AG Realty

Donna Bridge
5 Star
We had a wonderful experience working with Katia. Trying to buy a house in the Bay Area during one of the craziest housing markets of all time was a challenge, to say the least. You have to bid crazy amounts of money on houses, and accept that you can’t make a competitive offer without waiving all of your contingencies (inspection, appraisal, and loan). To do that, you need to at least go in with eyes open about what you’re getting and what kind of costs you might face as a new homeowner. This is one of many areas where Katia shines. For every house we considered (at least 20 over the course of 5 months), Katia would comb through the disclosures and highlight important aspects of the reports to give us an idea about what needed repair and how much it would cost. This was so helpful for us, as we had no experience with home ownership before. For any repairs, she also offered to help us find the right contractors to do the job. Having Katia was the next best thing to having our own inspector. When it came to making an offer, Katia made sure we were as competitive as we could be for every house we bid on. She set us up with a highly respected mortgage broker in the area, which ultimately helped us secure our house. She was super proactive at every step of the way — reaching out to the seller’s realtor to get a sense of the competitive landscape and the state of the home; talking to the neighbors to understand the neighborhood; calling contractors to estimate costs and understand the extent of repairs that might be needed. She also helped us write a compelling love letter to the sellers, which suprirsingly gave us an edge over other potential buyers. Katia expertly navigated us through the whole search and buying process. We ended up with a home that ultimately checked all of our boxes, which was quite a feat in these times. We couldn’t be more grateful to Katia for sticking with us through many failed bids and countless tours. If you want a realtor who is excellent at their job and is a caring person who will go to great lengths to get you a home that fits your exact needs, I highly recommend you hire Katia!
Tuesday 1st March 2022

Marty Zimmerman
5 Star
I met Katia Gailas on a Sunday at an open house in Orinda. The next Thursday she was representing me on an offer for a house. The sellers turned down my offer. She worked the deal for about 36 hours, including putting more of her own skin (and mine) in the game until she got us to “Yes.” It was a tremendous, successful effort. Over the years I have worked with a lot of different agents, including prominent ones in Lamorinda and Piedmont. I don’t think any of them would have gotten me this house. Katia promptly answered all of my questions by text, email or phone. She had a vendor contact ready for every service I needed. Her background as an artist shown through in our discussions of paint and decorating. This young lady is not “box checking.” She really did all she could to make my purchase happen and to help me land comfortably on my feet in the new house. I strongly recommend her to anybody looking to purchase or sell real estate in the East Bay.
Wednesday 4th May 2022

Kevin Laube
5 Star
I had a great experience working with Katia, and would highly recommend her to anyone trying to navigate buying a home in the Bay Area. I came into the home buying process with a lot of questions, and Katia helped me refine my search criteria before finding a number of great options despite fairly low inventory on the market at the time. I really appreciated Katia's attention to detail, responsiveness, and persistence throughout the whole process. She was very thorough in her review of the houses we saw and spotted any potential concerns, walked me through them, and helped me think through how it should impact my offer. Ultimately, Katia helped me find a house that met all my criteria and I'm very happy with it, thanks Katia!
Wednesday 23rd March 2022

RBS
5 Star
Alexander and Katia Gailas are superb realtors! They managed just about every detail of the sale of our parents’ home, from the beginning to the end of what was a challenging situation. Alexander was indispensable, recommending the best approach, quickly lining up the right teams (contractors, etc.) to make the necessary repairs and improvements (of which there were many!) in the most cost-effective way, then oversaw all the work as it unfolded. Taking his advice, we chose not to do a major overhaul/remodel, other than a new deck, instead improving upon what was already there. Alexander took a personal approach, as if he were selling his own home, paying attention to every detail. He always made himself available, kept us up to date every step of the way, and his advice proved to be spot-on. We had a lot on our plate during this time and he obligingly took much of the pressure off our shoulders, of course consulting closely with us from beginning to end. Katia managed all the aesthetic choices as the house was being prepared for sale, interviewing staging companies, providing us with the bids along with her recommendations, then worked very closely with the stager that we selected. She selected all the new lighting fixtures, even cleaned and painted existing exterior light sconces on her own time at home. We felt that Katia put her heart and soul into the project, pursuing a strong artistic vision of how she wanted the house to be staged. She transformed a large out-of-date house into a spectacular, light and airy contemporary home. We cannot recommend Alexander and Katia highly enough and, assuming we will need to buy and sell in the future, they will be our realtors. We believe that their vision and experience proved to be the difference in making a potentially difficult sale into a winner!
Monday 15th August 2022

Haley Sayres
5 Star
Katia was the perfect real estate agent to work with to buy my home and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for an experienced, knowledgeable, savvy, and empathetic agent. As a first time homeowner, I was grateful that she walked me through the process, pointed out pros and cons about houses that I wouldn’t have noticed myself, and gave her honest opinion (positive or negative) about every house that I saw. She spent countless hours with me not just showing houses, but advising me and listening to all of my concerns. She was very responsive, able to show me houses within hours of them coming on the market (even though I’m across the bay!) Also- she really knows the market. She nailed every single price that she thought every home would go within a few thousand dollars— if she told me a house was going for 50k over, it went for exactly that. I knew exactly what I needed to offer to be competitive without overspending. Finally, I got a house that met all of my most important criteria, and Katia has continued to be an asset post closing in making sure I have every thing I need— including connecting me to people in her network to help me get my house set up. I will definitely work with Katia if and when I buy my next home!
Friday 24th September 2021