Red Oak Stories

As first-time buyers, everything was new for Amy and Drew, who were moving to Oakland from the peninsula. The first house they wanted to make an offer on was a probate sale that was listed at a very low price, which created a lot of buzz and interest from competing...

Sarah and Andrew Rosenbach's experience buying a home in North Berkeley can be summed up in one word: persistence. The couple spent four years searching for the right house in the right East Bay neighborhood – a long journey for any home buyer. "It was such a competitive...

The real estate market was quite different when Mike and Kelly bought their first home together in 2003. Most homes for sale in the East Bay were getting multiple offers, and buyers had to bid on about 10 different homes before a seller accepted. But Mike and Kelly...

As East Coast natives on a four-month deadline, Streeter and David had to jump into the East Bay real estate market quickly and learn about pricing, disclosures, and neighborhoods. After a bit of searching, they realized how difficult it was to find the one home...

Liliana and Radoslav were searching for their dream retirement home in the East Bay. The couple – originally from Yugoslavia – had attended grad school at UC Berkeley and their daughter Neda currently lives in Oakland. After spending many harsh winters in Minnesota, they...

Jeanette and Andrew were looking for their first home together as a family in Berkeley. Despite it being described as a "slow market," they found that it was super competitive in their price range. Because of that, the bidding process was long and intense. Had they gone...

Single-story, glass walls, sunlit atrium, heated floors, quiet neighborhood. The 1964 Eichler home that Peter, DC and Bella now own is a gem straight out of the hit TV show Mad Men. The family of three – married couple Peter and DC, and DC's mother Bella – had a...

Stefanie and Matt were expecting their first child when they started looking at houses in Berkeley. They were only about three weeks from the due date when they set foot in the house that eventually would be their first home. "We didn't make an offer right away because...

Shaye Dively and Robert Hodil lived down the street from the home they now live in, and for several years had admired the house as neighbors. So when the for-sale sign went up in 2010, the couple called their former Red Oak agent, Leif Jenssen, to see whether it really...

When Bernhard Schmidt and his wife Karen Schwelm began the first steps toward selling their North Berkeley home in 2010, they knew it was not going to be an easy journey. A lot of homes were for sale in the neighborhood at the time, which meant there was a lot of...