Josh Dickinson

Josh helped us sell our home and he was a pleasure to work with. We needed to sell our place for well above the prior comps in our neighborhood and we also needed to do it fast. Josh quickly developed a strategy to do just that and he implemented it perfectly. By following his expertise we were able to get significantly more than asking price and it only took one week on the market. We knew we made the right call hiring Josh to represent us and we strongly endorse him to anyone looking to buy or sell a home.

Our family moved from Albany to Chicago to be closer to relatives/​friends and for new career opportunities. One of the best decision we made was to hire Josh to guide us through our first house sell during a very busy time of transitions and buying a new home. We selected Josh over others based on his amazing Unilocal reviews (they are spot on!) and interview. What else can we add to these reviews except that he made a potentially stressful and emotional situation as calm and thoughtful as possible.
Josh communicated proactively and perfectly — not too little or too much. He introduced us to great contractors to get our house to its best shape/​show in a very short time frame. He gave us reasonable expectations (asking price, potential number of bids) and great advice (when to sell, how many showings), and he was also just interested in how we were doing with the move and buying in Chicago. Even during the arrival of his third child, Josh worked diligently with potential buyers and their realtors leading up to the day bids were accepted.
In addition to being one of the best realtor in the Bay Area, Josh is one of the most loving and sweet family man you will meet. He will do a great job for you!

I couldn’t have asked for better assistance in selling my condo unit than Josh provided. Although initially we had planned to prepare the unit for staging before listing it, Josh connected with a couple of potential buyers before even listing the property. After private showings, the unit sold for more than recent comps, and closed in less than two weeks!
This amazingly quick and successful sale was accomplished only because Josh was closely monitoring real estate activity in the neighborhood. He communicated with other agents whose clients were seriously looking in the immediate area. Such a proactive approach is truly exceptional.
Not only did this pre-​listing sale save the time, effort, and expense of fixing up the property and staging it for photographs and open houses, but this was accomplished mainly long-​distance, as I had already moved out to another state. Josh contacted me frequently via email, and by phone after I returned during the final negotiation phase.
Real estate transactions are always stressful, but Josh made it as painless as possible.

Of all the individuals who helped us purchase our home in Oakland, Josh stood out as a reliable, generous, and straight-​up professional guy who clearly loves what he does and proved it to us at every opportunity.
In late 2014 my wife and decided that we’d finally outgrown our 500 sq ft apartment in Oakland and jumped into the highly competitive East Bay housing market. Through a twist of fate, I had known Josh from his previous job at the WateReuse Foundation, and when we moved back to California I was surprised to find that he had moved on to a career in real estate. We met for lunch to catch up, and I immediately knew that he was the right realtor for us. As you’d expect from somebody with a background in the sciences, Josh has great attention to detail, lateral thinking, and an objective point of view that are huge asset in the emotionally loaded real estate market. His confident and reassuring approach are the icing on the cake.
Josh was very supportive of our early attempts at checking out residential lots in Lafayette/​Moraga/​Walnut Creek, meeting us early on a weekend to check out one bad option after another, and was just as on the ball when we started looking at open houses in the Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, and other areas of the East Bay. He accompanied us on our first open house, pointing out key aspects of the house’s structural, electrical, and other features; walking us through the disclosures; and offering insights into how each house fit into a quickly changing market. Once we felt sure about making an offer, Josh kept us up to date about every development on the sellers’ end, even in the case of a nail-​biter that went on well past 10 pm.
Josh’s coup de grace was finding us a property that was being re-​listed in the middle of the week, prior to it being put back on the market and opened up for walk-​throughs the following weekend. The three of us checked it out that evening, and we placed an offer on it the following morning. After some of the longest hours of my life, our offer was accepted that afternoon. Miraculously, Josh was able to advocate for us to include a home inspection contingency with our offer (a situation which is, sadly, an exception in this market) and took the time to attend the home inspection. Thanks to this contingency, and due to the moderate amount of work the house will need in the coming years, we were able to successfully negotiate the price down to much closer to the asking price than would have been the case had the property gone back into an open bidding situation. Josh led us through this complicated, stressful process with endless patience, and we always felt like we were one of his top priorities.
In the end, not only did Josh find us a beautiful home that perfectly fits our needs, but he also did so with a lot of care and class. He has a passion for community development, from home buying and selling to local politics, and he’s developed a network of mortgage loan agents, inspectors, and contractors that make working with him the total package when it comes to purchasing a home. On top of his qualifications, he was a pleasure to work with every step of the way. We really can’t recommend Josh highly enough and will always be grateful for his dedication to helping us make our dream of home ownership come true.

