Brian Santilena – Pacific Union Real Estate

My partner and I were first time home buyers who were relatively new to the Oakland housing market. Brian was a great in making sure we knew the process as things went on and also keeping us ahead of the competitive market.
He knows Oakland very well and can serve all prices of homes. He’s very professional and is able to break things down in simple terms for new buyers.
If you’re buying a home in Oakland, we couldn’t recommend him more highly.

Over the past 35 years, we have bought or sold more than a dozen properties. Brian Santilena, the Pacific Union realtor who represented us in the sale of our Oakland townhouse, is at the top of the list of realtors that we have worked with. He was personable, responsive, responsible, and effective — we obtained the desired price for our property.
The process of preparing our home for sale was complicated because we had moved into a new home in San Jose before we started preparing our Oakland home for sale. Brian worked with us to make the sale process as efficient as possible. We were in constant communication by telephone and email. He always let us know exactly where we were in the process. He was sensitive to details of the transaction and helped us to understand what our options were.
Because we were out of the city most of the time, Brian became responsible for much of the work to prepare the house for sale. He provided access to skilled workers in multiple fields and took an active role in supervising their work. The stager that he recommended was superb. Both he and Brian approached improvements strategically, helping us balance the cost of improvements against the probable gain in sale price (and they were right on target!). He consistently attended to small details that helped make our house as attractive as possible.
When it came time to list and show the property, he was strategic in managing the listing, effectively putting the property in front of potential buyers. The property drew an impressive number of attractive offers. With his knowledge of the market, real estate and financing practices, the sale was concluded successfully.
Selling a house can be tense and scary. Brian’s thoughtful, attentive, personalized service eased those feelings significantly for us. We ended up getting top dollar for our property and couldn’t have been more pleased. We are grateful for his professionalism, judgment, and knowledge, and recommend him most highly to those who have need for a realtor in the East Bay.

(TLDR: his Unilocal rating and reviews are well deserved.)
Brian Santilena helped me with the purchase of my first house in Montclair. And I say without exaggeration that he was a real asset. I don’t think there is anything else I could have asked for: he’s honest, communicative and experienced.
He knows the housing market he focuses on. Not only the inventory but, because of his (15+ years) experience, the trends and cycles too. This helped me during my search because I could ask with confidence when questions came up during my research of the area, and its offerings. This also helped keep my pricing expectations reasonable as a buyer (particularly in the Bay Area seller’s market of 2015)
He knows what to look at when assessing a building. (He does have a contractor’s license) When we went together to check out potential purchases he could tell me what we were looking at. And point out potential structural issues. Without his guidance I’m sure I would have spent or lost a lot more money down the line.
If you have the opportunity to work with him, you will find that he is diligent and easy to reach whether through phone, email or text message. ***Plus, you will not only be talking to a real estate expert, but also a homeowner and a local native that loves his town.*** (Dealing with personable sincere people is always welcome in major purchases like this.)
With the market as wound up as it is right now (in 2015) I’m sure there are a lot of agents available of varying competence and quality. I am really fortunate to have partnered up with Brian as I did.

Brian is not your typical agent. And, after having worked with several agents in the east bay, I can say with confidence that he’s the best. He was so helpful and patient with us. He has a real understanding of the market and his background as a contractor made his insights so valuable. He was able to point out pros and cons about all the homes we looked at – things we would have never noticed but were pivotal in helping us find the right home. We are so happy in Rockridge. Thanks, Brian!

This review is overdue. Brian helped my husband and I find a home in Oakland this past spring during what seems to be a very crazy housing market. Not only was he patient and understanding (we were also looking in San Francisco) he did not pressure us or rush us through this stressful process. We lucked out on a house in Rockridge and his connections within the Oakland broker community is what I think helped us get our house. We couldn’t be more happy with Brian and plan on using him for future home purchases. Thank you Brian!

