I've been engaged in the real estate industry for more than 30 years, as a certified appraiser, real estate broker, and general contractor. Because of my real estate experience, I was entrusted to handle the sale of a house that has been in our family for over 90 years. Even with my real estate experience the mere thought of finding a Realtor and getting the house ready for sale stressed me out because it's located out of town and my time is limited because of work and family. I live in Los Angeles, the house is in Berkeley, and I typically have a 70 hour work week. When selling a house I try to find the top 5 local agents. I judge the agents based on the number of local sales and local listings. Holly Rose was one of the top 5 I interviewed. I generally have high expectations of people I work with because, I in return, give it my all and expect others to do the same. After my initial interview I was surprised by her in depth knowledge of construction and specifics of the neighborhood. The family house is unique because it's architecturally unique, hasn't been remodeled since it was built, is situated on a double lot, the vegetation was thoroughly overgrown and the house was packed room to room with personal belongings. Holly saw past the present condition and focused on the historic important of house and its potential. Holly went above and beyond any agent I've come across in my 30 years in the industry. Holly found and oversaw a fantastic and reasonable priced clean-up crew for the vegetation clean-up, removal of the personal belongings, and general cleaning of the interior and exterior of the house. She kept me informed at every stage of the crews progress. I found Holly refreshing because she wasn't afraid to present her ideas and guide me in the getting the house ready for sale, setting the listing price, and marketing of the house. A couple times she pushed her point and every time she proved right. I'm not writing this review for Holly, I'm writing this review for you. From someone in the real estate industry, Holly is unquestionably the best agent you will ever find. read more

Holly Rose helped two friends of mine sell their home in Albany and they recommend her highly. When I needed to sell my mother's house in Berkeley, the one who likes to micromanage just a bit (by which I mean a lot) advised me to learn from HER experience. "Hire Holly Rose and get out of her way," she said. "You will be so happy you did." I did, and I did, and I am. It's rare for me to have complete faith in someone, but I had that in Holly -- and what a delight that is. Throughout the whole process -- fixing up the house, staging, setting the price, timing, marketing materials, negotiations -- I knew that Holly would do the right things AND that she'd reel me back in whenever my inclination was to do something dumb. (And there are many decision points along the way where that would be all too easy.) She's smart, savvy, strategic, knows the market so well, has great people skills, and is a great communicator. I loved, too, that she delights in older homes and in collaborating on making those really glow. She also just knows homes, in general...how they're constructed, what often has gone wrong over the years, what it would take to fix problems, what will matter to prospective buyers. Holly is that rare agent who arrives with a flashlight and jumpsuit and actually slithers around in the crawlspace. She's kind of a goddess. Oh, and yes...we got a great price! That that is kind of an afterthought here maybe tells you everything you need to know. I'm just sorry I don't have other houses Holly can sell for me. That's how rewarding the whole experience was. read more

Where shall I begin? Let me give you the Headline: I have hired realtors before. My confidence, trust, enjoyment, and opinion of Holly Rose is that she is one of only a very few realtors who can bring to the table deep experience, insight, and planning skills in combination with a whole lot of interest and joy in making you, and you and your house, the center of the universe. In my experience, it is essential you have both. And that they be authentic. Holly is the realtor I wish I had had. She kindly agreed to meet with me in order to try and answer some questions and help guide me in my understanding of what I should expect from the process I was going through. She was warm and down to earth and very creative in her approach. She was focused like a laser beam on what I had to share, and even took notes as we spoke. Having enjoyed for years her many flyers and her musings on the subject of homes in this community, it was a real privilege to finally meet her. Two hours of conversation later, I saw she really lived up to and possessed the kind of wonderful values that resonated with me in her flyers. I realized then and there, how absolutely stressful and difficult it can be if you do not have a realtor like Holly Rose on your side who is more than happy to park her own ego at the door and make this experience solely about you, and encourage a little joy and fun in the process. read more

Seven years after we purchased our home with Holly, we've now done 5 purchase / sale transactions in the East Bay with her. We've also encountered numerous other real estate agents, and I have to say: She's the absolute best. We sold a rental house in Temescal last week for 50% over the asking price, in no small part due to Holly's deft handling of a chaotic multiple bid situation. She is responsive, sure-footed, clear, and strategic. read more

