A friend told me that when it came time to sell my home, I had to get Carla Della Zoppa as my agent. I owe that friend a profound debt of gratitude. Carla viewed the home and agreed to take me on as a client. In very short order, she had produced a beautiful, well-researched, and thorough presentation on my home; I could tell she had both deep experience in the region going back many years, and an up-to-the-minute knowledge of current trends and conditions. Both kinds of knowledge informed her recommendations on prepping, staging, and marketing the home, which all paid off in spades. Selling my home unexpectedly involved a tricky title issue and the juggling of considerable repairs and upgrades. I'd already moved out of state, so the entire project fell to Carla. Luckily, she has long-time relationships with all the best people, all of whom love to work with her; every job without exception was completed with excellent quality, in record time, for a reasonable price, without my having to worry about it. Carla handles everything with amazing efficiency, professionalism, friendliness, and cheer, not to mention unerring common sense and good judgement. I came to admire her character, work ethic, and patience, especially during the last phase of the process, when she added patient long-distance hand-holding to the list of services she offered this first-time home-seller. Carla quite simply checks every possible box. Genuine excellence is hard to find these days. I wish more of us were as fantastic at our jobs as Carla is at hers.

My family worked with Geri Stern at Compass Real estate to sell my mother’s home which was part of her Trust. This home was a family homestead for 58 years, we had stake in knowing the next buyer would value the home and our family would reap the benefit of a top dollar sale. We were more than impressed with the outcome. There are many decision points when selling real estate, each one may have a cost. With Geri’s 30 years’ experience we could navigate the best time to place the home on the market and the decision points regarding areas to improve or which to leave. Geri put time and effort into providing a proposed project list of how (which methodology) she would use for successful sale of the home including expected time frames. Once she was contracted to work with our Trust, we had her full attention. She became the project manager for all aspects of work, including coordination of repair, upgrades, and inspections and was on site overseeing the work which was completed timely and properly. She also was reliable in keeping our Trust Administrator updated with work status. I can state, once Geri is on the job, her energy is 100% focused, she has a clear vision and experience of what makes a successful outcome, enjoys the process, and ensures all areas of action are completed timely/accurately with follow-through to the end.

We moved to Berkeley, California from New York City knowing almost nothing about the real estate market except that it was very competitive. Geri knows this landscape like the back of her hand. It was hard for us to assimilate the sky-high prices and she didn't sugarcoat the situation. She guided us toward a very satisfying conclusion. We found a truly lovely home, perfectly situated for our needs. But that was just the beginning. The home needed work and required expert construction and repair people, but we had to return to work on the east coast. Geri found all the right people, scheduled them, oversaw the whole production, and made sure the home was in great shape when we moved in. We have since recommended her to others we know who are looking to relocate and will continue to do so. If you want a no-nonsense professional who will help you realize your landed dreams, don't hesitate!

Our mother had no plans to sell the family home, but she always enjoyed following the local real estate market. For years she had talked about Carla Della Zoppa. Mom really liked the way Carla operated her business and was impressed with her success. In early 2020, the time came to sell the home and we called Carla. We were faced with the daunting task of emptying 60 years of accumulated belongings from a 5-bedroom home with tons of storage. Carla coached us through all that, with sensitivity and the wisdom coming from her years of experience. Meanwhile, she matched us up with all the inspectors, contractors, cleaners, gardeners, and haulers that we needed to get the home in top shape----she orchestrated ALL of this. And she did it with good humor, attention to detail, total professionalism, and unfailing energy. (This was during COVID restrictions, no less.) In the end, the home sold easily at a very good price. Mom was right about Carla. Carla has earned our trust and loyalty and our 5 Gold Star rating.

What started as a business introduction in 1984, has bloomed over the years to family. My husband, Michael and I were first introduced to Carla Della Zoppa years ago by his aunt and uncle, Marian and Louie Nicoli. We were expecting our first child and were looking to sell our home, in order to find a larger home. Marian and Louie were long-term El Cerrito residents, dating back to the 1920's and were connected business owners in town. We trusted them to refer us to "the best of the best". We were not disappointed. Carla was then, and still is today, professional, detailed, organized, on-task and a team player. For me personally she has sold 4 properties.

Our family was thrilled with the job that Geri Stern did in listing and selling our home. She was professional and knowledgeable, flexible and understanding, and above all, she was successful! Our home sold for nearly 12% more than our asking price, and it closed escrow just 35 days after it was first listed. Our home had been the family home for 48 years, and aging parents had necessitated our vacating and selling the property. With all of those years of memories, and all of the actual stuff that had accumulated through the nearly five decades, it was an overwhelming task for our family to go through everything and to get the home ready for market. Geri recommended, and we used, and estate sale expert who not only helped sort through and sell all of the things that we did not want, but she managed to make us money in the process. We had originally thought we might end up having to pay the estate saleperson something if our sales didn’t cover her fees; but we ended up clearing quite a bit, largely due to her expertise, as well as to how seamlessly she worked with both Geri and with us as she sorted through everything and prepared for the estate sale. Following the estate sale, Geri expertly guided us through just the right renovations and touches to the home to make it more appealing on today’s market, and she assisted us in getting a line of credit, which was paid back out of escrow. She also met with and supervised all workers on the premises throughout the time that work was being done (which was just over one month, start to finish). We were so pleased with Geri, with how connected she is to all of the people that help to get a home ready for sale, and with how expertly she handled the open home and the reading of offers, as well with how deftly she handled all of the last-minute details of getting the escrow closed and recorded. We highly recommend her to you.

The plan was to put the home on the market on March 18, probably the worst time in the last decade. Two days earlier the governor declared shelter in place. And yet thanks to Geri's calm guidance and almost daily updates on what's allowed and isn't, and by April 15 we had 6 interested buyers and 3 solid offers. We closed on May 8! From the very beginning with our work with Geri I was impressed with her organization skills and her sensitivity to our needs. She helped us navigate the needed changes to make the home more attractive to buyers, connected us to her vast networks of professionals, while still encouraging us to make the final decision of where we wanted to spend our money. She was on top of the different professionals making sure that the home was ready on time. Overall, we feel like we had a very good experience and happily recommend Geri to any of our friends who look at buying or selling a home. Dror Matalon and Monica Frame She's extremely knowledgeable, very smart, always pleasant, and cheerful, always available and reliable. Post-sale, she guided me through the 1031 exchange process and helped me buy a replacement property. She's continued as a friend. Highest recommendation.

Geri was a lifesaver on the sale of my family home. We needed repairs, but also to make sure all stakeholders felt involved. Geri was able to navigate our family dynamics and bring in multiple bids. She made the process easy, even for the member who doesn’t use technology! Her professionalism and experience were much appreciated.