Ruth Krishnan - San Francisco Real Estate — Attraction in San Francisco

In short: Ruth was an invaluable asset to me and my husband as we purchased our first home. We HIGHLY recommend working with her.

Before we started our house hunt we interviewed multiple agents to find one who fit with our approach and personalities. As first-time home buyers, we were looking for someone who was knowledgeable and effective but also patient, who wouldn’t push us into a home before we were ready. Ruth ended up being all of these things and more.

From the moment we started working with her we knew we were in good hands. One of the main concerns we had when embarking on this process was working with an agent who would try to rush us into buying a home. We were ready to buy but we wanted it to be the right house, and we wanted an agent who would work with us to find that right fit. We expressed these concerns directly to Ruth when we first met her. She took them seriously and reassured us that we would be able to set the pace. As it turned out, during the house hunt she actively talked us out of two homes that had critical flaws we had missed during our walkthroughs and encouraged us to keep looking until we found something that really fit with the criteria we laid out in the beginning of our search. When we eventually did find our home, we felt confident in our decision to put in an offer and incredibly relieved that we had Ruth there to help us stay the course.

We had actually viewed our home a couple of weeks before we put an offer in. It was a 9.5 out of 10 for us, but we had passed on it because we assumed that it would sell for well out of our budget. Because of Ruth’s incredible diligence and excellent industry connections, she kept an eye on it and when she found out that other offers on it had fallen through, she let us know that we had an opportunity to buy it if we moved quickly. We had an offer drafted that evening, submitted the next morning, and accepted that afternoon. My husband and I both agree that we wouldn’t have ended up in our dream home if we hadn’t been working with Ruth, and for that we will be forever grateful to her.

While Ruth is one of the busiest and most well-known agents in SF, she is still attentive, down to earth, and easy to work with. As first time homebuyers she taught us about the process without ever making us feel uninformed, and walked us through contracting and negotiations without ever infringing on our role as the final decision makers. When we told other people in the construction and real estate industries in SF that we were working with Ruth, we universally heard high praise. People mentioned her deep knowledge of the market, her kindness, her integrity, and her excellent reputation. We heard this even from other buyer’s agents who we had interviewed and passed on! It’s rare to find someone who is so highly regarded in their field and so deeply caring and humble.

Finally, we can’t talk about Ruth without talking about her amazing team. To be clear, we almost exclusively interacted with Ruth and we never felt fobbed off. Instead, Ruth’s team operated in the background to help her and us. To start: everything the team does is remarkably detailed and well researched. From the past-sold exercise in the beginning to help us get our bearings in the market, to the shockingly quick turnaround on the first and only offer we made, Ruth’s team played a large and consistently positive role in the process. When Ruth was briefly out of town, Maddie made herself available to do walk-throughs with us and was on hand to answer any questions we had. Maddie and the rest of the team were responsive, professional, and went above and beyond to eliminate friction and keep things moving forward. It’s clear that Ruth has found a group of people who operate at an extremely high level and hold themselves to a high standard.

Do yourself a favor and work with Ruth. Thanks to her we had not just a great outcome (buying our dream home for far less than we expected to pay), but also a great process. The next time we need an agent in SF, we will call her...

I can't say enough wonderful things about Ruth.

I had called her to ask a couple of questions about the TIC listing in the building I live in. During the conversation, I mentioned that I also owned a condo in the Mission. One that I had seriously considered selling at a loss 2 years ago. One thing led to another and WOW! within a month, that condo was sold, way above what I paid for it, and well above asking price.

From helping my tenant find a new place to live, to finding a pet sitter for me when I was out of town, at ever step of the way, Ruth went above and beyond the call of duty. She made the whole process easy, painless, and fun.

I honestly do not know where this woman finds her seemingly limitless energy and enthusiasm. I dont think I ever waited more than 5 minutes for a reply to an email, at any time of the day. Any question I asked was answered completely and honestly. She is a powerhouse.

At every step of the way, I felt like she had my best interests at heart. After having had some bad experiences with past realtors, it was such a relief to work with someone I can say that about. I am so glad that I met her, and I whole-heartedly recommend her.

EDIT--April 27th, 2017

She did it again...and again...and AGAIN! After selling the above mentioned apartment, (as well as a TIC I owned, once again quickly and above asking!), I set her to the seemingly impossible task of finding a 4 bedroom/2ba apartment, with an in-law suite and a yard... in a kick-ass neighborhood....and giving her an astonishingly low price-cap to work with.

