Our family had a fabulous and very successful experience selling my mother-in-law's house through Barr Haney, a Marin County realtor from Own Marin. We contacted them several months ahead of our target date for selling and their team was very helpful and supportive in guiding us through the inspections as well as in deciding what updates my wife's family's home of over 60 years needed to attract potential buyers. The photos and videos of the property were outstanding and the staging was beautiful. Ultimately the property sold a week after listing for 25% over the asking price with 7 offers. We were amazed and very appreciative of the expertise Barr and the Own Marin team provided. read more

Own Marin - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Corte Madera, California

We recently worked with Barr Haney from Own Marin on purchasing our new home in Mill Valley - he helped us negotiate a fair price, and took plenty of time to show us the property while we were going through the decision process. This was the second home in Marin that he helped us get into and we are grateful for a smooth process both times, I can't recommend him enough. After we bought our new home, we looked to quickly turnaround and sell our other home in a somewhat slower market hoping to get it sold before the holidays. Barr's team moved quickly and professionally. The staging, photography, and marketing were all done at a high level, and he helped us sell our house within a week going to market - sold well over asking. He always took our phone calls, answered texts and emails and pushed through the process without a hitch. Thank you Barr and team for making this home buying and selling experience as seamless as possible. read more

Working with Whitney Potter at Own Marin was an outstanding experience. If you are looking for the a top Marin County real estate agent, Whitney should absolutely be on your list. Whitney came highly recommended by a friend, and after meeting with multiple Realtors while deciding who to work with, we ultimately chose him--and we're so glad we did. From the very beginning, he demonstrated deep expertise in the Marin County real estate market and a clear strategy for selling my parents' home in Mill Valley. He guided us through pricing, preparation, and timing with thoughtful advice that made the entire process smooth and successful. We also used the concierge service offered by Own Marin, which was incredibly helpful. It made it easy to cover the upfront costs for additional work and improvements that helped the property stand out before going to market. What really sets Whitney apart is his responsiveness, professionalism, and attention to detail. He kept us informed every step of the way, handled every challenge calmly and efficiently, and made what can be a stressful process feel organized and manageable. His knowledge of Mill Valley real estate and the broader Marin County housing market, along with his marketing strategy and strong network, clearly helped attract serious buyers and achieve a fantastic outcome. If you're searching for a top Marin County Realtor and someone you can truly trust to guide you through selling a home in Marin, we highly recommend Whitney Potter. Whitney and the team at Own Marin exceeded our expectations, and we're incredibly grateful for his expertise and dedication. read more

We had a great experience working with Barr Haney and the Own Marin team for our home search in Marin! We initially reached out to them because of their reputation, great reviews, and the detailed info on their website about the market in Marin. Shortly after our first intro call, Barr sent us a list of coming soon, on-market, and off-market houses that met our criteria. Both Barr and Whitney clearly know the market and its micro-neighborhood dynamics extremely well. They're professional, accessible, and easy to work with - and we really appreciated how Barr was always willing to jump on a call or help move things forward even on nights/weekends. We'd definitely recommend them for anyone looking to work with true Marin "insiders," especially if you're looking to get access to off-market properties. read more

Barr Haney was a pleasure to work with. He guided us through the process of fixing up our home for sale, providing us with great contractors to make the agreed upon improvements. He provided good guidance on pricing and helped us sell our house for a price that we couldn't have imagined. I recommend him highly. read more

We sold our Marin townhouse with the help of Whitney Blickman of OwnMarin. While I regret having to write a negative review, we had a frustrating time with her, and we would not recommend her team to others. I'll start with the positive. Whitney is personable, experienced, and knows Marin well. I'm confident she does a great job showing homes to prospective buyers. She brought in strong vendors for staging, photography, and prep. She was ultimately able to sell our house in a tough sellers' market. However, Whitney made a lot of mistakes, small and large, throughout the process. Some of the small ones were pretty harmless. For instance, the initial description of our home she published to MLS featured a ton of obvious typos. However, these careless errors were frequent enough that it was hard to trust her attention to detail. There were also some bigger mistakes. For example, when we meant to counter an offer, she didn't check the box marking it as a counter, instead creating paperwork that technically accepted the offer. There was also a legally dubious situation in which she reused a contract we'd intended to void to open escrow, which shook our confidence in the paperwork around the sale. In general, we had a hard time communicating with Whitney. Multiple times, when there were problems or delays, she didn't admit them until we discovered them on our own. We sometimes went week-plus stretches without hearing any updates from her, even after we asked her to keep us more in the loop, leaving us wondering what was going on. It's worth hiring a real estate agent who's got great attention to detail and communication. We recommend looking elsewhere. read more

