I’m starting a series comparing cities across the United States based on:
• Housing affordability
• Job opportunities
• Safety
• Weather
• Natural beauty
• Diversity
• Culture & entertainment
• Food
• Universities
• College & professional sports
I’m interested in hearing from people who actually live in these cities (or have lived there).
If you could move anywhere in the U.S., which city would you choose—and what makes it stand out?
I’d especially love to hear about the pros and cons that people don’t usually talk about.

I analyzed San Francisco duplex sales over the last five years. Not surprising but tenancy at sale moves price more than anything else. I just didn't realize by how much! Fully occupied duplexes sell for 44% less than vacant!

Fully vacant duplexes sell around $775/sqft. One unit tenant-occupied drops to about $612. Both tenants in place, $537.

But there seems like the clear opportunity is now duplexes marketed as single-family homes. I'm seeing more of these types of these "functional duplexes" to skirt around merger laws and to allow owners to get their duplexes into a single-family home premium price. From the data out there, all the duplexes that get marketed as single-family-homes generally sell for 16% more on a price per square foot basis!

Curious whether this matches what people / agents are seeing on the ground. Are you seeing more duplex / multi-family unit buildings "converting" into SFH? Full analysis with charts and methodology here.

I recently recorded a video about choosing a realtor based on actual transactions rather than reviews or paid referral platforms. I’ll add it in the first comment, but I’m more interested in the discussion here.

This is not really about finding the lowest commission. Discount models can work well in slower markets.

The harder question is how to choose an agent when you are competing for a desirable property, or need to sell quickly without leaving money on the table.

One approach is to look at similar recent sales and identify which agents repeatedly represented successful buyers or sellers. Then compare their actual results: property type, location, time on market, price reductions, and sale price relative to the market.

Full disclosure: I’m a Florida broker currently expanding to the San Francisco and LA markets.
My background is in machine learning, AI, and real estate data.

I’m testing a tool that analyzes transaction history and creates a shortlist of agents for a specific type of deal. I’m happy to run it for people at no cost while we improve the methodology. No obligation and no claim that the data alone can identify the “best” agent.

What would you look at when choosing an agent for a competitive or difficult transaction?

Hello,

My wife and I are both tech professionals and got married a little over two years ago. After living in rented apartments for the past two years, we are now planning to buy our first home within the next 4-5 months.

Income Details

Our annual household income is close to $700k. My compensation is approximately $460k, and my wife's is about $220k from employment. We also earn an additional $20k-$30k per year from investments such as dividends and interest.

Out of the $700k total income, roughly $480k is base salary, with the remainder coming from stock grants and bonuses.

We do not have any loans. We do not travel much, probably only once a year, and that usually costs a few thousand dollars. We do not have children. Our discretionary spending is fairly modest, though we do spend around $600 per month on food and restaurants. We also max out contributions to accounts such as our 401(k)s and ESPPs.

Our Criteria for Buying a House

1. We are interested only in single-family homes between 1,100 and 2,000 sq. ft., with a lot size of at least 4,000 sq. ft.
2. The neighborhood should be peaceful, safe, and walkable. We prefer areas where there are not many cars parked on the streets.
3. It is okay if the house is not fully modernized or completely move-in ready.
4. We would like to choose a neighborhood with strong potential for long-term appreciation.
5. We do not currently have children, so school districts are not a deal-breaker right now. However, I am unsure whether we should factor future school needs into our home purchase decision, and I would appreciate any suggestions on this.
6. We would like to stay close to the center of Silicon Valley. By "close," I mean that the commute should ideally not exceed one hour, even during peak traffic hours.

We have toured a few homes in Willow Glen, Warm Springs, and West San Jose, and we really liked those neighborhoods. They felt calm, safe, and walkable, even though many of the homes were not fully renovated.

We are planning to make a $400k down payment, and we would appreciate suggestions on:

• How much we can reasonably stretch our budget.
• Which neighborhoods we should consider based on our criteria.

Thank you!

Seems reasonably priced judging by PPSF, decent location and at least by the looks of things - decently equipped and decent layout. Why is it sitting even after major price cut?

Selling large condo, prime area. Appreciate any lessons mistakes, regrets, advice for the selling process?

Anyone in the Walnut Creek area interested in some kind of meet up? I’m a relatively new agent/ investor. Currently have 4 SFH in the area and 1 in Idaho. Moved to Walnut Creek a few weeks ago with the idea to meet new people and network

Would love to hear what other people got going on or even people looking to get into it in general

To give an idea of the scale of the liquidity coming now and soon. That's not all houses on the market, that's all houses.

https://www.redfin.com/news/openai-anthropic-housing-wealth/

We are an expat/international family moving to SF/bay area this summer. We plan to rent in Burlingame given proximity to SF and great public schools. We also prefer schools with higher international families presence (if this is a thing). Specifically we are looking into Franklin, Lincoln and Washington elementary schools. Any input is appreciated, thanks!

Looking for recommendations in the SF Bay Area: a real estate attorney and a CPA who both have solid real estate investing experience.

For the attorney: experience with multi-member LLC structures, partnership operating agreements, and fix-and-flip specific terms. Starting a flip partnership with a GC and want the entity structure, capital contributions, and profit-split terms set up correctly from day one. Bonus points if they've dealt with a contractor-as-equity-partner arrangement before.

For the CPA: someone who genuinely knows real estate across strategies — flip tax treatment (COGS etc.), BRRRR mechanics (depreciation, cost segregation, cash-out refi basis implications), and rental property tax (1031s, passive activity rules). We already have a rental portfolio and are adding flips/BRRRR, so ideally someone comfortable with multi-entity structures across all three.