I am not as verbose as these other reviewers, but I would echo all of the positive statements about her knowledge, honesty, professionalism. I have only done this once, and will hopefully not go through the house selling process again, but if I did I would use Holly and her team. Selling a home is painful. Selling a home in Berkeley is 100x more painful because of the City. You need professionals like Holly and her team to guide you through all of it and keep you sane. We were very close to becoming "Victims" during the process, and her sharp eye, consultation, and advice kept us from problems and lies created by the other Agent. Buying or Selling, you can be assured you will get the best the market will provide. Straight and honest advice and treatment and a team with the same standards. You need them on your side. There are a lot of mediocre Agents in Berkeley giving away calendars and fridge magnets. Pick the A+ team who will strive for fair, fun and win-win for all parties. read more

My wife and I recently needed some advice and perspective on our current situation and whether we were able to make a certain move. Cutting past those details, after getting no answers from our actual realtor, Holly came by and had a very productive conversation with us. She was so prepared, so insightful, and so willing to give her time to us despite us not actually working with her (we are no longer searching, otherwise I would have asked her to represent us). I highly recommend reaching out to Holly! read more

My wife (who is not on Yelp) helped write this review of Holly, and I couldn't have said it better: Holly Rose and her team (shout out to Sally!) were amazing. Our house sold quickly, for a great price, and with nearly zero drama or stress. We cannot recommend her highly enough. She understood our property and our neighborhood in the East Bay really well. We interviewed several agents prior to choosing her, and this was one of her biggest selling points for us. She seemed to be able to zero in on exactly the type of buyer we would want to attract, and in fact, that profile ended up being very accurate. This helped guide our decisions in prepping the house, staging, marketing, etc., so it was very useful. Holly advised us on what work to do before putting the house on the market. She was straightforward and honest, recommending the things that would really impact the sale but also advising us not to do other work that she did not think would have a big impact. All of her advice on marketing, timing, and list price really paid off. We had one drama when a new kitchen appliance was damaged during installation, prior to the open house. Holly handled it really well, finding a solution, and assuring us not to worry about it. During escrow, she kept things moving and on track. An aspect I really appreciate about Holly is that she is a very strong communicator, which I think is a rare quality. Emails were answered promptly and clearly, she made herself available as much as possible by phone and informed us when she wouldn't be, providing contacts for others on her team. We relocated out of the area (in fact, out of the country) before the open houses, so this was especially important. We were kept informed at every step. At the same time, she took care of things from afar so we didn't have to worry about being away. When we were considering Holly, we read in one of the testimonial letters in her packet that a client had said "she made selling our house stress-free, and even fun!" Having sold properties previously, I didn't really believe that could be possible. But that was our experience as well! Holly is a dedicated, high-touch agent who will commit herself to getting you the best sale price, and keep the process as easy as possible. If you do work with her, we recommend that you trust her and listen to her advice, because in our experience, she was always spot on. read more

Holly came highly recommended to list and market our aunt's old "fixer upper" in El Cerrito. She met all my expectations. She had a vision and team to execute interior and exterior work at a minimal cost. Holly held two open houses with colored photos in Sunday's SF Chronicle, something most agents reserve for the "upper" market houses in high income areas. She gave us 100% attention and dedication regardless of the property condition and age. We accepted her advise on listing price and ended up closing at $120K over asking. Every step of the way Holly and her staff were precise and professional, especially with constant communication and execution of documents. I strongly recommend Holly Rose as your Realtor. read more

Here's my brother's review: My brother knows a lot about construction. If YELP had a 10 star format I'd click on it a dozen times. Holly is simply the best agent anyone could hope for. She's enthusiastic, dedicated, professional, diligent and, most importantly, focused. Her ability to create a gemstone out of a rough stone is simply amazing. She carefully guides you past all of your deeply held property misunderstandings and trains your attention on that which must be done and away from what you thought you needed to do. She has a deep love for architecture and a wonderful eye for photography. Our recent experience, selling my fathers property, had its fair share of requisite drama which Holly skillfully guided us through to a perfect conclusion. Other agents that we interviewed saw nothing but negatives, Holly saw positives and brought them out in all of us. read more

