The Real Story with Adam and Sherry

From our client’s perspective we dive into how to think about open houses and what clients should expect when going into an open house. In today’s episode we explore the benefits and drawbacks from both the buyer’s and seller’s perspective. Offering open houses can be an effective marketing tool and often makes it easier for sellers who continue to live in the home. We think open houses are valuab...

Normally, in California real estate typically appreciates by an average of 4% every year. We haven’t had a normal market since the pandemic though. In this episode of The Real Story with Adam and Sherry we rewind to the beginning, to provide an overview of real estate trends and specific market conditions in Contra Costa County. Where is the beginning? Did you guess 2020? During the pandemic home...

In today’s episode of The Real Story with Adam & Sherry we have a conversation about the intersection of local real estate, civic planning, and community development. Our special guest is Brendan Moran, a planning commissioner for the city of Walnut Creek. He is a realtor® and broker associate in Contra Costa County who is planning to run for city council in the upcoming November election. As...

In today’s episode of The Real Story with Adam & Sherry we dive into Property Taxes. Our special guest is Vince Robb the Assistant County Assessor for the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office. He is currently running for the County Assessors position. The assessor is responsible for identifying every property in the county; what it is, what’s on it, and what the property value is. What they d...

The housing shortage is a big problem in California. One of the ways the state is trying to increase housing inventory is by allowing homeowners to build ADUs with less red tape. Our special guest for today’s podcast is Gwen Bertolami Lysons with Comfort Casitas. She is a structural engineer and builder who specializes in Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Many people are looking into ADUs but clien...

Our special guests for today’s podcast is owner Jeff Kendall & senior consultant Grayeagle Porter with Custom Exteriors, Inc focusing on improving the look, comfort, and safety of a home. Is it time to replace the windows, doors, or siding? Or budgeting for the future? This podcast is for you as they offer a clear homeowner friendly guide to windows and back up their work with a lifetime warra...

Prop 19 – what is it? How does it work? Who does it benefit? If you are on a fixed income and budget sometimes you can be stuck in a home that no longer serves you due to your lower tax base. We call those ‘golden handcuffs’ a term we go into depth explaining in our latest podcast. Prop 19 was designed to help release those handcuffs and allow seniors (55+) people to move. Tax base exchange is onl...

Our special guest for today’s podcast is Kristen Pepin with Dudum Real Estate Group/ Sun Bear Realty focusing on the Tahoe and Truckee market. Whether you’re searching for a lakefront retreat, a cozy mountain escape, or the Tahoe lifestyle Kristen can help you. There are so many facets to becoming an agent and even in a vacation location it isn’t necessarily what you think it is. Listen as we find...

2026! New year, new hopes and dreams! We are predicting a good year ahead. Here we are starting Season 3 of The Real Story w/ Adam & Sherry! And we are starting off the season strong with our favorite podcast guest Arlo Zoerner with CrossCountry Mortgage, our favorite lender. As we look at the new year, you might be thinking of buying or selling a home in 2026 and funding is always a part of t...

We’re wrapping up the 2025 Bay Area Real Estate Market! Listen as we discuss 2025, the highs and lows of this year. We explore the factors that have most affected the market and how agents have weathered this year. Overall, 2025 was a good market for both Buyers and Sellers. We found this year became more interesting for agents in terms of negotiation. There have been a couple of big changes for u...

Today we explore Rossmoor, an active adult living community nestled in Walnut Creek. There are 6,700 homes, with over 40 different floor plans, about 8,000 residents, 7 club houses, 2 golf courses, tennis courts, swimming facilities, movies nights, and is a gated 55+ older community. One major misconception is that it’s only a retirement community. The average age at move-in is 62 years old and ma...

Solar Power- what should you know as a homeowner? Tune into today’s podcast where we interview Nathaniel Johnson with Sun Light & Power. He drills down on what the process is for determining electricity usage, future electrical usage, a site visit, and design proposals. How long does the process after approval take to install solar? Net metering 3.0 is the current plan for CA users with PG&amp...

