Testimonials

Grace and Kim really came through for us in the end. The market had turned by the time the house came on the market and it didn't sell immediately. They worked hard to dig up and follow any leads and that finally led to a sale at a price we were happy with. We would highly recommend them.

It's hard to find the right words to describe just how incredible Grace is. Even harder now that we take a moment to reflect on just how big of an impact she has had on our lives. As we sit in our forever home, marveling at the life we've built here and the memories we've shared raising our children, we can't help but look back in awe and gratitude for the woman who made it all possible 15 years ago. It may sound like an exaggeration, but we are fairly certain that without her, we would not have gotten this house.

With the Internet it's easy to find a house you like, but it certainly isn't easy to get it. There is so much strategy and nuance to the real estate game that we as buyers and sellers don't see. It's easy to get lost in the shuffle unless, of course, you're lucky enough to find an agent like Grace who not only knows the game but who cares enough to go after your dream home as if it were her own. We had no business getting this house. Suffice it to say the property was unique, interest was massive and competition was fierce. BUT...Grace was determined, tenacious, relentless, and would not stop until the home was ours. She worked her own special brand of magic on a near impossible situation and our lives have been so much richer for it.

We often smile a giddy little smile and toast Grace even though she can't hear us. We marvel at how she pulled it off and how she has continued to be a positive presence in our lives-- always checking in, offering market perspectives and advice, sharing new restaurants, connecting us with her network of home improvement professionals and much more. She has been going above and beyond since the day we met her. So if you are looking for an agent who is brilliant, fierce, compassionate, knowledgeable, trustworthy, kind, calm under pressure and the loveliest of people...Grace is for you.

This past autumn, I had the great pleasure of working with Grace Bishop and her wonderful team
at Red Oak Realty. They helped us sell our home in the El Cerrito hills. I found Grace and Kim
and the rest of their staff to be absolute professionals from the first moment I entered their office
on Fairmount Ave until the moment that our home sale was finalized.

Grace truly loves helping people buy and sell homes! She is a big fan of architecture and design;
she is incredibly detail oriented; and she is a true problem solver with a positive can-do attitude.

Throughout our home-selling process, we learned that no question or concern was too big or too
small for Grace and her team to handle -- quickly and competently.

Grace has long-standing positive relationships with all the vendors you’ll need to get your home
looking its very best: from inspections to staging, from landscaping to painting, she has the
connections you’ll to get your house from listing to sale as smoothly as you can imagine.

I have absolutely no reservations in recommending Grace Bishop and Red Oak Realty. Selling
your home can be fraught with stress and setbacks, and having a true professional on your side
makes all the difference. Grace is just such a person. It was truly a pleasure working with her.

So grateful for all of Grace’s guidance and help through this process of selling the family home. Any questions that came up, she was willing to meet to answer questions, concerns etc. which she did promptly and clearly. Six months ago she helped me negotiate the purchase of my condo, so I knew that I was in the best hands when selling my home. I give the highest recommendation to Grace for any real estate needs!

Having been born and raised in the East Bay, I never wanted to leave this beautiful, diverse, special place. However, purchasing a home here is not as easy as it was back in the 70s and 80s when working and middle class families (like my own) could afford to own. That being the case, I figured we had one of two choices — be lifelong renters where we want to live or leave the Bay Area to be able to purchase a home.

When we first started talking to Grace and her associate Kim Markison about our desire to own a home in the East Bay we shared our concern that it wouldn't be possible for our family to be competitive in this market. Grace was direct and honest in her feedback. She didn't feed us illusions that it would be easy, but she did lay out different options for us to consider that would make it a possibility. Her extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the East Bay housing market was apparent from the onset of the process. Without tech-type salaries or family financial help, it would take time for us to be positioned to have a chance but she instilled confidence that it was not only possible, but we would indeed find the right house for our family.

We shared with Grace what was most important to us in the home we wanted to own and the location we wanted to live. Every step of the way she listened closely, honoring our family's priorities and offering honest feedback regarding specific properties and how they did and didn't align with our stated desires. Through these experiences it became evident that Grace is driven not by sales and commissions but by really working to connect buyers to the home that is right for them. Grace is ethical and honest- two extremely important qualities of a real estate agent, especially considering how vulnerable the process of purchasing a first home can be.

In addition to her experience and knowledge, Grace has put time into fostering great relationships with clients and colleagues alike, her reputation in the field an asset to any client working with her. Selling agents often knew her and wanted to work with her, which was a major advantage for us when it came time to make an offer.

Grace Bishop is a bit of a unicorn, in that she possesses a rare and very special combination of traits. She is a no-nonsense, direct, honest, knowledgeable, savvy agent who exhibits great patience, empathy, and understanding towards her clients and their experience. Through the daunting, scary, exciting process of purchasing our first home Grace and Kim were there to answer questions, normalize our experience, educate and support us. It was a long journey, but as Grace had assured us at the start of it all, it was possible and we absolutely did land in the right house for our family thanks largely to her.

Trying to sell our home during a pandemic was confusing at best. Grace and her team stuck with us over a two-year period while we went back and forth and then finally made our decision. Grace's suggestions about the best ways to prepare our home, her market knowledge, patience, and good humor were invaluable. The sale could not have been smoother, the results were beyond our expectations. Thank you!

I wish there were 10 stars to give Red Oak's Grace and Kim! They are the gurus of East Bay real estate - professional to the hilt, knowledgeable enough to write a book, highly responsive, kind, patient and most of all, always got the job done! Fantastic teamwork with delightful people. Thank you for getting us into a home we'll love in this crazy Bay Area market. Highly recommend! All the best, TC.

As this was my first home sale, I was not sure what to expect for the process. Grace and Kim handled this somewhat difficult escrow with ease, allowing me to execute this entire transaction from out of state (and for part of it out of the country). This was invaluable to me as it didn’t require me to go to California, and I felt that I was in great hands throughout the entire process. I was also able to get quite a bit more for my property than I thought I could, due to their thorough knowledge of the local market. I’m very satisfied!

We worked with Grace and Kim to sell our house. The experience was great. They are very knowledgeable, I always felt informed, communication was quick and direct, all my questions were answered and then some. Working with them was an absolute pleasure.