I put her through all of the things that give most agents nightmares. I kept changing my mind, running hot, then cold on apartments and neighborhoods. I had her write offers on places she knew woudnt be high enough, I backed out of a contract on a place because I couldnt negotiate the building of a deck with the other owner. Throughout it all, never once did Ruth waver in her patience or positive attitude. When I began to panic and was considering settling for less, she gentling steered me back toward my goals. Any disappointments were met with "Its for the best. I just means that its not the right home for you."

There are a lot of realtors who would have seized on my frustration and vulnerability at that point, and let me buy the wrong place, but not Ruth. She has a way of helping you to reign in you expectations, without dashing your dreams. She can show you how to be flexible without being unrealistic or pollyanna-ish. And she was right! A 3 bedroom/1 (split) bath, at first glance, did not sound like what we were looking for, but with 2000sq feet, and a little creativity, we found that we had more than enough room to grow. We could easily make the living room the 4th bedroom because the huge kitchen opened up into the (former) formal dining room, giving us a spacious eat-in kitchen and family room combo. With 2000 sq ft, and an extraordinary abundance of huge closets, there was more than enough room to easily add another bath down the road. The in-law suite (an additional 600 sq ft with another bathroom!), seemed shabby at first, and smelled like mold, but actually required a minimum of work to make it moisture-proof and utterly charming. To top it off, it had a big (by SF standards) yard and it was in the heart of NOPA, 2 blocks from the panhandle. It really was absolutely perfect for us!

Fast forward 2 years, and we found ourselves needing to make an unanticipated move to the midwest. When it came time to sell, I assumed we would be lucky to break even after such a short amount of time...after all, we had never added a second bath, and had done only minimal cosmetic work. I couldnt have been more wrong! After about 40K in financial outlay (which was a little hard to shell out at time but I trust Ruth and her vision completely), she and her team of house-beautifiers turned that apartment into a showplace.

We got $500K over what we had paid for it only 2...

Ruth and her team recently helped us purchase a single-family home in San Francisco. For a couple reasons (we are a recently-married couple and both first-time home buyers), this was an incredibly important project for us and one that came with a fair amount of anxiety. She made an intimidating task achievable and seamless for us, and we heartily recommend her to any prospective buyer in the SF market.

Ruth is a master negotiator with a deep understanding of the market. During the purchase process, Ruth helped us to negotiate an extremely fair price on our dream home without us having to get into a bidding war with other buyers. Without a doubt, her insight, creativity, and experience were vital in ensuring that our chances of getting in contract were being maximized. She somehow knows the price where every property on the market is going to clear and has a huge list of strategies at her disposal to get her clients the very best price possible.

Ruth makes your experience a priority at all times. Ruth + team (most of the time, Ruth personally) were present for each inspection and home visit. They were incredibly responsive to calls, email, and text at all hours of the day and every day of the week. When we were first ready to make an offer, Ruth spent over an hour with us on a video conference going through the contract line by line to make sure we understood every point. When we received the results from our inspections and the disclosures from the seller, Ruth and her team took the time to put together detailed summaries including their expert opinions on the contents of each review. I can’t imagine that we were even close to Ruth’s biggest client at the time, but Ruth + her team ALWAYS made us feel like a priority.

In an admin-heavy industry, Ruth's next-level organization skills will ensure nothing slips through the cracks. I consider myself a very organized person, but Ruth is on another level. Buying a home is a complex process with a lot of variables and an endless list of critical follow-up items. Ruth has a 100% delivery rate for anything she says she will do for you and help with. From lenders to inspectors, she connected us with quality experts who were essential in us closing on the property.

Ruth puts your interests above her own. This was potentially our #1 favorite thing about working with Ruth. Ruth was very transparent upfront about her compensation, which we appreciated because she works hard and deserves every penny. From that point onwards, it was abundantly clear to us that all of her actions were done with our interests as a priority. For example, when we expressed interest in certain properties, she was very upfront with some potential concerns she had (the layout was inefficient, the finishes were cheap, etc). While this advice was counter to her incentives to have us close on a house as soon as possible, it reaffirmed the trust we had in Ruth to guide us with her honest opinion at all times. In our experience, Ruth’s advice was NEVER self-serving and ALWAYS given with our best interests at heart.

Ruth’s design background is a unique advantage. Ruth has a design background, which shows. When you visit properties with her, she is able to provide detailed color on the finishes and the feasibility of making potential changes to the space. It also helps her make more precise pricing judgments to identify whether a property is over / under-valued at a much more intricate level than other agents.

Our experience with Ruth was top notch, and we have complete confidence in recommending her to anyone and everyone. Ruth is a consummate professional, a true subject matter expert, and a relentlessly hard worker. More importantly, she is a trusted advisor and a woman of extremely high integrity. We can’t imagine going through this difficult process with anyone else by our side. She will be there for all of your...