Sarah Ridge, Realtor

Fantastic experience: Sarah is an amazing realtor... extremely thoughtful, resilient, talented, very professional and of course very knowledgable about the quirkiness of the east bay housing market. She has a deep understanding of local market trends, the mentality and expectations of buyers/sellers and how all that can interact with certain properties and neighborhoods. She spends time to know her clients well and shows genuine care for their needs while being extremely proactive about their concerns. She has helped our family navigate very successfully both the purchase and the sale of an El Cerrito home that we truly adored as a family. Both events were particularly stressful and demanding for us, but Sarah did a fantastic job in navigating all obstacles and surprises and also in keeping everything in check even when things got pretty challenging... I have deep respect for her as both a professional and an individual and I strongly recommend her to prospective home buyers and sellers in the East Bay area!

Fantastic experience: We just wouldn’t have a house without Sarah. She’s such a refreshing deviation from the standard realtor you’ve likely met before. Sarah is a real person helping you weed through the maze and stress of this market. She made the painful process of buying a home so much more pleasant and doable for us. LGBTQ friendly.

Fantastic experience: Sarah was exceptional in helping my family purchase our home in Berkeley this year. Sarah's understanding of our local market guided us to a clear range of what it'd take to get the home we wanted. On the offer due date, we were in a multiple counter offer situation. Sarah's availability and communication was extremeley valuable at such a critical point in time. In the lead up to our offer, Sarah's background in construction and knowledge of how systems in a home work gave us confidence in knowing the most we could about the home we bought. Sarah's brilliance in real estate and compassion towards my family's goals and needs were an unparalleled combo. You're in great hands with Sarah, alwasy.

Fantastic experience: Sarah helped us buy our home in Albany! We really appreciated her depth of construction/foundation knowledge as well as her deep network of connections in the local market. We really felt taken care of and went into each offer with confidence on all aspects of the house and the buyer market. Thank you Sarah!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is a ride-or-die, absolute rockstar of a realtor. During our year and a half of searching for a home, Sarah spent hours upon hours with us visiting houses, scrutinizing them closely, guiding us through disclosures, and strategizing on offers. Her generosity with her time and expertise, responsiveness, and communication are second to none. She never pushed us and checked in consistently about what we felt comfortable with, and when we agonized over decisions or chose not to offer, she was always unbelievably patient and supportive. She jumped on multiple last minute offers for us with total grace and professionalism. Her structural knowledge and expertise was the most amazing asset and she built deep trust by giving it to us straight when a house's issues were profound and concerning. She proved time and time again to us that she was genuinely invested in helping us find the right home, whatever it took, telling us multiple times she was in it with us for the long haul. We had life conversations in the crawl space under houses, experienced the worst attic she had ever been in, and frankly just enjoyed hanging out with her as a great human. She is not afraid to get her hands dirty, and goes so far above and beyond for her clients, it's astounding. When we finally found a home, it was one she sent us which we had overlooked but because of her network and relationships, we were able to jump on an opportunity quickly and make a winning offer. Thanks to her we had exact clarity on the work needed and expected costs. And she continued to support us through escrow and after closing, answering every question, strategizing about repairs, and sharing her invaluable list of trusted local contacts, smoothing the way at every stage. She is deeply embedded in the East Bay real estate community which is critical in such a tough and small market - relationships really matter. We also got to work with her daughter Ellie a few times, who is just as wonderful. They are truly the dream team. We are so grateful to work with and know Sarah, and cannot recommend her highly enough.

Fantastic experience: As a Realtor with 27 years of experience, I know what exceptional service looks like—and Sarah Ridge is the real deal. My husband and his siblings recently sold their parents' home after 58 years of family ownership, making it both a significant and emotional transition. Sarah handled every aspect of the process with expertise, professionalism, and genuine care. Her knowledge of the Berkeley and El Cerrito market was invaluable. She assembled an outstanding team, provided excellent guidance on preparation and staging, and developed a strategy that resulted in multiple offers and a smooth transaction. Her strong relationships within the local real estate community and outstanding negotiation skills were evident throughout. Most importantly, Sarah was always available, communicative, patient, and supportive. She guided the entire family through every step of the process, making what could have been overwhelming feel manageable and even enjoyable. If you're buying or selling in the East Bay, I highly recommend Sarah Ridge. She is knowledgeable, hardworking, compassionate, and delivers results. I wouldn't hesitate to work with her again.