Making the decision to move to the Bay Area and invest in a Berkeley home where we could put down roots for our family was a big deal to us - and our choice of agent was an equally big deal. We had heard horror stories about the local real estate market, and we had friends that had put in 12 offers on 12 different houses. We did not want to go through that. Once we met Holly we knew we were in expert hands, and we knew our own story would be a happy one. She totally mitigated what could have been serious pitfalls, by helping us keep realistic expectations, and showing us what was within our grasp without crushing our dreams. She made everything so much more tolerable than we thought it would be, and really supported us with her deep knowledge, consistent responsiveness, and intuitive understanding of what our dream house would be. She became such an important and integral part of our process, we absolutely could not have done it without her. read more

I just had the pleasure of purchasing a home with the help of Holly Rose. I could not recommend Holly more highly! Holly made a potentially difficult process as smooth as it could possibly be. With Holly's wise advice, I was able to make an offer that got me the house I wanted. She has an uncanny knowledge of the local market, and seems to have contacts everywhere that enable her to get details worked out quickly, calmly, and efficiently. Perhaps most important for me was that Holly was kind and patient with my questions, and was always responsive to my needs. And she is wicked smart and funny-- both attributes made the home-buying process easy to bear. You cannot go wrong with Holly! R.L. read more

Holly Rose is an amazing realtor. She not only help my husband and I buy our first house, but she's also helped a cousin and a good friend all purchase homes in the El Cerrito/Albany/Berkeley area. All of us were thrilled with our experience with her. As a first time home buyer, our knowledge of what to look for and be aware of was quite limited. With Holly's expertise, we learned what to look out for when buying a home, and truly relied upon her experience to guide us in finding the right home for us. You can rely on Holly to be honest, resourceful and highly knowledgeable. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to buy a home in the East Bay. read more

I highly recommend Holly Rose as a realtor!Recently my siblings and I had to sell our childhood home after our parents died. The emotional significance of this combined with all of us living in separate locals might have made this a difficult situation to say the least. However, with Holly's wonderful communication skills and expert knowledge of the market the process went very smoothly. She listened to all of us, arranged for quality staging, and got us multiple offers well over the asking price! I am very happy with her services and would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking to sell or buy a house in the East Bay. Thank you Holly Rose! read more

Excellent overall experience, patience and guidance in purchasing my home. Holly provided the difference in a hot sellers' market and the process of putting an offer in on a multi-bid situation. Holly had significant expertise in the area neighborhoods, suggested El Cerrito as an alternative to Berkeley and was savvy in establishing a winning bid. Easy to work with-- I highly recommend her! read more

Holly and her team are consummate professionals. They helped us through a complicated sale, giving advice where needed but never pushing us. You can count on Holly to be candid, respectful, and work tirelessly on your behalf. I would recommend her, and would hire her again. read more

We first heard about Holly a couple of years ago when a neighbor in Albany was selling his house and moving to Oregon. He recommended her highly and I was also interested in the process they had worked though over a significant period of time to get his house ready for sale and then sell it quickly. Fast forward to 2019, we had decided to sell our house and move to Texas, though not in that order. We wanted an agent who a) we could work with over an extended period, b) who was experienced with a top-notch track record, and c) who was very smart. Obviously she qualified (and we interviewed other agents too). We also observed, even in the early stages, that not only was she an experienced real estate agent, but that she is also quite knowledgeable about the systems a house is built around. Our situation required identifying the work to be done on the house, figuring out a timeline for all the pre-move work, and additionally managing the work after we had moved out leading up to the eventual listing and sale. All was accomplished extremely well, especially with the additional support of her experienced assistant Sally. Two additional things to note: 1) We didn't always agree, but because of the high level of mutual respect, it was not difficult to come to good solutions to issues. 2) Holly willingly took on and resolved various issues where in her judgement we didn't need to be involved or burdened with them (given how much other stuff we were dealing with). I can't recommend her highly enough. read more

I cannot speak highly enough of Holly Rose. She is knowledgeable, patient, persistent, and, above all, direct and honest. She isn't afraid to crawl under a house and tell you exactly what she finds there. When I was representing my three siblings to sell my late parents' house in Kensington she made suggestions for improvements that substantially increased the sale value of the house. Shirley Johnston Windsor, CA read more

