"Shimaa Anwar and her team are truly remarkable real estate agents. Shimaa has helped us buy two apartments in Brooklyn and I wanted to write about an especially unique and trying time with the purchase of our second apartment.
In the fall of 2024, w… e were competing with scores of other buyers for one of the nicest apartments in Prospect Park South. More than 80 parties had rsvp'd to the first open house. When we arrived with Evelina, Shimaa's incredibly kind and responsible colleague, the apartment was packed to the gills with people. It was clear that the place was going to sell for way over asking, and we were beyond thrilled when our offer was accepted on the evening of that first open house. Yet the very next day, the sellers backed out of their deal with us for a higher offer with someone else, leaving us heartbroken about losing our dream home.
However, this story has a happy ending: although we had given up all hope, Shimaa had been keeping an eye on our apartment for us all along. She had been counting the days for the apartment to go into contract and in ten days' time, when no contracts had been announced, she called the seller's broker. It turned out that the other buyers had just backed out, so Shimaa asked if the sellers would honor their original deal with us. This time around, the sellers accepted us for good. When Shimaa told us the news, we were stunned and disbelieving. Later on, the seller's broker told us that Shimaa had negotiated our deal before she(the seller's broker) even had a chance to reach out to other potential buyers. In so doing, Shimaa demonstrates what distinguishes the best brokers from merely great ones: great brokers are responsive and proactive; they know the right lawyers and lenders; they can get people through co-op boards. The best brokers do all that, but they also possess the intelligence and acumen necessary for emerging victorious in even the most difficult deals. In our case, Shimaa waited and waited and then she pounced before anyone else even had a clue.
Shimaa's motto is "We don't just sell homes; we change lives" - that is absolutely true. If Shimaa had not been keeping tabs on our dream apartment, we would not be living in it today. Our quality of life has sky-rocketed and we couldn't be happier. Shimaa and Evelina also assisted us in renting out our old place and in the end, given special circumstances, they did so free of charge because Shimaa understands that her clients are more than just numbers - they are people for whom she genuinely cares.
Finally, I think it's worth mentioning that a few weeks ago, Shimaa dropped by our new apartment with a huge bag of housewarming gifts. To our amazement, she had commissioned artisans to create specialized ceramics and a blanket in the exact image of our dogs. Not even our friends and relatives have given us such personalized gifts, yet Shimaa took the effort to delight us in such an unexpected and generous way. In Shimaa and her team, we have found our NYC brokers for life!"