Fantastic experience: Sarah is an incredible realtor! We had been actively working to buy a house for 6 years - on and off. Through the course of that time, we had over 20 offers. We switched to working with Sarah earlier this year and the first offer we made with her, landed us the house. it was uncanny. It was a unique situation in that we had to move incredibly fast due to a preemptive offer. She is extremely sophisticated, knowledgeable about the market, very well connected (which was critical in this case), very communicative, and a joy to work with. We are grateful for her help and guidance. We are in our dream home! It was worth the wait.

Fantastic experience: I selected Sarah Ridge as my realtor based solely on her on-line presence and impressive website. I am glad I did. Sarah (assisted by her daughter Ellie) set the schedule to get my house in North Oakland on the market in January 2026 and provided all the vendors I would need to get the house ready including stagers and junk haulers. The sale went off like clockwork with 17 offers and a purchase price which met my highest expectations. I would highly recommend Sarah and Ellie to any sellers of real property in the Bay Area.

Fantastic experience: Working with Sarah was one of the best decisions we've ever made - I truly do not have enough positive things to say about her. My husband and I were first time home buyers and were nervous about searching in such a high cost of living area, especially since we had no prior homebuying experience, were worried about being slow/uneducated newbies, and were frankly not very familiar with East Bay (we were living in the city prior). Sarah made everything a breeze, and most importantly, took the time to educate us and make us feel prepared to make a big purchase on a faster timeline than we'd ever thought possible. We were blown away by how much time she was willing to spend with us, her willingness to accommodate our schedule and timeline, and genuinely gained new skills and knowledge that made us feel confident with our purchase (now and into the future). She goes above and beyond, from literally crawling into crawlspaces to inspect home foundations to leaning on her deep networks in the Bay Area market to get answers quick. Perhaps one of Sarah's greatest gifts is her ability to educate while leaving room for and supporting clients to form their own opinions and decisions. We never felt rushed, pressured, judged or talked down to - even when we had a million basic questions. Sarah guided us through a somewhat testy homebuying and bidding process (that we ultimately won!!), and held our hands through it all. She remained patient with us and helped us overcome our fears and risk aversion. We have directed all of our close friends in the Bay Area to her and cannot recommend her enough. Your search should end here! Working with Sarah is an absolute gift. We never would've gotten our dream home without her.

Fantastic experience: We worked with Sarah Ridge for over a year while searching for our first home, and as first-time buyers, we couldn’t have asked for a better realtor. Sarah is incredibly knowledgeable about both home construction and the East Bay market. While touring homes, she walked us through every inch and provided assessments comparable to professional inspectors we’ve worked with. In the rare moments when she wasn’t 100% sure about something, she brought in her husband Nick (who has decades of construction experience and now specializes in home inspections) to provide a second opinion. After only a few tours, we felt like we’d gotten a thorough education in home construction and maintenance, which we especially appreciated as first-time buyers. One of the things we appreciated most was that we never felt pressured to make an offer. Sarah proactively pointed out potential issues, including things we never would have noticed ourselves. She was completely transparent about the real costs of addressing less obvious but major problems, even when it meant we’d end up passing on a home. Sarah also has deep relationships throughout the East Bay real estate and contractor community. She connected us with great lenders, inspectors, and contractors. Her rapport with other realtors was equally valuable. Leading up to the offer deadline, Sarah maintained continuous, proactive communication with the listing agent. We truly believe her persistence and advocating for us made a huge difference in the seller choosing us despite other competitive offers. Beyond her expertise, Sarah is simply an amazing person - empathetic, fun to be around, and genuinely invested in her clients. Even after closing, she’s continued to be an invaluable resource as we navigate all the questions that come with being new homeowners. We’re so grateful to have met Sarah and wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, trustworthy, and all-around wonderful realtor.

Fantastic experience: Sarah went above and beyond as our realtor! She helped my partner and me put together a strong application in the competitive Berkeley market and buy the home of our dreams. We wanted to move quickly, and Sarah accommodated us with absolutely no fuss, even texting and emailing from a camping trip and connecting us with lenders and other professionals who would work on our timetable—and who were equally kind, highly competent, and excellent communicators. She is a prompt communicator and knowledgeable about so many aspects of real estate, from foundation and repairs to the local market. We cannot recommend Sarah enough.