Josh made buying our first home an incredibly enjoyable, stress-​free, trusting and valuable experience. I can’t recommend him highly enough! A one-​stop shop for anything and everything you will need throughout your property search and beyond.
I first contacted Josh about a property I had seen on Zillow. Josh called me very quickly after and not only provided information on that property but spoke to me about what I was looking for and said he would keep a look out for any properties that I might be interested in.
Over the next few months josh was incredibly helpful, not only showing me great properties, but answering any questions I had, about particular properties, or the housing market, or the buying process in general. He was always available to jump on the phone or meet in person to talk things through.
This was my first house purchase, and naturally I had lots of questions. One of the most valuable qualities I found in Josh was his complete willingness to tell me everything he could to put me in the most knowledgeable position, and his candid approach to properties, if it wasn’t a good fit Josh told me so, which I really appreciated and meant I could put complete trust in josh looking out for my true interests.
When we found the final property, Josh moved quickly and efficiently, providing superb guidance and got our offer accepted within a week, for a great price. He then brought in excellent people to help us with mortgage enquiries and to carry out the building inspection.
The process of signing documentation couldn’t have been easier, and Josh would always make sure I knew exactly what I was were signing and provided ability to sign online for maximum efficiency.
Now we have the keys, Josh has continued to keep in touch, he referred us to a fantastic contractor and is always available to help us with the renovation process if anything is needed. We even got to meet his lovely family and we were made to feel like old friends rather than clients.
Throughout this whole process, working with Josh has been an absolute pleasure. I always felt Josh was acting like a friend, looking out for my best interests and taking a genuine interest in our house hunt and onwards.

I have nothing but the literally the best things to say about Josh as both an agent and a person.
I went looking for a real estate agent that had similar values and great communication skills. As a scientist, I was pretty confident of my own ability to gauge values, assess trends, build my own analyses etc. However, I wanted someone who was going to be willing to answer my first home buyer questions, and above all be responsive.
What I got in Josh was far more than I’d hoped. Josh was with me every step of the way — answering questions clearly, honestly, with no pressure to sell or to put in an offer at any price point other than what I was comfortable with — he gave me realistic offers when I asked. He listened carefully to issues that mattered to me (structural integrity, flood risk/​liquifaction) and gave me straightforward, fair interpretations of the disclosure packages on all houses that I was interested in — there were many!
Josh was willing to juggle schedules, meet me on short notice, refer to me other great providers/​relevant services, and had the patience of saint when at one point we weathered a week of being in contract on three simultaneous properties. I was under no illusions that he wasn’t under fire from his own office, lenders and sellers to get me to move. He kept me posted and told me what was going on, but didn’t outsource his stress onto my own already substantially stressed out state.
From the community work that Josh does, to what others in the industry have said to me about working with him, to learning how he operates I can say that Josh is a genuinely great member of the community who is out there to do his job honestly, with very high integrity and has a genuine desire to find people a home that really works for all of the myriad factors that make home buying so complicated. With offer accepted, he also suggested negotiation which was accepted and saved me a welcomed sum. I was touched to see that he used a portion of his commissions to donate on behalf of clients to Habitat for Humanity over the holidays. That’s Josh — he’s a great guy who’s very good at what he does and wants to give back.
If I could give six stars I would. Thank so much Josh — you’re awesome!

