Buying & Selling In Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties
From our first meeting, I knew Fran was the right Realtor for me. She’s dedicated, compassionate and hardworking. Imagine trying to buying your first home during an incredibly hot real estate market. She knew what I wanted and helped me get it.
Over the years (thirteen years and counting), Fran has represented my husband and I in multiple transactions including the purchase of our first home in Redwood City. As with many buyers in a red-hot sellers’ market, the process could have been brutal. Homes in our future neighborhood were receiving 25+ offers within days of coming on the market. Fran is nothing short of a miracle worker. The offer package she created — including an introduction letter, photo, and other personalized material — impressed the sellers so much that they negotiated with us privately. We avoided a stressful bidding war and got the home we love.
When my husband and I purchased investment property outside of the Bay Area, we had to work with another real estate agent. Throughout that transaction, I was struck by Fran’s uniqueness. Buying or selling real estate is more than a financial transaction. Having an advisor and confidante who has your best interests at heart is priceless. We share Fran’s value system of hard work, commitment to goals, and integrity toward everyone in the process. I’ve never doubted a single purchase with her because she made sure each was right for me. Fran is one in a million and we are so fortunate to have her by our side in our real estate dealings!
Michelle C.
Corporate Executive Relocation
Our move from North Carolina to California had several stages: the initial move into a rental, then purchasing a home in Silicon Valley and then later selling it when we relocated to San Francisco. Fran is incredibly capable; I appreciated that she’s highly organized and has deep knowledge of the Bay Area.
Since Fran has worked with many companies as a relocation resource, she understands the pressures corporate executives face; she’s sensitive to the demands on our time. She’s not only efficient but effective.
Fran helped us buy and sell a home in Silicon Valley. She had a good feel on what we were looking for when we purchased. And when we decided to sell, she had great marketing ideas that delivered the results we sought. She’s simply a pleasure to work with.
Ranjana Clark
Head of Transaction Banking, MUFG Americas and
Former Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, PayPal
Southern California Relocation
Knowledgeable. Articulate. Forthright. Those are just a few words to describe Fran. When looking for a home, you spend many hours together in a car. Fran made the search process enjoyable, sharing her knowledge of the area and really getting to know us. Plus she understands the pressures of a demanding career and spending quality time with family. I felt she had our interests at heart, showing us our best options and counseling us along the way. She was the perfect choice for us.
Relocating to the Bay Area is a big decision; she’s deftly asked us questions to get to the heart of what we needed. At our first meeting she prepared a binder full of information about neighborhoods and schools tailored specifically to our search criteria.
I’ve worked with other Realtors and Fran is by far the best I’ve met. I have high expectations and she has set a new gold standard for me. For buying or selling a Silicon Valley home, she would definitely be my first phone call.
Doniel Sutton
Vice President Human Resources, PayPal
Buying & Selling in the Bay Area
We were interviewing real estate agents (to help sell our San Jose home and purchase a new one in Mountain View) when Fran was referred to us by a mutual friend. Once we met her, we immediately knew she was our Realtor. At our very first meeting she prepared a 3-ring binder with current trends, comparables, local neighborhood information… basically everything we needed; it was clear she had done her homework. In addition to her depth of area knowledge, she has a great personality. Fran is fun, direct and a superb communicator.
When pricing to sell our Willow Glen home, she absolutely nailed it. Her strategy worked and we received more than a half dozen offers over asking price. Fran walked us through our options, explaining the pros and cons of each. We never felt pushed, and she clearly acted as our advocate.
When purchasing our home in Mountain View, we were looking for a property to remodel. Fran has a keen eye of what’s possible and practical. She’s not afraid to tell the truth. We really appreciated that, as buying real estate in Silicon Valley is a significant investment. Fran is a skilled negotiator, a trait required when competing with multiple offers.
Kenny Pate
VP, Product at Deliv
Relocation from the UK
Fran definitely stood out from the crowd of Realtors we interviewed. We were very impressed by her communication skills and initiative; she proactively gave us the information we needed to make the most of our time when searching for our new home.
Since we were moving to the Bay Area from the UK, we decided early on to not rent before buying, as it would have been too disruptive to move my family twice. We also didn’t have a lot of time. It was miraculous she was able to provide a great range of information so quickly, focusing on what was just right for us. She described each neighborhood’s personalities, pluses and minuses; we were well educated on the real estate options available.
