Gretchen Castorina, Real Estate Agent

Social Media

Instagram

LinkedIn

Gretchen’s Private Exclusive Page

Specialties

Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™

Triangle Luxury Collective

Golf Course Communities

Education

Colgate University

BA International Relations with a concentration in Economics

Client Testimonials

Scroll down for more

★★★★★
" Gretchen is the consummate professional. She is the best real estate agent that I have had in the last decade, during which time I have bought and sold homes from $400k to $10m. She is incredibly knowledgeable and went above and beyond expectations during this transaction. I was incredibly impressed with her great attention to detail and lightning speed responses to all inquiries. In addition to all her professional expertise, she has a delightful personality. I would not hesitate to refer clients to her and have done so already. I will call Gretchen for all my future Triangle real estate needs. "- Elaine Dara-O'Connor

★★★★★
" Gretchen is efﬁcient and in touch with the market. She is respected by her clients and other agents because of her loyalty and high standard of ethics. We recommended her to several friends who all had very positive experiences. "- Karen & Gus Kolias

★★★★★
" First, Gretchen is the most responsive agent we’ve ever worked with. She is truly looking out for her client’s best interests at all times. She is a detail-oriented-nothing slips through the cracks. She is a master at staging and presenting your property. She has access to the broadest possible market and knows where to advertise high-end properties. She has a sixth sense about market value and is a great negotiator. She also has extensive contacts with reliable contractors for mitigation work and supervises their work as necessary. She is a closer who makes the deal happen. In sum, she is a total Real Estate professional who excels in all aspects. We couldn’t be more pleased with our relationship and give her out highest recommendation. "- Lt. General John Moellering, Ret. & Mrs. Karla Moellering

★★★★★
" When preparing to sell our home, Gretchen’s name quickly came to my attention as she had the record sale price in my development. Gretchen used her decades of experience to help us in incalculable ways including: staging, interior & exterior design, market review, competitive analysis, pricing, negotiations, contracts, ﬁnding craftsmen, etc. She suggested and helped implement changes so our house looked at its absolute best and then broadcast the result with an amazing online presence that included 3D video, gorgeous photos, including drone footage & a detailed listing by room with features and dimensions. Gretchen’s communication is top notch, and her can do attitude is contagious. We have been thrilled with the end result, a successful sale. I can’t recommend Gretchen highly enough if you are looking for a talented, resourceful and ethical real estate professional in the Chapel Hill/Triangle area. "- John & Ye Orr

★★★★★
" Gretchen has exceptional talents as a real estate agent. We valued her honesty and integrity throughout the sale of our home. She always acted in our best interests. She responded to our emails and texts promptly and is the consummate problem solver. As stressful as selling a home can be, Gretchen’s professional expertise gave us conﬁdence in successfully marketing our home. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Gretchen and give her our highest recommendation. "- Suazanne & Peter Morris

★★★★★
" Gretchen worked with us as our real estate agent to sell our home. The process with Gretchen was seamless, organized and very thoughtful. Gretchen has a very outgoing personality with a genuine positive attitude. Her attention to details was second to none. She was thorough, timely, helpful and very knowledgeable about real estate and our community. She gave good advice with facts to back up her suggestions. She was fun to work with and went above and beyond in every aspect of the process to sell our home. I can’t recommend her more highly. "- John & Martha Fahlberg

★★★★★
" I want to thank you for the care and professionalism you showed while helping my mother sell her home. From the very beginning, you guided her with patience, understanding, and clear advice. I'm deeply grateful for everything you did to achieve a smooth sale and to help her tackle this next step with confidence. With profound gratitude. "- Kevin Moore

★★★★★
" Gretchen worked with my brother and sister-in-law to find them the perfect home. She then helped my husband and I do the same. Now she is on the hunt for our parents! She has become like part of the family! If you want the best, work with Gretchen. She is great at her job and a great person. "- LISA & KEVIN ZAK

★★★★★
" We cannot begin to thank Gretchen enough for all that she did to help us. We feel so fortunate to have gone through this process with her. She made it a joy, and we hope she will be a regular visitor in the new house! "- LIZ YAROS & ERIN GRADY

★★★★★
" I want to thank Gretchen again for all of her unflinching support in our house hunt. From our side, whether we threw her the let's look here, there, or how about there?, all done or fixer-upper, or house, townhouse, or tear down, she was there to help. Even with a smile and a laugh. Amazingly when we were all done we ended up where we hoped to be in the beginning, in the Oaks. "- DICK & ANGELA HINCHCLIFF

