Holly Rose

Holly was the real estate agent for selling my dad’s home in the Berkeley hills. She kept in touch with us daily. She saw the potential of the house the moment she laid eyes on it. Holly gave us good advice about what to remodel and what to leave as is. She did a great job of marketing it. She used DocuSign which made the paperwork move a lot quicker. I would definitely recommend her.

These photos don’t lie! The first time Holly showed up at a house we were considering she was dressed impeccably… and within 10 minutes she had strapped on some knee pads, grabbed her tool box, and was crawling under the house to check out the foundation. She is incredibly knowledgeable about all things house– and real estate-​related and she gave us honest, no-​nonsense, well-​informed advice every step of the way. Holly has a fantastic team who bent over backwards to make our search and buying process as smooth as possible. She told us honestly when she thought a house wasn’t worth the asking price, and the day she first saw our house within five minutes she said «this is the one.» She couldn’t have been more right. We are absolutely thrilled with our new home, and overflowing with gratitude for Holly and her team.

Holly helped us sell our house in Albany. She will assemble a team of experts to make sure your house is in the best position to be sold. She is straightforward and professional, you will never be in the dark as to what’s going on or what’s going to happen next. With Holly on your side, you can be sure she’ll advise you on the worthwhile expenses, on how to negotiate the offers, and finally, on a seamless closing process.
Holly is truly an expert with a proven process that works.

Like all of the other reviews of Holly Rose’s character and business acumen, I am also rating her 5 star. (If there were more stars, I would pick a few more.) We interviewed 3 other realtors for the sale of a family member’s home, and chose Holly because of her no nonsense, precise and obviously very experienced answers to many of our questions and challenges in this endeavor. As a «once removed» family member to the homeowner, I was charged with selling my sister-in-law’s home in Albany, now that we had helped her move into an assisted living facility. Add to the mix the fact that we live a ½ day’s drive away from the Bay Area, and it becomes clear that we were needing someone who could «take the ball and move it down the field» with skill, drive and clear vision, good communication directives and personal motivation.
Holly had the foresight, decorating vision and knowledge of the housing market to suggest that we keep some of the equipment that was installed in the house for my brother and his wife, who were/​are both disabled. With Holly’s vision, many of these features were tastefully included within the homes eventual «make-​over» for sale, ultimately broadening the appeal of the house to more potential buyers.
Once I had cleared the house of most of their 30+years of possessions, Holly took over, calling in a host of people and companies that she knows and trusts to make things happen quickly and expertly. She found a family who would take EVERYTHING else in the house and make use of it (instead of throwing it away). She and her assistant, Sally, hired a skilled and visionary company; The Design Shop, to execute the painting, repairs, and staging. From all major inspections, to directing the interior make-​over, landscaping maintenance and changes, she made remarkable progress within just 2 weeks.
Her expertise and dedication to the needs of the project came in major focus when she assessed (from personally donning overalls and climbing under the house in a space that would give a spelunker pause!) that we needed to excavate to expose more of the foundation to make it clear that it is in fact sound (which it is). She was articulate in her assertion that the cost to do the work would be worth it, as this would be a stumbling block in the process once we began accepting offers.
This is where she shines– in being direct, knowledgeable and fully focused and organized in the whole picture; from her first view of the home all the way through the final «sign on the dotted line». I knew I could trust her, even being so far away from all the action. Texts, emails, calls, pictures, keeping me in the loop every step of the way, I always knew she was thinking of this project and our best interests when I could not be there to follow things through.
The message on her cell phone says, «please leave a message and I will get back to you when I can give you my undivided attention.» This is, in fact, what she does. If you hire Holly you know that no part of the job will be done half-​way, and there will be no question that you could have chosen a more determined, kind-​hearted and skillful realtor.
This house that my late brother had had redesigned so long ago to accommodate his disability and to enjoy with his wife, has now become someone else’s home to enjoy and transform into a home of their own. I rest assured that he would be happy knowing that his widow is safe and now has a financial cushion for her future from the sale of his beloved home — and that that home is now being enjoyed by a new family.
As Chansonette says (review to the right), Holly is «tons of fun to work with» and she celebrates the journey of this poignant life transition right along with us. As we met for the last time just the other day and she presented me with a bottle of the same magnificent champagne that she also kindly provided for the new home owners, I felt sad to be separating after this short but enjoyable relationship! But I know that Holly was intrinsic in giving myself and several other folks piece of mind and a new start! Who’d ever imagine that selling a house could be such a delight?