Josh was great to work with! Very relaxed and easy to talk to, and on top of everything. He made the whole process so easy. I would recommend him to anyone looking for real estate in the East Bay.

My husband and I have been house hunting on and off for the past few years and Josh is by far the best realtor we have worked with. We really want our first home to be a sound investment and with the Bay Area real estate changing by the day, it’s been important to us that we work with someone we can trust. Josh listens closely to what we are asking for and shows us houses in our price range. I don’t feel like there are any hidden agendas with Josh. He is open to our opinions and patient with our timeline which enables us to make real progress and see places that meet our criteria. Josh is a real pro at his job and he is also a family man which I appreciate since we have a little one too and schools are a big factor in our house search. If you are looking to buy a home in the East Bay, Josh is your guy! I wholeheartedly recommend him.

After interviewing almost 10 local agents I decide to work with Josh as his honesty and trust stand head and shoulders above the vast numbers of agents who view their profession as a means to get 5 or 6% on a sale. In addition to his responsiveness and deep knowledge of the local real estate market, Josh is internet savvy and understands that up to 80% of homes are located online and then people contact an agent to guide through the intricacies of California real estate. My previous experience with agents was with the old school types who wanted to convince me to spend thousands of dollars on flashy traditional ads, that btw, the younger generation does not read.
He will list to your budget needs and will always offer options and solutions if the market shifts
His has extensive knowledge of the East Bay housing market.
His vendor and service contacts are top notch professionals
He answers late night e-​mails no later than the next morning
He uses DocuSign to reduce the amount of paperwork that needed signatures.

There is a HUGE difference between having a great realtor and a so so one. My husband and I found a great one, his name is Josh Dickinson. We are second time home buyers and how the market has changed from our first purchase ! We have been out bid more than ten times in less than a year and we were growing very frustrated. When I first met Josh, I felt at ease and I could tell by his low pressure attitude that he was our man. We finally found our home in a dream area and are very happy. A big thanks to Josh who even after giving us our keys still stays in touch. If you are looking for a dedicated realtor with great knowledge of the Berkeley /​El Cerrito/​Richmond View areas please contact Josh.

Josh was invaluable as my wife and I went through the process of buying our first home. He was able to assess our needs and balance them against limited inventory. He knows the East Bay very well and made himself available at all hours of the day by phone and text. He even did quite a bit of work while he was on vacation! I would recommend Josh to anyone looking to buy a home in the East Bay.

Like many first-​time homebuyers, the world of real estate was a complete mystery to us. One thing we learned after looking for two and half years (and going through two other agents) was that you can’t underestimate the help of a good realtor. And Josh is a great realtor. Josh excels in the two most important aspects: listening and analyzing. When we first met him, he spent the evening talking to us about us – where we had come from, where we met, why we liked the Bay, trips we’d gone on, our kids and their activities, houses we’d liked, and so on. Both my wife and I agreed how unique it was to find such a great listener. And this wasn’t just empty small talk! He was building an understanding of our interests, our priorities, our likes and dislikes. I think this was brilliant because these fundamental issues of «who we are» are reflected in what we build around us, including our homes. This was the first time that we felt someone was truly interested in understanding US. This is a cornerstone of Josh’s success, and how he helped us find such a great place so quickly.
After these initial meetings, Josh honed in our likes and was sending us tailored e-​mails with potential properties. Unlike previous realtors, we were not bombarded with every house in area, but only the ones he knew had met our criteria. And he could only pick these because he had taken the time to know us. This type of service can only come from someone personally interested in you.
Immediately we found a potential property, but did not put in an offer. We did, however, have a chance to see firsthand how the process would go. Josh evaluated all of the data and provided us with a price that he thought would be needed to be in the running. We were impressed to see Josh putting himself out there right away, telling us: this is what I think you need to do, and here are the five reasons why. There was no crystal ball or voodoo, just the data and his sense of the home. When the dust settled, we found Josh’s advice was spot-​on, a fact that provided us even further confidence that Josh was not only good at understanding us, but good at understanding the market as well.
The next house that came along charmed us both tremendously, and we told Josh we wanted to make sure we were in the running. Of course, as luck would have it, our first bid with Josh was a winner, and we now own the house (or will 30 years from now!). The whole experience – from the initial meetings through the home search through the purchase – was top quality. Josh was like extended family, even after the winning bid, helping us to put together all of the pieces that need to fall into place just right to close on a house. Meet him once and you’ll see he’s someone you can trust: respectful, honest, smart, and kind. The homebuying process can be so difficult – you’ll do yourself a favor if you ensure that you are with someone who is both competent and caring. Pick Josh.

