Four Millbrae homes coming to market at once, and four different buyers: the walk to school, the rental income, five bedrooms downtown and the biggest lot.
Most of what I write is for buyers. This one is for the homeowners: six questions from open houses this fall, and what each one tells you about your house.
A Peninsula disclosure package can run a few hundred pages. Whether I’d chase the house often comes down to about ten of them.
Half the visitors at a Millbrae open house came from San Francisco. The other half drove up from the South Bay. The house brought them in — the station kept coming up.
More than 20 groups came through a Foster City waterfront open house. They asked about the lagoon, the HOA, the new Osaka Marketplace, cash versus financing — and, quietly, whether I’d live on the water.
August 2026 numbers for eight Peninsula cities. Inventory rose almost everywhere and homes sat longer, yet all eight single-family markets still closed over asking. Condos went the other way.
Dreamforce raised the question again: what happens to Peninsula real estate if the AI boom cools? The last pullback is the clue — and August's numbers say the market is not quiet yet.
Yes, the median is lower than San Carlos. But Belmont sells competitively, and the hills — not the discount — are what make it different.
The low assessed value you've held for decades isn't necessarily tied to the house. What Proposition 19 lets qualifying homeowners 55+ carry with them.
Days on market measures the listing calendar before it measures demand. What the number actually says — before the offer date, and after it.
The seams between San Mateo's markets follow blocks, not neighborhoods. Eight local details to check before you trust a citywide average.
A house sells $600,000 over asking and it reads like a verdict. It isn't. What that headline actually measures — and the numbers worth reading instead.
July 2026 numbers for eight Peninsula cities — single-family homes still sold over ask in days, while condos gave patient buyers room to breathe.
Summer's slow, we'll list in the fall." On the mid-Peninsula that usually costs sellers money. What the July numbers really show.
Everyone treats the holiday week as a dead zone for homebuying. For a prepared buyer, it’s the opposite — and the mid-Peninsula numbers show why.
Everyone said summer would be slow. Then a Belmont home listed at $1.7 million went pending around $2.2 million — no contingencies. Demand didn't disappear. It got selective.
It isn't hidden, and it isn't cheap. Here's why people pay anyway — in eight honest cards and a short letter.
May 2026 single-family numbers for Belmont, Burlingame, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Redwood City, and San Mateo — and what the data actually says.
The typical U.S. homeowner stays about 12 years — in San Jose it's closer to 19. Forever may not exist, but optionality does.
A home gets the most attention in its first two weeks on the market. Here's why that window decides your sale — and how to prepare before you list.
Moving for the schools? Here's how to choose a Peninsula town — Belmont to Palo Alto — around the school that actually fits your child.
San Mateo County single-family homes are still going over ask in under three weeks while condo inventory sits longer and negotiates closer to list.
On the Peninsula, the buyers who win aren't always the ones with the highest offer. They're the ones with the clearest plan.
A Salesforce PM asked me if she should buy or rent. The real question turned out to be different.
Notes from an open house in Daly City — and a thesis about which Peninsula neighborhoods are quietly where wealth gets built next.
After 20 years in tech, I traded dashboards for doorknobs. Here’s the question that kept pulling me here.
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