My sisters and I interviewed three different realtors when we were about to put a El Cerrito house…read moreon the market. Two realtors came in for a tie with the third being an obvious "reject." Of the two remaining, we chose Diane Sindel-Deutsche, broker and owner of Jeans Realty. What a good choice! In a down market, Diane held an open house every single week for close to six months. Her task was daunting...to sell a small one bedroom cottage on a busy street. Sure, the house was cute and it had been fixed up to prime condition. But, as the housing market bottomed out, we slowly dispaired. Not Diane. She just kept feeling optimistic and never doubted that the house would sell at close to our asking price. Well, it did! A buyer from Berkeley realized the enormous value of purchasing in El Cerrito. (No parking hassles, close to BART, near stores and the post office. Strong neighborhood, good soil for planting,) Diane, the broker sheparded the sale through various obstacles. The end result?? Happy sellers, happy buyers and very happy neighbors. I'd list with her again in a heartbeat.

Diane just helped my Husband and I purchase our first home ever, in El Cerrito. She guided us…read morethrough to a winning bid in this over heated market, then was an excellent negotiator for some last minute concerns with the property. She was very responsive , professional and insightful.

I recently sold my home in Berkeley with Megan Micco, and I cannot recommend her highly enough…read more I first found Megan through Berkeley Parents Network, where she had glowing recommendations from other local families. From our very first interaction, I felt a strong personal connection. She came to my home, listened carefully, and gave me honest advice about whether I should add a second story or sell. At that time, she actually recommended that I keep the house and build up, since it would likely be more cost-effective and I loved the neighborhood. That told me right away she was looking out for my best interests, not just a commission. After getting construction bids and thinking things through, I ultimately decided I really did want a change of pace. I reached back out to Megan to list my home, and that's when she truly went above and beyond. Megan put together a comprehensive, strategic marketing plan and personally oversaw key updates to the property, including a kitchen renovation and removal of knob-and-tube electrical wiring. She and her team made sure my home was positioned to attract as many buyers as possible in what was a somewhat uneven market. Throughout the entire process, Megan's communication was exceptional. She checked in with me frequently, explained each step clearly, and was incredibly responsive to my questions and concerns. Selling a home is an emotional roller coaster, but Megan's warm personality, professionalism, and steady guidance made it so much easier. She constantly reminded me to keep my eyes on the horizon, and that perspective really helped. When offer day came, her strategy paid off. We received four offers, and the top offer not only exceeded my expectations--it set a new record price per square foot in the Berkeley market. When Megan told me the final number, I literally burst into tears of joy, relief, and happiness. If you are considering selling your home, especially in Berkeley, I wholeheartedly recommend Megan Micco. She is smart, strategic, honest, deeply caring, and truly committed to her clients' best interests. Working with her turned a stressful process into a record-breaking success.

We feel so profoundly lucky to have found Megan. Our journey with her spanned several years, and…read morehopefully it will last a good many more. As first-time homebuyers with a limited budget, we felt like finding somewhere in Berkeley was going to be a stretch - and it was - but it would have been impossible without her. We spoke to a few agents before Megan, and none of them felt right. After meeting Megan, we knew we had found something special. We connected with her immediately. What set her apart from everyone else was actually the reality check she gave us: with our budget, buying the dream house we had imagined was going to be tough. She was the only one who was straight with us and made choosing her a no-brainer decision. Rather than discourage us, this frank conversation led us to trust Megan and respect her integrity. At the start, Megan told us that she gets people into the first home they make an offer on 85% of the time. We were certain we'd be in the 15%. But we weren't. Megan maintains that extraordinary statistic because of how she works. She's honest with her clients and realistic about expectations, but she balances it with being extremely attentive to the market, tenacious, well-connected, and creative. Honestly, what more could you ask for in an agent? We waited for the right moment in the market, and she waited with us. When we were finally ready, Megan was immediately available to us - viewing houses the day we flagged them, always answering our messages, and available any time on the phone. There were times when we felt like maybe Berkeley was too much out of our reach-too competitive and expensive for our budget. Megan reassured us that it was all about being ready and finding the right place at the right time, and that's exactly what happened. Through her careful attention to the Berkeley market, she noticed a little gem that had fallen off people's radar. It was exactly what we had hoped to find: a three-bedroom house in the Berkeley school district with space for a garden, and lots of future potential. She joked that we shouldn't mention it to other clients because they'd all expect a miracle. We couldn't believe our luck, and she really was the person who made it happen. She moved quickly, got us into the home immediately, communicated directly with the listing agent, walked us through all the disclosures, and coordinated closely with our lender to put us in the strongest possible position. Putting our offer in happened very quickly (over the span of two days), and it was through Megan's professional connections and persistence that we successfully won against a competing last-minute bid. She negotiated tirelessly for more than 27 hours straight to make it happen for us. Needless to say, it was a stressful period, but Megan was communicative, hopeful, reassuring, and virtually held our hands through that nail-biting wait. On a beautiful Friday evening, we got the call: our offer was accepted. We were homeowners in Berkeley. As academics, we instantly recognized Megan as an expert in this area. She explained things in a way that made sense and has a remarkable handle on everything from the minutiae of Berkeley city ordinances to renovating historic homes. Basically, we felt supported through the whole process. She was patient with our questions and graceful about our lack of knowledge, never making us feel rushed or ignorant. That was quite an achievement, given how quickly the market moves here. To top it off, she has a real commitment to sustainability and green improvements and an understanding of how climate change will likely affect homeowners in the future. As much as anything, this long view is really what makes Megan special. She's not just trying to get you to buy the most expensive house as fast as possible. We never felt that from her. Instead, she created a relationship with us. It's because of that relationship that we have no doubt who we'll be working with if we decide to sell. We're already recommending Megan to everyone we know, so it's very easy to say it here as well.

