Eileen Bermingham – Zephyr Real Estate

We loved working with Eileen, who’s been great at a) giving us a solid feel for the market, b) worked very efficiently together with the mortgage provider, c) provided solid advice on the kinds of things to check, requesting the necessary inspections, contingencies, and most importantly, through her negotiation skills we were able to buy the house we liked best! We love our new house!

Where to begin? We initially followed Eileen’s blog for a few months before we made the plunge into actively looking at properties to buy. Upon touching base with her, Eileen was very easy to get a hold off and always responded promptly.
Eileen met with us and provided a great overview of her services and of the current real estate market. We certainly felt very comfortable with her. Even though we interviewed a few other agents, we felt most comfortable with Eileen and her abilities. We are extremely happy we were able to work with her.
Eileen’s expertise was great! We especially loved her honest and insightful opinions. Although some agents might upsell a property to try to get a quick sale, Eileen met us at plenty of properties and pointed out any area of concern as well as potential additional costs that may be associated post-​sale.
Thanks to Eileen we were able to buy a home where we feel extremely comfortable. She helped in every step of the process and explained all the nuances of the San Francisco-​specific market. We were familiar with processes in other parts of the country, but were sure glad we had Eileen on our side. Our purchase was from an L.A.-based developer who had a title company in southern Cali. Although the title company assigned various closing fees to us during the closing process, Eileen was able to catch the fees which buyers in SF weren’t usually responsible for, which saved us thousands of dollars in closing costs!
Thanks Eileen! We look forward to recommending you and doing business in the future (although we don’t plan to sell anytime soon — we love our home).

Full marks for Eileen as a buyer’s agent extraordinaire! We just closed on our new home in Noe Valley and could not be more thrilled with the house, and with our experience with Eileen in general.
Above all else, Eileen is patient and honest. Through the thick of the heady seller’s market of 2015, she always counseled us wisely with her knowledge and experience. When we were chomping at the bit to overbid on a home, she tempered our eagerness with rationality. In no way is she incentivized to this; she just does it because its the right thing to do.
Eileen is super organized, thoughtful, and responsive. I don’t know how many «quick question, Eileen…» calls, texts and emails I sent to her during the course of our search, but everything was answered almost instantly. She seamless guided us through the search process, the offers and negotiations, into the closing process with grace.
I give Eileen the highest possible recommendation and have sent several family members and friends her way already (see Ethan B. below!). Eileen is the best.

Eileen was a great fit for us from the start. As first time buyers, Eileen was patient with us and educated us during the entire process. She helped us understand the competitive San Francisco market so we could be realistic with our expectations and avoid bidding wars. She works with a solid group of vendor partners that we used for our structural engineering assessment and inspection, electricians and general contractors. Even since we bought our house, she continues to check in with us with comps on the market and offering additional help.

I cannot say enough about what a great agent Eileen is. We moved from a crazy market in New York to an even tighter one in San Francisco and were nervous about finding a house in our price range that wasn’t a total horror show. Eileen, however, was not even slightly intimidated and her optimism never faltered, even after we lost out on two places with what we thought were good (cash) offers. The third time was the charm and in the end, Eileen found us the PERFECT house in a neighborhood we hadn’t thought to look at and helped us get a really good deal, which is unheard of in San Francisco right now. In hindsight, the first two places would have been fine, but not at the prices they sold for. The house we bought, however, is exactly what we want and we feel so grateful we worked with Eileen.
She is absolutely dogged — Eileen never gives up and manages to stay optimistic and positive throughout the process. You never have to call her twice. She is totally available. She works really hard and is extremely knowledgeable about not only the process of buying and selling, but also renovation and construction. She will never fail to give you her opinion or say «I don’t know» and leave it at that. She will find an answer from a reliable, knowledgeable source. Every single time.
Having sold real estate myself at one time, I can guarantee that Eileen is really really good at what she does. We have bought and sold several homes, and she is by far the best agent I have ever dealt with, including myself. She really took the time to understand what we were looking for and always showed us properties that fit the bill. If you are looking to buy in San Francisco, it definitely pays to work with a good agent like Eileen, especially if, like us, you are not familiar with the local market and the way transactions are done here. She was completely clear and gave us all the information we needed. No surprises.
And finally, Eileen is just a terrific person to have on your side. She’s funny and smart and warm. You absolutely cannot go wrong working with Eileen. If we ever decide to sell, she will be the only agent we call.

Eileen set the realtor bar incredibly high. So high in fact that now we’ve relocated to another state and are having difficulty finding someone who can come close to her expertise and professionalism. Seriously.
We went to Eileen to sell our condo and she handled even the most minute details with patience, insight, and keen intelligence. She’s a standout and we would recommend her unreservedly. In fact, we’d go further than recommend her, probably insist that if you were looking for an agent you should work with her and not pass up the opportunity. Because you won’t know just how good she is until she sells your condo for you when you’ve never sold a place before, and you’re living 2,500 miles away. She knew what we needed even before we knew, and she really is that good.