Brian was a pleasure to work with.
My wife and I can’t say enough about the support and guidance we received as we worked with Brian to find our first home. In this competitive (and overwhelming) market Brian patiently walked us through the process of purchasing the right home for our family.
Reasons why I’d recommend Brian:
— He took the time to get to know our family, our unique needs, and helped us clarify the type of home we were looking for.
— As many reviewers mentioned, Brian’s background as a licensed contractor gave him the knowledge and perspective necessary to help us asses the hidden possibilities of a home and quickly scope out the size and cost of projects
— Brian knows the East Bay well and helped navigate the nuances of individual neighborhoods
— Brian was always quick to respond, let us drive the pace of the search, and gave us the tools and guidance necessary to win a property
We saw it all with Brian from fixer to polished home– he gave sound advice on it all. In the end we found the perfect place for our family of four. We strongly recommend Brian to anyone in the East Bay, he’s helped us and a number of our friends find the right home.
Thanks Brian, we’re deeply grateful for your partnership in this process!

A friend highly recommended Brian to us, and after interviewing several brokers, we went with Brian. We felt he had the broadest and deepest understanding of real estate of the brokers we spoke to. We also felt that he had the right judgement and instincts about what it took to buy a house in today’s market, where it is highly competitive and every house gets a ton of offers.
We got a house that we love and were extremely impressed by Brian. For us, Brian’s expertise is in three areas:
— Ability to size up a property quickly
— Guidance on what it takes to win a property
— Sound advice during the close process
When looking at houses Brian gave on-​the-​fly estimates about how much it would cost to make certain changes. Brian is a licensed contractor and we trusted his estimates, and I gather others on this page have a similar experience. That made a big difference to us. Often a house is pretty perfect except for a couple of small things. You have to make quick decisions in this market. Frequently you only get one viewing of a house before having to decide whether to make an offer. Being able to figure out how much it will cost to make certain structural changes is helpful.
During the offer process Brian was helpful in providing guidance of what range of prices to offer. In this market every house goes for significantly above asking, and we relied on Brian’s guidance in this area. We made two offers and we got our second one accepted. Throughout the process we got the sense that Brian’s interests were that we got a house we loved.
We had a transaction that took longer than expected. The reason for the delay was that it emerged that some permit applications for work done on the house had expired, and new permit applications had to be submitted to the City of Berkeley. At the time of signing the contract, the sellers were unaware that the permits had expired.
For some time the transaction hung in the balance, because it wasn’t clear how long it would take Berkeley to review the permit application. We felt that Brian provided sound counsel during this period of uncertainty, and clearly laid out what our options were.
Another general point. Brian is one of those people who is passionate about the industry he works in. He develops an understanding of every area of real estate — the finance side (mortgages), permits and regulations, insurance, renovation, escrow. If it’s to do with real estate, Brian has a strong understanding of it. We felt like we were in very good hands, and that is a comforting feeling. We felt that we could go to Brian and he would point us in the right direction. We ended up using his recommendations for a mortgage broker and an insurance broker, after interviewing a few others.
Brian helped us get a house we love, and we are enormously grateful to him. He handled the majority of the complexity of the process, and brought the critical decisions to us with a clear head. He has a calm and attentive manner. If he says he will do something, it’s taken care of. No need to chase up at all. That is a nice feeling for a client.
We would recommend him highly to others, and we would use him again ourselves.

As first time homebuyers, my girlfriend and I were nervous about the whole process. Who wouldn’t be? In the Bay Area, you always hear the housing market being extremely competitive and one would expect to have to make offers on multiple houses. And while the market can’t be helped, Brian made the process all the more manageable, if not (dare I say it) enjoyable. Perhaps luck of the first time buyer, but coupled with Brian’s diligence and knowledge, it was one house, one bid, done and done.
From the introductory meeting with Brian at his office to open house visits on Sundays, then to writing up an offer to negotiations and escrow, Brian was efficient and kept the whole process as stress-​free as possible. We couldn’t be more excited with our first home. Thank you Brian!

My husband and I just bought a house in July 2013. We first found Brian as he was highly recommended to us. When we started the house hunt, we knew absolutely nothing. When we first met Brian, he gave a brief outline of how the home buying process works which was extremely helpful. He always returned emails, phone calls, and text messages in a timely manner. He always maintained his professionalism even when we felt overwhelmed and discouraged. We really came to trust his insight and judgement. We are very lucky to have had him guide us through this process and we love our new house! Thanks Brian.

