Martha Becker – Thornwall Properties

Martha Becker realtor extraordinaire! I’ve known Martha for several years and knew she was a great agent. When she called me one day to tell me about a listing around the corner from a house I was renting it was like perfect timing. As it turns out my landlord was selling my house and wanted me out in 60 days. When I told her this she said lets get you your own home. I really didn’t think I could pull it off, but she put me in contact with the right people for financing and then went to work, and in mean work! Now I should say that I can be a pretty picky person to the point of being a pain the you know what and how she put up with me I’ll never know. Martha started sending me listings to look at and I’m like no I don’t like the tree in the front on this one. Kitchen is to small on that one. Really that bathroom ugh! She never gave up though and never complained about my whining about this or that, and then, perfection. My Kitchen, my deck, my giant tub, my big backyard… MY HOUSE! Now came the bidding and paper work which for me was easy but I’m sure a ton of work for Martha. The bidding was a little rough but she stepped up and went to bat contacting the sellers agent and letting him know that I was motivated and ready to go! And just like that 25 days later I’m a homeowner! If you want someone who will be in your corner with a ton of patience and even more commitment to get you the house you want, Martha is your person!

Where to begin… Martha is the BEST. We met with a different realtor initially and were somewhat put off by how skeptical she was around finding something in this market. A friend referred us to Martha and she restored our hope– three months later, we have a cute bungalow in North Oakland! As first-​time home buyers without a huge down payment, we had a lot to learn and she helped us think about how to be competitive in this market without taking on insane risk.
In terms of communication, she responded to phone calls, texts, and emails immediately. She does the same when communicating with listing agents. Her follow through and tenacity go beyond what you’d expect — we really felt like we were in great hands. When our offer was accepted, Martha made sure escrow went through seamlessly– it was totally painless because of her.
Her reputation in the community is excellent– many realtors said to us at open houses how much they love working with her. She has a great eye for potential — her knowledge of architecture and landscaping make going to open houses with her super fun. She also knows a ton about repairs and construction!
And beyond her amazing-​ness when it comes to her job, she’s just a lovely person. She’s super down to earth but very professional. She brings a great sense of humor to the work and never hesitated to give us rec’s for restaurants, bars, and stuff to check out in the east bay. She even loaned us her painting supplies when we moved in.
We honestly couldn’t have done it without Martha!

If you want a top quality realtor who knows the Bay area extremely well, listens to her clients and will work to get you the best deal Martha is your Go-​To Realtor. She is tenacious, has an incredible creative ability to see how things can come together and make it work! Her attention to detail will ensure there are no snafus through the purchasing or selling process.

Buying your first home is no joke and definitely no easy feat, unless you have Martha Becker in your corner. Martha was a saving grace for my partner and I. At our initial meeting she asked about our likes and dislikes, budget, and preferred location and most importantly she LISTENED to our responses. Within a week Martha carved out an entire afternoon from her busy schedule to take us to view listings that we were interested in. I was absolutely smitten with a gorgeous home; however Martha knew better and gave me the facts about the geography of the area. Obviously, being blinded by love, I ignored her knowledge and held my position. I wanted that house! Martha, being the professional that she is, didn’t tell me I was crazy, didn’t tell me no, she simply provided me with more information to make my own decision. Ultimately, I did some research and found out that the house I was so enamored with could end up sliding down the hill it was perched on.
I admire the fact that Martha didn’t push me in one direction or the other. She simply noted what I was interested in and provided me with real, valuable information to make my own informed decisions. After the love affair with the home on the slippery slope we were introduced to a diamond in the rough located in Berkeley. This home was extremely rough around the edges and needed some TLC. Fortunately my partner and I have watched enough HGTV to see beyond the mess to the potential and we were very excited to make an offer. Martha was very instrumental in the offer process. She listened to what we were comfortable with and helped us make a strong and smart proposal. The buyer accepted our very first offer along with our contingencies. I feel that this was largely in part to Martha’s experience and knowledge of the value of real estate in the area we were looking.
We have been in our new home for about two months and couldn’t be happier. I would whole-​heartedly recommend Martha to potential homebuyers. She is a top-​notch realtor, a lovely individual, and I look forward to working with her again in the future.

Martha was my agent when we bought our house 4 years ago and I highly recommend her to anyone buying a house. She knows her stuff and can really make you feel comfortable with the scary process of buying a first house. She listens to your needs, dreams and limits and won’t try to talk you into anything you don’t want to buy. In fact she talked me OUT of a house I thought I loved but that was out of my price range.
She helped us find the perfect house– it is even more than we were dreaming of and at the right price.
After we moved in, she was still around to help with recommendations of roofers, paint colors, etc. and has never steered me wrong.
She is an absolutely fabulous person and realtor– don’t buy a house with anyone else!

