wouldn't hesitate to introduce them to Kara Kay. 2022
I can attest with the utmost confidence - Kara is the BEST realtor in San Diego. Not being located in San Diego and having specific requirements, I presented Kara with a unique challenge that she enthusiastically stepped up to the plate for. Her vast market knowledge and passion for real estate, coupled with her intuitiveness, diligence, and attention to detail made the world of difference in the home buying process for me - a first-timer and also a remote buyer. Whether it was sending countless videos of listings, negotiating offers, reviewing inspection reports, or checking the direction of the front door for the optimal feng shui, Kara was on it.
Using this as an investment property, Kara also helped me secure fantastic and well-qualified tenants, as well as provide on-site support for maintenance and repairs. I know this is not the typical duties of a realtor, but that shows how committed Kara is to providing the most seamless experience for her clients - before, during, and after the close of escrow.
Besides being an incredible realtor, Kara is a genuine and outstanding human being. She's filled with positive energy, a light-hearted sense of humor, and is an excellent communicator. These qualities are always much appreciated when navigating a difficult negotiation or escrow process, especially when speaking to someone multiple times per day for weeks on end. It was a true joy working with Kara and I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in the San Diego real estate market. 2021
Weve had the opportunity to work with Kara twice now and the experience has been nothing short of AMAZING! She is talented beyond measure, shes personable and her work ethic is unmatched. Both purchasing experiences with Kara we relied heavily on her advice on where we should come in with an offer and how to approach the situation and each time, she was spot on! We even had one of the listing agents tell us a big reason we got the house was because of Kara. She makes the buying process fun and she knows exactly how to get you your dream home in this competitive market. If you need a great agent with market expertise USE KARA!! 2021
Kara is the absolute BEST. Best real estate agent and genuinely the best person. When my boyfriend and I started looking for a home we had no idea where to start. Kara made the process so fun and exciting. She was so in tune with what was important to us and how she could best support us. Always celebrating the small wins and ensuring that we were more than comfortable with the whole process. Karas charm, attention to detail, and undeniable passion are unparalleled and make a huge impact in ensuring you get everything you dream of in your future home.
Our experience with Kara makes me want to shout her praise from the rooftop and We could not be more grateful. You seriously couldnt find a more competent, dedicated, and (I repeat) passionate realtor if you tried.
Kara is literally the best! The best at finding the right house at the right price. The best at holding your hand at every stage of the process. She knows her stuff and is an absolute pleasure. Our situation was complicated there were many people who needed to be satisfied and everyone wanted something different. Kara was not only a fantastic realtor (she is a supreme negotiator and got us a great deal the house we purchased ended up being appreciated at 100k higher than what we bought it for unheard of, in this market!) - but she was also a mind-reader, a mediator and an unflappable, positive presence. She gives you her time, her good energy, and her expertise. We really cant say enough. If you are selling in San Diego or, like us, looking to buy do yourself a favor and call Kara Kay. 2021
Kara is an amazing real estate agent and all around great person. When I first met her, my wife and I werent looking for a home. But I knew instantly that Id want to work with her when we were ready to start looking. She has such a dynamic personality, and her positive energy fills up the room.
We ended up working with Kara to purchase a home in Encinitas and were so glad we did! Kara is the dream combination of being someone fun and personable to work with, and also exceptional at her job. Usually you only get one or the other. Buying a home in San Diego, especially Encinitas, is a real challenge right now. Its such a desirable place to live and the buying process is super competitive. Kara was great in making our offer stand out - emptying her bag of tricks to get our offer accepted all while staying within our budget.
Kara is also a San Diego native, and her knowledge of the area was a huge asset throughout the process. She has a really great network that made the whole process seamless. We had previously bought a home and planned to use our previous lender. Though we ended up going with her recommended lender and are so glad we did. She also had great recommendations for other things like inspections, and was hands-on with helping us figure out a plan for the work that needed to be done on the house after closing.
Kara is truly special and a genuine pleasure to work with. Both my wife and I wouldnt hesitate to call her if we ever sell our home or buy another property. Reach out to her now before she ends up on Selling Sunset! 2021
From a referral I reached out to Kara for assistance on selling my condo in San Diego. I was not living locally at the time, and she fully offered to take care of the turnover with the tenants that I had moving out of my unit before listing it to sell as I was unable to be there to do that.
The day Kara went to grab the keys from my renters she inspected my home and found it not until to be dirty, but many large items were broken, a stressful situation for me to experience from afar. She asked if I was OK with her owning the process in sourcing vendors to make repairs, and finding and purchasing the needed items (including vanities and toilets in both bathrooms amongst many other things) on my behalf. I knew from the referral I had received that I could trust her, and that was the best move I could have made.
