Best Realtor I've Ever Had!!
It was quite by accident that I found/contacted Joy Desmond and it was the best thing that could have happened at the time/circumstances. Having recently lost my wife of 58 years, I needed to downsize from a 4 bedroom, 3 car garage house to a 2 bedroom apartment closer to my son. Joy listed my house on 27 October and we closed on 20 December. . It selling as quickly as it did, even with interest rates having jumped to over 7% is, in my opinion, a direct result of Joy having gotten my house listed nationally via the Caldwell System plus her aggressiveness. She kept me informed EVERY step of the way and made things happen when she said she would. Almost daily updates were especially noteworthy as was her and husband Gary treating me as a friend and not just a customer. And last but not least, I got a higher the price then I expected. I have no hesitancy giving this realty team the highest marks possible and urge any potential sellers/buyers out there to look them up!!! True professionals in every way....

Full package power seller! - Joy and her husband Gary are an extraordinary power couple and truly masters of their craft. They made the process of selling our home so seamless. From our initial meeting, it was evident that the necessary research was done and all our questions and projections were thoroughly tended to. Most importantly, there were no stressful last minute surprises as everything was outlined and communicated with ample time. Joy implemented top of the line tools and marketing resources in order to give our home the ultimate selling power. We are extremely grateful for the Desmond Group and their outstanding professionalism.

Review submitted on 22 Jul 2022

Rockstar!!! Joy and Gary are Rockstars! They are undeniably GREAT at what they do. They are patient, knowledgeable, determined, kind, and the very best communicators we've ever had the pleasure of working with. I can't say enough positive things about Joy and Gary. Ashley and I have recommended them to several friends and family members, and they NEVER disappoint!

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Bought and Sold with the Desmonds. Highly recommended!

We purchased our new home during a very hot market. Joy and Gary helped us find the right home and stayed involved in every aspect of getting the deal closed including being present for all inspections. We used them again to sell our old home and got the same personal attention. Their thoroughness as the selling agent got us top dollar and it was under contract in just four days. We were very pleased with both transactions and I highly recommend the Desmonds.

Review submitted by Jeff W. (Seller) on 9 May 2022

Very Helpful. As a first time homebuyer my experience working with Gary was great. He kept me informed throughout the entire process. Sent me a few helpful reminders to keep the ball rolling. I will recommend Gary to any and everyone buying a home.

Review submitted by Curtisha J, (Buyer) on 21 Nov 2022

A pleasure to have on my side!
Joy and Gary are a wealth of information. The team kept Me updated in every aspect of the contracts and signings. The pleasure of working with professional people made the ordeal very smooth. I'm working with them to find my dream home!!! A very satisfied person.

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"Professional and Friendly Gary and Joy Desmond are amazing. They assisted me in selling my house quickly. They certainly went above and beyond to assist since I was in another State. Gary And Joy also have attention to detail and assisted with recommendations. If I had another house, i would use them again!! Highly recommend!! Sold my house for over 40k over asking!! Verified by RateMyAgent"

"Our experience with Joy was extraordinary. By extraordinary I mean a lot of extra, and nothing ordinary about it. I'm not just talking about Joy as a realtor, I'm also talking about the market in general. We put in a total of 11 offers on different houses within a matter of months. Joy was extraordinary and went above and beyond any of our expectations. She was always there on our side, working for hard for us. Joy was always available to us when we needed answers to any questions we had. She was always professional, very knowledgeable, and inventive. Joy and her husband Gary are a great team. After this experience, we consider them friends."

"We highly recommend Joy as a realtor and will use the Desmond Group again."

"Excellent service...Joy was excellent in our buying experience. With the virtual world of buying/selling a home, Joy assisted in all things that needed to be done. Inspections, contract for personal property, etc. Joy and Gary will be my go-to resources for buying/selling a property."

"Joy was courteous, persistent and attentive . She was well informed about the market and targeted the right people to our property. She left no stone unturned when it came to advertising. I highly recommend her."

"When me and my wife decided to purchase a home going on three years ago, we prayed and out of the blue we had the information about Joy Desmond in front of us, we could have picked hundreds of agents but she was sent to us. From the very first day we knew she would take our worries about buying a home and make it her priority to educate us and ease our worries, and she did this from the very first day we spoke to each other. This ability Joy has is not skill, its natural and she makes you know your questions all deserve honest answers and right away you feel like she's your family. Its a natural response Joy has and she went above and beyond to please us in our purchase of our beautiful home, which we are so happy in, we sent my son and his wife to Joy to purchase their first home and they feel the same way me and my wife feel, she works to no end to please you and she goes beyond her duty to make sure your happy and that you understand every aspect of buying a home."

