Leading Edge Real Estate

Katya Pitts was a model professional and an extremely engaging person. She clearly has a strong background in economics and really pushes for you in terms of the selling price of your home, and the buying price of your new home. I had originally estimated our home value to be around 550-570K, but Katya was able to sell it for a whopping 615K. She was also able to significantly reduce the price of the home we moved into. A friendly Arlington neighbor, Katya is both a fantastic real estate agent, and a kind and warm-hearted person. All the best to her, and if you are considering hiring Katya as your agent, I certainly believe you won't regret it!

After meeting with a few realtors for the sale of our condo unit in Watertown, we decided to go with Katya largely based on Angie?s List reviews. And the users of Angie?s List were right; we feel truly lucky to have had Katya as our agent. Katya offered a spot-on estimate of our home price, went above and beyond to ensure a successful open house, and was able to raise buyers? interest in our unit even before the date of open house. As a result, we got multiple offers right after our unit went on the market. Through the exciting yet stressful negotiation process, Katya was there for us handling the task with professionalism and poise. And the same excellence continued through the whole sales process until the closing. Thanks to Katya, we sold our house much above the asking price and the original price we paid for it. This is particularly remarkable given that our neighbor in the same condominium sold their unit at a significant loss a few weeks before us. Katya?s team members we interacted with were also competent, friendly, and interesting to talk to. Selling your home is a stressful process with a lot at stake. Having a competent and reliable realtor like Katya on your side can make a big difference. We would highly recommend Katya to anyone.

We turned to Katya Pitts after several months of unsuccessful attempts to buy a home in a very tough market (Arlington, 2013). Katya was able to get us the house we wanted, we are convinced that if not for her skill an dedication we'd still be looking for a place a year later. Katya is one of the best agents in the area -- as simple as that!

Katya was amazing to work with. From the moment I originally contacted her when I was considering selling my condominium, to the showings and marketing of the property, and then the closing, she was a true professional. She made the process as easy as possible for me. She went above and beyond to make sure the sale was progressing and she helped me out in a pinch when I needed her assistance. I highly recommend Katya.

Very easy to work with, knowledgable, professional - a great experience all around. Given that the process of buying a house can be one of the most stressful experiences in life, I was totally amazed by how little stress there was throughout the process. Katya's leaving nothing to chance had a lot to do with that.

Katya provided tremendous service during the selling of our home in Watertown, MA and purchase of our new house. She was invaluable throughout the whole process from suggesting a fair but fairly aggressive price to list our home to also helping us get a great deal on the buy side. She works tremendously hard and has a great business mind. The reason we chose her over other realtors was her business savvy and true understanding of the real estate market. She has a business background before real estate and that truly shows. As opposed to other realtors who will underprice your home just to get a quick sale, Katya not only looks at the comps in the neighborhood, but also at the intangibles that your house provides. She really made us feel like she was working hard to sell our home and approached all suggestions based on real market data and analytics. I would definitely use her again and have suggested her services to numerous friends and family members.

We were really scared about putting our rental property on the market again because we had such a horrible experience with a previous realtor (which is why we ended up with a rental property). We interviewed 3 different realtors and it was an easy decision to go with Katya. She put together a very technical, comprehensive and accurate market analysis of properties in the area and supported her listing price with this analysis. We had never seen a realtor present to us in such a technical manner but it made total sense. Instead of acting like a salesman and trying to inflate our egos, she was objective, honest, and most importantly full of ideas. Our situation was tricky. We had tenants residing in the property and their lease went until the end of summer but we had to take advantage of the competitive spring market. Katya did not see this as a hurdle. Instead, she worked with our tenants, walked them through the entire process of selling the unit and even helped them find potential apartments. Katya was able to see all of our challenges and identify potential solutions. We were able to sell at our asking price, which was more than what we could ask for considering what we had been through the year before. Katya understands the market. She understands the area. She was always honest with us and always gave us best and worst case scenarios. We wholeheartedly recommend Katya. She is the top of her field and an unparalleled professional.

Great! Katya helped us win find our perfect home and win a bidding war without going over budget

It went great. Katya advised us on everything, had recommendations for excellent 3rd-parties like the house inspector and the mortgage broker and lawyer. She answered most queries within minutes and occasionally no more than an hour or two later. Most of all she helped us buy at the right price where our offer was considered but we didn't go above market value, in a seller's market. All and all highly recommended.

