Don Dunning – Wells & Bennett

Don has been our family realtor for 16 years. We trust him.
During the last year he was unavailable, so we worked with another well-​regarded realtor.
Wow! There was such a difference!
Don is in your corner all the way.
He attends to details that could cost you if they were not addressed; the other realtor did not.
He works with one to get the best price; the other realtor did not. In fact the other wanted me to offer $ 40,000 more than the property actually sold for, I guess so they could make commission and move on to the next sale.
He saved me $ 5000 over my last purchase, after my offer was accepted. He saved the last family member $ 7000 on their purchase after their offer was accepted. I have never heard of another realtor who can negociate that kind of discount.
He knows about everyone in the East Bay realty community as he has been in the biz for more than 30 years. He writes a column for a local paper, acts as an expert witness and has been president of the Oakland Board of Realtors. He is extremely knowledgeable.
We have found him to be the best.

Buying a home can be a very stressful process, especially your first home, but with Don’s help the process was much easier. We recently relocated from Fremont to Oakland and with Don expertise and many years working in Oakland we were able to find our first home.
He explained the whole process to us and walked us through the whole process. He was available at all times for any questions or concerns that we had. I would highly recommend Don if you are searching for a new home!

Don Dunning is a nice man, and presents himself well — he was recommended by a friend– I thought that he was someone that I could trust — he was ease to work with, but in the end he
was my agent in buying a house that was badly flawed and although I purchased it in 2011, I have never been able to live in it — It had several issues that made it unlivable — Don has had many years of experience, and yet he totally missed the problems with the house and even after the problems became quite apparent (due to my further investigations — he did not apologize or admit fault — he had obviously become complacent, and missed obvious red flags He is not a bad person — but I would not totally trust in his ability to spot defects– something important in an agent

I recently worked with Don on a purchase transaction where he represented the buyers for whom I secured the financing for. Don showed his great communication and knowledge throughout the entire process. He did an excellent job on relaying info to his clients and to the selling agent.
With his vast experience of the local market, if you are looking to buy or sell in the Oakland area, I would highly recommend Don.

I worked with Don to sell my house in El Cerrito and buy a condo in Berkeley. I was impressed with Don’s many years of experience, his integrity, and his negotiation skills. I would certainly recommend him to anyone.

Thank you, Don Dunning, for all the time and effort you put into making the sale of my late Aunt’s house as pleasant and successful as possible.
I have nothing but wonderful things to say about your knowledge, professionalism and expertise as an agent. It was such a relief to be able to leave everything in your hands while I was back in Texas tending to my own business and family matters.
Thank you again for allowing me to have complete confidence in your capabilities as an agent and great knowledge of the East Bay area. I could not have asked for a better ending to this scenario.

Do NOT venture into any real estate transaction without Don on your side. Bar none, he is THE best. My husband and I have worked with him over the years to prepare for buying our first home. We are now the proud owners of a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood. Other agents would have pushed us into homes and areas not right for us – and it would have been easy to do. The whole time, we never felt taken advantage of, by anyone. Don simply would not let that happen to us.
And every step of the way Don showed patience, professionalism, clear-​minded guidance that was always in OUR best interests — not his! I trusted him and his input in every way. He was our advocate to a fault. His brand of style is rare and refreshing — he’s set the bar for us and we’ll never settle for less. (Thanks, Don!)
My husband and I even have a running dialogue now about housing issues or concerns that arise: «Honey, WWDD?» (what would Don do)
We won’t buy or sell a home without him. I’d recommend the same for anyone working in this tricky and complicated housing market.

When i was interested in listing my home in the Montclair District, I interviewed Don. He came highly prepared with all the comps in the area and showed that he was highly competent of the process necessary for a successful sale. Due to unforeseen complications, my husband and I chose not to sell but his office carried forward with finding us a solid tenant. Bravo!

Sellers take note! Don was the listing agent on a house I looked at during an open house a while ago. First thing he asked me when I walked in the door was, «Do you have an agent?» and when I said, «Yes», he moved on to chatting up the folks who came in right after me, who said they didn’t.
He was cranky, unfriendly, and decidedly more interested in chatting up buyers who didn’t have an agent yet (customers for himself!) than in selling the house he was supposedly the listing agent for.
I was actually interested in the house, and told him so more than once, but he didn’t make any effort to talk to me. He didn’t even offer me a printed flyer. Plenty of houses on the market. Definitely not worth dealing with a snotty desultory listing agent. My agent, when I asked about him, said that his reputation among other agents is basically he’s coasting on his reputation. Obviously he’s not real interested in selling a house if he’s using it as a vehicle to recruit buyer-​clients for himself. Hard to imagine a worse quality in a listing agent.

I first sought out Don Dunning to be my real estate consultant as I was planning to sell my condominium. I quickly realized that he should be my real estate representative since he had the expertise and years of experience I was looking for. The market has been tough for sellers, especially for condos owners. It took many, many months of open houses and non-​committed buyers, but he was successful in the end. From the start, Don was very open about the state of the market, how to best position and prepare my property for sale, and he discussed all the details before working with me to make the best decisions. His patience, perseverance and professionalism was consistent throughout. I recommend him highly to anyone looking for a realtor or a real estate consultant.

Don Dunning just helped me sell my home in Berkeley. As I was selling directly to my tenants and we had already negotiated the price, I needed someone to handle paperwork and explain the process to me. Don was referred to me as one of the few agents in the East Bay who does hourly real estate consulting. I signed his consulting agreement and he got right to work.
He sent me all the paperwork and explained everything step-​by-​step. He was careful to point out things that could be a problem for me or cost me money. When I needed something changed on addendum, he was quick to take care of it.
My escrow just closed and I am extremely pleased with his service. Most agents will work only for a percentage of the purchase price. Don worked on an hourly basis and charged me only for what I asked him to do. He was professional, polite, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. On top of all that, I saved a lot of money by only paying for what I needed.
With his over 30 years in the business, I recommend Don highly for anyone who needs real estate help by-​the-​hour in the East Bay and anyone who needs a top grade Realtor for traditional real estate transactions.

Don helped us with hourly real estate consulting. He is fair and tells it like it is. We found his honest and straightforward approach refreshing. He was able to see the big picture. He would point out any areas of concern/​red flags and help us to weigh the pros and cons to make sound decisions. Don’s expertise and words of wisdom were instrumental in helping us through the entire process when we bought our house. When needed, he recommended other trustworthy and dependable consultants such as engineers, trades people, designers, etc. He continues to be a great resource for us as homeowners.

Don represented us on our house sale in Piedmont earlier this year, and did an outstanding job for us. The house ended up selling in 8 days at over the offer price. Don is the consummate professional, and I was really glad he was representing us and not the buyers! Would recommend him whole-​heartedly to anyone looking for a GOOD realtor.

Don saved us from big mistakes many times. He was just what we needed– a pro who knows all the pitfalls that buyers encounter, and no desire to push us into buying. He taught us a great deal about what to look for and what to avoid. I’m pretty sure that we would have bought something sooner with most other agents, and that the purchase would not have been anywhere close to as great as the house we wound up buying.

Don is fantastic! As a first time homebuyer I was completely overwhelmed most of the time but he walked me thru every single step of the process. He is very patient and has years of experience. I have complete confidence in him and how he operates.
I would recommend Don to everyone looking to buy or sell their home.