Barr Haney was incredible to work with, especially since we were buying from out of state. He made the process easy and stress-free, keeping us informed every step of the way. The FaceTime walkthroughs were invaluable and helped us feel confident making decisions from afar. Barr truly went above and beyond, and we couldn't recommend him more highly. read more

We had such a great experience buying our home with Whitney Potter. He really took the time to listen to what we were looking for and helped us find the perfect house, even in a tough market. Whitney was always quick to respond, made himself available when we needed him, and kept everything on track. He also gave us really thoughtful advice along the way and helped us understand all of our options, which made the whole process feel a lot less stressful. We're so glad we worked with him and would recommend him to anyone looking for a top Marin County Realtor! read more

I cannot recommend Barr Haney enough as a realtor if you are looking to move to Marin. My husband and I have gone through the process of trying to find a home to buy in multiple cities and always found the experience very stressful and unpleasant. This time it was the exact opposite. Barr spent an hour with me on the phone to better understand what we were looking for and was respectful of the fact that we weren't in a rush. He said he would keep us updated with properties that seemed of interest but wanted to be respectful of our time. He didn't force us to see random open houses that didn't fit our needs, which I truly appreciated. He found a home for us to take a look at in kenfield gardens - a neighborhood we weren't aware of - and immediately fell in love with both the home and location. We weren't looking to move until next year but he managed to get us the home for under asking, and we couldn't walk away. Barr really shined post offer acceptance - he helped us with all of the legal documents, finding us a mortgage broker, an architect and a painter to work with. The process couldn't have been smoother. If you want to work with the best Marin County Realtor work with Barr Haney at Own Marin! read more

Whitney Potter and Own Marin were incredible partners in our journey to start a new chapter in our lives, pursuing a dream. We have always wanted to live abroad and, ultimately, we decided to study language abroad. Our school asked us to consider arriving within only two months to begin a two-year program. Our challenge was very quickly clearing out and selling or storing a lifetime of accumulated furniture, art, equipment, personal belongings, sports equipment and forgotten items. Whitney was introduced to us as a top Marin County Realtor and met with us in mid-March, walked through the property with us and assessed the situation. Throughout our work with him and the team, we appreciated his practical attention to detail, including our thought process and priorities. Whitney was both direct and supportive as he communicated his experience with the Spring real estate season and that things generally slowed down in June. With this information, Whitney worked with us on an accelerated basis to prepare, stage and list our home within 6 weeks. Given the aggressive timeframe, we asked Whitney for his recommendations for resources to help us downsize, prepare and pack our household. The team he introduced us to were instrumental to us being able to meet our timing goals and to help present our home professionally. We were listed at the end of April and in the first week on market, Whitney generated multiple over the asking offers, ultimately getting us into contract $300k over the asking price at a time when the market appeared to be slowing. Whitney and team managed a very smooth and orderly process throughout. Whitney and team gave us the confidence to take on a very aggressive project and then helped us realize the plan in the most elegant manner possible. Thank you, Whitney and Own Marin! read more

We cannot recommend Whitney Potter highly enough! As first-time homebuyers, the process felt overwhelming and intimidating at times, but Whitney supported us through each step. From the very beginning, he took the time to truly understand what we were looking for and helped us refine our vision of our dream home in San Anselmo. Whitney was incredibly proactive and instrumental in helping us secure our home before it even went to an open house, which still feels unreal. His negotiation skills were outstanding, and he consistently advocated for us with the seller's agent to make sure our best interests were protected. What truly sets Whitney apart is his dedication and care. He walked us through every step of the closing process with patience and clarity, and when we were out of town, he even did the final walkthrough for us so we wouldn't miss a thing. Throughout what can be a very stressful experience, Whitney made us feel confident. Buying our first home could not have been a better experience, and that is entirely because of Whitney. We are so grateful for him and would recommend him without hesitation to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, trustworthy, and truly exceptional realtor. read more

