Sandy Patel-Hilferty

Sandy is A.W.E.S.O.M.E!
My husband and I are first time home buyers and we had a lot of questions. Sandy walked us through the entire process very patiently.
She is very prompt and pro-​active. After seeing the condo we liked, we sent her a text message and she gave us a call in less than an hour. She asked us all the questions related to our preferences that we had shared with her in our first meeting. We went to see the condo again twice during the week and she was more than happy to take us multiple times. It was our FIRST OFFER and got accepted! Thanks to Sandy’s due diligence.
After the offer got accepted, she again walked us through the detailed timeline, made sure we were comfortable with committing to the dates. She communicated all the details with the lender/​title company/seller’s agent and us on timely basis. She stayed on TOP of it till close of escrow. We got the keys on the date we had decided per timeline.
Going with Sandy was the BEST decision in house hunting process. We got our first HOME because of her. She is our MOST FAVORITE realtor! :-)

Sandy is incredibly enthusiastic, energetic, and on top of her game. She offered lots of support and strategic advice but never pressured us into a decision. We were first time homebuyers and Berkeley during a very tough market and she helped us navigate the process and ultimately buy a house that we love. To survive in this market you’ll need a real go-​getter and Sandy is just that. You’ll love working with her!

Sandy is the fairy godmother of East Bay real estate. We bought our home after three months of active searching. It was our first offer. We would not have purchased the home with such ease and swiftness without Sandy’s guidance, advocacy, and sharp negotiation skills.
My husband and I have worked with four realtors closely in the past. We bought and sold two different properties before working with Sandy. Those realtors were very good, but Sandy is head and shoulders above any realtor that I have ever worked with. She is a rare blend of warmth, kindness, humor, pragmatism and business acumen. She is intuitive and reads people well.
Sandy helped to find the perfect home for us. I appreciated that she never tried to convince us of a house. In fact, when we found homes that we considered making an offer on, she would turn around and ask us questions about whether the house would meet our needs, helping us to make a well-​informed decision that we felt confident about. For example, we told her that we wanted a home where our elderly parents could stay with us regularly. When we found a home with a lot of stairs that we wanted to make an offer on, she asked us if the stairs would be an obstacle for our parents. We told her that we like to entertain. When we found the house we wanted, she asked us if the living room would be too small for entertaining.
In the Bay Area housing market, it’s easy to feel desperate. You know that you’ll have to compromise on something as a buyer, but often you don’t know what and to what degree you’ll have to compromise. In her infinite knowledge of the market, Sandy guided us in making not only smart decisions, but making decisions that we felt good about. On several occasions we were willing to make an offer, although with some hesitation, and Sandy told us that we could find a better house. And she was right. The house we bought meets our needs better than any other house we saw. Furthermore, the house we bought was not the most expensive house that we saw.
Sandy is the Rolls Royce of realtors. You will be well taken care of. She anticipates your needs and concerns before you even articulate them. For example, in our final walk through, I discovered that she had several walls in our house repainted before the closing. She knows houses well, and she is walking rolodex of high-​quality references who can get the work done well.
The only downside of working with Sandy is that you’ll acutely feel her absence after you purchase your home. You will miss her texts and phone calls, her smile and warm hugs. Those of us who have worked with Sandy love her.

If you’re thinking of selling or buying a house, I highly recommend that you work with Sandy. She is amazing– thoughtful, knowledgeable and responsive.
Sandy really took the time to get to know us and what we were looking for in a house. We never felt pressured to make an offer. In fact, the times when we tried to talk ourselves into a house that wasn’t the right fit, she reminded us that the house didn’t meet our stated goals. She steered us clear of a few houses we just wouldn’t have been happy with.
Sandy is incredibly responsive. Whenever we texted with a question, she would reply
As Sandy’s client, you feel like you have the best advocate on your side. She was able to get us the perfect house even though we weren’t the highest bidder. And that takes some pretty special magic!
Don’t just take my word for it. When we took our 3 year old son to an open house, he was absolutely heartbroken that Sandy wouldn’t be there to meet us! He even made a thank you card for her after we closed on the house.
I could go on and on about how awesome Sandy is, but you should just give her a call. You’ll realize right away what a gem she is.