I wish I could give negative stars here. When we bought our TIC a couple years ago, Kilby was the…read moreagent selling the property. We didn't have a realtor, so she "assigned" us one from her agency. (I know, we were naive at best here). Turned out Kilby was running the whole show. The negotiations on the mortgage dragged out for 6 months and there was a "miscommunication" on our down payment. We agreed to 10% and the papers showed up for closing and we were put down for 15%. We were already living in the unit as a rental (also not right - the building was Ellis acted before and we didn't know that) and we were more or less stuck - we'd sold our other place and were in quite a jam. All of this because there was some private promise between the seller for our unit, Kilby and another owner in the building about money back out of the building. We really love our home, but her unethical approach to things left some very bad feelings amongst the owners of the building from day one. I would strongly discourage anyone from working with her - ever.

I worked with Kilby on the sale of my Grandmothers house. My experience with her from beginning to…read moreend was wonderful. We lived out of state and when my Grandmother passed away we needed to find a realtor. It was hard for us to make it out to San Francisco and when we did it was very short notice. We found time one weekend and called several agents (this was a Saturday afternoon)... Kilby was the ONLY one who was understanding of our time constraints, as we needed to return to Reno that afternoon, and come out on a moments notice to meet us at the house. As I was still dealing with my Grandmother's passing I wasn't sure I wanted to sell. She said she understood and gave me her information. Over the coarse of many months I had to fight off realtors that I had called that day to get off their email lists and for them to understand I wasn't ready. Kilby on the other hand was very understanding, she did not push or pester and was always available if I had questions. Finally it came time to sell the house. She was very caring and respectful of the situation. It was hard for me to go through the house and empty the contents. Kilby handled getting it completely cleaned out and ready for sale. I didn't have to worry about a thing. I was also very thankful that she was willing to run back to her office in the evening to get faxes that I sent or documents that my fax machine messed up so that she could resend them. Toward the end of the sale process I was scheduled for a major surgery and Kilby helped get documents together early for me to sign before I went in and made arrangements to help with the closing so that I was not having to deal too much with things during recovery. I have to say that my husband gets transferred every few years so we have had a few houses to sell and buy in the last few years... this sale was the most stress free real estate experience we have had. I would (and have) highly recommend Kilby. If only every realtor was this on the ball!

Thanks to Nadia and her partner, Laura, we sold our home quickly, with confidence and for more than…read morewe expected. As first-time sellers, we had a lot to learn. Laura and Nadia guide you in the nicest way. They actively listen to your concerns and needs, and they do whatever they can to work through obstacles and get you what you really want (which can include more than just money). We were so impressed with their creative problem solving. These gals get things done. The sale of your home can be a roller coaster. Maybe you need to hustle and get your house on the market 3 weeks before you planned. Maybe the process makes you tired and grouchy. Maybe your cat decides to pee on the doormat right before your open house. Whatever you're dealing with, Laura and Nadia will help you handle it. Their smart strategies and good humor got us through the process about as painlessly as possible. We're very grateful we found them... on Yelp!

We just sold our home and couldn't be more pleased with how smooth the process was, due to Nadia…read moreand her team. We chose Nadia for her extensive knowledge of San Francisco real estate, her professionalism and her confidence. We planned to move (and did) across the country while our home was being prepped for sale, so it was essential that we had an agent we could rely on and trust. After our initial meeting, Nadia provided us with detailed information about the logistics of our sale - from general information about the current market, to comps to a calendar detailing our home improvement process (painting, cleaning, staging, etc.) and marketing plan (photographer, website, sales materials). One of the things we really appreciated about Nadia was her sense of urgency; everything was a priority. Whenever we had a question, whether via email or phone, she responded right away. She kept us up to date on every step of the selling process, and called or emailed after every open house and showing to give us the run-down (which was very comforting, especially since we were no longer living in California at this point). From our initial meeting to the closing of our sale, we felt as if we were Nadia's only client. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to sell their home!