Fantastic experience: Sarah Ridge was exactly the agent we needed, and we recommend her to anyone looking for a home. She's smart, knowledgeable, savvy, and has a great network. We're relocating from the East Coast, and the Berkeley housing market is bewildering. The customs and practices are unusual: the list price is typically far below the expected sale price, and not in a predictable way. The way closing is handled is different, including inspections, assessors, and timelines. We needed a local guide who knows the local market and the players inside and out, and who could understand our needs. As experienced homebuyers, we understood aspects of the process and the considerations, but not the local factors. Sarah found the right balance, explaining in depth when we needed it; moving through topics quickly when we understood them, talking about neighborhoods, showing us through homes, and explaining her considerations, and mostly leaving us to explore listings on our own while flagging ones she saw as a fit. Our timeline and house parameters were not well defined because we had a few different paths we were exploring. Sarah was totally flexible. But then the right house came along. We looked at it several times over the course of a week. She brought in a structural engineer to assess the foundation and the condition of other parts of the house. With her extensive knowledge of trades, she helped us to assess the work that needed to be done on this 115-year-old house. When it came to making the offer, she managed the process lightning fast and navigated us through to make a winning offer on the first home we bid on. It's not hard for someone with deep pockets to win a bid if they bid way over others. She helped us to make a bid that was just enough (money and terms) to win. We always enjoyed talking with Sarah. We learned a lot from and felt good about each interaction. We recommend her strongly.

Fantastic experience: We were lucky to find Sarah to help with our move to the bay area from Sacramento. She worked with us for almost a year. Our interest and energy ebbed and flowed during this challeging period. She was our touchstone and support throughout. We can't say enough about Sarah's professionalism, knowlege, and incredible expertise. She was able to guide us with firm but gracious advice and seemed to really see who we were and what we needed. Her detailed knowlege of the area and construction technique were a huge plus. We couldn't recommend her more highly.

Fantastic experience: We had an outstanding experience working with Sarah Ridge, and we can’t recommend her highly enough. Selling a home can be a stressful and emotional process, but Sarah brought a calm, steady and deeply knowledgeable presence to every step of the journey. Thanks to her expert guidance, we received multiple strong offers within days of going on the market and completed a quick, successful sale with confidence and peace of mind. From the start, Sarah gave us a clear and honest assessment of what we needed to do to prepare our Berkeley house for market. Her advice was grounded in years of local market knowledge, and she didn’t sugarcoat anything, which we appreciated. Importantly, she helped us prioritize where to invest our time and money—and where we didn’t need to. Her insight into return on investment was invaluable. Rather than spending unnecessarily or overlooking issues that could hurt the sale, we focused on updates that made a meaningful difference. Sarah connected us with excellent professionals—designers, stagers, and tradespeople—who handled floor refinishing, a kitchen and bathroom update, window replacement, minor repairs and landscaping. Every recommendation she made was thoughtful, timely and right on point. The team she assembled worked efficiently and with great care, and we were genuinely impressed with how quickly and beautifully the house came together. Sarah’s guidance on timing and listing strategy was particularly insightful. She understood the rhythms of the market and helped us choose the right day to go live. Once the offers came in, she was right there to advise us on each one—not just by price, but also by the strength and reliability of the terms. That kind of counsel allowed us to accept a great offer just one week after going on the market. Another strength Sarah brought was her close collaboration with her daughter, Ellie, a realtor who works primarily with buyers. This buyer’s perspective proved invaluable when assessing the mood of the current market. Together, Sarah and Ellie brought complementary insights that helped us determine our initial asking price and the offer we settled on. Beyond her expertise, Sarah’s deep ties to the community and experience in the Berkeley market gave us a real advantage. She knew exactly what was selling, what buyers were prioritizing, and how to position our home competitively. Rather than using a cookie-cutter approach, she customized every recommendation to our house, our timeline, and our goals. She was reliable, honest, exceptionally good—and simply a joy to work with. We’re incredibly happy we chose Sarah to guide us through this process. Her judgment, care, and expertise were invaluable from beginning to end, and we would work with her again in a heartbeat. If you’re thinking of selling or buying a home, we can’t imagine a better partner to have by your side.

Fantastic experience: We feel as though we are a special case, but we join the chorus of praise that all here are singing. We decided to move into a retirement community, and we had three months to complete the sale. Sarah helped us leave our house, prepare it for sale, and close escrow. It was a very tight timeline, and we weren’t sure it could be done. Her tenacity and expertise carried us through a stressful process. She carefully juggled several contractors and skillfully handled strange issues as they arose. She guided us intelligently through the whole process, staying in just the right amount of communication. We felt so confident because we were able to talk with her whenever it was needed. She was ably assisted by her daughter and partner, Ellie. We are also grateful for the help we received from her husband, Nick. Sarah is a class act, and she is a pleasure to work with.

