How to Choose the Best San Francisco Realtor for You in 2025

How to Choose the Best San Francisco Realtor for You in 2025

Buying or selling a home is a huge deal, one of the biggest moves you’ll ever make, and finding the right San Francisco Realtor to help you through it is essential. You deserve someone who gets YOU - your goals, your communication style, your pace, and your vibe! That person is the agent who can guide you through this exciting, and often a little overwhelming, process with confidence.  So let’s talk about how to find the agent who’s the right fit for you, your needs, and your next chapter.

Why does it matter which San Francisco Realtor you choose?                        

If you’ve spent any time looking at the San Francisco real estate market, you already know it’s a wild ride. Homes move fast, inventory is tight, and prices can make your head spin. That’s exactly why the Realtor you choose matters so much. The right agent for you isn’t just there to open lockboxes and write offers. They’re your advocate, your confidant, your teacher, and your warrior. They’ll keep you in the loop, explain what’s happening (and why), and make sure you feel informed and empowered every step of the way.

What are the key qualities of the best San Francisco Realtors?

1         Local Market Mastery

• Detailed knowledge of San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods and micro-markets
• Up-to-date on pricing trends and transaction nuances across home types
• Experience helping clients navigate the complexities of San Franciso homeownership (permitting process, tenant situations, etc)

2         Proven Track Record

• Documented sales experience in San Francisco
• Strong client testimonials and consistent 5-star reviews
• Willingness to connect you with past client references on request

3         Exceptional Communication and Service

• A good listener who takes time to understand your needs and proceed accordingly
• Responsive, available to answer questions, and ready to share info proactively
• Strategic advice that prioritizes you – even if it means advising you to walk away from a deal!

4         Negotiation Experience

• Thorough and clearly explained disclosures, comps, and contracts
• Helping you understand how much to write or accept, and when to push for concessions
• Reputation for ethical but fierce negotiations with other agents and parties

5         Marketing and Tech Savvy

• For sellers: high-quality photos, floor plans, virtual tours, and other marketing materials
• For buyers: digital search tools and regular personalized updates over time
• Access to off-market networks to help keep you ahead of the curve

What are some “red flags” to avoid in a San Francisco Realtor?

• Agents with few recent sales or references in San Francisco proper
• Poor communication – slow, incomplete, or not using your preferred tools
• Unwillingness to educate you or “show their work” to explain processes
• Pressure tactics – pushing you to accept unfavorable terms or rush decisions
• Discount brokerages with minimal services and poor reputations

What are some essential interview questions for a San Francisco Realtor, whether you’re buying or selling a home?

• How long have you worked full-time as an agent in San Francisco?
• Can you provide recent client references from 2024 or 2025?
• What’s your strategy in multiple-offer and other competitive scenarios?
• How will you keep me updated during our transaction?

What are some essential interview questions if you’re selling a home in San Francisco?

• How will you help me determine the price for my listing?
  • Your agent should be able to show their work by walking you through detailed comps.
• How will you prepare my home to be marketed?
  • Your agent should be ready to project manage prep work to make your home shine.
• How will you promote my listing to be sure it rises to the top?
  • Your agent should share examples of their marketing package for several sold properties.
• How will you tell me how things are progressing with my listing?
  • Your agent should have plan to track interest and promotion, and share results with you.

What are some essential interview questions if you’re buying a home in San Francisco?

• How will you help make sure I see off-market listings?
  • Your agent should be well-connected in Realtor networks with access to these listings.
• How will you uncover potential issues that might not be flagged by the seller’s agent?
  • Your agent should understand San Francisco home construction, and have thorough investigative skills to uncover issues that weren’t flagged by the seller or their agent.
• How will you approach negotiations if red flags come up?
  • Your agent should be ready to fight for you, but be honest when it might be time to cut bait.
• How will you work to position my offer for the greatest chance of success?
  • Your agent should have a strategy for balancing contingencies and risk, as well as price.

What are my next steps toward hiring a San Francisco Realtor?

So now that you have this info, what should you do next?  Start by chatting with a few San Francisco Realtors to get a real feel for who clicks with you. Ask them lots of questions: about their experience, how they communicate, and how they’ve helped clients.  Pay attention to how each one makes you feel.  Do they listen?  Do they explain things clearly?  Do you feel comfortable being honest with them?  Remember, an objectively accomplished agent might not be the best one for you – and that’s OK!

Take some time to check out their online reviews, peek at their past sales or marketing examples, and don’t be shy about asking for references.  Once you find the agent who really gets you, who’s knowledgeable and makes you feel confident and supported, you’ll know it, and you’ll be on your way to taking on the San Francisco market with true confidence.

Could Sherri Howe be the San Francisco Realtor for you?

Here’s a bit about Sherri by the numbers:

• 124 5-star reviews from Sherri’s clients on Yelp
• Top 1% of San Francisco Realtors year after year
• 18+ years’ experience as a San Francisco Realtor
• $700M+ total closed volume in San Francisco
• 85% of her business comes from repeat and referral clients

Buyers and sellers choose Sherri for her strong reputation throughout the San Francisco Realtor community for comprehensive research, thorough education, and complete transparency.  Her client testimonials feature words like “detail-oriented,” “knowledgeable,” “responsive,” “organized,” and “patient” again and again, and her reputation for comprehensive disclosure reviews and comps spreadsheets precedes her among her agent colleagues.

For buyers, even if you don’t know where you’d like to live, Sherri’s ready to listen, take you through her comprehensive New Buyer Questionnaire, and help you understand which neighborhoods might fit your lifestyle.  Once you know where and what you’re looking for, she will diligently monitor off-market listings offered by Compass, the MLS, and the Top Agent Network, as well as publicly available homes, and keep you informed.

Sherri is ready to thoroughly review disclosures, consider comps, and more for homes you like.  Ask her about the time she noticed the garage spot being advertised with a condo wasn’t the correct one deeded to the unit, so her client got the home and a much better parking space, or the time she discovered risky unpermitted work on a support beam, saving her client from buying a home with potential structural and resale problems.

For sellers, Sherri starts by getting to know your goals and timeline, then walks you through a clear comps analysis that shows exactly why your home is likely to sell within a certain range, and which updates could make a real difference to your bottom line.  She’ll project-manage with trusted vendors to make sure your home shines without unnecessary cost or stress, and prepare a marketing package to highlight its strengths.

Once your home hits the market, Sherri stays focused and keeps you in the loop.  Come offer day, she’ll leave no stone unturned.  Ask her about the time she followed up with an agent who had accidentally missed the deadline (his clients wrote for $100K more than the next-highest offer), or about the time she leveraged her log of every single potentially interested buyer to work the phones and turn 0 offers into 4 in one afternoon!

Feel free to give Sherri a call (415.640.4664) or send her an email ([email protected]).  She’d love to learn more about your plans to buy or sell San Francisco real estate, and work together to find out if she could be the San Francisco realtor for you!