Testimonials

We contacted Grace after being referred to her by a work colleague. We met with her in August ’14 and by the end of October ’14 we had closed on a home in Berkeley that was exactly what we were looking for. Grace seems to really understand how to negotiate competitively in the current market. We even had a baby while in escrow and she helped make the process stress free. She scheduled all of our inspections for us (structural engineer, home, termite, and other specialists) and we still closed in less than 30 days (would have probably been 21 but the baby). I highly recommend Grace, she is very knowledgeable and will make sure that you cross all the t’s and dot the i’s during your home purchase.

Selling any large financial asset can be very stressful, and when selling a home, there is an emotional component that can cloud ones judgment. It is critical to work with a professional you can trust. When I sold my house, Grace recommended I do some things that were counter intuitive to me, but I put my trust in her because she did an amazing job helping my wife buy a house. The outcome of the sale exceeded my expectations and more, and I am so glad I had Grace as my Realtor. Grace and her assistant Kim are kind, communicative, and professional.

In August of 2014, we worked with Red Oak Realty to find our new home in Rockridge. We interviewed a dozen firms, with Red Oak making the final cut-of-two. They won out because of their team-approach to working with their clients.

We’ve got Art “Voice of Experience” White — the manager and the guy with all the deep experience in the industry. He was able to help calm our nerves about the very jumpy market, and seemingly odd behavior we’d seem from selling agents.

Then there was Kim “Dash” Markison, who did all the legwork, taking the time to quickly learn exactly what we were looking for and showing us around the candidates. Then, walking us through the disclosures and other details.

Lastly, was Grace “The Closer” Bishop — the agent that everyone knows gets the deal done. She worked with the seller to get our bullet-proof-but-not-highest offer a fair hearing, and eventually to close!

Red Oak lead us quickly to a Win-Win-Win transaction in a crazy market!

Grace Bishop is, without a doubt, the ideal realtor! In 2013, Grace warmly and effectively moved our family from hopefuls to homeowners, attentively addressing any questions or concerns we had along the way. We’ve lived in our house for over a year now, and Grace continues to be a friendly and reliable resource for all manner of helpful information; she is truly the agent who keeps on giving… long after escrow has closed! Grace came to us highly recommended by friends who’d had the same great experience working with her, and now it’s our pleasure to recommend her to any prospective homeowners. Grace’s compassion, humor, and patience cannot be overstated, and are not taken for granted.

It is a difficult task to select a realtor. We recently listed and sold our home in Berkeley utilizing Red Oak Realty’s Grace Bishop. Grace and her assistant, Kim Markison, did an exceptional job throughout the process including suggested pricing, home preparation guidance, marketing, open houses, appraisal and consummation of the sale, all within six weeks of initial listing! Clear and timely communication and representation made this transaction smooth for all parties. We give Grace Bishop and Red Oak our highest recommendation.

Grace helped my wife and me purchase our first house. As first-time home buyers in the challenging East Bay market, we had a lot to learn. Our friends haven’t yet bought homes and our families don’t live in the area, so we ended up relying almost entirely on Grace’s guidance to navigate the market. We were really pleased with how well Grace walked us through the process and stayed in touch as each week’s batch of open houses came on the market. She quickly keyed in on what we were looking for, and was flexible when we refined our ideas for what we wanted (yes, we changed our mind – it happens).

When it came time to negotiate, Grace really shined. We found her advice on making competitive offers to be spot on, and when we found items in inspections that represented a significant additional cost, she fought to bring the cost down for us. We were so glad we decided to work with her.

We like our house, and don’t plan to move anytime soon, but we’d love to work with Grace again.

Grace Bishop is THE person you want representing you in Berkeley when buying or selling a house. Grace represented me as a buyer back in 2005, when the housing market was crazy, and again as a seller in the spring of 2014–when the market was even crazier! In both buying and selling a house, I was well-represented, informed, and respected by Grace through the entire process.

As a first-time buyer, I had a lot to learn about the market in Berkeley, and Grace was so helpful, knowledgeable, patient, positive, and full of quiet energy that helped balance the stress and make a complicated process go as smoothly as possible.

As a seller, I did not hesitate to call Grace to represent me again, and Grace did not disappoint. Again, Grace navigated me through the complexities of the housing market in Berkeley, and offered astute advice about how to best prepare my house for sale.

Because Grace is so trustworthy, unwavering in her integrity, firm in her expectations, and smart as a whip, I was able to trust in Grace and could not be happier with the results of the sale. Grace is top-notch!

A RAVING, GLOWING REVIEW FOR GRACE BISHOP

Buying a condo or a house is significant, because let’s face it, what we’re buying is a home, our place to live, our own private sanctuary, our space. Grace Bishop proved to be my dream catcher. First, she listened carefully to my comments as we searched the preliminary properties. Grace was attentive…sharp, quick, smart, perceptive. She listened to my words, watched my reactions and efficiently gathered the data, sized up my taste and began to find the the kind of streets I liked, the architectural design that turned me on, my love of high ceilings, my need for flooding light. But that was just the beginning, for we did find my dream property and I wanted that place to be mine! What I learned from Grace was the art of making an offer… because how one’s offer is crafted by the realtor and presented to the buyer makes all the difference between those who are turned down, and the lucky party who’s given the chance to buy! Grace Bishop wrote, what she described to me, as an unconventional offer. What did that mean? In today’s competitive market, an agent has to position their buyer as the one to sell to. And Grace did that with skill and finesse. The offer was accepted. Horray! And then came the host of details, the back and forth negotiations and information gathering involving the seller, the lender, the escrow officer, etc. Grace was my cheer leader keeping my faith high and my courage in tact. Grace was my team captain. Grace was there at 11PM at night emailing with that last minute document urgently needed for the lender…Grace Bishop picked me up at bart on several occasions, provided recommendations when asked for a painter, or handyman, the list of utility companies, etc. Grace was fun to work with, warm, knowledgeable…on the ball! Hey, there are hundreds of realtors in the east bay, but there is only one sharp go getter with the most beautiful soul, and that’s Grace Bishop!

Grace was amazing from start to finish. She is incredibly knowledgeable and diligent in follow through, a great communicator, and navigated us through everything very smoothly. Not to mention her kindness, honesty, and integrity, all of which are exceptional. Her assistant, Kim Markison, is equally responsive and helpful, and was a great addition to our home-buying effort. There is not one thing that we can identify that could have been done better!