Before you make your move.

Start with a conversation, not a listing. We'll talk through your budget, your timing and what you want your days to look like: the commute, the space, the kind of block you want to come home to.

Next, get fully underwritten pre-approval, not just pre-qualification, so your offer holds up when it counts. Then we start touring.

No. Plenty of buyers put down less, and San Francisco has programs built for first-time buyers. The city's Downpayment Assistance Loan Program offers up to $500,000 in deferred down payment help on market-rate homes, awarded by lottery.

There are also programs for SFUSD teachers and a mortgage credit certificate that turns part of your interest into a tax credit. I broke them all down in one post.

The search itself averages about ten weeks. Once your offer is accepted, escrow usually takes around a month.

Well-priced homes still move fast in this city, so being ready to act matters more than having time to wait.

Yes. I set my clients up on Zenlist, which pulls straight from the local MLS, including Coming Soon listings, often hours or days before the big portals have them.

Request access through my link and I'll approve you.

Not in San Francisco. The whole city is one school district, SFUSD, and families apply and rank schools through its assignment process. Buying on a certain street doesn't lock in a certain school.

So pick where to live for the commute, the housing and the feel of the block, and plan school enrollment as its own timeline. Check SFUSD for the current rules before you apply.

Before we tour homes together, we sign a short buyer agreement that spells out how I'm paid. That's now standard across California.

In many deals the seller covers it. We'll go over how it works for your situation on our first call, before you commit to anything.

Get clear on what a good outcome looks like for you: the highest price, a specific move date, or lining the sale up with your next purchase. That shapes the pricing, the prep and the marketing.

One cost San Francisco sellers often don't expect is the city's transfer tax. The seller usually pays it, and the rate climbs with the sale price.

All of San Francisco. I've lived in Russian Hill, Mission Dolores, Corona Heights, the Castro and Rincon Hill, so I bring a local's read on each part of the city, not just the listing data.

Not sure where you'd fit? That's a good first conversation.

That's how I got here. I moved from Texas in 2019, sight unseen.

Tell me where you'll be working and how you like to live, and I'll help you narrow the city down to a few neighborhoods before you start touring.

Yes. I came to real estate through building my own portfolio, and I still invest.

In San Francisco the numbers depend heavily on rent control and tenant rules, so we look at those before we look at returns.