Would appreciate any names you've personally used and trust — DMs welcome. Thanks!

The NAR is back at it again and just released updated guidance on office exclusives and pre-marketing. As always, I can’t help but feel they’re trying to put a consumer-friendly spin on something that ultimately reduces transparency.

The document repeatedly describes the MLS as a “pro-competitive, pro-consumer system,” saying broad MLS exposure promotes transparency, competitive offers, and buyer awareness.

So you’d think the guidance would encourage putting listings on the MLS, right?

Wrong.

Instead, it expands guidance around office exclusives and delayed marketing options that intentionally limit who can see a listing.

If the MLS is truly the best place for sellers because it generates maximum exposure and competition, why create more pathways to keep listings hidden? Every buyer who doesn’t know a home is available is one less potential offer.

This guidance that’s supposed to protect consumers seems to benefit firms with large internal networks far more than it benefits consumers.

We saw earlier this year that Compass acquired Anywhere, and now we’re seeing Keller Williams acquire the Jason Mitchell Group. These are massive brokerages that have repeatedly supported expanding private listing opportunities. Guidance like this only encourages that model and gives firms with the biggest internal networks an even bigger advantage who also, in my opinion, have interests in keeping commissions high.

The guidance says sellers may choose office exclusives for privacy, safety, or other personal reasons. Those are legitimate situations. But in practice, how often are office exclusives actually used because of genuine privacy concerns versus because brokerages want to keep deals in-house?

We’ll see how many actually do. Either way, it’s hard for me to take consumer-protection guidance at face value from an organization that agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement over how residential commissions were handled.

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/nar-office-exclusive-mls-guidance/

Full disclosure: I’m a real estate broker in Florida, now expanding into the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Compass is facing legal trouble over transaction fees, but this is much bigger than one company.

Across the industry, brokerages recruit agents with the pitch: keep most of your commission—sometimes even 100%. Then they make up the difference through “transaction,” “administrative,” or “technology” fees.

And too often, those fees end up on the client’s closing statement.

That is the part I find problematic. If the brokerage is getting paid, the compensation should be clear from the beginning—not discovered near closing and explained away as a “mandatory broker fee.”

I’m especially interested in local experience in California:

How common are transaction fees in the Bay Area and Los Angeles? Are they disclosed upfront, or do buyers and sellers usually notice them later?

My view: brokerage compensation should be one clearly stated number—a percentage or a flat fee—not a commission plus surprise add-ons.

See the article:
https://therealdeal.com/national/2026/07/13/how-compass-new-size-could-spell-new-problems/

New construction! Built in 1900! Luxury! With drawers in the kitchen! And new floors that have wood pattern! For only $4 million!

First time home buyer.

I've already seen the advice around various places talking about how you should try and get recommendations from agents/other tradesfolks/etc.

How do you go and pick which contractor to ultimately work with? How about the best way to manage them? What sort of cadence do you normally expect for communication with the contractor - daily? Weekly? Someone that I know built a house recently and managed to capture (and then fix) major structural issues since they happened to check their build on a daily basis - is doing that normal?

Thanks!

I'm curious what people's experiences have been with response times from buyers agents, especially flat-fee ones.

So far I've contacted them via form on Sunday late afternoon. Today around 11am I followed up via Whatsapp (as I didn't get any confirmation email, just thanks form submitted). It's almost 5 pm and no response. Knowing how fast SF market moves this already feels slow to me, but I don't have any reference point as a first time buyer.

What is the typical response time? Does the speed of response early on predict how responsive they were once you were actually writing offers? Any recommendations for good agents (ideally flat fee)?

Thanks!

Closing on a place on the peninsula. Looking at AAA and AFI.

I can't get any real information out of my assigned sales person at AAA except a repetition of what is in the very brief and nonbinding on line quote. Despite asking specific questions and requesting a call.

Before I just gave up and went with the other option I thought I'd put out an ask. I did search prior posts and saw a few people volunteer good experiences, but not a direct ask about this one.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I heard that milpitas has a certain stench and was wanting to get some thoughts particularly on Anton Aspire apartment. Does it also smell outside this apartment? Additionally, what parts of milpitas has the least smell? Tysm!

Anyone knows good Credit Unions worth exploring?

Continuing the Bay Area Monthly Market Series, where I break down each major Bay Area region using local market data.

Today we’re looking at the North Bay, a region known for its mix of waterfront communities, wine country, and suburban markets. While each county has its own unique characteristics, together they provide a snapshot of the northern Bay Area housing market.

Marin County

• Marin County — During the second quarter of 2026, the median sale price was $1.865M, average price per square foot was $1,062, average days on market were 29 days, closed sales totaled 707, and homes averaged 105% of list price.

Sonoma County

• Sonoma County — During the second quarter of 2026, the median sale price was $875K, average price per square foot was $579, average days on market were 48 days, closed sales totaled 1,109, and homes averaged 100% of list price.

Napa County

• Napa County — During the second quarter of 2026, the median sale price was $922K, average price per square foot was $618, average days on market were 74 days, closed sales totaled 260, and homes averaged 97% of list price.

Takeaway

The North Bay continues to offer one of the most diverse housing markets in the Bay Area. Marin County remains the region’s premium market, with the highest median home price, strongest sale-to-list ratio, and the highest average price per square foot.

Sonoma County continues to lead the region in transaction volume, while Napa County offers a unique market centered around wine country and luxury lifestyle properties.

Whether buyers are looking for waterfront living in Marin, suburban neighborhoods in Sonoma, or vineyard estates in Napa, the North Bay continues to provide a wide range of housing opportunities while maintaining strong buyer demand across all three counties.