Karla Thomas is the founder and Managing Broker Urb & Burb Realty. An entrepreneur at her core, Karla started her first business at the age of 12 and the bug took hold and it's been a journey ever since.
It was not a straight path to her true calling: Real Estate Brokerage and Residential Renovation Specialist. She gained a BS in Engineering with an emphasis in Materials, which plays a foundational role in both the mechanics of any renovation and the design. She then went on to get a MBA at Kellogg School of Business Management, Northwestern University which provides the financial foundation of the market analysis she is so well known for by both her real estate and renovation clients. After 11 years as an agent, Karla decided to put some of her executive management skills to opening her own Lifestyle and Neighborhood Real Estate Brokerage.
In her words..."As they say, necessity is the mother of all invention. After adopting our first daughter and starting on the path to adopt our second, my partner and I started the long journey of deciding whether to stay in the city or move to the suburbs. It took many grueling conversations, countless hours of internet research on schools, parks, crime reports by area, but we decided that we were going to move to the Northshore. Even though we were lucky enough to be able to narrow the suburb down to Evanston very quickly, we realized that Evanston itself had at least 5 very distinct neighborhoods in terms of feel, amenities and price point. After navigating all these factors, we happily settled into a home, 2 years after we started this process. Throughout the process, I met and commiserated with many other families who were struggling through the same arduous process. As an efficiency expert in my corporate career (Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt), I knew that there must be an easier path...even if I needed to create it myself. As I worked to formulate the a new real estate brokerage model that focused more on the right community than just the house, I was able to draw on my own experiences. I crafted a process that would allow families to easily access the information they need to make the best decisions and strategically get to know the neighborhoods that meet their hard criteria (price point, commute, school performance, amenities), and their soft criteria (walkability, neighborhood feel). Urb & Burb is a manifestation of all the things I learned in my journey married with a passion for real estate and helping others."
"When you love what you do, it comes naturally and you take great joy in helping others through the process! I have found my bliss in finding families a home to continue their life's journey in and giving old spaces new life!"
Real Estate - Illinois - # 471.018127
BS Mechanical Engineering, MBA, MS Education
(5/5)
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What clients say about this agent....
Karla is an experienced realtor and a highly engage community member. She knows her stuff about houses, local neighborhoods, and takes time to get to know her clients needs and wants. We were referred to Karla by several friends, all of who had good experiences with realty services for sales and/or purchases. During our experience buying our home, it became clear how well-respected Karla is by other realtors, by inspectors, by developers, as well as by contractors. This was invaluable to us as we were looking at many different types of properties, including those that required quite a bit of work. At each step of our home buying process, Karla was there with timely insights and a supportive ear. She gave us ways to think about our options, opportunities to clarify our boundaries, and did her best to advocate for us at every term. We truly feel like we lucked out in having Karla as our realtor and we greatly appreciate her professionalism, expertise, and support.
Karla did an exceptional job, educating and supporting us as first time buyers. She explained the process, helped us understand why one property was a better value than another. Karla also comes with a deep network of colleagues and connections. She listened to our feedback and desires. Would 10/10 recommend her to anyone.
Karla was amazing throughout our whole home buying process! She was patient as we looked for a house for over 2 years. Karla was very responsive to our messages and flexible with our availability. I mostly appreciated Karla?s honesty about home?s pros and cons. It showed that she cared about the value of our home and wasn?t just trying to close a deal. Thank you Karla! ??
We shopped with Karla for over a year and a half. She was patient, super knowledgeable about the market and neighborhoods, and our biggest advocate in the bidding and purchase process.
Karla was the second realtor we went out searching with to buy our first ever apartment and she was awesome. Very knowledgeable and pointed us away from some questionable places. Also had interesting tips for remodeling possibilities if that?s your thing. She had our back during a sale with a seller who wasn?t super upfront and made sure we had all possible information before we committed to our new place.
I cannot express how grateful and happy I am to have enlisted Karlas exceptional expertise and services to sell my condo, especially during a pandemic! After 12 days of being listed, I received an offer and its a testament of Karlas hard work, experience, and perseverance. As a first time home seller, Karla eased any concerns I had by being very informative of the process/steps involved, thorough to ensure all the sale documents were properly completed, and advocated for specific needs I had. Karla is a true professional with so much knowledge of the market, looks out for your best interests, and is honest and realistic. It was a pleasure working with her and I am looking forward to have her as my agent when I start looking for my next home purchase.
Karla was really helpful. She is perfect for 1st time home buyers. She made sure that we were buying a home that was best for us and not one we were pressured in to buy. She is extremely knowledgeable and was able to save us money and create equity at the same time.
I enjoyed working with and highly recommend Karla as a buyers agent. I appreciated that she could meet me where I was from a knowledge standpoint when buying an investment property. She has a breadth of experience in real estate from buying & selling to renting, renovating, & developing. Karla went above and beyond to educate me on the area?having just moved here?and what nuances to look for to make a property a good investment. The experience was positive & I look forward to working with Karla again to buy a primary home.
Our family recently moved cross country from NYC to Evanston. We were keen on finding an agent who was extremely knowledgeable about our desired neighborhood, knew the market well, and who could negotiate strongly on our behalf. Thus, we found an absolute triple threat in Karla. She went way above and beyond: showing us over 40 homes, driving us through different parts of neighborhoods and pointing out SO much of what each entailed, taking the time to thoroughly comp houses we ended up being interested in, and beyond. There was never a doubt that she had our best interest at heart. In fact, her astute knowledge about construction and the local market and market history helped us in making better decisions. Karla ultimately went so far as to find a property that was not yet on the market, which ended up being our amazing home. We would never have had access to it without her, which is a testament to both her hard work and her excellent, beneficial relationships. She was simply a joy to work with. We would 100% recommend Karla without hesitation (we already have!).
We have worked with Karla on two home sales and one purchase in two different markets in the last 5 years. Her knowledge and expertise was unparalleled. She had a firm grasp on both markets and helped us seal our deals in a timely fashion without unnecessary concessions. She is professional, responsive, reassuring and realistic- everything you need when buying or selling a home!
(5/5)
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What clients say about this agent....
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