Update, September 2017: So we've proven it's possible to go from "what the heck, let's have a look" on a new house (with absolutely no intention to buy) to being in escrow on both the old and the new ones in 18 days, 5 hours, and 11 minutes. I think that's gotta be some sort of a record! As with when we bought the first house (below), Holly and her team were critical components to making that happen. Even though we had the earlier experience under our belt, there were some significantly stressful and uncertain portions of the process that Holly ably and kindly coached us through. We wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else! Original review, May 2011: Holly is a realtor par excellence. She made the process of purchasing our house a genuine pleasure, and ably compensated for the highly inexperienced agent the seller had hired. She was also really there for us to talk us down from some of the stresses of buying our first house, which was hugely appreciated. read more

Looking for an exceptional real estate agent? We worked with Holly Rose to both sell our old home in Claremont and buy a new one in Piedmont. She is very knowledgable, efficient, effective, listens to you and gives great advice. We got our dream home and sold our other home for a record breaking amount for our neighborhood. You can tell Holly loves her job, which makes her a joy to work with. read more

Holly helped us sell our house in Albany. She will assemble a team of experts to make sure your house is in the best position to be sold. She is straightforward and professional, you will never be in the dark as to what's going on or what's going to happen next. With Holly on your side, you can be sure she'll advise you on the worthwhile expenses, on how to negotiate the offers, and finally, on a seamless closing process. Holly is truly an expert with a proven process that works. read more

Whenever we are complimented on our fantastic house in Berkeley, our kids always pipe in that we owe it all to Holly Rose. Holly was truly a miracle maker, helping us buy our first little home in Berkeley, and then when the family outgrew the little home, helping us sell that home and buy a bigger home. Her advice was always spot on. Her manner perfectly professional. And her negotiating skill are tremendous. Having lived in the bay area pretty much my whole life, the two easiest recommendations I can make are: eat upstairs at Chez Pannisse; and if you need a realtor, work with Holly Rose. Alison B. read more

Holly's a pro. She's knowledgeable, helpful, and well-respected. Her communication style is honest and direct, which I greatly appreciated. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her. read more

We loved working with Holly Rose. She is an excellent communicator, and never tired of explaining anything that had potential to be confusing. She went above and beyond in making everything easy and smooth for us. We felt she was in complete control and had a deep level of understanding about every aspect of the home sale - from the crack in the foundation, to dealing with the escrow. We give her our very highest recommendation. read more

Two years ago, we had almost given up hope of buying a mid-century gem in the Berkeley hills. But soon after we found Holly, she found our home. She provided us with excellent guidance on offer strategy, managed some tense negotiations on price, and finally took us through the completion of the purchase. We couldn't be happier in our new home! When we were ready to sell our cottage in Berkeley's "Gourmet Ghetto" this Spring, we immediately called Holly. She educated us about the current market and put together a cohesive plan for a successful sale. Her team handled all the details of market preparation - inspections, minor repairs, painting, landscaping and staging. We hardly had to lift a finger. Holly published a wonderful web site and a variety of other creative marketing materials that highlighted the historical importance of our 1890 home. Her strategy worked flawlessly - we had 14 offers and accepted a bid of about 25% over our asking price. This blew away our expectations, and it would not have happened without Holly! read more

I'm writing to rave about Holly Rose. Earlier this year, when I had decided to accept a job on the East coast, I started interviewing realtors. Holly stood out for her intelligence, professionality, integrity, and very clear plan for marketing my house. In addition, I'm very busy with work, and I needed a realtor who would walk me through the process and take care of all the details (including scheduling and being present for any inspections). Holly and her wonderful assistant, Sally, were willing (and gladly) to do all of that. The sale of the house was going to be further complicated by the fact that it needed extensive renovations, and by the fact that my family would not be moving until the summer. Holly produced a proposal and budget for getting renovations done before putting the house on the market in the summer, but the market was beginning to soften, and the renovations wouldn't happen quickly enough, given that we were still living in the house. Based on all of these complicating factors, Holly suggested a creative solution. She suggested that I consider selling the house as-is - off the MLS - at a "transparent price," with the understanding that we would sell the house if potential buyers came in at that price. The potential down side was that fewer people would see the house and that, given that it wasn't staged, the offers might not come in as high as they would have following renovations. Nonetheless, it felt like a good option for me, and I trusted Holly's advice. The whole process couldn't have gone better. Holly generated tremendous interest and after only one week of showings, there were 4 offers - two of which were quite a bit over asking and two under. We were in contract soon after, at a price that I considered jaw-dropping. What could have been an incredibly stressful experience was actually a joy, all due to Holly's hard work and connections in the community. The story didn't end there. Soon after the house was in contract, I learned more about my new job on the East coast and realized that it was not going to be a good move for me. This was devastating news - not only would I not be taking my new job, but now we would also be losing a house that we loved. I thought there was no solution, but called Holly just in case and she was incredibly kind and understanding. She made no guarantees, but thought that there might be a way to cancel the contract. Sure enough, it all worked out. Of course, not selling the house meant that Holly would not get a commission, but she constantly reassured me and did not hesitate to put my own interests first. Holly has only been supportive and wonderful through all of this. She invested a lot of time, effort, and personal capital in the sale of my home, all of which came to naught. I just can't say enough good things about her generosity and integrity, not to mention the fact that she got an amazing sale price for the house without me breaking a sweat. If you need a compassionate Berkeley realtor to sell your house for a jaw-dropping price, while turning the whole process into a joy, call Holly. read more