Eileen is an amazingly talented, friendly, and patient agent. She represented us with the sell of our house in San Francisco, and the house sold after the first showing thanks to her diligent research, hard work, and fantastic advice. But, let me back up, because just mentioning our success does not do her justice. I first met Eileen when she offered advice on a renovation we were considering. She was so professional and honest about the scope of the work that, though we ultimately chose not to renovate (thanks to her superb advice), she became our go-​to agent for all real-​estate questions. Very soon after, we decided we should sell. Eileen stepped in and offered comprehensive advice on what our options were in a time when the market was still very bad. We decided to wait … years … for the market to improve, and Eileen never lost patience with us or stopped offering advice. Once our kids were born, we knew we had to move, and Eileen stepped in as if no time had gone by. Due to the market, we were very nervous about the outcome, but Eileen calmed our nerves, laid out up-​to-​date options, and gave us the perfect advice for staging our home. Due to her exceptional planning and no-​nonsense approach, she was able to get us multiple offers after the very first showing despite the market still not being that great. With her superb research and advice, we are confident that we chose the best offer. It’s as if she took the weight of the world off of our shoulders, and I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Eileen assisted my husband and I in finding and purchasing our new home in the Excelsior. When it came time to start the closing process, there was another buyer interested, but Eileen was so fast, and so helpful in her suggestions about how to make ourselves the more enticing choice for the seller, that I can’t imagine it was much of a contest. As another reviewer mentioned, Eileen does make you feel like you are her only client (which is clearly not the case!). She is a lot of fun to work with, as well, and we definitely laughed a lot. After closing, Eileen did not completely disappear, either. She followed through with many helpful suggestions for contractors and other people who could help make our home into exactly what we wanted. In a nutshell: Eileen is incredibly knowledgable about the real estate market in San Francisco, she is smart, efficient, and fun to work with. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Eileen represented us in the sale of our condo in Mission Bay. It was an amazingly smooth process with great results. She worked over-​time marketing the apartment right through the mayhem of the Giants’ World Series, with multiple open houses and private showings during the quick two weeks. She fully managed the process, including painting, staging, dealing with the HOA needs, etc, such that there was almost no stress or work for us. When it came down to the final moment of considering offers, we found that she had proactively done the work of negotiating with the potential buyers and laid out the possibilities in such an organized fashion that we had no trouble deciding and closing the deal. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

We have worked with Eileen to both purchase and sell a house in San Francisco. We first came to know her after following her blog for a couple of years. She is one of the most knowledgeable and responsive real estate professionals we have had the pleasure of working with. Her communication with us has always been of the highest calibre as she responds to emails and text messages virtually instantaneously. Most importantly, in a real estate market that is as competitive and moves as quickly as San Francisco, Eileen really has her finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the market, and is able to provide her professional advice on all aspects of a transaction, i.e., competitive offer price, attractive list price, etc. We trust her implicitly and recommend her wholeheartedly!

We have young children and were traveling from South San Jose to view properties in San Francisco so needed a diligent realtor who understood our needs perfectly. Eileen has been everything we could’ve wished for and more; this lady never stops and makes you feel like you’re her only client. Her upbeat attitude, no-​nonsense approach and prompt response to queries (no matter how big or small) made the whole buying process pretty much stress-​free. Eileen even entertained our two boys while we signed contracts! We appreciated her honest opinion and gentle guidance, and she’s still helping us with contractor recommendations and general home-​owning advice. We’re already recommending Eileen to friends wishing to buy or sell in the city.

I would like to write a review for Eileen not because she has been my Real Estate agent, but because I have know her for so many years, she will be my agent when I am ready to buy my first home here in San Francisco. Eileen is very personable, laughs a ton, and one of the nicest people I have met. I know that she takes her business very seriously and loves what she does. Over the course of our relationship she has given me so much professional advise and has helped me to grow as a professional myself. I am looking forward to the day she is my agent here in SF!

Eileen is great! She helped me buy a condo in SF. As a first-​time buyer I had no idea what I was doing and could not have done it without her. She attended many open houses with me and sent me weekly updates of new listings with her comments and pros and cons. She was always available to reply to emails, she was able to pick me up from work to attend early showings of houses. We closed escrow on the first place we made an offer on, largely due to Eileen who managed to work out how to make ours the winning offer in a situation with 8 other buyers. Additionally she has a really great dry sense of humor and is very relaxed and patient, and explained a lot of things to me I’d have been afraid to ask someone else. I would recommend her to anyone.