I just bought my first house and I could not have done it without Brian’s help. I cannot say enough about the service that Brian provided me as my agent. From the initial conversation to the delivery of the keys, Brian was amazing.
It started with a simple question, «If I wanted to buy a house in the near future, what would I need to know?». From there, Brian guided, advised, warned, educated, and supported me through the entire process. He was always looking out for my best interest and never tried to influence me to go outside of my $$ range.
If left to my own devices, I would have bought a ghetto fixer-​upper in a sketchy part of oakland. Thats what I was comfortable with, but Brian insisted that he could find me something in my price range that I would like, and in a more sensible neighborhood. And boy did he ever! He found me the perfect house. It had my name written all over it. AND its in a fantastic area that I never thought that I would be able to afford.
Brian introduced me to my awesome mortgage team and he helped me understand each and every part of the process. Every document, every inspection, every detail. When things in an inspection came back as questionable, Brian went back to the seller and got me more money back!
Brian also has an extensive background in construction and he advised me on several areas of home improvement that have been invaluable. His advice has saved me lots of $$ as well as improved my living space. Brian recommended painters, a carpet company, locksmiths, etc… All of which have been fantastic to deal with as well.
Buying a house was easily the biggest transaction I have ever done and Brian made it seem effortless.

My wife and I feel extremely lucky to have worked with Brian on our recent home purchase. A few things really stood out for us:
Interest in the physical structure — Brian toured many a crawl space or basement with me to check out the house’s structural integrity, look for signs of water, pest or seismic damage or anything else we should be concerned about. Being newcomers to the West coast, this was invaluable to me as I was not familiar with what to look for and Brian was extremely patient and instructive with me in this area.
Knowledge of the value — On many occasions Brian was able to provide a realistic assessment of the houses value in his professional opinion VS the asking price and this was very helpful in setting our expectations correctly.
Punctual — Brian respected our time and was always on time for house viewings or meetings and this was very important to us.
The process — We had to make our purchase and sale while we were on the other side of the country and Brian had all the documents scanned and set up for electronic signature and approval which helped us not miss our opportunity to purchase our home due to travel or other logistical issues.
Referrals — Brian made numerous referrals for tradespeople that we ended up using and have been happy with all of them, this saved time and gave us peace of mind that we were working with tradespeople we could trust.
Perspective — Even when things were stressful and looking like things were heading south, Brian kept calm and kept us calm reassuring us that sometimes things happen that are not expected and provided us with options on how to handle things. This really helped keep us in the right frame of mind to make the right decision.
I could go on but hopefully you get the point that Brian will have you covered and is is truly professional and helpful in many ways that will ensure a smooth (as possible) purchase experience.

The first word that comes to mind when I think of Brian is Integrity. Probably the most important characteristic I’m looking for when dealing with any professional.
I worked with Brian on and off for years, looking to buy a house. The «on and off» was due to my own changing life circumstances, and thus more or less desire to put energy into buying a house. Many real estate agents would have given up on me long ago. However, Brian was always professional and patient, and ready to help whenever I was ready to look. Most importantly, it was clear that he wouldn’t be happy unless he helped me buy a house that was right for me. It’s clear that it’s more important to him that his clients are happy with what they’ve bought than getting them into a house quickly, when perhaps that’s not really the right house for them.
Through that process, I’ve also learned that I can really trust Brian — he’s going to give me the straight story on anything I want to know about. If he sees a problem with a house, he will tell you — and not just focus on the positives.
His background in construction has been a big plus for me. When going through a house, he can identify problems in houses, tell you how important they are, and usually give you an idea of what it would cost to fix/​change something. I’ve been in the basement/​crawl space of many a house with him.
I finally bought a house a couple of months ago. He really went to bat for me, particularly when we found some undisclosed problems with the house while in escrow. He went above and beyond — looking up permits, talking to inspectors and contractors, and negotiating with the seller.
Next time I buy or sell a house, I’ll definitely stick with Brian, and I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending him to all of my friends — I know they will be well taken care of.

This was the third home I have bought, and the second I have purchased in the Bay. I have worked with many other Realtors in the past, and Brian is by far the best. What other realtor will would crawl under a potential house to get a look at the foundation for you? No one, trust me. He made the process as painless as possible. Would recommend Brian to anyone looking to buy a house in the Bay.

Working with Brian was one of the best parts of our home buying process. He not only made us feel comfortable and well-​informed about the process but was also very proactive about everything. As first time home buyers, we never got nervous because he managed the communication well and never overwhelmed us with too many details at once. We were very impressed with how he looked at the everything from our perspective and understood our needs. He has a Real Estate 101 seminar which was very helpful to us. No matter where he was, he was always just a text message away=peace of mind!
He has a good network of references and was able to point us to the right people for getting estimates for repair etc. He also assissted us with things beyond his call of duty like going the Oakland building dept. for checking out building permits etc.
Bottomline is, if you are looking for someone who is nice as well as efficient (which is a very hard combination to find by the way), you want Brian. We highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell a house in the area.