Katya Pitts is, in a word, professional. She was very thorough, methodical and analytical as she guided us through the successful sale of our property. Having dealt with too many agents of the fast-talking, 'tell you want you want to hear' variety, Katya was a breath of fresh air. The next time we buy or sell real estate, Katya will be our first call. I also think it's also worth noting that her excellent reputation within the local industry helped us in an unexpected way: When we initially made an offer on the property we wanted to buy and requested a contingency for the sale of our existing home, we were told 'no' -- until they heard that the agent handling the sale of our home was Katya. They literally said: "O, if Katya is representing your property and agrees with the price you're asking, we'll accept a 30 day contingency".

I interviewed several realtors, each of whom came recommended on various lists. When I met Katya, I immediately understood why she has so many positive reviews on Angie's list. My appreciation of her, both as a realtor and an individual, has only deepened as I have gotten to know her. Katya is a woman of integrity, enthusiasm, intelligence, and dedication. She loves what she does. She seems to have a passion for homes, families and numbers. She is extremely hard-working, and she will leave no stone unturned in her efforts to help the client. She knows the market, knows how to prepare a house, and how to help the seller through the challenges of the process. Whenever I thought of a potential problem, I would call her, and ....problem solved! By the way, she sold my home from the open house, having received multiple offers.

We were absolutely thrilled with the quality of service Katya provided. We interviewed her and a number of other realtors before beginning the buying and selling process. We were definitely more concerned with the selling side, as this was the first time we sold a home. Of all the agents we met with, Katya was the only one who fully supported her valuation of our condo in Arlington with clear and understandable data which is why we selected her to guide us through this process. We decided to find a new home to purchase before putting our condo on the market and Katya did a great job setting up appointments for us to view homes. She also provided more well-supported valuations of the homes we considered bidding on to help us in deciding on whether to bid on a home. Katya was a great advocate for our family and did a really nice job creating relationships with the seller's agents we encountered along the way. So much so, that when a house that we were interested in, but didn't have a chance to see before it went off the market was about to come back on the market, the seller's agent gave Katya the heads up. She quickly arranged a tour of the home for us and skillfully guided us through the offer process. The communication from Katya and her team administrator, Dan, was responsive and helpful throughout the purchase process. While this home purchase was a fairly straight forward transaction, we felt we were well guided through the process in Katya's hands. We were just as pleased with Katya on the sale of our condo. She brought in a stager who was very direct and helpful in assisting us with getting the condo ready for the open house. Her photographer also took beautiful pictures of the unit which helped to generate a lot of interest. Our open house the first weekend was very well attended thanks to the detailed and well photographed MLS listing, custom website and postcards. Katya also reached out to her network of realtors to create interest in our condo. After the open house, Katya proactively reached out to the attendees to follow up and we received an offer less than a week after the unit was listed. Katya kept the process moving from offer acceptance through closing and kept us in the loop the entire way. Again, she was a great advocate for our family in any negotiations that went on during the process and she was effective in keeping us apprised on what was expected of us from start to finish. Overall, we would love the opportunity to work with Katya again. She is professional, an excellent communicator, has deep knowledge of the real estate market and is an absolute pleasure to work with.

Katya sold a house for us in Burlington, Mass. We found Katya on Angie's List. We called and made an appointment at the house. Katya came out and a few days later we met with her at her office. She prepared an excellent presentation which made it very easy to establish a sales price and understand the current market conditions. She also provided guidance on what should be done to prepare the home for sale with an eye to minimizing our time and expense. A few week later, the house was prepared and an open house scheduled. Within 2 days, we received 4 offers, two above the asking price, one of which was accepted. Approximately one month later the closing occured. During the period between Purchase and Sale and Closing, Katya served as "quarterback" and kept everything moving. This was an excellent experience which certainly met our expectations. Katya is a consummate professional.

Everything was great. Katya was always very well prepared. She did a lot of research and her pricing was on spot. She was very responsive and kept open and honest communication at all times. The stager she works with was wonderful as well. We listed our home on a wednesday, had the open house the following sunday and had four offers by monday. We could not be more pleased with Katya's services.Trust her! She knows what she is doing.

