Donna Cooper - Hill & Co. Real Estate Review

We bought a condo in SOMA last year and Donna Cooper was the superstar realtor who helped us out. If you're reading this review, you're probably in some dire need of a realtor (otherwise, why look on Yelp?). We'll try our best to make it easy for you:

Strength #1: Authenticity. We were first-time home-buyers who had enough of slick sales people and real estate agents. That's why we spurned some referrals and went with Donna without any hesitation. If and when you meet Donna, you'll immediately know that she has your best interest in mind. At times, it was like having our mom shop with us!

Strength #2: Emotional IQ. Perhaps it is her psychology background (she's got a master's degree), but even though she's very authentic, she can be tough as nails. She can read people extremely well, which came in handy when we negotiated our offer. However, she also knows when to bow out. When one of our short sale offers started looking like a win-lose situation, Donna tactfully got us out of the negotiations.

Strength #3: Patience. As we mentioned earlier, we were first-time homebuyers. However, we didn't mention that we were also newlyweds that had pennies compared to her normal clientele (she normally works in Marina/Cow Hollow and PacHeights... the ritzy places). But that didn't deter her from taking us on, nor did it affect her service. She took A LOT of time explaining the process with her. We even went over her place a couple times to talk through our house-hunting strategy.

Strength #4: Professionalism. Donna is old school, but in the new school kind of way. For example, even though she works through email and phone (she has it on her ALL THE TIME), she likes to give us handwritten notes. We weren't used to that type of service, so it was a pleasant surprise. However, that's not why you go with a realtor, but the point is that Donna is extremely professional. This pays dividends because people love working with her. And since she's got a lot of experience, her network is extremely powerful. She knew the sales director and/or agent for two of our favorite properties (this is noteworthy because the properties we were looking out were out of her normal territory).

We want to be as helpful as we can, so we'll also write about Donna's biggest opportunity. As we alluded to in the last point, Donna primarily focused on the more developed areas of the city (Marina/CH, PacHeights, Cole Valley). We ended up buying in SOMA, so naturally, she had to learn about our territory. But she was so genuine and her interpersonal skills were so strong that we overlooked her concentration. (She had done at least several deals in the area before us, but she wasn't an expert by any means). So if you are a prospective buyer, eyeing properties in SOMA/South Beach/Mission Bay, you may find that she doesn't know the neighborhood as well as the others. But that's okay. If you are like us, you would've probably read Socketsite, FrontSteps, Redfin, and other forums, which give you plenty of surface level in-the-know information. You want a realtor because of his or her network and interpersonal skills... that's what Donna is good at.

If you are looking for real estate agent who specializes in certain topics like foreclosures or new developments, Donna probably isn't your agent. But if you want someone who will shop with you around the city, tell you about all of the hidden laws of home ownership, negotiate the hell out of the seller, and comfort you when like a property that is out of your price range, give Donna a call.

1880 Lombard St
(between Buchanan Street & Laguna Street)
San Francisco, CA 94123
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow

(415) 375-0208