I just finished selling a house with Holly Rose, and I have to write to recommend her warmly, without reservation. She tackled a somewhat difficult assignment — launching the sale of a house owned by a divorced couple, one of whom is disabled — with great verve, sensitivity, and acumen. After the first walk-​through of our house, she went over its appealing features, and named an asking price higher than what I thought was possible. But her knowledge of her business (from the smallest construction features of the house to the larger issues of location and market) were convincing. She had a real feeling for the house and its finer qualities, and suddenly I could see it through her eyes. It’s a gift. Subsequently I asked another realtor for an estimate in order to make a comparison, and that realtor was much more cautious about the asking price. I went back to Holly to ask if she was sure that her price was attainable, and she persuaded me. Boy, am I glad I went with her, not only because we got well over the generous price she named, but because she took care of every detail of staging, inspection, repair, and contract rapidly, efficiently, and beautifully. Her staff was wonderful, and everything went off without a hitch. Once we listed with her, I didn’t have a care in the world. I will recommend her to anyone I know planning to buy or sell in our area — she is a gem.

Holly got the job done

By far, our favorite real estate agent for the North Berkeley area is Holly Rose. We spoke with several agents, mostly from referrals from our home association, and Holly clearly stood out. She was the most enthusiastic about our house, the most optimistic about our prospects, and the most knowledgeable about our area. And, she was also the agent who seemed the most willing to put in the most work. Because of our special situation, she spent a lot of time with us, and has always been very up-​front, patient, honest and understanding. We wouldn’t consider any other agent.

Two years ago, we had almost given up hope of buying a mid-​century gem in the Berkeley hills. But soon after we found Holly, she found our home. She provided us with excellent guidance on offer strategy, managed some tense negotiations on price, and finally took us through the completion of the purchase. We couldn’t be happier in our new home!
When we were ready to sell our cottage in Berkeley’s «Gourmet Ghetto» this Spring, we immediately called Holly. She educated us about the current market and put together a cohesive plan for a successful sale. Her team handled all the details of market preparation — inspections, minor repairs, painting, landscaping and staging. We hardly had to lift a finger. Holly published a wonderful web site and a variety of other creative marketing materials that highlighted the historical importance of our 1890 home. Her strategy worked flawlessly — we had 14 offers and accepted a bid of about 25% over our asking price. This blew away our expectations, and it would not have happened without Holly!

Holly Rose is worth more than her weight in diamonds. She has that extremely rare combination of razor-​sharp business sense and expertise in her field, plus creativity, intuition, ingenuity, and empathy. She has a visionary passion for our wonderful, walkable Solano Avenue area of Berkeley, and that quality permeated everything she did for us. Because Holly chose to work with us, we had the best possible outcome for the sale of our home: we got what we needed financially, and we attracted the right buyers for the house and for our neighborhood.
As a first-​time seller, the prospect of putting my home on the market was not only daunting, it was overwhelming. I didn’t have the faintest idea what to do, or what to expect. From the moment I looked through the materials Holly dropped off for me the day before our first meeting, I knew I had found the right person to shepherd me and my family through. Looking back, now that escrow has closed and we are about to turn the house over to the wonderful people who bought it, I liken the experience to whitewater rafting. When you’re going through Class IV rapids, you need an expert boatman who can read the river and get you to the other side. We had that in Holly.
Here is just a little of what I loved about working with Holly:
She GOT my situation (selling a house i had loved and lived in for 20 years to go off on a new adventure) and how exciting but also bittersweet it was, and she navigated those emotional waters with me in a way that acknowledged and honored both.
She GOT the house — a wonderful old Mediterranean with «special needs» and a uniquely vibrant and colorful interior. My house was in some ways my long-​term work of art — rich, saturated colors throughout. Holly did not walk in and say «yeah, first thing you’ll have to do is paint these walls beige…» She walked in and said «ooo, nice! we can stage this with what you have!»
Her introductory materials were clearly and beautifully laid out — so that looking through them was a pleasure, and, as a first-​time seller, also gave me a preliminary map regarding what to expect.
Her approach carved what is an overwhelming (and overwhelmingly detailed) project into one-​step-​at-​a-​time — here’s what we need now — and when i was tempted to project into the future (and see catastrophe there) she’d rein me in and say «Nope. We’re not going there now. We’re doing this. If we have to go there, we’ll deal with it when the time comes.»
Her astonishingly skilled, efficient, and responsive team. Wow. Something needed to be done? Bam. It was done.
Her extraordinary poise, directness, honesty, and creative problem-​solving in those moments when we either got discouraging news (a very high pest report) or something went colossally wrong (the morning I was vacating the house so it could be shown I caused a clog in a very old pipe in the basement, which began leaking over an electrical wire… Holly said: «Drive away. We’ll handle it.» We drove away. They handled it.)
Her staging of my house — she has an amazing eye for color, space, and interiors — and her staging showed my house off in the best possible way. As a visual artist, I have to say I was gobsmacked when I saw how she transformed my space, using what I already had, and also the beauty of her photographs.
Her strategic marketing: she went door-​to-​door, visiting 300 homes in my neighborhood and handing out flyers, in a rainstorm. Her website showed off my house in the best possible way. Her open houses drew over a hundred people both days (and the first day was also during a rainstorm).
The way she shared the experience with me: for example, as she was staging the house, she texted me photos. During the open houses, she texted me updates. I was always in the loop in all the best ways.
The way she set boundaries for me so that when it was time for me to STOP being involved i could do it. As someone whose entire career has been focused on implementing projects, I know there’s a moment in a project when your part is done, and you turn it over to a trusted colleague. Holly helped me realize and live that moment.
Her abundant and over-​the-​top supportiveness. Once Holly decides to represent you, she leaves no stone unturned. She goes out of her way to make your experience during the process as smooth as possible. She takes you on. She brings you food. She texts you updates. She reassures you that you’re not crazy b/​c you sent her a cranky email at midnight.
And last but not at all least: Holly is tons of fun to work with. She celebrates with you. She looks on the bright side. She is the bright side.