Brian helped us to buy our first home and he was great to work with. He is very helpful and very straightforward. He did not dance around issues with potential properties and had lots of suggestions on what to think about at each place we visited.
He was also very patient with us, a must since it took nearly 15 months to get the place we wanted. At no point did we ever feel pressured. Brian understands the business and he was able to articulate every minute detail intelligently. He was also very good at answering dumb questions without being patronizing. He understood what we were looking for and was able to provide insight throughout.
I have recommended Brian to friends and colleagues, and he has received rave reviews from them as well. If you’re considering a home purchase in Oakland or Berkeley, call Brian first. He is good enough that I made a Unilocal account to post this review.

My wife and I hold to a very high standard people with whom we come into contact ~ especially professionals. So it was our expectation that Brian be more interested in being our advocate than selling us a house. His performance and demeanor met and exceeded our expectations.
Brian provided us with great guidance at every juncture of this home buying effort ~ (i.e., locations, home requirements, general insight, contract advice, and changes to all of the above.). He also openly conveyed any trouble spots we failed to identify and wasn’t afraid to say no if we began to compromise our position ~ we value that ~ thank you!
Mostly, Brian understood our needs and delivered. Consistently. Brian gracefully worked with our personalities ~ not to make us out to be unreasonable, but we do like to be exacting and well informed ~ and that requires time and attention to detail. Brian always kept us updated so we never felt the need to hound him for information ~ Thank you, we really value that…
For other folks with whom we come into contact, interested in getting into this real estate market, we will certainly refer Brian Santilena as an accomplished, thorough and professional agent who got us exactly the deal and property of which we dreamed.

Brian is absolutely AMAZING. Despite all of our nervousness /​overenthusiasm /​nervousness /​overenthusiasm, he was always professional, organized, patient, informative, communicative, encouraging, and responsive. (If that list of admiring adjectives seems long to you, you’re wrong. I could go *on*.)
Before we even met, Brian took to time to respond to a long list of «interview» questions we sent him via email. Our first meeting, I was expecting him to sell himself to us, but all he did was inform us about the process, provide us with some reference materials and contacts, and let us go. It was a good and informative meeting, though did I feel a little ripped off at first that we didn’t get a whole horse and pony show from him. But sometimes, the facts speak for themselves.
The fact is: this man is good.
We didn’t once feel pressure to buy, even though he could have gotten away with selling us that first house we ever saw the inside of. It was the almost right house in sooo the wrong neighborhood, but we were naively in lurve. Instead of a sale in the bag in a month, he let us drag him around for another five long months all over Oakland and beyond.
But he didn’t talk us *out* of buying that first house, either. He simply showed us other options in better neighborhoods, told us a little more about how the real estate market works… and the decision became clear to us. The man just lets the facts speak for themselves.
His background as a contractor was endlessly helpful — he was able to tell us to an insane level of accuracy how much it would take to remodel this, and fix that, and how it related to the overall value of the house vs. the asking price. On the house we ended up buying, he estimated the costs of repairs within 2%. Just eyeballing it! I mean, who does that??? Apparently, Brian does.
After we were in contract, the whole process got super nutty! Don’t even get me started! But through that rollercoaster of a month, Brian just became, well, even more professional, organized, patient, informative, communicative, encouraging, and responsive. Despite inexplicably bizzare behavior from the seller and seller’s agent and hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, we didn’t once feel vulnerable or powerless. In fact, because he was so incredibly *good*, we barely even got frustrated. Why bother? Brian was taking care of us!
So why wasn’t he interested in just selling us that first house we fell in love with? To risk sounding incredibly idealistic and naïve, I would have to say I don’t think he could have lived with himself if he did. He wouldn’t have done his job to the best of his ability — helping us make an informed decision that we would be happy with in the long run, getting us the best value for our money. Even after the deal was closed, he stopped by /​emailed a few times to make sure we were still happy with our purchase. Which in turn as made us very happy with him. Oh, and our house rocks pretty hard too. :) Thanks, Brian!