We were so lucky to find Whitney Potter. His deep knowledge and expertise helped us navigate a very competitive market with low inventory. We especially appreciated his patience and guidance as we searched for the right home. In a place like Marin, having a great agent makes all the difference and Whitney truly delivered. He brought us many off-market and pre-market opportunities, giving us a real advantage over other buyers. In our view, Whitney is the top Realtor in Marin County. Highly recommend! read more

Barr was an incredible partner while navigating our Marin home search. As someone with generational depth in Marin, he was able to help us quickly understand the various nuances of the areas we were considering. We also were appreciative of his consideration and counsel around the long term investment value of making our decision. Highly recommended Barr and team. read more

My husband and I worked with Barr Haney on purchasing on home in Marin, and it was a truly seamless experience. He was incredibly proactive in finding us off-market opportunities, allowing us to explore potential homes before they became available. We took our time to find the right house, and thanks to Barr's guidance were able to act quickly when we found it. Barr helped us submit a offer within 24 hours of the property becoming available which helped avoid a multiple offer situation and secured our dream home. Barr's knowledge of the Marin County real estate market is exceptional, and he was able to walk us through many trade-offs of the different houses we looked at. We also really enjoyed working with other members of the OWN Marin team (especially Emily) who were equally friendly, knowledgeably and professional. Barr went above and beyond to ensure that everything went smoothly, from the initial search to closing. If you're looking for a Marin County realtor who is responsive, professional, and has the expertise to help you move fast in this competitive market, we would highly recommend Barr Haney and his team. read more

Barr, Michael and Emily were fantastic! For our pre-sale remodel, they provided the vendors, helped design and project manage the entire project. This would have been much more challenging without their guidance and hands-on attention. Highly recommend them! read more

We used Barr Haney at Own Marin as our Marin County Realtor and he did a great job of finding us an off-market home in Kentfield and guiding us through the process from start to finish. Barr and his team were knowledgeable and responsive and helped us find and get the home we were looking for! read more

My wife and I can't say enough good things about Own Marin. We needed to sell my childhood home following the passing of my mother. The home required an immense amount of updates. We found Own Marin online but I contacted my mother's trusted estate attorney to ask about Own's Whitney Potter, and he said, "You're in good hands." The attorney was right. My wife and I both juggle jobs while raising our son in another county. Throughout this sales process, Whitney was honest, up front, and highly communicative and informative. His strategies were sound, and his team (namely Emily) was highly competent and efficient. Emily effortlessly (at least she made it seem that way) managed the complex work of coordinating with contractors to prep the house for the sale, among other duties. My wife and I barely lifted a finger. In the end, the sale was a success. I think it should be pointed out, overall, that there were moments during the sales process, while we were weighing offers, where it became particularly clear to us that Whitney has immense pride for his work. He cared more about getting the best deal than getting a done deal. Bottom line is my attorney was right. We were working with the top Marin County Realtor, bar none. read more

Own Marin - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Corte Madera, California

Barr and Own Marin were amazing to work with; we both bought and sold a house with Own Marin and couldn't be happier with the experience. From start to finish, the team went above and beyond to help us find our forever home. read more

My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Whitney Potter on the purchase of our first home in Marin County and we had a wonderful experience working with him. Whitney is incredibly knowledgeable about not only real estate, but all of the ins and outs of Marin and the various neighborhoods. He helped guide us through our search, answered our many questions, and was never pushy (which was a breath of fresh air compared to some of the other realtors we had spoken with). We ended up finding a great house in a fabulous neighborhood and the whole process from start to finish was a breeze. If you're looking for a top realtor in Marin County, Whitney Potter is the best! read more

We reached out to Whitney Potter via the Own Marin Instagram when we were "just browsing" and toying with the idea of moving from San Francisco to Marin. Almost two years after that first DM, we have the house! From the start, Whitney was patient, never pushy, clearly understood what we were looking for, and was always very honest about every house we were interested in. There were times when we almost got fooled by a flipper's aesthetic tricks but Whitney would point out that it was in a fog trap, had funky layout, or other considerations that we didn't think of (like weekend traffic). When we told him weather was important to us, he whipped out a map and showed us all the mountain ridges and flats in Marin County and explained the micro-climates of Marin. This helped us narrow down where we wanted to look. A year into the search and the Marin housing market still not cooling off. I was getting desperate and started to prepare myself to live in a shack with a 2 hour commute. But, with Whitney's expertise and patience, we didn't have to compromise and we found a charming home we absolutely love, in an amazing neighborhood! When the house came on the market, he got us in to see the house (twice) and was ready with an offer, all before the first open house weekend. At our budget, we weren't sure we'd be able to get into this neighborhood, but Whitney used his network, strategic knowledge of the process and a sprinkle of magic to help us find our home. Whitney Potter and his team at Own Marin are the best real estate agents in all of Marin County! If you're thinking about buying a house in the Marin, you need Whitney on your side! read more