A friend recommended Eileen, and after meeting a few other realtors, I was immediately wowed. She was so organized, quick, and thorough. My work schedule and hours are intense and inflexible, but Eileen was always available and somehow learned my schedule better than I did. She was available before and after I started work, which was crucial. After looking at a handful of places together, she quickly figured out what I wanted (again, better than I did) and would send me relevant, hand picked listings with her own commentary and insights about each, not just long pointless listings that I could have found on Trulia.
Then I got the call from her…“clear your schedule this weekend, I found the perfect place for you, we’ll see it Saturday and be ready to put in an offer before Monday.” And she was right! She had even reviewed all the HOA docs, disclosures, and annotated them for me, highlighting important bits. And the offer was in 24 hrs later.
She also spent a huge amount of time mediating between loan officers/​bank to smooth out wrinkles and get me into an epic apartment. Thanks a ton!

Eileen recently helped us buy a house in San Francisco and she was absolutely amazing. From helping us craft the best offer package to being available pretty much ²⁴⁄₇. She was the best! We highly recommend working with her!

Eileen came recommended from a friend of mine. He’d bought a loft through her and so when my time to buy came up, I asked him for her details.
She really came though for me in a few key ways. One is that I am petty busy with work and couldn’t spare a lot of time to find a place. We had a couple intense weekends seeing a lot of places quickly so she could understand what I wanted. After that she just only contacted me when there were some pretty good options to check out. Once we found the best place for me, she helped me craft a good offer, was highly responsive at all times of day or night, calmed my nerves and got me the place I wanted for a decent price.
All in all, I tried working with a few different agents and Eileen was the best by a long way.

My wife and I worked with Eileen recently to buy a house in SF. We had previously worked with two other agents who seemed incapable of getting deals done. Eileen isn’t a shark, but she did know how to take advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. We appreciated that she could make a deal happen (without being ruthless or underhanded).
In our case, we didn’t need her help finding places. We just needed someone to make it happen once we decided to pursue something. She was on-​the-​ball at every turn, from first-​look to close-​of-​escrow. So, we’re happy and would recommend her to others.

Eileen was instrumental in helping us finding a house. She was extremely professional and knowledgeable about SF real estate. In fact, my husband found her through her blog at
, which has tons of useful information.
Eileen listens to our needs and is very respectful of our time. She sent us listings with her comments so we can quickly zoom in on houses that meet our needs. Throughout 9+ months of house hunting process, Eileen was always very responsive. She responded to our emails usually within an hour. She’s also very organized, which makes the offer/​closing process easier. She reviewed the disclosure documents, lined up inspections and allowed us to sign paperwork electronically. I highly recommend working with her!

Woot… my 100^th and undoubtedly most important Unilocal review! Eileen helped my wife and I recently complete our first home purchase in SF, successfully guiding us through what has been one of the most fierce real estate market in years. After many months of reading Eileen’s blog (
) I reached out to her knowing she would be a wonderful resource and proponent, and after our first meeting I immediately knew we had made the right choice. Over the course of about 10 months (yes Eileen is the epitome of patience), she helped us navigate packed open houses and multiple, multi-​offer situations, and was the reassuring, half-​glass-​full voice we absolutely needed when we thought that finding the perfect house would be an impossibility.
As first time home buyers Eileen was instrumental in helping us look beyond just a home’s fresh paint and pretty light fixtures/​staging to understand how a house and just as importantly, a specific neighborhood, would work with our overall lifestyle. When it came time to make an offer, Eileen provided strict due diligence when pulling together comps and combing over disclosures. Afterwards Eileen worked aggressively with the seller’s agent ultimately resulting in a great deal on a home that far exceeded our initial expectations when jumping into this search. During escrow Eileen worked tirelessly on our behalf with everyone from the lender to various inspectors to the point where were nearly 1.5 weeks ahead of our original 30 day close schedule. I seriously couldn’t have imagined things going any smoother.
If you’re looking for an agent to who is dedicated to their craft, acts a true client advocate, and answers emails and voice-​mails in under 5 minutes even while on vacation, look no further than Eileen!

My husband and I worked with Eileen a few years ago when we decided to buy a 3 unit building.
She was actually the seller’s agent, but she ended up helping us close the deal much more than our own agent. She even went so far as to have lunch with our out of town investor and helped convince him that it was a good investment opportunity!
We saw the building on a Tuesday broker’s tour, and we were in contract before the first Sunday open house even took place.
The seller was thrilled and so were we. (and believe me, 2009 was not the easiest time to make a real estate deal happen for either party)
A lot of real estate agents tend to be friendly, outgoing types because that is what the job requires. But Eileen is much more than just a good salesperson; she has a great deal of integrity and I would trust her to help buy or sell a house. Either way, you will be lucky to work with her.
Additionally, Eileen is one of the most hard working and informed agents in the business.
As I like to keep an eye on the real estate market, financing trends, etc., I am impressed by how often I see Eileen online on
or some other site responding and answering the most complex and up-​to-​date real-​estate questions.
Her level of involvement and awareness reflects a genuine passion for what she does. I certainly appreciate how she has helped keep me informed both directly (by responding to my emails) and indirectly (through her blog or online posts).
I really can’t recommend Eileen more highly.
She is a great person to work with and next time we buy a building we will be using her.