"In our previous dealing's with both buying and selling homes. Joy Desmond was attentive and knowledgeable of the market in our area. The time from listing to showing was quick. The pictures and her write up was fantastic, so much so that we received an offer in days. This was on Thanksgiving week. Joy kept us informed and updated during this holiday and we closed the week of Christmas. Joy Desmond was always a phone call away since we were not in town. We would Highly Recommend Joy Desmond for your real estate needs."

"Joy Desmond was a great person to work with. My wife and myself were happy we chose her to list our house for sale. She did a great job in listing and selling our house. If we were to list the home we are living in now, Joy is the real estate person we would use to list our home."

"We have worked with Joy Desmond for 7 years now. She has helped us sell 2 houses and buy 2 houses. Each transaction has been smooth and stress free. Joy has a calm, professional demeanor and it has been a real pleasure to work with her all of these years. She is extremely knowledgeable about the real estate market, is very organized and takes the workload off of us and the transactions have been very smooth. She anticipates any issues or situations and is extremely proactive. We will always work with Joy on any real estate transaction we do."

"If you want a professional realtor call Joy she will follow through to make you buying or selling experience a most pleasant experience."

"Joy made me glad we hired a realtor. She is knowledgeable, patient and helped us get a better deal than we thought we could get. She is the ONLY realtor that I will ever use again."

"Ms. Desmond assisted with us buying and selling this home on Jaffa and selling a property we owned on Ingraham Ave. She always had our best interest in mind and guided us through all the legal terminology. She is very honest and follows the guidelines and always kept us informed of what was going on. If I ever move back to the Lakeland area, Ms. Desmond would be the realtor I would use again. She is very friendly and personable. I would highly recommend her to buy or sell your home!"

"Joy is one of the best realtors we have ever dealt with. Our experience with her was very positive. She knew what we wanted and stay with us until she meet our needs. We never met anyone who was so devoted to pleasing her clients. She kept in touch, kept us up to date, always there to help. She gave so much of her time even after hours. We would recommend Joy 1000 times over, she is a asset to the real estate world and so perfect in what she does, you couldn't get any one better if you tried."

"I truly appreciated all your efforts to sell my home. Despite some frustrations, your professionalism brought us to a successful conclusion. Although I will miss my time in Florida, thank you again for being so helpful so I could get back to Canada to be with my family."

"Highly Recommended! We cannot thank Joy enough for her commitment to helping us make our transition from Kentucky to Lakeland as smooth as possible! We had one and a half days to travel to Lakeland and find the perfect home for our family and she made sure to have a many possibilities for us to look at and explore within that 36 hour window. She was so knowledgeable of all areas we were looking at purchasing, as well as what to look for as we toured houses. Once we made an offer, she guided us seamlessly through the entire process and kept us on schedule for inspections, documents signings, etc. Joy was so easy to work with because of her personable and professional manner and it was comforting to know we could reach out to her with any concerns. She responded and addressed everything promptly. She maintains excellent relationships with other realtors, as well as professional contacts with mortgage lenders and inspectors. We highly recommend Joy!"

"She was fantastic to work with. She is very knowledgeable and helped with any questions that we had. Would highly recommend her!"

"Joy went out of her way helping on this sale and for me. Many THANKS CLAYTON"

"Joy recently helped us sell our home which we were renting out. Throughout the process it was immeasurably comforting knowing Joy had our best interests at heart. To enter into the process of selling our family's home, to work with someone with Joy's knowledge and expertise was wonderful but her level of integrity is what made us 100% confident we made the right decision working with Joy and would do so again. I would highly recommended her to anyone including friends and family without a second of hesitation. She was fantastic!"

"Joy made, what my wife and I thought would be a stressful experience, into one of the easiest things we've ever done. So very kind, extremely professional, and great communication throughout the entire process. We highly recommended Joy!"

"Joy Desmond has demonstrated high integrity and superior knowledge in real estate sales. Joy always makes time to answer questions and has been a great resource. Joy has rearranged her schedule to meet last minute changes with clients and never missed any appointments. One reason why we enjoy working with Joy is her personality. Joy has never pressured us and always respected our opinion."

"There truly is a perfect agent out there, and I believe Joy Desmond is it! Due to a slow market, we dealt with Joy over a period of years, and her professionalism and expertise shined through the entire time. She was completely thorough and responsive, keeping us in close contact with every development and detail. We have bought and sold numerous times, and Joy is by far the best agent we have ever dealt with. I would highly recommend her in a heartbeat!"