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Barr Haney from Own Marin as our Marin County realtor. He guided us through the process, found the house we ended up getting and helped us imagine our future there. Barr knows the market very well and kept providing useful information regarding other sold properties in the area and giving us ideas for renovations. He was available at all times for our many questions and concerns. Our offer ended up prevailing in a multiple offers situation, thanks to Barr's guidance. Thanks Barr! read more

Whitney Potter is definitely one of the top realtors in Marin County. I was a first time home buyer when Whitney and I met. I didn't have a clear vision for what I wanted in a home. All I knew was I wanted to be in Marin with close access to hiking trails, a downtown area with coffee shops and a grocery store, and a short commute to San Francisco. Whitney spent countless hours with me touring houses, sharing listings and explaining the dynamics of the real estate market. We searched for about 7 months, in what was probably one of the most extreme markets in recent history, to find me the perfect home. After months of searching we finally found a small bungalow in Sycamore Park, Mill Valley. Whitney did a fantastic job negotiating and he helped me win the house with my initial offer. He kept in constant communication with me throughout the closing and was always accessible via text, email or phone. Thank you, Whitney, for all your help and I'm excited to make Mill Valley my new home. read more

Our family plans to move out of Marin, so when we were trying to sell our house, we wanted to use the best marin county real estate agent. We were introduced to Barr. Barr Haney and Julia Fitzpatrick helped us sell our property in Mill Valley in a speedy and professional manner. As the market becomes more of a buyer's market, we were worried our property wouldn't be able to sell. Barr and Julia really held our hands, walked through the process and put our minds at ease. Julia and Barr helped us get the property ready in a meticulous fashion from updating floors, repainting the walls, and staging etc. They went above and beyond to make sure the house looked attractive and polished. Being a licensed realtor myself, I still chose to work with Barr and Julia utilizing their local expertise and contacts. They are so well connected that that makes a world of difference when it comes to selling and buying. read more

As first time home buyers, we worked with Julia Fitzpatrick of Own Marin as our Marin County real estate agent and highly recommend her! Julia really helped us through every step in the home buying process: choosing homes to see at open houses, navigating the offer, keeping us up to date during closing, and making sure the the home was in great condition before move in. Her communication was seamless and friendly. She's very knowledgeable of the Marin market. Julia also gave us references for future renovations and moving. We'd definitely recommend working with Julia! read more

Not only did Allie Fornesi help me purchase one home in 2020 and sell another in 2024, but she has also been my angel, my counselor, my wise companion, my totally trustable guide, my brilliant advisor, my sharp strategist, and my cherished friend. I cannot find ​words of praise t​hat adequately convey her many skills, virtues, and gifts. She helped me navigate complex transactions in uncertain market conditions with the greatest of ease, and generated the most auspicious outcomes​ in both cases. No detail​ was overlooked; ​Allie made the entire process so smooth, so clear, and so easy ​for me because ​s​he is so organized, grounded, accomplished, kind, warm, and responsive. In March 2024 she prepared and beautifully staged my ​San Rafael home​.​ Before the broker's open house had even taken place​, we received a full price, all cash, no contingencies offer with a 10-day close. We countered, ​and received a bit more​.​ The sale was recorded at the highest price per square foot ever obtained in our development. Allie's advice was ​impeccably spot-on, and she was always available immediately to discuss ​and take care of anything and everything​, ranging from holding my hand when I was panicking about moving, to organizing spreadsheets and documents in Dropbox. She even personally vacuumed the house for the buyers the morning it closed. Four years earlier, in March 2020, she ​served as my agent when I bought a property in Novato. She ​fiercely yet graciously advocated to help me obtain a discounted price just ​when Covid ​began to wreak havoc on my investments. ​What's amazing about Allie is that she is equally gifted at both business transactions and human interactions. I was so lucky to meet her after reading stellar reviews by others. I hope this review will spark your confidence and inspire you to reach out to her too! You will never regret it! read more

