Karen and I were co-workers in the finance industry prior to her becoming a realtor. Choosing her as my realtor for a purchase of a condo in NYC was not a difficult decision, as I knew the quality of her work, albeit in another industry.
I was spot on! I went into the search thinking I knew exactly what I was looking for. Karen showed me numerous condos that fit my parameters but none of them “hit the spot”. However, from my comments, she was quietly taking notes on what I really wanted. One day she just took me to see a condo that wasn’t on my list, saying: I think you will like it. It hit the spot immediately and it is the one I purchased.
She is also extremely knowledgeable about the market and real estate negotiation. She is always timely, accurate in her responses, courteous and professional.
I would highly recommend her to anybody purchasing a home in NYC.
Karen was the ideal realtor for our needs. We found our beautiful apartment with incredible architectural features in Midtown East after 2.5 days of visits to numerous locations, all happening smoothly and efficiently due to Karen’s expertise. Karen listened to every detail of what we wanted, open minded and interested in us. As out of towners, we learned a lot, with Karen providing information and context on everything. Our instincts to be in a central location really paid off, and we could not be happier. Although the application and board interview took some time, we had patience with the process, due to Karen’s coaching. I cannot imagine a real estate agent who could have been more attentive and professional. As challenging as it is to buy in Manhattan, Karen made every step seem possible as we went through the purchase process.
I am delighted to be writing this testimonial on behalf of Karen Kostiw. Karen is the perfect real estate agent because of her deep real estate domain expertise, her relentless work ethic and her genuine compassion and care for her clients. As a first time home buyer, it was invaluable to have Karen to help me navigate the New York real estate market. Karen was able to guide me through every step of the process, always having answers and perspectives, no matter how niche my questions were. More impressively, Karen worked around the clock to help ensure a smooth transaction. There were many moments during the process where things went wrong, or parties were slow in responding – Karen navigated through all of these hurdles with ease, many times having late night conversations with different parties to smooth over all issues. Having Karen on your side is a real asset, especially during competitive processes. Finally, it was apparent right from the get-go that Karen genuinely cares for her clients. It was really touching how invested she was in the process, and how happy it made her to help me find my dream home. Even after the process, Karen was consistently in touch, offering to help, providing invaluable design advice, and just generally being amazing. Thank you Karen for all that you did for me! I could not be happier writing this testimonial on your behalf!
As a first time home/apartment buyer, I was nervous and insecure about jumping into the process. Karen calmed my worries, and guided me through the entire process with ease. I was able to trust her implicitly, as she was my greatest advocate – fighting for me to get to see apartments I liked, being a strong negotiator once I put down an offer, and putting together a board package that sailed through the approval process extremely quickly. She always listened to and respected my wants, and was consistently available to take my questions and to help me talk through items I wished to sort out. Additionally, she was very helpful in talking through decoration ideas, and introducing me to all the necessary contacts I needed throughout the process. She was also very helpful in getting me acclimated to the climate of the market during the pandemic, and taught me how to evaluate the landscape of the industry in New York City. Karen came as a recommendation from a friend, and I’ve already recommended her to a few friends as well. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again one day.
Karen was way beyond a professional agent who helped me not only with going through all the progress of purchasing a house, but was also a friend to me. She could always arrange all the appointments perfectly to match my limited schedule and listened to my preferences and concerns and made recommendations based on that. She was also so experienced in negotiation, which is probably the most important step in purchasing or selling. She is definitely an awesome agent that you will be really happy to work with.
Karen was a very professional, diligent, and overall reliable agent when working through the process of buying my home. As it was a first home for me, there was definitely some hand-holding along the way (which was necessary). I gave her the specs as well as the area(s) I wanted to purchase my home, and she was readily available with recommendations/opinions. Not only was she able to provide apartment advice, she had a long list of preferred attorneys/architects/contractors/banks etc. for the closing process. Without her expertise, the process would have been quite a bit more stressful. I highly recommend her for any purchases within Manhattan as it was a very seamless process.
Karen was a great agent for a first time homebuyer in NYC. She helped me go through the process (including coop board approval) extremely quickly, I was in my lovely new apartment in no time. She is very helpful and willing to take a lot of work off my shoulders. She also helped negotiate the purchase price lower which I greatly appreciated.
Karen is the best! Being new to the buying process, Karen graciously walked me through each step from the beginning to the closing. I wanted to see as many co-ops as I could to get a better understanding of what I wanted with what was available on the market. Karen’s knowledge and experience in Manhattan realty really helped me filter my list. She also made viewing appointments fast and organized them in the most efficient way so I could maximize my time. She gave me great advice throughout the process and was available 24/7 with answers to any questions I had. She was always very informative, endlessly helpful and a joy to work with throughout this process. She has great recommendations for everything from lawyers to contractors and has great intel about interior design. If you want a broker who goes above and beyond to help you purchase the perfect apartment, I would highly recommend Karen.
Selling an apartment in the highly competitive NYC market is a challenge. Karen understood our requirements and became our 24/7 person. She guided us through the process of obtaining painting, and floor contractors as well as plumbers, window washers, etc. Karen was with us from the initial showing through the recent closing. If we were to purchase again in the city, Karen is our go-to-person. Highly recommend her.
Karen was very responsive and helpful throughout the home purchase process for my wife and I. She was readily available to chat when needed, took care of answering our questions (or pointing us in the right direction to another resource where applicable), and helped to keep our best interests in mind from beginning to end.
