Where I work
The neighborhoods I know cold.
Honest reads on the South Bay and Peninsula cities I work in most. What it's like, who tends to buy there, and the things I always check before I let a client write an offer.
Santa Clara County
Alviso
San Jose's forgotten bayside village: a small historic community at the edge of the salt ponds with entry-level pricing, genuine character, and homework requirements (flood zones, levees, insurance) that most buyers have never encountered.
Open the area note
Santa Cruz County
Boulder Creek
The deep end of the San Lorenzo Valley: bigger parcels, fewer neighbors, and true mountain living an hour from Silicon Valley. The CZU Fire rewrote this market's rules, and buying here well means respecting them.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Cambrian
A steady, unflashy San Jose neighborhood that trades on one thing above all: school access. Modest 1950s-70s ranch homes, quiet streets, and two well-regarded K-8 districts feeding Leigh and Branham.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Campbell
The Orchard City grew up into one of the South Bay's most livable small cities: a genuinely walkable downtown, a weekly farmers market that anchors the community, and mid-century neighborhoods that deliver much of the Willow Glen feel at a friendlier price.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Evergreen
East San Jose's foothill district, where the housing stock is newer, the lots are larger, and master-planned communities like Silver Creek deliver a scale of home the older valley neighborhoods can't. The trade is the commute.
Open the area note
Santa Cruz County
Felton
The heart of the San Lorenzo Valley: redwoods, Henry Cowell State Park, and genuine mountain living twenty minutes from town. Buying here is as much about water, septic, sun, and insurance as it is about the house.
Open the area note
Alameda County
Fremont
The East Bay's family powerhouse: five historic districts stitched into one large city, BART service to San Francisco, and in Mission San Jose, one of the most sought-after school attendance areas in Northern California.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Los Altos
A village downtown, big flat lots, and top-ranked schools have made Los Altos one of the Peninsula's most quietly competitive markets. Much of what trades here is really land value, and knowing which is which is the whole game.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Los Altos Hills
Estate country with a rulebook: one-acre minimum lots, no commercial district at all, and a slope-based formula that decides what every parcel can build. In the Hills, the development rights are the property.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Los Gatos
A foothill town with an excellent school district, a historic downtown along Santa Cruz Avenue, and a clear premium for the privacy and views the geography buys. Los Gatos rewards buyers who know what they want and have the patience to wait for the right one.
Open the area note
San Mateo County
Menlo Park
Meta's hometown, and a city of sharply different neighborhoods. West Menlo is one of the most expensive zip codes in California. Belle Haven is one of the more accessible Peninsula entry points. Knowing the difference is half the work.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Milpitas
The county's transit-connected value play: a BART terminus, the newest townhome stock in the valley, and quick access to the 237 job corridor. The homework is HOA math, special taxes, and one famous quirk of geography: the wind.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Mountain View
Google's home city, with a real downtown, strong public schools, and the widest housing mix in the South Bay. Single-family homes, townhomes, and condos all sit in active inventory at the same time.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Palo Alto / East Palo Alto
Two cities on opposite sides of US-101 with very different price points, very different school districts, and very different buyers. Most clients searching one should at least understand the other.
Open the area note
San Mateo County
Portola Valley
A quiet, deliberately rural town on the 280 corridor where the most important disclosure map in the Bay Area applies: the San Andreas Fault runs directly through town, and the town's own geologic maps grade every parcel.
Open the area note
San Mateo County
Redwood City
A revitalized downtown, a wide range of neighborhoods, and access to the Peninsula at meaningfully lower entry points than Palo Alto or Menlo Park. Redwood City has become one of the better-kept secrets in the Bay Area.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
San Jose
The largest city in the Bay Area, and a different market in every zip code. Almaden doesn't look like Berryessa, and downtown doesn't look like Willow Glen. The first job is figuring out which San Jose is actually yours.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara University, the original Intel HQ, and a long arc of steady demand. Santa Clara sits in the geographic middle of the South Bay and offers some of the most balanced single-family inventory in the region.
Open the area note
Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz
The beach city that's also a college town, a surf capital, and one of the most rule-bound small markets on the coast. Westside versus Eastside, coastal zone permitting, and short-term rental limits all shape what a purchase here can be.
Open the area note
Santa Cruz County
Scotts Valley
The first town over the hill: strong schools, a sunny banana-belt microclimate above the fog, and the shortest Highway 17 commute in Santa Cruz County. The mountain checklist starts here, in its mildest form.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Sunnyvale
Apple, LinkedIn, and a long arc of tech employment have made Sunnyvale one of the most consistent buyer markets in the South Bay. The catch most first-timers miss: three different school districts cut through the city, and which one you land in changes everything.
Open the area note
Santa Cruz County
Watsonville
The most attainable coastal city in the county: a working agricultural hub with real community, newer development on its edges, and first-time buyer math that still pencils. The homework is flood maps and the honest commute.
Open the area note
Santa Clara County
Willow Glen
A San Jose neighborhood that feels like its own small town. Tree-lined streets, 1920s craftsman bungalows, and a walkable downtown along Lincoln Avenue that's one of the best in the South Bay.
Open the area note
San Mateo County
Woodside
Horse country on the 280 corridor: large wooded parcels, a one-school elementary district, and microclimates that change block by block as the fog line moves. Due diligence here is about land, water, and access.
Open the area note