We have been living in our house in Oakland for a little over a year now. Thank goodness Martha found it for us. We wouldn’t have looked in this neighborhood, but once Martha showed us around we were convinced. To me, that is the most important thing a real estate agent can do– show you what you didn’t know you wanted.
Other agents we met showed us the same houses I had found for myself on Zillow, but Martha knew to look beyond the obvious.
But she is a bit rough around the edges. She’s busy and experienced, so she can come across as pushy. But I’m glad we stayed with her because I don’t think we’d be in this house if it weren’t for her expertise.

Yes! She’s funny, smart, and good at her job. I also bought my first house with Martha’s help. She was patient with my butterflies and led me through the decisions and pitfalls with grace and good humor. She knows the market and is great at the people portion of the transaction as well as the business side of things. She’s not anything like my idea of your typical real estate agent. She’s a regular person who is just knowledgeable and good at this business.

Martha was great as we were going through the home buying process, definitely. And now, several months after my wife and I purchased our first home, Martha is still reachable for questions. She always provides a speedy and thoughtful answer.

I was just looking at some comps, and it moved me to post an update that we are *still* satisfied customers. I recommend Martha to anyone I hear is looking to buy.

Martha is a terrific real estate agent. She is very knowledgeable about the East Bay market and about houses in general. She also listens carefully to her clients and is fun to work with. I recently made a winning bid on a property in Berkeley, but when the inspector I hired (on Martha’s recommendation) uncovered a number of issues with the property that I wasn’t comfortable with, I decided to withdraw my offer. So unlike many of the other reviewers here, I have not yet found my dream house. But Martha was supportive and never pressured me to make a decision I wasn’t comfortable with. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a house in the East Bay.

We were first time home buyers. Martha made the experience feel comfortable for us. It could have been a very scary experience. It still was, but with Martha we were able to stay the course and we found ourselves in our new home. It never felt difficult. And now that we’ve done it, I’m still amazed we got it done, and I often wonder: How did she do that? We don’t hesitate to recommend Martha when we have the chance.

I found out about Martha through Berkeley Parents Network and Unilocal.My husband and I interviewed her and two other agents, and her down-​to-​earth personality and generosity (she told us about a tax credit we didn’t know about in her first email to us) really won us over.
Most of what I would say about Martha — how she really listens and respects her clients, her dedication, her sense of humor — have already been said by previous reviewers, and I agree with everything they said.
What I have to add: she found us our house on our first day of looking with her! Then she helped us figure out the offer we could afford and how best to present it, and removed all obstacles along the way, making a transaction process I was viewing apprehensively as smooth as possible.
I highly recommend Martha Becker!

Martha was an invaluable resource as we purchased our first home in Alameda (we also looked in Berkeley/​Albany). She is incredibly knowledgeable about neighborhoods, homes, and the purchase process. She got us a great price on a really great house, and even more importantly, talked us down off the ledge after we fell in love with an underpriced-​to-​create-​a-​bidding-​war house (while she would have helped us go after it if we’d really wanted it, her insights into pricing, value, and home buying psychology helped us realize that it wasn’t a scenario we wanted to enter into). She’s been incredibly useful throughout the purchase process, doing much of the work of scheduling inspections and bids (and she has connections to some very nice and professional experts for this kind of work). Most importantly, she has a great sense of humor and we really enjoyed spending time with her throughout our home search.

Martha helped us buy our first home in the East Bay. We were focused on the Oakland/​Berkeley/​Albany/​El Cerrito areas and she knew these neighborhoods really well — she’ll tell you where the nearest farmer’s market is or the best Vietnamese sandwich shop. She was flexible about planning around our work schedules and took the time to help us envision ways we could improve the prospective homes and condos we considered. She made the whole purchase process run smoothly and we had to do very little once we picked the house we wanted. Martha has also been a great resource for reliable mortgage brokers, electricians, roofers, and contractors — all the people you might need on your side at some point. And to top it off, she provides the needed bit of humor and levity to what could otherwise be an overwhelming process.

Martha recently helped my husband and me buy our first home in the East Bay and we couldn’t have felt happier or more fortunate. I discovered Martha through several glowing reviews on the Berkeley Parent’s Network, and knew right away when we met that we were in good hands. Martha was very understanding of our Ferrari wish list and Chevy budget, and never once made us feel like we were unrealistic or over-​reaching (and even seemed to adopt our vision for the perfect «hot tub corner» and «tree-​studded views»). She always came to the table with new ideas and an exceptional attitude throughout both of the homes for which we made offers. We appreciated Martha’s viewpoint on every home we visited… the good, the bad and the stinky… and consider her an invaluable resource. I highly recommend giving her a call for yourself if you’re in the market for a new home! We certainly love ours and have Martha to thank!

I just worked with Martha to buy my first house and can’t say enough good things about her. Martha is that rare realtor (and person) who has the right blend of being super smart, knows the market, is a great listener, intuitive about what people want, and a great business woman. Martha is also great about educating first-​time home buyers — she will teach you about the market and give you «homework» to help get you up to speed quickly. Martha has the negotiation skills and experience to help you get the home you want, at a price you can afford. I love my house — it’s got everything I wanted and then some, and is in exactly the area I wanted to live in.