Helen Coyle Bergstein

Review from Zillow.com

5 years ago

If you are looking for property in Ulster County, you would be a fool to work with anyone other than Helen. My partner and I found our dream house near Rosendale/New Paltz, and were it not for Helen’s expertise, wisdom, and savvy, it would have slipped through our fingers. Helen moved heaven and earth to make our dream a reality, and we could not be more appreciative. To be honest, we were only in the early stages of considering a place upstate when we contacted Helen. We were planning on surveying the New Paltz area and getting a sense of what was available, but when we pulled up to the house, we fell in love right away. But it was a bank-owned property that had sat vacant for almost two years, so there was little information about the state of the house. Inside, it was bare and dingy, with dog hair embedded in the carpets and duct tape liberally applied to surfaces. Space heaters strewn around the house did not inspire confidence. But Helen brought her deep knowledge of historic homes to bear. She crawled down into the dirt-floor basement, noting that the furnace was modern and of high quality, the electric was upgraded, and the well pump was new. She was unfazed by the quirks of a house over 200 years old, and after walking through the house with us and seeing the string of cars pulling up to the property on the first clear day of the season, she suggested that we make an aggressive offer. We were prepared to do so. However, as stated earlier, my partner and I hadn’t planned to make an offer on a house that day. We didn’t even have a mortgage pre-qualification letter. Helen flipped through her sizeable Rolodex and put us in touch with a local bank’s loan officer, who conducted the pre-qualification interview that evening. Despite the fact that it was a Saturday, by Sunday evening we had a pre-qual letter, and had put in an offer. The offer was accepted a day later, and we found out on closing that there had been numerous other offers. Without Helen’s sage advice, we would have placed a lower offer, and likely would have been outbid. As a bank-owned property, the timetable for closing was aggressive, and there was no margin for error. Helen guided the entire process, connecting us with seasoned legal counsel, the preeminent historic home inspector in the area, a well-water expert, and countless other experts to weigh in on the house. She always had our best interests at heart, and when things were touch-and-go, she inevitably managed to make obstacles disappear. Even after we closed and got the keys, Helen has been a welcoming Ulster ambassador, sharing invaluable contacts, pointing out the best places to go, and generally making us feel like we’ve already put down roots. Long story short, Helen is not just a real estate agent, she’s a real estate whisperer.

Review from Zillow.com

5 years ago

Helen was a pleasure to work with. We had actually planned to list our property on our own although once I spoke to Helen over the phone I felt she would do a great job representing our unique property and was correct. Helen was down-to-earth and truly understood the value of our place. She was vary knowledgable about real estate in general and our local market. We never felt like Helen was being to pushy or sales-y and she was also very good at getting down to business and moving the transaction along. We will continue to use and refer Helens services whenever we can :)

Review from Zillow.com

6 years ago

Helen knows the area thoroughly and showed us a number of properties. She was extremely patient as we decided to not pursue any, often after multiple visits. Then, for the property we bought, she called us minutes after it became listed, got us the first showing, and we made an offer that was accepted. The house was not shown to any other parties and we had a signed contract and closed quickly. Through every step, including about the mortgage application, we received excellent guidance. Helen really came through for us and we now have a house we are truly happy with.

Review from Zillow.com

6 years ago

Helen is amazing. I enjoyed working with her thoroughly. She was the third realtor I worked with on this move and she was by far above and the best. She never once pressured me, however she knew how to answer my questions fully and honestly. If she didn't know an answer she found the answer quickly. She also stayed close in touch while she was on vacation and it was a very stressful week for me so I truly appreciated her responsiveness in keeping things calm. She was patient, knew the area, and gave solid feedback. The best part was she had an amazing repoire with the sellers agent and I don't believe they met before. This was critically important to me because my prior agent did not work well with another agent and I believe the cause of why my other deal fell through. Although they say everything happens for a reason - I'm much happier with this house!! Helen also offered to assist my shy niece with her first home purchase and the purchase point for that property is very low and she lives outside Helen's normal area .... going above and beyond. If you want an agent in the Ulster/Orange/Sullivan/etc area they you can't go wrong selecting Helen to assist you!!!

Review from Zillow.com

6 years ago

A joy to work with. Really not what I had come to expect. Straightforward, an advocate, not treating my small sale as anything lesser. I hope I have the opportunity to work with her again. I will definitely pass her name along!