Hi.
My mom sells houses in the Bay Area, since 2015. She's done 200 deals over 8 years, totaling $400M. This puts her in the top 5% of agents at her brokerage.
Here's some data on what she's bought and sold:
Sale Price Distribution
Sales by City
Median sale around $2M, mostly around Fremont, Newark, and Union City. Data pulled from Zillow records.
When I started looking at homes, I found it very confusing. It was only easy because my mom knew the local market, and what was actually a good deal vs overpriced.
What's useful:
- Off-market deals and timing advice (whether you're buying or selling).
- Her judgment on houses — what's a deal, what's overpriced, what to avoid.
- What actually goes wrong in deals and how to not get burned.
I started putting together a monthly email with her thoughts on what's happening in the market.
Here's an example:
Hi, it's April.
Rates are still high (~6.8%), so buyers are slowing down. But the high end is still moving (esp homes >$3M). SF hit $2.15M median, up 18% from last year. Houses over $3M are going fast if they're turnkey.
Berkeley and parts of SF are seeing 10-20% over asking for anything move-in ready. Inventory is up in some East Bay suburbs but still tight overall.
For buyers:
Here's some open houses worth checking out:
47280 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont — $1.85M
My mom says: Good bones, motivated seller (relocating to China). Probably 10-15% under market if you're lucky.
Off-market: 3BR in Berkeley hills — ~$2.8M
My mom says: Estate sale, family wants to close quickly. Clean title. Good deal.
1042 Dolores St, SF — $3.2M
My mom says: Already 3 offers after 2 days. Expect it to go 15-20% over asking.
For sellers:
If you're thinking of listing, now is actually decent timing. Inventory is still low, and anything priced right and staged well is moving in under a week. But if your house needs work, you're better off waiting until fall — buyers right now want turnkey.
My mom had a seller in Fremont try to list a fixer for $2.1M. Sat for 3 weeks, no offers. They pulled it, spent $40k on paint and flooring, relisted at $2.15M and got $2.2M in 5 days. Small cosmetic fixes matter more than people think.