"Over a span of 40 years, I have had the opportunity selling and buying numerous homes. During my recent purchase, I had the experience of working with MS. Joy Desmond, a wonderful realtor. Frankly, she is the most organized, personable, responsible, dedicated to our family needs, perseverance in getting the home of our choice and negotiated below the asking price, Unquestionable, she in best realtor in all life experiences of buying and selling a home, we ever encountered. Specifically, she went above and beyond the duties of a realtor to satisfy our needs. When you speak of a SUPER STAR , please meet Ms. Joy Desmond. As a firm believer that professionalism breeds professionalism, Ms. Desmond is true ICON in the realtor profession."

"Joy was extremely helpful throughout the process of purchasing our new home in Lakeland, FL. My wife and I found her to be thorough and very forthcoming with any and all information she possessed. We truly feel Joy represented us to the best of her ability. Should we ever need the services of a Real Estate Professional again in the Polk County area, we know who we're going to call."

"Joy helped me search for a home that would suit both my picky needs and price range for nearly a year! She was always very patient and accommodating. Not once did I feel like I wasn't her highest priority. We viewed dozens of homes during this period and I never felt pressured at all. As a first time home buyer I was wary and inexperienced about most of the process, but Joy was very honest and knowledgeable. Communication was easy with her through emails, text messages, and phone calls. When I finally found the perfect home she worked very fast to make sure I would land it at the price I wanted. She handled negotiating the entire deal very well and helped me coordinate all the other aspects of appraisals, inspections, and other services."

"I decided to buy this property long distance (I live overseas) as a place to retire in the near future. Joy was amazing! Helpful and responsible, extremely knowledgeable of the market and very fair. I would recommend her to anyone in the area without reservation. I will not use another realtor in the area...she goes above and beyond. Professional and trustworthy!"

"Joy was very responsive whenever we had questions. When she had questions of us, we tried to be quick with our responses. She did an open house to get more exposure to a greater number of people. When we sold our home, it was definitely during the buyers market so the event was not going to be an easy one. But we did succeed with a prompt sale. Her paperwork was always accurate so we had no closing surprises unlike our buyers. When we did not agree on something she was very willing to listen to our side of the story. The house was not on the market for an extended time; therefore, she must have done everything just right. We were very happy with Joy's complete handling of our sale. We have recommended her to others as an agent, but due to their mistake of not using her, their homes sat for extended periods of time. We would not be afraid or in the least bit hesitant in calling her again for her knowledge and expertise as we still follow her in the newspaper."

"Joy was an absolute pleasure to work with. She is extremely personable, accommodating and knowledgeable. I highly recommend her to any prospective home buyer to help you find the perfect home. When we were shopping for our home, we had some very specific criteria that we were looking for in a very small geographic area. This made us rather picky and difficult clients, I am sure. Joy had the utmost patience as she showed us several homes that met our criteria, but just weren't quite what we were looking for, until we found the perfect home. Clearly she is not pushy and is very attentive to your needs and desires. Her service did not end after the closing, we have called on her time after time for recommendations on everything from A/C work, warranty companies, handymen and housekeepers. Her recommendations are always spot-on. We will definitely work with Joy when, and if, we are in the market for a new home!"

"I have known and worked with Joy for nearly a decade. She has always been a dedicated, hard working person, that goes above and beyond to give the best expertise possible and to satisfy the client. She is, hands down, one of the best Realtors in Polk County!"

"Joy was the consumate professional throughout the whole shopping/acquisition process! She was great with service after the sale. I also have rentals and have bought and sold other properties and Joy is always there for solid advise."

"This agent made the process of purchasing a home completely painless. She was very thorough. We consider her a friend now, not just our real estate agent."

"This was my parents home. After they died, I was faced with living in Maryland and selling a house in Florida. I had it on the market with another agent for almost a year, with meager results. Joy had been one of the few agents who had brought potential buyers to our home. My sister met her and was impressed. We dropped the other Realtor, hired her and within three months we had a contract and sold the home to a great family. My parents would have been so pleased to see the house go to a nice family. If I ever move to Florida, Joy will be getting a phone call!"

"Simply the best ! I spent 20 years in the insurance industry dealing with all types of people and professionals. I have owned by own business ( Marina ) for the last 11 years. I have dealt with many Real Estate Agents and other so called Professionals. I have only met and dealt with a handful of people in my life that I would put in Joy's league. She is absolutely the epitome of professional, responsive and productive. She also manages to maintain a 24/7 positive and amazingly pleasant personality and warmth. She truly is one of a kind. A very special lady indeed."

"Joy guided me through the whole process giving me great advise. She made sure to bring anything that would be a problem with with financing or inspections to my attention. She made sure that I found the perfect home for me."

"Joy is a true professional in her industry. She has assisted me in a tough short sale purchase as well as selling a home for me within 45 days ! She has has great patience and always returned my calls promptly."