In 2012, with Holly’s expert help and guidance, we sold our house in Albany and bought another one in the hills. Both transactions went extremely smoothly. Holly worked hard for us throughout, often calling just to «check in» to see whether we were ok, even if there was no other reason than to reassure us that she was there for us. That steady support meant a great deal to us, as without it, the process would have been overwhelming.
Holly is a very active and hands-​on partner in the buying and selling process. She showed up with her own clippers to help us prune the yard of the house we were selling so it would look its very best. She even crawled around in our attic and in the very narrow crawl space to look at the foundation and state of retrofitting, not to represent herself as an expert, but to familiarize herself with the entire structure and see whether repairs were needed or whether we should seek further professional help. She advised us to consult with a structural engineer and made an appointment herself right away.
Holly knows the market and the area very well and over her 20+ years of experience, has — as we witnessed ourselves — earned the respect of local realtors and lenders, which was a great advantage for us as she could easily contact people to help move things forward quickly. Holly is a skilled and tough negotiator and went to bat for us on a number of occasions, such as when we were adjusting bids on the house we were buying. As one agent commented when we told her who was representing us, «You should listen to Holly. She knows how to win.»
Personally, Holly is very warm, empathetic, and supportive, and she listens carefully to every question and concern. She is also highly professional, and we grew to admire her skill and knowledge as we walked through the buying and selling processes with her. She is honest and forthright, yet tactful, and if you ask a question, you will receive an answer you will respect. Something else we appreciated about her was her fine sense of humor.
If she is out of town, a member of her team will step in. We found that Jennifer, a Marvin Gardens realtor and Holly’s work partner, was also very competent, smart, and highly skilled and just as helpful and responsive to our requests as Holly was. They make sure that one of them is on call at all times. A dramatic example of this was when a few hours before our first open house, Holly had to take a family member to the emergency room and Jennifer, with very little notice, arrived in time to bake chocolate chip cookies on the premises, welcome the many open house visitors, and make a poised and enthusiastic presentation of our house. Holly and Jennifer presented the assemblage of documents, reports, permits, records of upgrades, repairs, and replacements in a clearly and elegantly laid out binder of disclosures. A number of agents and prospective buyers commented on how easy it made their collection of information about the house.
Every now and then, someone comes along who truly loves his or her work, and it is a joy to work with such people. Holly is one of those all-​too-​rare individuals.

