My spouse and I bought our first home in Mountain View through Sunny Kim. Early December 2020 we were looking for a realtor who specializes in the Mountain View and Sunnyvale areas. Sunny was very quick to respond over email within minutes and set up a virtual meeting the same evening. We had instant chemistry and she beat out 4 other well-rated realtors on Yelp. Of what I researched, she had the highest ratings on Yelp and on other sites, far outnumbering other realtors in the area and the content of those positive reviews were genuine and ultimately mirrored our experience. Beyond the standard home buying process explanation, she shared key stories and tips that convinced us that she had that perfect balance of industry expertise, street smarts, and personal touch. She explained all the legalese of the documents in layman terms during the orientation. I’m confident I could teach another person the entire process too based on what Sunny taught us.
Once we started working with her, she was super quick to send us a list of recommended lenders and promising listings our way. Sunny was always listening with a purpose to maximize our happiness and she always reiterated what we said in order to ensure she was on the same page as us. Sunny and her team worked like lightning to set up tours efficiently, send out waivers, keep us abreast of the latest details, and just be extremely communicative. My spouse and I started the process thinking we knew what we wanted but as we toured we learned many things about ourselves, our budget, preferences, and deal-breakers. Sunny had the patience of a saint throughout our discovery process. She was never put off by us changing our minds but found positive ways to make any hesitation or sudden changes work to our advantage. She helped us narrow our filters and figure out what we truly wanted by providing short/long-term dis/advantages of each criterion. In many ways, she guided us like a part-time therapist/counselor especially when the market is so competitive and it’s easy to lose one’s spirits when you lose out on a bid.
For much of the market, it’s essentially how much money you’re going to outbid the other parties. But sometimes there are special circumstances and Sunny is able to tap into the personal side of home buying and makes it a warm process while always keeping in mind how to stay competitive and savvy. Any decent modern realtor will have access and fully utilize all the standard tools of the trade like home listing websites, market comparisons, network connections, and whatnot but what makes a superb realtor is how they use that information and connection to navigate the landscape and find competitive advantages specifically for their client. This is where Sunny really shines at connecting all the pieces together. She noticed a small detail in the disclosure that was actually very important to the seller and encouraged us to highlight it in our client letter which was the key to winning us our dream home without a bidding war.
Of course, I can’t talk about Sunny without David. They come as an experienced pair with a long working history. They balance each other very well with their different styles and skills. David was very key in providing alternative suggestions, bouncing ideas/points with Sunny, and same-day home inspection summaries that gave us an idea of how much it would cost to renovate and repair a potential home.
Sunny helped to facilitate a lot of the moving parts for the closing, escrow, and renovation. Sunny gave us a clear outlined timeline of what and when to expect. They were always on top of calling people right away because, in this market, time is crucial. When I spoke to another friend who was going through the home buying and escrow process at the same time, they were envious of how well Sunny guided us so clearly. This same friend had two different realtors over a year-long search and had to make far more offers. In the end, she was able to win a home due to the advice I shared with her that Sunny taught me and her realtor never taught her. In fact, her realtor was against the advice that helped give them the advantage.
Sunny and David referred a reliable contractor to do some renovation and repair immediately after receiving the keys. After we settled down, Sunny and David came by to check in on us and gave us a super thoughtful custom gift basket filled with amazing goodies intended for our home, pets, and baby.
Overall, in about 2 months, we toured 10 homes, and Sunny helped us make 5 offers. I believe that having Sunny on our side we were able to keep it to such a short process and less but stronger offers. There’s no question of who we will go to for more real estate needs we may have in the future. We wholeheartedly recommend Sunny Kim to any of our family, friends, and colleagues. This is a connection that will last the rest of our lives.