Holly is highly ethical and honest, and has an unusually deep knowledge of the local market. She is well respected by her peers for good reason. She has endless connections, whether contractors or other industry professionals, that love working with her. And, she gets the job done - usually exceeding expectations. I am a licensed realtor and have worked with and around many top producers in the business, so I know what I'm talking about. Holly is in a class by herself. Her sense of responsibility to clients to help them achieve their goals is unlike many realtors, who only want to make a quick sale. She will always take the time to understand what goals you are trying to achieve and work incredibly hard to help you achieve them. Without sounding cliché', Holly becomes your partner. All of these are great qualities if you are buying or selling a home. But, I see Holly from another perspective, because I am her full-time executive assistant -- but I feel more like a partner than an employee. She values my opinions and ideas. She is fair and generous, as well as honest and fun to be around. We both work really hard for our clients, but she always reminds me that nothing is as important as our health and our loved ones. It is important to her that we take care of ourselves, so we are able to take exceptional care of our clients. read more

Holly is the best! We began our search for a home with another realtor, and felt as though we were left adrift, receiving little guidance on what homes we should focus on and NO guidance on what we ought to offer for them. Two fine homes slipped through our fingers this way, as we watched prices go up and up over the course of a year at the height of the real-estate boom. Finally another happy client recommended that we talk to Holly, and the difference was amazing. Holly is so full of energy, so knowledgeable, so responsive, and so easy to work with. She made it easy to rule out the houses that were not for us, and when it came to making a bid on the one (the very first one) that we decided WAS for us, she told us exactly how much to bid. In the end there were nine or ten offers, and the top two - ours and that of the runner-up - were identical. In other words, we ended up paying what we needed to pay to get the house, and NOT ONE PENNY MORE. (Holly also walked us through writing up a nice little supporting statement about why our family would be as happy in the house as we in fact now are - perhaps what caused the sellers to choose us over the tying bid.) We have recommended Holly to all our house-hunting relatives (and they have had similarly great experiences with her), and are happy now to recommend her to the world! read more