So far I have had an awful experience. I have been trying to get my house on the market since March…read more2024 and it still isn't listed as of September 2024. The first problem was the first agent, Regina Jacobs, who didn't seem to be engaged until just until almost ready to list. Then she did not want competing bids to do work on the house and only wanted to work with specific vendors. "Her" gardener was Efrain Sian, who in the meantime have found isn't a legit business. She authorized him to start work on my garden when I was not okay with the budget and had not signed a contract. He started work, tearing up cement and breaking outdoor plumbing, then walked off the job. He was totally careless and damaged or ruined some of my personal belongings in the yard and has no intention to replace any of it. He did more damage than if we had just left the yard as is. But Regina was insistent and wouldn't take no for an answer. So this was escalated to DJ Grubb, the owner of the company. At first he said, "what are we looking at, a settlement?" Now that I've had more bids to fix the damage, they are three times my original budget and they refuse to pay for the damage. I don't have the 30K needed to fix that damage. So they told me to take out a loan to cover it. I feel that it's totally unethical to tell me to pay for damage their agent had done without a signed contract. So my house is going no where fast and remains damaged and unsellable!!!

Dana Cohen at Grubb is nothing less than superb. She represented us in the sale of our Rockridge…read morehome in July 2020. Her expertise, patience, flexibility, empathy, demeanor, and decisiveness all contributed to an excellent experience culminating in a perfect outcome. Dana began working with us in 2019 when we weren't entirely sure we wanted to move. She wasn't pushy or looking to force a deal, simply there as a resource. When we decided to move, she helped us with every step of prep while maintaining a collaborative approach with how to do it all. Despite the pandemic pushing the sale date and creating an incredible amount of uncertainty, her steady hand guided us through it all - from setting a new date to pricing it perfectly (and talking me off the ledge multiple times). Her deep bench of relationships, from stagers to licensed professionals, helped keep everything on track so we were ready when restrictions lifted (and where less experienced agents may have stumbled out of the gate). We explicitly remember her stepping into our empty home - post move-out, pre-staging - and seeing her light up with excitement about how to make the house magical. It became quite clear that this is her life's passion, which fuels her dedication to the craft. Dana also knew that our priority was to get great people in the house that would positively add to the neighborhood, not simply to maximize selling price. She was sensitive to our needs and designed the process with those needs in mind, and still got us what we were looking for in the sale. If you're selling your home in Oakland, Berkeley, or Piedmont, there's really no other choice. She's the best in the business.

Dana is a complete real estate rockstar. She is, without a doubt, the only reason we just closed on…read morea house we absolutely love for a reasonable price in this insane Oakland real estate market. While we've only been working with Dana for 6 months, my husband and I had been looking for almost 1.5 years prior to meeting her (we've seen literally hundreds of houses at this point) and without Dana we'd have likely either continued to look for many, many more months or given up entirely. She has been unbelievably patient and supportive as we've toured house after house and submitted multiple offers, never pressuring us to make an offer we're not comfortable with, yet always being willing to put in the work to submit the offer. She is so very knowledgeable about the Oakland and Piedmont areas and has opened our minds up to wonderful neighborhoods we wouldn't have otherwise had on our radars - including the one we ended up in. Dana is incredibly sharp, caring, thorough, and seemingly always available to her clients, despite how busy she is. I honestly don't know when she sleeps. She is truly a full-service agent, both for her sellers and her buyers. She is instrumental in working with her sellers to get their listings renovated, staged, and optimally ready for market, while also providing her buyers with a great deal of guidance and endless recommendations for renovations, insurance agents, lenders, contractors, supply stores, and more, both pre-and post-sale. Having attended easily 50+ open houses since we started working with Dana, I can confidently say that everyone in the local real estate market knows her and respects her work. I (and seemingly all her peers) cannot recommend her enough. She is a consummate real estate professional, and we just feel very fortunate that she was willing to take us first-time home buyers on. Whether you're looking to buy a home or sell your home, Dana is definitely your gal. Trust me, you won't regret it.

I highly recommend Dana Cohen to serve you for your real estate needs. From our first interview I…read moreknew she was competent, professional, knew the market and would serve and represent me well. She did not disappoint. Her team prepared my Montclair home to sell, they worked endlessly to present the best my home had to offer. Dana kept me informed throughout the process. We made decisions together and she was open to my ideas. From start to closing Dana Cohen always had my best interest in mind. Without reservation, I highly recommend Dana Cohen.

Selling a house in a slow market can be a roller coaster of emotions. We recently went through…read morethat, and were so grateful to have Claudia working with us. We loved her enthusiasm, encouragement, can-do attitude, and incredible responsiveness. Her deep expertise in the Montclair neighborhood and how to price a house was extremely helpful, as well.

We love Claudia! She knows the Bay Area market so well. We found her by chance during our home…read moresearch and I'm so happy to have had her guidance and expertise.

Sarah was such a pleasure to work with on my first property purchase! She is very knowledgeable…read moreabout TICs and the market in San Francisco. I especially appreciated how she talked me through all the disclosures and was a sounding board for me as I weighed the pros and cons leading up to my decision. I was expecting the process to be stressful as a first time buyer but it was seamless and actually enjoyable! I am looking forward to working with her again in the future!

Sarah was an amazing realtor! She made sure all the details were taken care of and made our lives…read moreso much easier. I was so impressed with her knowledge and expertise. She was just a pleasure to work with, I would highly highly recommend her.