It was a wonderful experience working with Whitney Potter who helped me with the sale of my home in Larkspur. I've interviewed several agents and he stood out from the rest because he had extensive knowledge and experience and he answered all of my (many) questions thoroughly and didn't rush through answering them. He was very easy to work with. He never pushed his own agenda but he advised and let me decide what I wanted. He was easy to reach and when not available, he got back to me in very reasonable time. He handled everything personally from the beginning to the end. I was a little hesitant on fixing the landscape because I felt that I've already done a lot to prep work inside of my home already but I'm glad I listened to him because I think it really paid off. The house was sold swiftly even before it hit the market well above what we thought we could get for. read more

Two Thumbs up for Whitney Potter, realtor extraordinaire at Own Marin. He found a beautiful home for us in Ross. From start to finish, Whitney did an excellent job walking us through the process and negotiating on our behalf When we began our search for a home in Marin, we anticipated a long wait for the right place. The market was tight and we are particular. We wanted to move to Ross, which made the search that much more difficult. Suddenly the market completely dried up and there was not a single MLS listing in Ross. It was then that Whitney found a gorgeous, off-market home for us. We went to see it right away and in short order we were in contract. We wholeheartedly recommend Whitney Potter to anyone in need of a realtor in Marin County. He is the BEST! read more

Our home of 20 years was located in Kentfield Gardens and we moved to Austin TX and turned it into a rental. Barr and "Own Marin" contacted us inquiring about an " off market" sale as they had clients looking in the area. Skeptical at first, as we received many inquiries and " letters" over the years. I must say Barr listened carefully as we didn't want to waste our time or disturb our tenants. He did everything he said was an excellent communicator and the property closed early. I know his clients are excited to have our home and he made a difficult choice we made in letting it go easier on us. I'm a Marin native and would highly recommend him as many agents these days aren't as experienced and simply aren't as professional. 5+ stars to " Own Marin" read more

We worked with Whitney to buy our first home in Marinwood. It was a seamless experience for us - the first house we were very excited about and wanted to put an offer in on, he helped us win (with multiple other offers in play). He was right on with his initial pricing estimate and gave us valuable strategic advice that helped us to get the house. In addition to this, he noticed we had a 7% interest rate from our current lender and helped quickly connect us with a lender that not only closed in 17 days, but had a 5.8% rate - incredible! In a competitive market, it's important to have someone who can give you the right advice to help you win, ensure you aren't overpaying and a make the transaction as smooth as possible - Whitney does all of these things and we highly recommend him. As anxious first time homebuyers we were glad to have clearly made the right choice. read more

After working with a few different agents in Marin, over the course of a five year search, Barr Haney was able to quickly and efficiently find a property which met our family's requirements and get into contract. I would highly recommend working with Own Marin on your next real estate transaction. I think he Barr Haney is the best Marin County Realtor. read more

We cannot recommend Whitney Potter and OwnMarin more highly! We recently bought a house in Marin almost entirely remotely, before a cross country move. Whitney made the process easy and stress-free, narrowing our search to towns with the best schools and locations that work for our commutes. As a native of Marin, he knew and thought of things we never would have and saved us several flights out to look at houses we wouldn't have ended up bidding on. Despite the usual low inventory, our search went quickly and Whitney found us an amazing house OFF MARKET, at a fair price. He handled so many things for us in person, while we were still on the east coast, and truly went above and beyond to make sure the house was move-in ready when we arrived a few weeks after closing. We would not hesitate to work with Whitney again or recommend him to any friends and family. It is hard to imagine there is a better real estate agent in Marin! read more

My husband and I were looking for a great Marin County real estate agent and we were referred to an amazing one! Barr Haney from Own Marin helped us find the perfect property for our family. In a highly competitive area he found our property off-market. With his guidance we beat out 3 other offers and we felt we got a great value on the home. This never would have happened without Barr's amazing advice and incredible knowledge of the market. He is smart, savvy and incredibly good at what he does. I highly recommend working with Barr and Own Marin. read more