By the time the husband and I met Sandy, we were in pretty urgent need of a house. We were also pitifully clueless about the crazy East Bay market and had already made one rejected offer. It was such a RELIEF to meet Sandy. We both immediately took to her: she’s a lovely human being and an utterly fantastic agent. I think lists are easier to read, so here goes:
REASONS THAT SANDY. IS. AWESOME.
1. She «got» us immediately. She really listened to both of us to understand our house needs, and asked spot-​on questions. Talking with her and doing the homework (a prioritized wish list) helped us focus our search much better.
2. We felt immediately that we had a strong advocate, a knowledgeable guide, and a wise friend in Sandy. We were no longer alone!
3. She’s a fantastic teacher. Sandy laid things out for us in a way that we could understand. The market is a scary thing. Real estate terms are confusing. Disclosure packets are huge, boring and intimidating. She made it all so much better.
4. She bent over backward to be available to us in person and by phone and email the entire time we were working with her. Now that we know how busy she is, we’re even more impressed.
5. She kept us on task. We had a pretty specific set of priorities in our house search. At some points, we were tempted to make the wrong compromises because we were charmed by a house, or getting impatient in the hunt. Sandy was there for us. We never felt any pressure from her to find a house; her objective at every juncture was to help us find the RIGHT house for us, one that we would love to live in for a long, long time.
6. Everybody we met in the process of house-​hunting (sellers’ agents, insurance brokers, house inspectors) love love loves Sandy. It really speaks to her all-​around work ethic that people not only know who she is, they sing her praises.
7. She set us up for success: visiting open houses, making a good impression, getting pre-​inspected, and getting our ducks in a row so that we could write the cleanest offer. We are certain that this was what made the seller take our offer over a higher one.
I really can’t say enough. Sandy was pretty much our guardian angel through a very challenging process. If you are looking for an agent, you will be very lucky to have Sandy working on your behalf.

We highly recommend Sandy! She stuck with us throughout a long search in a very tough market. She worked to understand what we wanted and was cheerful and supportive all along the way. She also worked with our complicated schedules when we needed to see places on short notice, and she helped us strategize to make our bids as strong as possible. Perhaps most important: she encouraged us to make our best bid without pressuring us to bid more. She also helped us to find well-​qualified professionals to help with inspections and repairs when we needed them.
We feel good about every bid we made, and really great about the house we bought. Thanks Sandy!

We moved to the Bay Area from the Midwest, where the housing market is very different. Sandy did an incredible job educating us on how the market here works and what would be reasonable to expect. She also helped us to narrow down our neighborhoods and housing needs and to figure out the right time to enter the market. She didn’t push us to jump in right away. Once we started looking at houses, Sandy was an expert at helping us to evaluate houses on the market, and took the time to walk through every house with us that we were considering making an offer on. In this market you have to move quickly to figure out whether you want to make an offer and what that offer should include, and this is where Sandy’s network of contractors, inspectors, etc. was crucial. When we needed an inspection tomorrow, she got a top-​notch inspector with a strong reputation immediately. When the seller’s agent was balking at a pest inspection, she handled the negotiations so we got the information we needed. We ended up getting the second house we made on offer on! Then Sandy kept track of every single detail from contract to closing to make sure everything went smoothly for us. If we ever needed to move again, we’d go back to her in a second. Sandy has our highest recommendation!

Sandy is amazing! She helped us buy our first home in Oakland in 2009. This year she helped us sell that home and buy a new home in the hills. She worked tirelessly to get us the price we needed to sell and find us our new dream home. She is always available, patient, filled with knowledge and somehow chipper! She is our secret weapon in the East Bay market. I cannot recommend her enough!

We choose Sandy as our agent after meeting at an open house earlier this year and she has been absolutely amazing during our home buying process. We just closed on a true dream house in Oakland a few weeks ago and we couldn’t have done it without her help. It was a challenging process since this property was a flip AND we were doing an FHA loan. If you’ve gone through the FHA process, you know how difficult it can be… but after a little over 2 months we finally managed to close. Sandy has an impressive network of contractors and other professionals and she put in a lot of effort lining up inspections, reports, more inspections, more reports… and she did it with a smile the entire time. She also did a great job of communicating with us almost daily, as well with the seller’s agent and our lender. It was a pleasure working with Sandy and we highly recommend her, not just because she is a wonderful agent, but more importantly a wonderful person!

Sandy helped us buy our first home and we couldn’t have had a better agent. She is warm and genuine and really knows the East Bay market. We bought during an incredibly challenging time when there was very little on the market and a lot of competition. But Sandy patiently guided us through every step and really listened to our needs and desires throughout the process. She helped us make the choices we needed to make in order to be competitive and smart in a tough market. We ended up in a great house in a fabulous area of Oakland (location location location!!!) and we couldn’t be happier. Sandy continues to make herself available as a resource to us even after we closed and we know we can call her with any question or concern that comes up as we navigate the sometimes murky waters of new-​home ownership.
Thanks again Sandy!

When searching for our home, the best decision we made was choosing Sandy as our agent. We met her at an open house and instantly liked her and felt comfortable. She has a genuineness about her that is sometimes hard to find in the real estate field. Being prudent buyers we had to first interview a few agents because buying a house is a huge commitment and you want to make sure you have the best person in your corner. Let’s just say that after our interviews, no other agent was even in close to Sandy.
We knew we made the right decision the minute we officially starting working with Sandy. She listened closely to what were looking for and helped us figure out what was most important to us– not her. This took a number of conversations and seeing many homes, but through it all Sandy was always available, patient, informed and had a sense of humor that made it very easy to be with her. As stated in other reviews, Sandy knows the market and how to write a solid offer. She gets you lined up with what you need even before you are close to writing an offer. We never felt pressured from Sandy to make a decision that wasn’t right for us. We truly felt like she had our best interest at heart and that, while this is her job, she really wants you to find the right home for you no matter what price range you are in.
Sandy is also connected in the business and has developed relationships with anyone you need during this crazy process. Being present for many inspections it was evident that Sandy had developed a huge network of professional contacts in the business who we felt we could trust. So you not only get her, but a cast of professionals who really know their stuff and come across as down to earth as Sandy. There was not one person we were introduced to through Sandy that wasn’t solid. We have continued to seek out referrals from her because we know we can trust whoever she provides. We really can not say enough about how great Sandy is as a real estate agent and a person. She is rock solid as an agent and we highly recommend her. As others have said, we grew to really enjoy our time with Sandy and missed her after we found our home. How many agents can you say that about? She is a delight to work with and you can not go wrong with her as your agent. Sandy is definitely 5 stars– Whohoo– She is as good as it gets!