We also relied heavily on Fran’s contacts. She introduced us to our lender who was able to quickly pull together all the necessary paperwork. We still use the financial advisor and contractors she recommended. Each and every one came through for us.
Carolyn Herzog
VP of Legal, Symantec
Relocation Testimonials
We have to thank you for your ambitious and professional assistance which we experienced over the last few months. Without your knowledge, patience and help we would have never been able to find a suitable house so quickly. Rest assured that I will definitely share my very positive experience with the appropriate people at my company to ensure that we will continue to use your service for other employee relocations to the area.
Christopher
Fran Papapietro has been working with my wife and I for the past 9+ months on my move from Dallas, TX to the bay area for my job relocation. From day one and our first meeting, Fran was the perfect fit for us and we greatly appreciated her patience and tenacity working with us during the very long sales cycle of our home in Texas. We have never encountered a real estate professional that has the same organization and efficiency as Fran. The information booklets, the maps with the houses identified, the efficient route, and even the small details of drinks and snacks are outstanding and the best of class traits that we have ever encountered. The icing on the cake is that our personalities were a great match and Fran provided us with sincere and objective suggestions that can be rare in a sales professional. This match made our interaction a pleasure and extremely beneficial in making the right decision in the recent home contract in Livermore. Fran is a fantastic resource and if the opportunity arises, I will fully endorse Fran to anyone that has a need for a real estate professional.
Fred
Thank you for your hard work in helping my family find the perfect home in Los Altos Hills, in record time. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed working with you and we honestly believe that if you had not been there to help us, we would still be house hunting.
As you know, the real estate market in Silicon Valley is very challenging and we were under extreme circumstances in that we live in new York City and had to find a home quickly to accommodate my husband’s new job. To complicate matters, we had not spent much time in Northern California and did not know the neighborhoods or schools at all. Before speaking with you, I was spending long nights on the internet trying to assess the market for myself and I was coming up with – nothing. During our first conversation, you explained to me why I wasn’t finding the perfect home and described a few listings, one of which turned out to be the house we eventually purchased.
When I decided to visit California for a day to look at homes, you packed the schedule with an extensive itinerary, including a dozen houses as well as school visits. I have worked with many realtors, for personal acquisitions and during my career as a real estate attorney, but none had your depth of knowledge or the energy that you displayed that long day and at every step in the process toward closing. Every question I asked of you – from family earthquake preparedness to chimney inspections – was answered promptly and thoroughly. You picked up on my likes and dislikes instantly.
Once we decided to make an offer on a house, you gave us sound advice on how to get the seller’s attention so they would not entertain other bidders. You guided us through the contract negotiations and the disclosures. You personally arranged and oversaw all the inspections and even contacted prospective landscapers and other professionals for post closing contracts. In addition, it was fun to work with you – I never felt pressured at any stage in the process. On closing day, I was satisfied that we had made the right decision.
Thank you Fran, for your energy, intelligence, and heart (and humor!) during the acquisition process and for helping my family through this major, exciting transition.
Cindy
Accolades from a Colleague
Working with Fran Papapietro is like working with a Hall of Fame professional. She insists on providing every one of her clients with the best real estate buying or selling experience, and she very effectively motivates every other professional involved in the transaction to rise to her highest standard. She is smart, hard-working, organized, committed and passionate about serving her clients. And what I admire most about Fran is the fact that she maintains the highest integrity. Having worked with Fran for a number of years now, I am truly honored to have her as an extremely valued business partner, and I highly endorse her services to anyone searching for an ideal real estate professional.
Eric Trailer
Mortgage Lender
Buyer Testimonials
We just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for all the helpful guidance, advice and expertise you provided during our home search. You certainly made what originally seemed like a daunting process, much more enjoyable. Thanks for always taking the time to answer our questions and provide assistance when needed. All of your help was much appreciated and we look forward to working with you again when we are ready to move to a new place.
Liz & Kevin
Thank you for going out of your way to share your expertise about Mountain View and its properties, to find the right place for me, and to help me get all my paperwork in place, align a local lender, and taking me through all the nerve-wrecking steps that it took to get to the finish line. Even after the purchase was finalized and your job was essentially done, you went another mile and continued to help me with finding a local air conditioning expert, a handyman, and getting new keys for my home and mailbox. I am very grateful. I highly recommend you to anyone who may be looking for a real estate agent or have any real estate related questions. This has been the most pleasant real estate transaction I have experienced in my life. Thank you!
