Los Angeles Times (Real Estate)
Tales From The Trenches
Sunday, April 28,1996

After looking for nearly a year and making nine offers, we finally bought a house in Silver Lake. Here are some things that we learned:

• Pick your neighborhood first. Although a real estate agent might try to convince you that the constant whirring of police choppers overhead sounds "just like the ocean," you might want to opt for a place that offers a slightly more tranquil atmosphere. Make a list of the things you're looking for in a neighborhood and check with police, schools, insurance companies; they all can provide you with statistics.
• Ask your friends to recommend a real estate agent. If you're going to be splitting croissants with someone every Saturday morning for six months, you'd better like that person. Ask around. We were lucky enough to find Grace Gaerlan with  John Aaroe Estates.
• Take it one step at a time. At each phase of the process, I managed to live deep in denial. I'm just looking; no obligation to buy. I'm just making an offer; they may not accept. I'm just faxing every document ever printed with my name on it to a perfect stranger; we may not clear escrow. I'm just taking possession of the house keys; they may not fit.

I had the opportunity of working with Grace and Chris for the past three months in finding my first home. They both demonstrated good qualities and integrity as well as good ethical strengths in this task.

They are both very knowledgeable of the real estate market and have the capability of providing a high level of assistance and guidance to their clients, in addition to being very friendly and courteous.

I'm very happy to recommend Grace and Chris for their professionalism and for the excellent service and rapport they provide to their customers.

Sincerely,

Carla Sierra

My husband and I recently sold our house on Glenfeliz with the help of Grace Gaerlan and Chris Serrano. I wanted to send you a note to tell you how pleased we were with the service they provided us. They worked hard to market our house to a wide audience and provided us with good advice and guidance throughout the entire process. They were always extremely professional and cordial. And most importantly, they were always accessible and did a great job of staying in touch with us even during their busiest times.

Please extend our sincerest appreciation to Grace, Chris and Giselle for a job well done. The results of all their efforts was a sales price that we would not have thought possible for our neighborhood!

Sincerely,

Guyo Maruyama

Gaerlan/Serrano Letter of Recommendation

Dear Mr. Henry:

This is to inform you of our complete satisfaction with the work of Ms. Grace Gaerlan and Ms. Chris Serrano of your office. We sold our home at 3511 Hollydale Drive and purchased a new home at 6176 Rockcliffe Drive with Chris and Grace. We were particularly pleased with their team effort, their combined real estate experience, and their bottom-line performance.

The Chris and Grace team approach really met our real estate needs. As a team, they always returned our calls and answered our questions. We listed our home late in the fall and ended-up with quick purchase and sale escrows. When the sale of our home appeared to be falling through, they handled the situation. When we ended up in a multiple-offer purchase situation, they handled the situation. We were confident in our team's combined real estate experience to close our deals to our satisfaction. In the end, Chris and Grace met or exceeded our every expectation.

When we decided to sell our house and buy a new one, we never expected that the experience would go so well for us. In fact, Chris and Grace warned us early on that complete satisfaction was not always possible and that there might be "compromises". When everything was completed however, we were surprised that we made few compromises and that we were completely satisfied. We can only credit our satisfaction to Chris and Grace's excellent bottom-line performance. We highly recommend the Gaerlan/Serrano team to effectively manage your future client's real estate needs.

Sincerely,

Leslie J. Meeks II
Kendrick K. Okuda

I'm thinking of calling the Police. And I might yet. Two agents in your office, Grace Gaerlan and Chris Serrano, virtually drove me out of L.A.

...And I'm glad as hell and won't take it any more...at least in silence. This letter, Mr. Henry, is to call attention to the excellent work Grace and Chris do. They were my agents in the recent sale of my home in Silver Lake.

They helped me to a quick sale. But Escrow was a long one, and along the way were enough difficulties to qualify Grace and Chris for the "Seven Labors of Hercules" -break-your-back Award. None of the problems came from them, of course. They were simply the heroes (or should I say heroines?...Herculesettes?) who solved all problems.

Thanks to Chris Serrano and Grace Gaerlan I was indeed able to drove out of L.A. I shall always be grateful for their thorough professionalism and tireless help. Which was called upon even to the end, when a problem caused by the buyers' loan broker nearly detonated the sale just 36 hours before the close of Escrow.

It was a moment that I'm sure I'll laugh at in the future. In the far future. Well, the very far future. Well, surely by the time I'm 148 years old and looking for something to giggle at in the next millennia.

But as usual, Chris and Grace (Herculisas? Herculizzies?) rushed forward to solve the problem. I am glad I chose them, as I'm sure you're glad they are on your team.

Regards,

Ellen L. Fogle