Upclose Magazine: Karine D’Souza

Last year, Lakshmi Nagamohan purchased a business in Bellaire. Lakshmi says, “My husband Ram and I were living in Atlanta. We needed to make the move to Bellaire, close to my new business (fortunately Ram can work from home!). We were out-of-state buyers. Searching for a home remotely was hard, and we did not know where to start. The first two real estate agents we worked with were not good communicators and not responsive. We weren’t sure if we should buy or rent, and the Bellaire market was new to us. A cousin recommended we call Keller Williams Southwest (KWSW) agent, Karine D’Souza, to help us.”

Over the summer, Lakshmi and Ram spent two months going back and forth between Houston and Atlanta looking at houses. Lakshmi says, “I like to do a lot of the groundwork myself, and then reach out to the agent when I have questions. Karine was always quick to respond. I really like that about her. I could reach out to her as many times as I felt I needed to, and she was always ready to chat…which was really helpful since I had lots and lots of questions about the homes we were interested in. Two-way communication is so important.”

“The lack of inventory in the Bellaire area made our search really hard,” continues Lakshmi. “It was crazy! We would look at a house, put in a bid, and then lose it when someone outbid us. Karine was helpful in making our bids competitive. For this home, we actually put in a bid, but did not negotiate the first time around. We weren’t sure we wanted this house. But after looking at others, we came back to it. The selling agent was also the owner of the home. Karine was instrumental in gathering information and negotiating for a good price and terms. Thanks to Karine, our closing went smoothly.”

“I strongly recommend Karine,” says Lakshmi. “We’ve become really good friends after that! Since Ram and I were still in Atlanta after the closing, Karine helped me arrange cleaners to come in and do a deep cleaning of the house. She also helped us set up utilities. Karine and I continue to chat about different things in life. She has a list of people I can reach out to for all of my home needs. Ram and I are settled here in Bellaire now, and we really enjoy this home. Everything is good!”