Helga, Los Altos
Thanks so much for all you’ve done! We really enjoyed getting to know you. We felt we benefited so much from your wonderful professionalism, your inspirations, your thorough communications and follow-up, as well as your delightfully gracious personality. And we can’t thank you enough for so clearly, patiently explaining the astonishing array of forms we had to sign!!
Martha, Trish & Clif, Los Altos
We were interested in buying house but didn’t know where to start. Luckily we found Fran, literally. We were at an open house that she was holding and she started asking us some questions about our house buying experiences so far. We didn’t know much about the process since we had only been renters. Fran offered to meet with us in her office to detail out the process for buying a home. We were both quite nervous coming into the meeting. Were we going to understand anything? Would a realtor even want to work with us knowing that we did not have prior experience with buying homes? Within minutes we knew Fran was special. She gave us an open window of time and went through each step of the process until we felt 100% comfortable. The next step was finding a place we both liked. Again, Fran was a star. We highly recommend Fran to all of our friends and family without reservation. She is professional, honest, and funny as heck!!!
Sara & Daisy, San Jose
My husband and I can’t thank Fran enough for all of her help getting us into our first home. We went into the home-buying process a bit skeptical that it would work for us and unsure we even wanted to have a real estate agent. But we were immediately put at ease, thanks to Fran. She patiently explained the entire process to us and was available day and night for questions – even silly ones! One of the nicest things about Fran was her demeanor. She was funny, frank, and upfront about what we could expect as part of the home buying process. And she’d done her homework – Fran has an excellent knowledge of the Bay Area and was able to direct us toward neighborhoods that we didn’t even know existed before. After we closed escrow, Fran continued to be available just in case we needed anything. In short, she made the process easy, and even fun. We would highly recommend her to all home-buyers, whether they are first timers or seasoned experts. Thanks Fran!
Amy & Barrett, San Jose
First-Time Home Buyers
As first-time buyers, we found Fran very professional and well informed. She handled all aspects of the transaction with integrity and efficiency, from presenting the offer to being present at the sign off. Our house required ‘court confirmation’ and Fran helped us understand and navigate that process. Fran’s guidance and support was especially appreciated! She has been invaluable providing us assistance with many of the details associated with owning and getting established in our new home. We recommend Fran with great enthusiasm.
Candy & Herman, Santa Clara
It is with much satisfaction and delight that we recommend Fran as a realtor. My husband and I are first-time homebuyers and are so thankful that Fran found us our home. We have found in our experience that Fran is low pressure and a good listener when it comes to the house searching process, but is firm and strong when it comes to problem resolution. Her primary focus for us as new buyers was education, and she is just an all around good and honest person. We now live in a beautiful home within a friendly neighborhood, and have a great backyard in which our new dog can play. We can happily and proudly live in this home for many years to come. Thanks so much, Fran.
Although I don’t have past experience to compare my recent home buying experience, I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy it was. This is due to in large part to finding my realtor, Fran Papapietro. She was diligent in sending potential listings that would interest me and she sat down with me to give me an overview of contracts I would be required to sign. She even prepares a binder to keep the home buying information organized. I appreciated Fran’s help as a realtor since she definitely goes the extra mile. I’d recommend her any day.
Karen, Mountain View
Seller Testimonials
One can become very anxious when selling a house in a buyer’s market, but working with Fran our worries disappeared. She is organized, dependable, professional, accommodating, and most importantly, Fran listens and cares about you. She proposed what we thought to be an aggressive schedule, it all seemed so daunting! Fran knew exactly what to expect for the duration of each task and she estimated remarkably well all costs we would incur, no unpleasant surprises at the end. She helped us work with the quotes and save money by being creative, she did not push to spend money but rather made us feel comfortable in the entire process. We even traveled overseas while selling our place and e-mail and phone worked very well. If you are busy working people, with a tight schedule and need someone who you can trust and who will make life easier, count on Fran. We recommend her highly.
Eduardo & Pauliane
Fran, thanks so much for your help as the listing agent in selling our family home of 35 years. You made the transition for my father very easy. Your professionalism, humor, and dedication in handling the property went way beyond the call of an agent. My father, sister, and I appreciate your cooperation in handling the sell long distance. This enabled my sister and me to fulfill our personal and professional obligations without having to travel to Northern California on multiple visits. Please feel free to list me as a reference. Thanks again.
Brenda