Kara, along with her partner Rob Donahue took care of the entire process of hiring vendors and choosing the best options for replacements parts/paint/etc. and I never had to make the trip to town to see it as I were so thorough in sending me photos and videos of the entire process, I just had to approve of all purchases sent via text or email.
Upon listing the unit immediate offers came in, well beyond our listing pricing and what we initially expected, and I know it was because of all of the time and care that Kara and Rob put in (very quickly might I add). Thank you to you both for making this the EASIEST process ever, you two are beyond the A team and I appreciate everything that you did! 2021
Kara Kay was the right person to help me sell my condo. She was good at helping me navigate the process by provided advice that took into account my objectives. She did a great job at staging my condo and was a great marketer. Her relationship with other agents was an added bonus.
If you're in need of an agent I highly recommend Kara. 2020
KARA. IS. AWESOME. I repeat AWESOME. Consider her the new Queen B of San Diego real estate.
She's truly amazing to work with and even more amazing of a person. She's transparent, personable, trustworthy, and wildly passionate. But most importantly, she cares about your needs and puts them first. I just closed on a new place here in PB and am stokeddddd!
She knows this market better than anyone and delivers it with an ear to ear smile. Kara is my #1 and will forever be in my front row both personally and professionally :) 2020
SUPER RECOMMENDED ! ! Kara was our realtor for a house we bought in Santee, CA and was really great at explaining the local game rules, fighting our fights when needed, and always looking out for the best solution from a BUYER'S POINT OF VIEW. I would highly recommend using Kara's services for anyone who is looking for an honest, energetic and professional realtor in the San Diego county area! 2019
We were incredibly lucky to choose Kara as our realtor as first time home buyers. She walked us through the home buying process, making sure we had all the information to make good decisions. We were completely clueless about what we were looking for when we first started out and Kara was incredibly patient, despite us changing our minds about the neighborhood we were looking to buy in about 53,595 times. We also had a blast seeing homes with Kara and she made the process lots of fun. I would definitely recommend working with Kara if you're looking to buy a place. She is incredibly knowledgeable, honest, and fun to be around. She never tried to sway us in any way and left the decisions completely up to us. She is the best! 2019
First Time Home Buyer in San Diego, a buyer from La Mesa, CA
Kara Kay is the BEST realtor in all of San Diego County. My husband and I had the absolute pleasure of working with Kara to purchase our first home and she made home buying experience a magical event. Kara is truly a once in a lifetime person and realtor; she above all else loves and cares about people, and this is so abundantly apparent in the passion and love she brings to her work and every aspect of her life. Kara is the amazing and rare mix of positivity (she will always keep your spirit up especially when you need it most), while also being completely realistic and honest with you always (she will tell you like it is and if a property isnt right for some reason she will tell you upfront). Searching for houses, especially your first one, can be a rollercoaster, but with Kara as your guide in the process you will always feel informed, taken care of, and on track. She is professional, thoughtful, patient, and goes more above and beyond to make sure her clients end up in the best possible home for them. On top of all of these traits, Kara has many connections and relationships all over San Diego county which enable her to find houses that might not have hit the market, help set you up with renovations, whatever you may need she will know the right person to call. One of our many examples of Karas extraordinary heart and commitment to her clients was on our closing got delayed because of an extra credit check that our lender needed to do and Kara made magic happen and moved mountains to negotiate with the seller and his agent so we were able to move our stuff in on the date we had our movers booked. She is an absolute rockstar and there is no one better in San Diego that you could work with than her. We ended up with an incredible first home for our growing family and we have Kara to thank for this. We unequivocally recommend Kara Kay to anyone we canyou will be beyond happy you did!!! 2019
5 STARS!!!! Wow. Wow. Wow as I write this I am in complete disbelief. Kara is a magician!!! We had such an unbelievably complex and unique set of circumstances she knew what to do at every turn. Using her services, we sold a condo and bought a duplex within 2 months. The condo sold for $10K over our asking (because she knew where to set the price) and she helped us extend Escrow on our duplex purchase. The end result? We now own a duplex property in a beachfront neighborhood that appraised for $200K above what we paid!! I know it seems too good to be true, but it isnt, Kara is a miracle worker. I tell everyone about our home-buying story, and highly recommend her! 2018