We worked with Josh on the purchase of our first home. We found him to be very professional, knowledgeable and low pressure. He worked with us to find the perfect fit in our own time frame. He was very patient with us and was able to answer all of our manic questions. He always made himself available to us, even at odd hours. We definitely felt like Josh had our best interests in mind and was able to provide valuable insights into the homes. Even though I am a contractor by trade, I still found his observations invaluable. We would definitely recommend him to first time buyers.

Josh was consummate professional while being stuck between my husband and me in the process of a divorce and home sale. He was incredibly knowledgeable, patient, resourceful, personable, and creative throughout a long negotiation. He routinely answered questions quickly and provided more resources for additional information. As a marketing professional, I’m constantly evaluating a business or a person’s quality of service, brand, and business sense. Josh is 5-​star in every way!

My husband and I recently purchased our home in Pt. Richmond with Josh and we are so happy with the entire experience. We had contacted some agents before meeting him at an open house and were not having a good experience. After speaking with Josh he got right on sending us information and working through with us the best location and house for us.
He took care of everything, remained in constant communication with us and handled the issues that came up in a calm and persistent manner.
We have worked with other agents and he is the best we have used.
We would definitely work with him again and highly recommend him to others.

Josh Dickinson is absolutely amazing! After months of searching for a new home with a disappointing agent, my husband and I ran into Josh at a open house in our neighborhood. The next day, Josh sent us a full listing of properties that fit our needs and the comparables in the respective neighborhoods. At our first meeting to look at properties, we immediately felt at ease and knew we were working with the best. Our home search ended up taking months in a very competitive sellers market. Despite this, Josh remained very patient and dedicated to finding us the right home. Thanks to Josh’s persistence and excellent negotiating skills, we are now enjoying our new home in a neighborhood we would not have dreamed of being able to afford.
What makes Josh the best is his professionalism, patience, and attention to detail. Josh knows his stuff and will work hard to get you the best deal possible. We can’t wait to work with Josh again in the future!

I am very happy to recommend our highly-​talented partner in real estate, agent Josh Dickinson. Josh recently helped us locate and negotiate the commercial lease for our wine bar in downtown Berkeley. Finding the right location was a huge challenge, one which took over 4 months and one which Josh stuck with us through, remaining upbeat and optimistic throughout and more than willing to do the legwork for. After finally confirming we had the right location, the negotiation process with the landlord was also very long and arduous one. Josh maintained his patience and levelheadedness throughout the negotiation, consistently representing us in a firm but amicable manner which resulted in a very successful negotiation where we got the space for less than the advertised rate along with many added on landlord improvements to the space as well as several months of free rent.
Josh is extremely savvy and has great tact in negotiations. His communication skills are top notch. He always kept us up-​to-​date and never delayed on any time-​sensitive correspondence. He has a great knowledge of real estate law in California. He is an expert in the East Bay real estate market having done so many transactions and being a local resident. Perhaps best of all, Josh is a great person and it’s been an absolute pleasure working with him on a daily basis. I can not recommend Josh strongly enough, as he is a highly-​valued partner of my company.