I’m a general contractor who has worked with Sandy Patel-​Hilferty for five years. Sandy works hard to make sure her clients understand the costs of remodels and additions before they purchase the house. She researches the permit history of the building to find any potential problems. I have worked with a number of Sandy’s clients after their purchase and they all have only positive things to say about her. She follows up with me to make sure that the projects are going smoothly and her clients are happy. She exhibits a lot of patience and enthusiasm with her home buyers. She is extremely knowledgeable about the real estate markets in this area and she has earned my highest recommendation. You won’t go wrong choosing Sandy to help you buy or sell a home.

Sandy is a superstar, for sure. Buying a house in the Bay Area is a big endeavor. We had to spend a lot of time learning the market, contemplating tradeoffs, and getting a feel for how much houses are actually worth (hint: way more than the asking price.) Sandy patiently worked with us through all this stuff. She spent hours on phone while I peppered her with questions about the intricacies of home inspections or bidding strategy. When we finally managed to find a house we liked *and* won the bidding, Sandy ran a tight operation and leveraged her stable of local connections. Closing the deal involved many stressful decisions so it was comforting to know that we could rely on Sandy’s honest handling of all details and great negotiating skills.

I agree completely with the other great reviews. Sandy is wonderful. I felt she was our best asset in the home-​buying process, and I would not want to go through it without her! As a first-​time homebuyer and a nit-​picky lawyer, I had a million questions and worries, and Sandy worked with me until I was comfortable and my mind was satisfied. We never had to wait long for a response from her, even in the evenings, even on Saturdays. She knows and uses only the best home inspectors and has good relationships with all of the different people who need to be involved in the process (lenders, title companies, general inspectors, engineers for foundation/​seismic opinions, and very importantly, other agents). With Sandy, the logistics of coordinating all of the moving pieces are seamless. There were multiple offers on our house, and Sandy was able to get us terms that beat the other offers. I’m usually pretty skeptical, but I TRUST Sandy – both her professional judgment and her candor. She’s also a really warm and genuine person – I’m going to miss calling her all the time.

My wife and I had the absolute best experience with Sandy. She was incredibly warm, patient and honest with us through the whole process (this was our first house). We never felt pressured to bid or not to bid or about the price, she was very clear about the upsides and downsides to all the places that we looked, and she was really a joy to work with. And she really knows the business! When we finally found our dream house, she helped us write the perfect offer and ours was accepted over a large number of competing offers. (though I can’t know for sure, I’m pretty convinced that ours was not the highest bid, but she made it the most compelling by other means).
Anyway I could not recommend Sandy highly enough. In addition to being a great realtor, she’s also just a great person.

I am so glad and relieved that my friends referred me to Sandy. As first-​time home buyers, Sandy was patient and taught us so much. We also just really liked Sandy as a person; she is warm, approachable, and friendly. Also, she never gives off any of that icky salesman-​y vibe that I’ve gotten from other agents. She worked tirelessly with us before we finally had an offer accepted in this tough market. She was honest about the downsides of properties and guided us well. Anyway, we really appreciated her honesty. and always felt that we could TRUST her. And she is a project manager extraordinaire! She will NOT forget a detail and will keep you well-​organized.

I wish there was a ten star option, so I could give Sandy even more stars. She has made what could have been a stressful and often bewildering process — buying our first home — into a total joy. From the moment we started working with her, it was clear that she wasn’t just trying to sell us a house — she was getting to know us as a couple and scouring the market to find us the house that was absolutely perfect for us. As soon as I met Sandy, I felt completely at ease — I knew that she was acting in our best interest.
Sandy is incredibly professional, always responding to calls and emails quickly, and she understands the east bay real estate market like the back of her hand. She has a deep network of people that she works with, so she was able to recommend a mortgage broker, an inspector, and a contractor that we absolutely love. She has a fun-​loving nature and a great sense of humor, so even signing lots of legal papers ends up feeling like a good time (I’m not kidding — I don’t know how she makes it fun, but she does)!
A week ago, we found our dream house, and it was incredibly competitive — over 20 offers — but because of some really savvy strategic advice from Sandy about how to position ourselves, it was OUR offer that was accepted!
The only thing that makes me sad about closing on our house is that I won’t see Sandy as much anymore. Seriously, she is the absolute best.