If you are considering making a donation this year, might we suggest you spend your money on food insecurity assistance? Federal cuts have been pretty significant and specifically to federal food support. Food costs have continued to rise for everyone. This week, we talk with Devona Brazier the Director of Outreach with Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church (WCPC) about their yearly food & toy dona...

We are noticing a slow down across the market, except that we’re still busy! We spend a lot of time developing our skill set for our clients; keeping on top of the market, we know our business, legal aspects, and keeping up with new forms & contracts. We track 10 cities that make up the majority of our market – Alamo, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hi...

What can buyers and sellers expect in today’s Bay Area real estate market? We’ve had a bumpy couple of weeks. During wonky markets experienced agents get to show our worth and prove our value. Houses are taking longer to sell and many are selling for less than they listed for. Some homes are even being listed for less than what the seller bought it for. Are we getting back to pre-pandemic markets?...

Money created through illegal activity is showing up in real estate and the federal government is trying to crack down. In today’s podcast we discuss the changes that are coming concerning anti-money laundering. FinCEN is a bureau within the US Department of the Treasury that collects and analyses information about financial transactions. They are implementing new regulations within real estate ca...

What’s happening in today’s East Bay real estate market? Listen to find out! In this week’s episode we dive into fire hardening and defensible space. What is Fire Hardening and what policies have changed? AB-38 specifies that any house in a high or very high fire zone needs to have a defensible space and an inspection prior to selling. How do homeowners find out if they are in a high fire zone? HI...

What are CC&Rs and should buyers beware? In today’s podcast we demystify Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions (CC&Rs) and point out red flags and beige flags. Typically, when a new development is created CC&Rs are designed to govern who can buy, what can be built, and what will be enforced. There are very strict CC&Rs and less strict. All HOAs have CC&Rs. Sometimes there a...

Like Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” We’re excited to be interviewing Patti Wang Cross with Habitat for Humanity a non-profit that believes everyone deserves a decent place to live and that by building and improving homes they create strong and stable communities. As the conversation around affordable housing becomes more prevalent and as housing becomes a crisis for many communities,...

In today’s episode we look at AI and other tech tools that are used in real estate today. You can not be afraid of technology in this industry, or you will be aged out, informs Sherry. What do we use? Which tech tools do we like? And where do we see the technology going? Listen as we detail the programs we regularly use and what we use AI for. Here are a number of our favorite tech tools used in r...

In today’s episode we dive into the basics of becoming a real estate agent. If you want to be a REALTOR®, the first thing you need to understand is that you are the product. Step one is to get your license, which provides some understanding of a real estate transaction. This is just a fraction of everything you need to know. There are 5 key areas that make a great agent; 1. Understanding the trans...

We’re excited to have a midyear mortgage update with Arlo Zoerner with CrossCountry Mortgage, our favorite lender. Interest rates have made great progress in the last 8 weeks. As we look toward the second half of the year, you might be thinking of buying or selling a home and funding is always a part of that. Arlo gives us an insight into how tariffs, politics, and the federal reserve impact mortg...

Are we in the middle of our summer doldrums? Listen as we discuss what we’re experiencing in our Contra Costa County market and slightly beyond. Location! Location! Location! Where’s the perfect place to live? And does the availability of good pastries and coffee effect your choice? In today’s episode, we explore urban living. What we love and what we don’t like and what we dream about. Listen as...

California Governor Newsom just signed new budgetary spending bills that allow development in infill to happen faster. There seems to be widespread support for these new bills. Will this help California’s housing shortage and affordability? Join us as we discuss the housing shortage and whether we’ll see any relief soon. In today’s podcast we use a couple terms like NIMBY (not in my backyard) whic...

June swoon or June gloom? The Bay Area Real Estate market is as sluggish as we’ve seen it. We have houses on the market and escrows closing but we think we’re in the June slowdown. Listen as we discuss what that means for both our buyers and sellers. We have sellers who are planning to sell right away and sellers who want to sell in five years. In today’s episode we go over our 3-point strategy pl...