Holly Rose is worth more than her weight in diamonds. She has that extremely rare combination of razor-sharp business sense and expertise in her field, plus creativity, intuition, ingenuity, and empathy. She has a visionary passion for our wonderful, walkable Solano Avenue area of Berkeley, and that quality permeated everything she did for us. Because Holly chose to work with us, we had the best possible outcome for the sale of our home: we got what we needed financially, and we attracted the right buyers for the house and for our neighborhood. As a first-time seller, the prospect of putting my home on the market was not only daunting, it was overwhelming. I didn't have the faintest idea what to do, or what to expect. From the moment I looked through the materials Holly dropped off for me the day before our first meeting, I knew I had found the right person to shepherd me and my family through. Looking back, now that escrow has closed and we are about to turn the house over to the wonderful people who bought it, I liken the experience to whitewater rafting. When you're going through Class IV rapids, you need an expert boatman who can read the river and get you to the other side. We had that in Holly. Here is just a little of what I loved about working with Holly: She GOT my situation (selling a house i had loved and lived in for 20 years to go off on a new adventure) and how exciting but also bittersweet it was, and she navigated those emotional waters with me in a way that acknowledged and honored both. She GOT the house -- a wonderful old Mediterranean with "special needs" and a uniquely vibrant and colorful interior. My house was in some ways my long-term work of art -- rich, saturated colors throughout. Holly did not walk in and say "yeah, first thing you'll have to do is paint these walls beige..." She walked in and said "ooo, nice! we can stage this with what you have!" Her introductory materials were clearly and beautifully laid out -- so that looking through them was a pleasure, and, as a first-time seller, also gave me a preliminary map regarding what to expect. Her approach carved what is an overwhelming (and overwhelmingly detailed) project into one-step-at-a-time -- here's what we need now -- and when i was tempted to project into the future (and see catastrophe there) she'd rein me in and say "Nope. We're not going there now. We're doing this. If we have to go there, we'll deal with it when the time comes." Her astonishingly skilled, efficient, and responsive team. Wow. Something needed to be done? Bam. It was done. Her extraordinary poise, directness, honesty, and creative problem-solving in those moments when we either got discouraging news (a very high pest report) or something went colossally wrong (the morning I was vacating the house so it could be shown I caused a clog in a very old pipe in the basement, which began leaking over an electrical wire...Holly said: "Drive away. We'll handle it." We drove away. They handled it.) Her staging of my house -- she has an amazing eye for color, space, and interiors -- and her staging showed my house off in the best possible way. As a visual artist, I have to say I was gobsmacked when I saw how she transformed my space, using what I already had, and also the beauty of her photographs. Her strategic marketing: she went door-to-door, visiting 300 homes in my neighborhood and handing out flyers, in a rainstorm. Her website showed off my house in the best possible way. Her open houses drew over a hundred people both days (and the first day was also during a rainstorm). The way she shared the experience with me: for example, as she was staging the house, she texted me photos. During the open houses, she texted me updates. I was always in the loop in all the best ways. The way she set boundaries for me so that when it was time for me to STOP being involved i could do it. As someone whose entire career has been focused on implementing projects, I know there's a moment in a project when your part is done, and you turn it over to a trusted colleague. Holly helped me realize and live that moment. Her abundant and over-the-top supportiveness. Once Holly decides to represent you, she leaves no stone unturned. She goes out of her way to make your experience during the process as smooth as possible. She takes you on. She brings you food. She texts you updates. She reassures you that you're not crazy b/c you sent her a cranky email at midnight. And last but not at all least: Holly is tons of fun to work with. She celebrates with you. She looks on the bright side. She is the bright side. read more

I have given Holly five stars because I can't think of a way to break the system and give her more. In my opinion, she is a miracle worker. For me to take advice about anything is a big deal, but I trusted Holly from the beginning - partly because she was recommended by two separate trusted sources, and partly because of her pure expertise, compassion, and professionalism. I amazed myself by following all of her recommendations like a docile lamb. That kind of trust is a really good thing when you are selling a home from 3000 miles away. I knew that I would have to sell the home in which I had lived for thirty-eight years, after my husband died in 2012 and my children each moved to New York. It didn't make sense for me to stay alone in a very large, very old and somewhat isolated house. Letting go was a hard thing to do. But thanks to Holly I was able to move from feeling really bad about the whole situation (before I met her), to feeling OK about it, to eventually feeling really good with the final result. Holly was kind and reassuring from the very beginning. She put a lot of time into understanding the house, which had a lot of structural issues. She gave me a lot of very good advice over a fairly long period of time. It was important to me that I never felt rushed. She was extremely patient, and actually took over much of the supervision of the contractors who did the work necessary to put the house up for sale. I really relied on her judgment as to which "fixes" would be needed and which were better left to the future buyers. It seems to me that a lot of expertise is required to get that balance right. As I had moved to New York, the house was unattended for a long period. Holly dealt with all kinds of issues, such as rogue burglar alarm soundings, rat visitors, and mystery leaks. Having her in charge gave me a lot of peace of mind. (Even after the sale, it turned out that there were 16 large boxes in a crawl space which the liquidators missed. Holly personally went through the boxes and saved a box full of photos and mementos, then had a hauling service dispose of the rest.) When arriving at the best listing strategy, I realized Holly had been right about everything up to that point, so again I followed her reommendation. When the bids came in there were multiple offers, and the final price was a good bit higher than I expected. Holly made the whole process as painless as it ever could have been. She is solid gold - and I am very grateful. read more