★★★★★
" Gretchen is exceptional at what she does! We had complex requirements, and she was able to find us just the right property in a fantastic location. It was a pleasure being her client - always there for us, with just the right amount of information and honest objective advice. We're extremely lucky to have had her drive this deal from start to finish. Cannot recommend more highly! "- ROMAN OLNEY AND XUE HOU

★★★★★
" Gretchen was absolutely wonderful, so knowledgeable and responsive to our questions and concerns. We owe the sale of our home to her savvy expertise and marketing skills. "- KAREN AND HERB

★★★★★
" Gretchen is the best of the best and the ally you need in this current market. She is hugely knowledgeable and I learned so much about the home-buying process working with her. I bought a home in NC while living in MA and Gretchen was a pro at showing virtually and helped me navigate the purchase process remotely. I'd never worked with Gretchen prior to buying this home, but a close friend highly recommended her and now I'll be recommending her to anyone who asks. The first time I spoke with her, I gave her my vision and she just got it. Her unwavering attention to my needs and preferences landed me the home of my dreams. She treated me like treasured family and I truly appreciated the warmth, honesty, and humor she brought to the process. If you're looking for a new home or selling your home, you could find no better realtor than Gretchen to guide you through. "- JESSICA LONG

Charity

Orange County, Habitat For Humanity

Durham County Habitat For Humanity

Step Forward Scholarship Fund, Governors Club

All For The Pink

Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina

Durham Rescue Mission

About Gretchen

A real estate agent for more than 15 years, Gretchen always places her clients first.

Each of her clients, whether moving across the ocean or across town, benefit from her exceptional work ethic, warm personality and her wide range of personal and business experience.

Gretchen knows about being a newcomer to a town. A native of the northeast, Gretchen has managed several relocations for her own family. For clients new to the area, she is a source of abundant and client-tailored information. She quickly turns outsiders into insiders. When working with long-time North Carolina residents, Gretchen enjoys showing fresh perspectives.

Using her background in economics and as an NYC-based commodity analyst, she believes clients deserve more research, accountability, and access to data. She listens carefully to identify clients' needs and priorities. She helps them develop the knowledge and confidence to make sound real estate decisions. Teaming with top industry specialists, Gretchen ensures smooth and successful transactions.

Whether marketing a property for sale or guiding a buyer in a purchase, Gretchen's goal is to exceed clients' expectations. When working for clients selling their home, she takes a hands-on approach. The property is attractively positioned in front of the right buyers and agents to generate more interest, traffic, and showings. For buyers, her extensive research and review of the local market enable her to identify opportunities, understand property values and negotiate effectively.

Gretchen's hard work, positive attitude, integrity and client-centric focus result in happy clients -- who are the real source of her success.

In 2021, she closed $22.8M in residential properties, representing 16 seller clients (7 in Governors Club) and 13 buyer clients. Over 50% were personal referrals and 30% were past clients.

In 2022, Gretchen was grateful to represent clients in Governors Club with the highest listing price of $3.3M, which was sold off-market. Of her nine sellers, six were past clients. and two referrals from her sphere. Among her six buyer sales, two-thirds were past clients or personal referrals.

In 2023, Gretchen's highest buyer sale was a $2.6M condo in downtown Chapel Hill that she found off-market for out-of-town clients. Her highest closed listing ($2M) was also in downtown Chapel Hill, within easy walking distance of the University of North Carolina.

2024 was another banner year with 20 closed transactions, and $2.24M in volume. Gretchen represented 14 owners in the sale of their home, at an average price of $1.3M. 90% were personal referrals from her sphere or past clients. Ten were residents of Governors Club, one with the highest sold price in GC at $2.95M. On the buyer side, Gretchen helped six clients find new homes in Triangle region, all of which were personal referrals or past clients.

Gretchen is well versed in the towns and communities in Orange, Chatham, and Durham counties, with a special focus on golf course communities. She gives back to the communities she serves through the Orange County and Durham County Habitat for Humanity groups; The Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, and the Durham Rescue Mission.

When not focused on real estate, Gretchen enjoys spending time with her husband Ed, twin daughters, Fiona and Liv, and their Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Eden. Gretchen and Ed have fun exploring restaurants and wine tasting with happy clients who have now become friends. The family loves international travel, taking advantage of her husband and daughters' dual U.S. and Italian citizenship and study of foreign languages.