My husband and I have used Holly Rose to buy 2 houses and sell 1, and for consultations since our most recent purchase, and I will definitely call her again when we need to make another change. I have worked in the past with about 20 other realtors in various parts of the country during corporate transfers, and I can say, without a doubt, that Holly is the best realtor I have ever worked with. She genuinely cares about us as clients and goes out of her way to understand our wants and needs. Her skills in assessing, presenting, negotiating, communicating and making the details understandable are outstanding, and she is personable and relates well to others involved in the transaction as well. The advice that she gave at critical junctures during the processes was honest and productive, and it worked well in achieving our desired outcomes. She brings the benefits of a science background to add to excellent interpersonal skills.
She is a true professional, and I have no hesitation in recommending her highly.

As buyers coming in from out of state, we relied on Holly to preview countless properties. As architects, we are very particular when it comes to houses, and we were consistently impressed with her expert eye for each property’s strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities. She was able to diagnose structural problems and site deficiencies, as well as tell us when she thought a house was truly a great opportunity. Her advice in navigating the complexities of multiple bidding situations was spot-​on. Most of all, we appreciated her frankness and honesty. We never felt she was trying to «sell» or persuade us to do anything, but simply to provide sound, expert advice. Holly assisted us in accomplishing the herculean task of purchasing a great house in the East Bay in just three months.

I eventually bought the house I had been renting but there were times when, as an older person, I needed repetition to understand certain things which were critical to the contract. When there was one last $ 5000 inspection item on the table (the seller had stone walled all the others), instead of going to bat for me, Holly simply stated that I could «get out of the contract» if I wanted to. I stood up for myself wondering whose agent she was. Her response was to deliver a searing and definitely unprofessional diatribe. She then refused to meet with me any more and never even showed up at the closing. If I hadn’t had a superb mortgage broker, my goose would have been cooked. Thank goodness for Kurt Herrenbruck of Fishman Financial who saved the day.
N.S. of ElCerrito

Holly Rose made our house hunting experience a delight! She is smart, experienced and honest. SHe understands houses and has a great eye. Holly was amazing at listening to our needs and so great in helping us understand the housing market. When things became stressful she helped us through, she was very available. I am so grateful that Holly did not rush us into anything, she very much respected our process and eased our anxiety … and in the right time she helped us find a beautiful home. We will always be grateful for her guidance and care in helping us make this big and exciting commitment.

Holly is a realtor par excellence. She made the process of purchasing our house a genuine pleasure, and ably compensated for the highly inexperienced agent the seller had hired. She was also really there for us to talk us down from some of the stresses of buying our first house, which was hugely appreciated.

Holly Rose is an amazing realtor. She not only help my husband and I buy our first house, but she’s also helped a cousin and a good friend all purchase homes in the El Cerrito/​Albany area. All of us were thrilled with our experience with her.
As a first time home buyer, our knowledge of what to look for and be aware of was quite limited. With Holly’s expertise, we learned what to look out for when buying a home, and truly relied upon her experience to guide us in finding the right home for us.
You can rely on Holly to be honest, resourceful and highly knowledgeable. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking to buy a home in the El Cerrito/​Albany/​Berkeley area.

Holly has been awesome to work with. I can’t get over how much time she has invested in the sale of our house and the purchase of a new one. We value her advice and counsel, calm demeanor, and straight-​shooting honesty. She’s been a consumate professional throughout the process. My wife and I can’t recommend her enough.

Whenever we are complimented on our fantastic house in Berkeley, our kids always pipe in that we owe it all to Holly Rose. Holly was truly a miracle maker, helping us buy our first little home in Berkeley, and then when the family outgrew the little home, helping us sell that home and buy a bigger home. Her advice was always spot on. Her manner perfectly professional. And her negotiating skill are tremendous. Having lived in the bay area pretty much my whole life, the two easiest recommendations I can make are: eat upstairs at Chez Pannisse; and if you need a realtor, work with Holly Rose.
Alison B.

Holly sold my house in Berkeley a few years ago, and I was terribly impressed with the level and quality of service she provided. Starting with great strategic thinking about timing, pricing and presentation, she energetically organized the sprucing up and staging, brought in professionals who were excellent at their work, put on a couple of very well-​attended open houses (with fresh-​baked cookies as always), proceeded to assemble a lengthy and impressive group of offers, went through each one with us to select the best offer, and went on to negotiate even better pricing with the successful buyer. Every step along the way was clearly explained to us, and we always felt we were in capable hands. Even when we disagreed initially about some point, we always came around to Holly’s position, because we felt we could rely upon her experience and judgment. We could not recommend any realtor moore highly than Holly, and if I ever need to sell or buy a house in her market again, I would unhesitatingly ask Holly to be my agent.