Where to begin...where to begin. I've known Kara for about for about 10 or 11 years now and even though we didn't hang out with the same circle of friends I knew that she was a great person by her character and wouldn't succeed in any path that she took. Fast forward to the end of 2018, I find out that I am being stationed back to San Diego for my last few years and I'm ready to settle down in this great city so I decide I need to find a realtor. Initially, I reached out to Kara but due to her being stranded on an Island I didn't hear back from her and decide to rely on the opinion of others when I asked on social media if anyone could recommend a realtor. A friend of mine did, mentioned he was a former Marine and I decided to give him a shot. Well, after two weeks I stopped hearing from him and reached back out to Kara for some advice. Kara, being the great person of character she is, gave me some advice to try to work it out with the realtor and didn't want to interfere with them. I am 100% positive that if it were anyone else they would have told me to leave them and let them find me a home. But not Kara, didn't want to step on anyone shoes and said that if nothing changes she would be glad to help out. A week later, I told Kara that I was ready to be her client. Now, this is about six months before I was moved back to San Diego and was living in Hawaii. Kara did everything she could to give me an idea of how the properties that we would find together looked, by going to the locations, filming the interior so I can really see what it looks like and then uploading it to Youtube. I felt a bit bad because she was running around San Diego making these videos for me to view and at times.I just said nope, not interested. All Kara said was, "Okay, gotcha". Eventually, I made my way to San Diego for a week to view some properties. Kara was there to pick me up and show me around all the properties that we found and while we were viewing properties I was also learning about what to look for in homes and understanding certain words I kept hearing and pretending I knew what they meant. Once I made went back to Hawaii there were two properties that I liked, can't remember the first one, but the other one was in Adobe falls. Let's just say when it went into Escrow I was heartbroken. Nothing on Kara's part, it was just not in my budget. Kara knew something was up with me by out text conversations and we had a talk where she gave me her word that we would find the perfect home for me. Cheered me up and was energized to continue the search. Eventually we found the home that I am currently living in now and I don't believe this would have happen without Kara doing her job. Overall, Kara is a great person who goes above and beyond what I believe most realtors are willing to do for their clients. She is all about her clients and what they want. Always listening and paying attention to their wants and needs and making it happen to the best of her ability. She's not happy unless YOU are happy and it takes months for her to find you your perfect home she doesn't because she loves what she does and by finding her clients their dream home is what she lives for.
Kara was a pleasure to work with throughout the process of buying our first home. She is professional, attentive to detail and easy to work with. She stayed the course through a trying and long process. She is a straight shooter and extremely honest with her clients. I can highly recommend her to anyone seeking a truly professional Realtor. She made our house a home and my whole family couldn't be more thankful! 2017
This being our first house we were uneducated in the way of how hard things can be when finding a home in this competitive market of San Diego. Not only did Kara educate us every step of the way, she was patient and always positive. After 5 offers on different houses, we found our home! I would highly recommend Kara and her team to help with any real estate needs. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for her and her fabulous team!! 2016
Kara helped me get my first property and I am happy with the purchase. After literally years of looking, I was finally able to get a property for a great price in an extremely tough market. Kara's knowledgeable, energetic, personable, and professional. She even picked me up at work a couple of times (way out of the way) when I was having some car issues. She's also committed to getting the right fit for the buyer, not just making a sale. There were several close calls where she helped me make my own decision rather than persuading me. Her expertise was useful during those times. She's contacted me several times after purchase to make sure I'm still satisfied with the buy which I am. Would definitely recommend! 2016
Kara recently sold our townhouse in Pacific Beach. I'm delighted to say that we sold above what we were expecting. Every interaction we had with Kara was professional and she was never off her game. She is knowledgeable about the area and the market conditions. Once we established a listing price she promptly hired a professional photographer to go through and take pictures for the MLS listing, on her dime. The final listing, as seen on Redfin, Zillow, etc, was exceptional. Once offers came in she stayed in close contact with us to get us through escrow to closing. I can't offer enough praise for the job she did. I highly recommend her and would definitely use her again in the future. 2016
I recently moved to San Diego and decided it was a good time to purchase a condo. I was nervous considering I had never purchased property on my own. I had contact with a couple of agents prior to being introduced to Kara Kay. Once I met Kara, I knew I found the agent I was going to stick with and I'm so glad I did. I am now living in a great condo in the Marina. Kara is reliable, professional, and a total sweetheart! I have referred her to several friends already and will continue to do so. 2016
I have bought or sold over a dozen properties in my life and dealt with hundreds of real estate agents over that period. Kara Kay, without any doubt, is the best agent I have ever worked with. She possesses every great quality a star real estate agent should have. Works extremely hard for her clients, is intelligent, detail oriented, has a great personality and is genuinely nice and friendly. She is sincere and not self-serving, unlike most agents I have come across over the years. She took over my listing that had gone stale after 6 months of having it listed with the top selling agent in San Diego County . She listed our property at the same price and within 10 days from her list date, we received 6 legitimate offers that were each above the list price. We sold our place in 30 days and at above asking price thanks to Kara. What the top selling agent could not do in 6 months, Kara did in 10 days. She is brilliant, generous, always accessible to her clients, is well liked and works great with other agents, is well connected throughout San Diego and carefully oversees every aspect of the transaction for her client (be it buyer or seller) from beginning to end. I can write a novel about how great she is but you get the idea. 2015