We were new to Calgary and was starting to shop for our very first house together. For about 6 months we just went to open houses and happened to meet Tanja at one. She was the only real estate agent who did not make us feel pressured at all and gave us some very useful information at her open house – we really appreciated that and realized that after viewing other open houses. We had gone to many open houses where the agents don’t make you feel comfortable and basically act like a ‘sales person to you’. Tanja made us feel comfortable and not feel pressured. When we were ready to think about getting a real estate agent only Tanja’s name came to mind as she stood out from other agents we met. She is very respectful, honest, and was helpful with giving us important information that a buyer would need to make sound decisions on the houses we looked at. We were very satisfied with the whole process of buying our house with Tanja as our real estate agent. I wouldn’t hesitate to refer to my friends, which I have done so. If we decide to move and look for another house I would be contacting Tanja again. She had built a trusted relationship with us and we appreciate it very much and respect her abilities.
Two things that we appreciated, stood out the most:
1. There was a house we really loved right near Glenmore road and we were prepared to offer on it as we liked it a lot. We were willing to sacrifice the noise and the parking space for the house, but Tanja said to us to research ‘ring road’ and as soon as we looked it up, all of the possible plans would have an 8-lane road in our backyard.
It became an instant NO. It was heartbreaking but not and ideal purchase at all. We were very appreciative of her honesty on that because if she really wanted to make a sale she could have encouraged us to getting the house and not even mentioning ‘ring road’. We never would have known any better as we were new to Calgary but in the future all the noise would have made it a bad purchase and I am sure the house value as well, would have dropped tremendously.
2. When we decided on the house we wanted to make an offer and Tanja got us to save a few more thousand dollars with her negotiating skills and we were really surprised and appreciative of that. The offering process can be very exciting, overwhelming, and stressful and she kept a very calm manner and smart one at that!
Antti Karvali & Liza Watkins