Holly goes above and beyond what we ever expected from a realtor. Finding a good realtor that you can really trust is hard. There was a lot riding on the decision to sell our family home in North Berkeley - but we never had a second of doubt that Holly always had our best interest first and foremost. When we found Holly, we liked her immediately. She's open, honest, experienced and extremely helpful. She has an ability to keep level headed and calm in pretty much any situation. Basically, we just put ourselves in her hands. She walked us through the process of what to do and when to do it, including inspections, repairs, staging, and a very effective marketing strategy. When my husband got a bit anxious here and there, and she was able to "bring him back down." She also has a great staff -- her assistant Sally is wonderful. The sale of our home was so smooth, it could not possibly have gone any better. We feel very lucky to have found Holly! read more

If you are looking for an agent to sell your house, feel free to skip to the last paragraph, unless you like a good house hunting story. Looking for help find a house? Read on. Holly helped us buy our house and, believe it or not, it was an incredibly positive experience, which, in the East Bay, is saying something. We were not in a rush to move, had a really limited "desired geographical area" and a clear vision of what we wanted. We met with Holly to explain what was important to us and where we wanted to live. She seemed to really understand what we were looking for and was honest about how long it could take. We had worked with realtors in the past who sent us to look at places that in no way matched our communicated needs/aesthetic, despite having it clearly spelled out. Their focus was to get us into a house. Holly's focus was to get us into OUR house. We looked at a bunch of houses over the course of two years that we could have made work. Holly could have helped us buy any of these houses, made her money and moved on to other clients. But Holly knows her houses, has a really critical eye and a creative vision. She kept steering us away from these "not quite right" homes, assuring us that the right house, the magical house for us, would become available. So we waited and kept looking. We would see a house on the MLS or at an open house and ask Holly to check it out for us. And she would come back and tell us all of the reasons why it wasn't the house for us. And then we found "the house." Throughout the entire process of buying this house, Holly was with us every step of the way, from reading the disclosure reports with a critical eye, to advising us on whether we needed additional inspections, to helping us craft the cleanest, most competitive offer. She told us what she thought the house would sell for (but never pushed us to offer more than we were comfortable with) and, as it turned out, two of the other offers were almost identical to ours. She helped us understand the seller's history with the house so we could craft a great intro letter and even took photos of us in the house to share with the seller. It was her strategic thinking (and our great letter about the journey to this house) that sealed the deal. After our offer was accepted, things moved very quickly. We were leaving the country for a vacation and Holly made sure we had everything in order before we got on the plane. Her communication was outstanding and her team efficient and a pleasure to work with. Upon our return, Holly sat down with us to discuss what repairs were critical and what could wait and had a whole list of tradespeople to recommend. If I were selling this house, I would, without hesitation, hire Holly as my agent. I am so impressed with her deep knowledge of houses and their quirks, the market forces in different neighborhoods, and her integrity that she is an obvious choice as seller's agent. But they're going to have to pry the keys from my cold, dead hands and by then, Holly will have retired. If you are looking for a realtor now, however, I recommend Holly without hesitation. She's a straightforward communicator who really listens, she has years of experience, and has a soft touch but still brings home the deal. And she's a lovely person to boot. read more

Holly's savvy and expertise were absolutely essential in getting us the home we wanted in an extremely competitive market. I would unhesitatingly recommend her to any buyer or seller. After numerous weekends checking out open houses in Rockridge and Temescal and being thoroughly intimidated by how desperate other buyers were to pay so much money for so little house, we stumbled across a century-old gem in a completely different neighborhood: Adams Point. It was not at all like the other houses we'd seen, but we found ourselves drawn to it - it felt like home. The only dilemma? It was clear that this house would be on the market for no more than a week or two - and we didn't even have an agent yet! Fortunately, some friends who had recently purchased their home with Holly recommend her to us. We gave Holly a call, and within a day she had evaluated the house and formulated a clear plan for making a winning bid. Some of the key elements were: * Holly introduced us to a local mortgage broker (MPR Financial) with a proven track record of being able to close quickly. As a result, we were able to offer the seller a very short 25-day escrow period. * Holly brought in 2 trusted contractors who were able to inspect the property on short notice (on a Sunday, no less!) and assess the severity of some seismic and electrical issues that the inspector's report turned up. Their assurances gave us the confidence to offer a no-contingency bid. * Finally, Holly offered incredibly astute advice regarding the toughest decision of all - how much to offer for the house. She gently guided us to a number that, while higher than we originally considered paying, got us the house. Several months later, we found out from one of the other bidders that they had offered just $5000 less than we did - reassuring us that we hadn't overpaid, either. Of course, through all of this, Holly was personable, attentive, respectful, and honest - everything you'd expect from a real estate agent. But most importantly, and unlike many other agents who are otherwise pleasant to deal with, Holly really knows what she's doing - and she gets results! read more