Our family couldn't be happier and more thankful for working with Whitney Potter and the Own Marin team who helped us find and secure our first home in San Rafael. We were newbies when it came to purchasing a home but Whitney made the whole process so easy to navigate. There's a reason he is rated as the #1 Marin County real estate agent. Right off the bat we could see how knowledgeable and attentive he was to our needs. He has excellent communication skills in setting proper expectations and sharing his expertise when it came to navigating this challenging market and the different neighborhoods in Marin County. Throughout our experience, we felt so taken care of. Thanks to his guidance we were strategic and thoughtful in our search process for finding a home to fit our needs. When it came to making our offer, he put together a competitive and solid one. Thanks to his network and expertise he was able to get us the winning bid in a multiple offer situation including one all cash offer at the same price, which is a miracle in this market! Whitney also provided us recommendations to his network of financing, insurance and real estate experts that enabled us to smoothly complete our escrow process in just 21 days. We highly recommend Whitney Potter and the Own Marin team if you're looking for a trustworthy, driven and savvy agent to help you find a home you'll love. They go above and beyond in their customer service and support (even after you are in contract). read more

We are SO happy to have found a home in a neighborhood that we never expected we would be able to get in to! It's hard to figure out which Marin County real estate agent is the right one to use, but we found that many of our neighbors had used Barr Haney to purchase their homes -- and they all lived in the target area we were looking to buy in. We also felt that having an agent that is super connected to the local community, would give us a better chance at finding an off-market listing, which is exactly what happened. We were able to find a gem of a house, and negotiate our purchase without worrying about competing offers, which was wonderful. Barr really navigated all of the nuances involved in our transaction with ease, and he kept us calm through the process too! read more

Prior to working with Marin County realtor Barr Haney, attempting to purchase a home in Marin County was next to futile as we spent nearly 2 years attending over 30 open houses, growing increasingly forlorn looking for a home for our family. Within 7- SEVEN! - days of our first call with Barr, we had an offer out on our dream home. It was accepted the next day, 30 minutes before the open house started, affording us the luxury of avoiding the frenzy of competition that has become so characteristic of the area. Barr is a skilled negotiator with a bias for action that delivers results. Barr will work 8 days a week for you. If you want to sell or own property in Marin county, do yourself a favor and call Barr. We are so grateful we did. Thank you, Barr! read more

My husband and I worked with Allie Fornesi in late 2020 (peak COVID) to buy our dream home. Allie was a strong recommendation from a friend of mine and rightly so! Allie is super responsive, knowledgeable, calm, patient, and strategic. We would not have won our dream home without her! My husband and I had been casually looking for homes in Mill Valley without a realtor. When we decided we needed a realtor, we wanted someone who was familiar with the Mill Valley area, especially the micro-climates. We reached out to Allie and a few other highly-rated agents on Saturday and Allie was the only one who promptly engaged with us. She wasn't available to talk on the phone that weekend, but we emailed her our favorite listings and she promptly responded with her thoughts and shared other listings she thought we'd like. I appreciated Allie's expert knowledge as a local and her taste. The other agents didn't respond until later that week, after we already established rapport with Allie. We felt that Allie was someone we could count on to "get it done," especially in such a competitive market. Even though we had not formally engaged Allie, she reached out to the selling agents of our favorite listings to learn more. She alerted us on Tuesday that our favorite listing received a bid and this prompted us to submit a bid as well. We had only spoken to Allie on the phone (hadn't even met in person!) but she helped us quickly put together a bid. She coached us on what we needed to bid to win and when to submit the counteroffer so that timing was in our favor and we could "lead" the negotiation process. All of this happened within 24 hours. We were texting each other at 11pm to meet the bid deadline and Allie was super calm and attentive through it all. I'm confident that we would not have won the home without Allie's help. The closing process was stressful but Allie's professionalism and calm guided us through it! The house had just been renovated and did not have all of its final permits, so the sellers could not close on time. The sellers had moved out of state so it was also hard to resolve outstanding items. In addition, we realized that there were a few mis-statements in the sales listing. Allie was our advocate and coach in resolving all of this. She patiently worked with us and the selling agent to resolve all of our issues (and there were a lot!) If you're looking for a Mill Valley realtor or Marin County real estate agent, I highly recommend reaching out to Allie! She'll take good care of you and help you buy your dream home! read more