We first heard of Josh when our neighbor Al sold his house in the beginning of the year. We were interested in refinancing our own home, and needed a CMA estimate of our home’s value based on comps in the area in order to begin the process. We contacted Josh and explained up front what wanted to do. He was quite gracious and immediately offered to come over take a look at our home and provide us with information about comps in the area.
Once he took a look, he kept us informed of several favorable closings in the area and then prepared a detailed CMA report that we could submit to a mortgage broker in order to begin the application process — all done gratis since we weren’t intending to sell our house.
Josh is thorough, he is prompt, he does what he says he’s going to do, and honestly, he almost made me want to sell our house just so we could use his services! Based on our experience with him, I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell a home. Thank you Josh and we’re keeping our fingers crossed about the refi!

After a not so great experience with another realtor, my husband and I hooked up with Josh. The difference was night and day. Josh was so helpful and so incredibly knowledgeable. During our first phone conversation, he gave us a wealth of information regarding comps in our target neighborhood. We loved his attention to detail. The market had been very competitive in that area and was continuing to heat up. We’d put in several offers with our previous realtor that were not accepted for a variety of reasons and were feeling defeated emotionally. Josh discussed multiple strategies with us on how to snag the dream home we had our eye on and we were off to the races.
As the previous reviewer mentioned, Josh utilized DocuSign, an electronic signature service, which made the mountains of paperwork requiring our signatures a breeze. With our previous offers, my husband and I had to jump through fiery hoops printing, scanning, signing and faxing documents back and forth. It was incredibly time consuming and a complete drag. We appreciated Josh making this aspect of the deal so much more manageable.
We were elated when our offer was accepted! However, there were still hoops to jump through with the appraisal, etc. Josh held our hand throughout the entire process. He wasn’t just our realtor, he was a friend. He was patient with the millions of questions we had and always put us at ease when were worried the deal would somehow blow up (our previous experience left us with PTSD). Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly with him. We closed a couple of weeks ago.
Josh provided all the information we needed on local utilities, helped us get a great deal on our homeowners insurance AND gave us our first housewarming gift — a kind note and gift card to a great coffee/​wine bar in our new neighborhood! We couldn’t be happier with the service we received from Josh and highly recommend him to anyone needing a great realtor.

I cannot say enough positive things about my experience working with Josh Dickinson. I was contacted by Josh after an extensive home search I was doing on my own on random house sale sites. My husband and I were in a bind to find a property within our current 15 day escrow period for the sale of our current home. With the housing market being swallowed by high bidders, and cash buyers, looking for houses without a representative was getting harder and harder.
My husband and I had only a limited amount of cash available to purchase a home at cash value and since our requirements for housing were slim, one day a house or condo I was interested in was currently available online and then a few days later, it was sale pending.
Josh was very thorough from the beginning to the end of our house search. He was patient with me and detailed when asking me what my home search needs were and he provided me with a detailed report of the areas and neighborhoods I was interested in almost immediately after spending close to an hour on the phone discussing what we could afford.
The important factors when it came to my home search was finding a property that I could pay cash for that was in a good neighborhood with great schools and I wanted the property to be moderately upgraded. My search criteria only left me with limited options but Josh assured me that we would find the right place as long as we were diligent when a property graced the market. With only 15 days to find a home to buy with cash, we came across a small condo in Benicia. I was anxious to make an offer on the property to be first in line with presenting an offer and Josh put together an offer on a 3 bedroom condo for me and my husband within 10 minutes of contacting him. He advised me what the comparables were in the area and what to bid on the property without overspending.
Within 10 hours our bid was accepted by the sellers with a fantastic and unbeatable escrow of 5 days. Josh made the process super smooth by offering DocuSign, an electronic signature software which was so much better than driving an hour each way to fill out countless real estate documents that required signatures and initials. He kept in contact with me within 10 – 15 minutes of every email and ensured me and my husband that he was going to offer us the best service with his best foot forward. He did just that; scheduled inspections, ordered documents and negotiated our offer with the seller’s agent while putting us first.
I would highly recommend Josh to represent you with the buying process of a home. He’s detail oriented and has your best interest at hand.