Our South Bay real estate agent recommended Holly several years ago, when we needed to invest in a home in North Berkeley for our son to attend school. What a fortunate circumstance that turned out to be! Not only did Holly find us just the right place, she expertly negotiated the deal, knew exactly what it would take to secure it, and understood the special considerations of the area, so important to us as investors. During the time that we owned the property, Holly handled many details that came up, from tree trimming, to recommending maintenance people, to making sure we had a carbon monoxide detector when they became required. When it came time to sell, there was no way we were going to let anyone else but Holly represent us. As expected, she more than earned her commission. She knew exactly what it would take to sell it, dealt with a difficult neighbor (saving us countless sleepless nights), and just did an incredibly professional job. We would wholeheartedly recommend Holly to anyone looking to buy or sell in the East Bay. Dr. and Mrs. Ron Oleson, Saratoga read more

I just worked with Holly to locate properties within my budget in the Berkeley area. She is easy to work with, extremely knowledgeable and responds quickly to my questions (both by phone and via email). I highly recommend her to anyone who needs a realtor in the East Bay! read more

The buyers market in the bay area is crazy, and Holly is what you need to give youself the competitive edge over other buyers. With zillow and redfin and trulia, it behooves the smart buyer to find an agent that can do more than take you to open houses. Holly is well connected in the realtor community, and knows lots of facts about old houses, inspectors, pros and cons of different streets. Every time we mention we are working with Holly to another agent, you could tell a visible change, they became more attentive and take you more seriously. It was easy to see that she was well regarded in the community. Holly is also not afraid of getting her hands dirty to help you look through a house. She came with us to look at a house that we were potentially going to bid on and within 15 mins of walking around, she pulled up a grate and found a huge drainage issue that wasn't even on the disclosure list. We are super happy that she is on our side and you will be too! read more

I'm so happy I chose Holly to be my agent. She kept me informed through every step of the selling process. She is extremely professional and a pleasure to work with. The people she brought along to get my house ready to sell did an amazing job. She got me a great price in a timely manner. I believe I told her at closing it was "a miracle." I won't be buying or selling a house again but I would highly recommend Holly if you need a real estate agent. You couldn't be in better hands. read more

Holly helped us sell our last home and buy our current one. She was incredible to work with - smart, professional, warm, available and helpful. I have recommended her to several friends since then and every one of them sings her praise. read more

Holly Rose represented my husband and me in our search for a four bedroom, architecturally interesting home in Berkeley, CA. We were totally blown away by the professional expertise she brought to our search. She could advise on everything from the structural and spacial integrity of the home to the quirks of the seller's agent. She strategically guided our offer strategy in this super competitive market. Her years in this specific market make her a master of her trade. It is not often that you get the opportunity in life to work with someone who knows her business as well as Holly. We consider her our home ownership expert and will likely continue to consult with her as we make decisions about hiring contractors and making future investments in our home. Nobody knows how to buy, care for and sell fine homes in Berkeley like Holly Rose. read more

We did a lot of research to find the best realtor in the East Bay and Holly Rose is the one! Holly was the first realtor to break the million dollar barrier on our block a few years ago and she continues to set the bar. But it's not just about results--it's about the way Holly does business. She is honest, straightforward and professional. No games. Holly is a tough negotiator. She is a fabulous communicator (she even kept us updated on the open house as it occurred). Holly loves houses and treasures their history. She even helped us prepare our garden before we listed. I highly recommend Holly Rose for results accomplished the right way. Thank you Holly. read more

Holly Rose was incredible - empathic, experienced and insightful. You can see why she's a fantastic (and in high demand) agent. She takes the time to listen and makes it clear that her primary interest is the long term happiness and well being of the client. Full disclosure, Holly is a friend, but even if I didn't know her, I would have felt entirely at ease and in excellent hands. Highly recommended. read more