We couldn't be happier and more thankful that we found Allie Fornesi and Own Marin to serve as our Marin Realtor, guiding us through the process to secure our first family home in San Anselmo! From the "get go," we knew Allie would be a GREAT fit for our needs as a San Anselmo Real Estate Agent who is a Marin native and knowledgeable expert on the "ins and outs" of the local Marin real estate market. Her incredible passion and enthusiasm for her work got us really excited about partnering together on our home search. Importantly, she really took the time to listen and truly understand what was most important to us when it came to finding our future family home. Allie quickly put us at ease by calmly and confidently addressing all our questions (both the big and small ones) about the home search and buying experience here in Marin. Given we were looking to buy our first family home while also in the midst of a major relocation back to the SF Bay Area from London (in the middle of the pandemic), Allie was patient with us while still being proactive about putting potential listings on our radar that fit our specific criteria. Additionally, she was flexible and catered to our unique personal situation, taking calls often at odd hours of the day (while we were 8 hours ahead) and set aside time to make visits to potential listing on our behalf for "video" first impressions. Throughout the home search and buying process, Allie took such great care of us as our Marin real estate agent! She effectively managed our expectations (and emotions, too) and ensured we felt comfortable while dealing with the ups, downs, and challenges of a home search in a very "hot" seller's market. What could have been a very nerve wracking experience was ultimately a fun one given her constant positivity, reassurance when needed, and confidence we would find OUR home. When it came time for offer, she was a "straight shooter" about what was needed to put forth an extremely competitive and winning offer - that ultimately secured our perfect family home! Now that she has helped us settle into Marin, we look forward to to see her as a friend for many years to come. Also, the level of service and support simply didn't stop when we signed our contract. She also referred us vetted, qualified and experienced local home service providers that made our home prep and move-in process so much easier (and enjoyable, too) We highly recommend working with Allie Fornesi and Own Marin if you are looking for a trusted, experienced and relatable partner to help you to find your own perfect home in Marin. read more

We had a 5-star experience with Whitney Potter as we looked to purchase a home in Novato. Whitney has deep knowledge across all of Marin, and was especially helpful acquainting us to our new city since we had yet to live in Novato ourselves. He was very instrumental when it came time to make an offer, negotiate with the sellers & sellers' agent, and understands acting with urgency. Highly recommended! read more

I found Whitney Potter and his team searching online for "top real estate agents in Marin". He was one of the 15 agents I considered on my "long list" after I solicited recommendations from friends in the business, did independent search online, and signed up for "unbiased recommendations" by a website that claimed to be able to match me with realtors (side note -- avoid those, they grab your contact info and distribute it to tons of agents who then pester you for months). I interviewed 7 or 8 agents/ agent teams, and decided to go with Whitney because he gets down to business quickly. For example, he advised us that the first step would be to line up financing because in this market we need a letter of financing to see properties -- and that we want to be underwritten, not merely pre-approved to be competitive buyers. He referred us to a banker he works with often, and we chose to work with him after considering several others. We had very clear and explicitly articulated set of search criteria which we had developed over weeks of doing our own independent research -- and which we validated during the various realtor interviews. This narrowed our search considerably and allowed Whitney to be able to guide us on which of the possible properties we were seeing online would be worth a visit. He arranged several house showings (with the new Covid rules) and in all but one case, those worked out without a hitch (in that exception, the other agent did not show up). Once we got to the offering, negotiating, and contracting phase, Whitney aptly guided us through the process and the dozens of little things that need to come together to close the transaction. FYI, in case you need a data point of possible timing: [week 0] I had an intro call with Whitney on a Thursday. [week 1] I called him back to retain him on the Monday after and on Wednesday of the same week, we walked him through what we are looking for in great detail; by the end of that week we were visiting possible houses [week 2] By the end of the following week, we had liked a house enough to want to buy it, bid on it -- turns out alongside another buyer, chosen not to pursue a counter offer; liked another property, bid, negotiate, and close on it. [weeks 3-8 to 10] In our case, escrow took about 6 weeks and we agreed to move in a couple of weeks after to allow the prior owners some extra time in the house. Throughout this entire process Whitney helped us sort out our options with great local knowledge and strong local network of the professionals you need to close a transaction. We are thankful for his help and recommend him. read more

Julia at Own a marin helped us find our first home and we couldn't recommend her more! We searched for over 1.5 years and she helped us navigate this very tricky market. She was always super responsive, have great insight, and was available to show us homes during our (little) free time. Thanks, Julia! read more