"Joy was a huge blessing to us in our search for a home. She was only interested in putting us in a house we would love. She wanted us to be patient in our search and I never felt like she was pushing us in a direction. She gave great advice at every stage and was always available to discuss our next steps. We felt like Joy was a partner in finding a great home. She was so excited for us when we found the right place and was in contact with us thru the contract process, giving us guidance and encouragement. I highly recommend Joy for anyone buying a home in Polk County. She possesses the knowledge and professionalism needed to be a successful real estate agent but treated us like family at the same time."

"We are first time home buyers and Joy Desmond was very helpful and pleasant to work with. We couldn't have asked for a better realtor. Thank you so much for making our dreams come true and making this experience so great. Thanks"

"Looking for a trustworthy and realivable expert Real Estate Agent, I recommend Joy Desmond. Joy expertise will guide you through the process of selling your home faster. Her market analysis of your home is excellent; she goes the extra miles for you when it comes to sell your home."

"Joy is a pleasure to know. She successfully helped us buy the above property. She is experienced at showing all the pros and cons and and did a good job at helping us with the finalizing. Now she is helping us to sell our house. She has a lovely personality which is a big plus dealing with people. We highly recommend her."

"Joy was very knowledgeable and a great guide through the selling of our house! Joy was very familiar with our builder “Mike Hickman” and the quality homes he builds. She did a thorough search for comps to ensure we were able to get as much value as possible out of our home while not being over priced. Joys seems to have good knowledge of the market trends and was very informative and helped us make solid decisions when negotiating our contract. She was always very responsive when we had questions and very pleasant to work with. We sold our house during COVID and Joy was very respectful of us and our house and followed the guidelines and recommendations at the time. This made it a lot more challenging to sell our house, however Joy found creative ways to reach potential buyers and really put in a lot of effort on our behalf! Thanks Joy!!!"

"Joy is an excellent choice for a realtor in the Lakeland area! She is knowledgeable, professional, thorough, calm, and kind."

"Joy had our house sold within a month of listing!!! She was friendly, knowledgeable, professional and only brought serious buyers for showings. She screened her buyers prior to showing to determine the appropriateness for the potential sale."

"Joy is a terrific realtor!! Joy did a fantastic job with my home purchase! She was friendly, knowledgeable, & supportive. She was ready to handle any problems or situations involving my new home as well as the home that I had sold in order to get the job done. She gave many helpful suggestions on places or items needed in my new location. There was no question or problem that she did not try to help me with. She had lots of patience with me if I was confused about any of the process. I don't know what I would have done without her help, guidance, & encouragement. I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in buying or selling a home."

"Buying a Home with Joy...Joy’s knowledge of the market and attention to detail made me feel secure in my purchase. Truthful and accommodating, fun and yet professional, she has all the qualities one looks for in an agent. She is more interested in finding the right fit for each client than selling the first house that is looked at. Lord knows she has the patience of a saint to have worked with me! I would gladly and highly recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell a home."

"I could not imagine any representative in real estate doing any better than Joy Desmond. She was personable, sensitive, knowledgeable and understood the process from beginning to end in selling our home. She researched the pool of buyers and brought only those who were truly in a position to buy our home and settle the deal quickly. We would recommend Joy to everyone and anyone. Simply the best."

"Joy's work and professional council in the sale of our home lives up to her name. From the gitgo, Joy displayed consumate professional advice. She was patient and gave the information we needed to made our decisions. In every step of the way, Joy was on the mark, for accomplishing a smooth transition. What was so amazing is that Joy's initial estimate for pricing of the house ended up the same as the offer by the buyer. She backed her estimate with the best information in the housing market. I will recommend her in a heart beat."

"Essential help for buying a Lakeland condo remotely My sister recommended Ms. Desmond when she bought her condo while living overseas. Since I presently live in Hawaii, our requirement for a realtor who could offer an exceptional level of service was similar. Joy‘s frequent, detailed, communications via phone, email and FaceTime were essential in evaluating the Lakeland property market and making the purchase. In particular, her recommendation of a local insurance company was much appreciated. She knew how to keep the process moving swiftly without any shortcuts. She was unstinting with her time and often alerted me to potential issues and their solutions."

"We recommend Joy Desmond to help any client to buy or sell any property available. She is competent, knowledgeable, honest, informed, and a hard worker. She makes selling a home less stressful by keeping the seller advised on ALL activities, We enjoyed working with her."

"Dedicated and professional...We can't say enough good things about Joy. She sold our home in three weeks and made the entire process seamless. Her work ethic and communication skills made her a pleasure to work with."

"Hard working, dedicated always keeping her client's need in mind no matter the price. We knew Joy would follow all the request we made and find the home to include areas away from the hustle. The quest for the perfect home for we seniors with a small budget was found after many months, Joy never stopped the search."