We used Katya as our real estate agent when we purchased our first home. She is excellent, patient, very honest, responsive and professional. She is very knowledgeable of her profession, has answers for all most of the questions that first home buyers would have. She is pleasant and wonderful. We highly recommend her.

I cannot imagine it going better. Katya was amazing. First off she had to meet with and tactfully deal with 3 grown children who would need to help to grow through the process of grieving for our loss, parting with our childhood home and keeping the memories good and intact. She was fantastic at that. I was the point person (trustee/executor) but live ~3 hours away, in New Hampshire. Katya was ALWAYS available, present, able and willing to do whatever we needed., whether I was there or not. For example- she went through the house with me and her recommended (also great) home inspector and helped determine what renovations were and weren't advisable. She provided me with names of reputable workmen. She happily volunteered to meet with any workmen if I couldn't be there, either for proposals or the actual work. She would pop up to let them in and hang around to oversee. If she thought a proposal for work was too expensive, she would find, (on her own !), another worker to get another, less expensive proposal (saving us a lot of money by doing so). She connected us with another local woman with whom we would both meet, who helped us sort through all the STUFF and cart away whatever we didn't want, and help us move or store what we did want. In short, Katya didn't just show up to show the house and sell it. She was part of the process from start to finish. We could never have done it without her or someone like her. She provided a firm hand to guide us and a shoulder to cry on as well! She truly seemed to love the house, and its history. She wanted to know all about stories from our childhood in that house-- and the eventual buyers were delighted to learn all about that-- the house came alive for them--from her. Katya feels like a member of the family. I recommend her totally and without reservation.

Katya initially set herself apart through her estimate, supplying solid reasoning in support of her recommended asking price. She clearly had a firm understanding of the Arlington housing market. This was in strong contrast to other agents who seemed to choose random comparables and describe the pricing process as a black art that could not easily be explained. In the end, our house sold in one weekend for about 3.5% above the asking price. This selling price was 7% above one agent's suggested asking price and a staggering 12% greater than another agent. It suggested that Katya was an honest agent working in our best interest rather than merely trying to achieve the fastest possible sale.

Katya was thoroughly prepared for the meeting and had done a tremendous amount of research. She had an innovative approach to marketing and sales. We were very pleased with her professionalism and knowledge of real estate.

Katya went far above and beyond what I expected of an agent. She represented me for the sale of a house in the month of January, a undesirable season to put a house on the market. Instead of seeing this as an obstacle, Katya was able to capitalize on it. She was considerate and flexible to accommodate the needs of my family. I felt comfortable with every decision we needed to make because we were well informed by Katya's knowledge, experience and research of information. She was a great resource for other professionals needed for the sale (lawyers, contractors etc.). With multiple offers, the house was sold in only seven (7) days! Katya was also my agent to purchase my new house. She was everything I listed above. She walked me through the process of buying a home every step of the way. She kept what could be a confusing and intimidating process, a comfortable experience. When the closing of the sale was final, Katya went to the new house before my arrival and saw that the previous owner had left the house dirty. Of her own initiative she called a cleaning service and had it cleaned before my movers arrived. It was very considerate and thoughtful of her to do. Moving is so much work as it is, cleaning up after someone else is the last thing someone wants to do.

It was with great trepidation that I entered the housing market in October 2007. From my first meeting with Ms. Pitts it was clear to me that I was in good hands. I was most impressed with her perceptiveness in very quickly assessing my housing needs, requirements and tastes. Her advice was always carefully thought out and I quickly came to value her opinions and recommendations a great great deal. I particularly appreciated her non-aggressive style of doing business, which for me was like a breath of fresh air, after having dealt with a long string of pushy realtors. In short, it was a real pleasure working with her. I recommend her very highly and if I am ever in the market to buy or sell a property she will be the person I will think of first and foremost. I was able to close on a condo (the one I currently live in) in 3 months.

Words cannot describe how hard working and results driven she is! I recommend her highly without any hesitation. She is a smart, competent, one of a kind real estate agent! We worked with many many different agents and no one can compared to the level of professional brillance that Katya brings! She is truly a gem!

Our son is a college student in Boston and he'll need to live off campus for at least 2 of his 4 years. We contacted Katya because we were planning to be in the Boston area in mid-Oct for a long weekend and we wanted to start familiarizing ourselves with the market in anticipation of buying something within the year. During the week prior to our visit, we did some emailing back and forth and a few Skype conversations (we live on the west coast). She was able to help us prioritize a few neighborhoods and narrow it down to select properties in each one. We viewed approximately 6 properties on the first day, none of which were perfect. But we weren't discouraged because we'd definitely started to get a better feel for what we wanted (and didn't want). The next day we struck gold. A couple who owned a top floor rowhouse unit in the South End (with an incredible roof deck) were in escrow on a new property and were about to place theirs on the market. We saw the property that afternoon, placed an offer on it that evening, and despite Hurricane Sandy thwarting our inspection, closed on December 7th. All but the final closing paperwork was coordinated long distance. We couldn't have asked for a better team to hold our hands through this process. Awesome service from Katya Pitts and Dan Guerrero. Would definitely use them again.

Professional from the start and delivered throughout the process. Both her and her team member Dan were involved in every step and made the process easier. A pleasure to work with and prompt return of calls, emails and texts. Thank you for a wonderful experience. Her commissioned rate was lower than other brokerages, but she was willing to do more to sell the house. Her staging is part of the reason I believe it sold as fast as it did. Thanks Katya!

Katya is an absolutely amazing real estate agent. We found her on Angie's List when we wanted to sell our condo in Cambridge and decided to meet with her based on other comments left by her clients. Katya made some improvement suggestions and provided detailed market value analysis which surprisingly indicated that the condo may sell for higher than we thought. Her sale price strategy, combined with excellent staging and after the aforementioned improvements made a huge impact. We accepted an offer within 72 hours for more than the asking price! It was before the first open house too. After that spectacular experience we decided to ask Katya to represent us in buying a home in the Needham, Newton, Wellesley area. Again, Katya provided detailed analysis of the markets to make sure we really had a handle on home valuations. We wound up purchasing a great place in Needham. It was a new construction and Katya was all over the builder to make sure that every single item on the punch list was identified and built into the contract. She also brought in an extremely competent home inspector to analyze the home. Above all else, Katya really cares about her clients. She wants to make sure that they are armed with the right information and advice, and then are completely satisfied with their decisions. If we are in the real estate buying/selling market again in the future, Katya will be the absolute first person we call.

Katya and her transaction team (Dan) were amazing. My husband and I interviewed several real estate agents when we decided to sell our condo in September. Katya was very professional and informative. She performed a market analysis of condos on sale in our area that were of comparable size/updates/amenities. She explained that if we priced it correctly according to the market, we would sell. We were anxious to sell in September/October, as we know Dec/Jan/Feb are terrible months to sell. We also knew, the longer our condo would be on the market, the more we would have to lower our price. Katya has a business background and as such, I think her analysis of the market was really SPOT On!!! It really made the difference in terms of putting our place for sale in a soft seller's market in a way that positioned us in the best possible way for the somerville condo market. Also it should be mentioned that Katya priced our place at around 279-285K while other real estate agents were pricing our place lower. She got us more $ for our place! Like I said, first of all, Katya came to our first meeting with everything prepared in terms of market analysis. Once we decided to go with her, she engaged her interior designer to come over and explain everything we could do to stage our place sell from an aesthetic point of view. We did all of this within a week (quite daunting but quite worth it). Katya and her designer provided extra materials to help us stage our place to its maximum potential. Well--it worked! We had decided early September to put our condo on the market. On our first day on the market, September 28th, we had an offer at our asking price!!! Katya was extremely attentive and responsive all during the P/S, mortgage contingency, fire inspection, etc. She was either there to meet us for various parts of the selling process, or her transaction team manager, Dan, was there. In one case, the fire inspector who was very grumpy bc our neighbors had cluttered the common hallway with their picnic furniture, Dan (part of Katya's transaction team) showed up and called in people to move stuff out of the way so the fire inspection could happen!!! I don't know many real estate agents who would be on the fly, and able to "Get it done" the way she and her team did in the moment. I feel like other real estate agents would have put the burden on us as the buyers. Katya always did everything in her power to make sure there were no delays in our sale. She and her team were extremely attentive and professional!!! I have no hesitation in recommending Katya if you are selling or buying. She really "gets" what you're trying to do and will run with it. She is open to feedback. And most of all, she has a "can do" way of working that is just so refreshing when you know there are so many flakes out there!!! Her business background truly make her a different kind of real estate agent. Extremely personable.