Fantastic experience: Sarah was so lovely and accommodating. She assisted us in purchasing a home and was very easy to work with. Our wants changed a lot and she was always there to support us through the process. I highly recommend Sarah as your realtor!

Fantastic experience: Cannot recommend Sarah enough - she is a phenomenal real estate agent! As a first time home buyer in this extremely competitive market, I needed all the help I could get and Sarah was by my side every step of the way. She balances an incredible depth of expertise in construction and real estate with being one of the most down to earth, humble and easy to work with people. No matter what question I had, Sarah was ready with an explanation or a resource to help me understand the nuances of every home we visited. And her connections in the east bay real estate market are unparalleled - ultimately getting me into to see a house before it ever went on the market. Sarah's connections got me a larger home in a better neighborhood than I ever could have imagined. I say a little quiet thank you to Sarah every time I walk through my front door as I could not have gotten this dream home without her. There is not a better real estate agent out there!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is an exceptional real estate agent who helped my family navigate the competitive Bay Area housing market. My husband and I were first-time home buyers and we were on a tight timeline with the birth of our second kid. Her knowledge of local neighborhoods and property values was invaluable. Sarah was always responsive and professional, making herself available to answer our questions and address concerns promptly. She showed us how to evaluate a home’s foundation, what to look for in seismic retrofits, what termite damage looks like, and other things to be aware of in older homes. She took the time to understand our specific needs and preferences and budget, which allowed her to identify properties that were aligned with what we were looking for. The entire process, from initial consultation to closing, was handled smoothly because of Sarah’s expertise and attention to detail. During the final leg of our search when we decided to make a bid on our favorite property, I was on jury duty for an 8 week trial and Sarah was able to work with my schedule and communicate with the sellers. Since we moved in, she’s helped connect us to contractors and answer any questions. I highly recommend Sarah for anyone looking to buy a home in the Bay Area!

Fantastic experience: Sarah helped us find the right home and really did guide us through the whole journey. Having bought real estate outside California previously, I thought already knew enough. California, and Bay Area specifically are so unique in real estate and Sarah helped us navigate that expertly. We had unrealistic expectations about what we could get for our money, and would have been stuck making offers that got rejected without Sarah’s help. Sarah helped us be competitive with our offers with her strategies. We probably saw 20 houses with Sarah. She would look at the foundation, electrical, etc. and help us understand the work involved (ex: do we need to update knob & tube wiring? Is the foundation modern or retrofit?) She could answer questions that saved us so much time, which most real estate agents wouldn’t be able to answer. She really understands the way that Bay Area homes are built and has a large network of people to do work on the home if needed, which saved us even more time. Sarah is the fourth real estate agent I’ve worked with, having bought and sold twice before working with her — my feeling is that she makes the other agents feel like door openers and paperwork do-ers, while she is a true real estate advisor.

Fantastic experience: We loved working with Sarah to buy our first Bay Area home! Sarah was recommended to us by both friends and family. We previously owned a condo in Chicago, and learning the Bay Area market along with the older house nuances was a real learning curve for us, and from the start, Sarah was so knowledgeable and patient. She guided us through two years of seeing homes until we finally found the right one for us. We learned so much from her about foundations, knob and tube, chimneys, plaster, ventilation, the list goes on! And in our two years working together, we never felt rushed. She even brought her husband Nick (a seasoned contractor) to some of the houses to give his opinion on the conditions and work that might be needed which felt like an extra bonus. We sincerely recommend Sarah for anyone’s real estate needs in the crazy Bay Area market and while we’re happy we finally found our home, we’ll miss seeing Sarah :)!

Fantastic experience: We recently used Sarah and her partner/daughter Ellie Ridge to help us purchase a new property prior to selling our existing house in Albany—this gives us the unique perspective of seeing all her skills as a realtor. As well as being a huge testament to our faith in her skills since we bought before selling! The entire experience went so smoothly because of her knowledge and confidence in dealing with situations as they arose. She has an extensive knowledge of construction and that really helps her understand the condition of a property--whether you are selling your house and thinking about how to get it ready---or when you are buying a house and trying to evaluate the condition it is in. This gives her the expertise to clearly state the advantages of your property to potential buyers and their agents, as well as potential pitfalls of a property you are considering purchasing. Her daughter has grown-up with a realtor mother and contractor father--making her extremely knowledgable as well. We don’t have any big surprises with either transaction because Sarah had so thoroughly vetted all the parties we dealt with prior to our using them. From recommendations re: who to use for repairs, painting, landscaping, staging, cleaners on our old home--and importantly-- her resources during the purchase process of our new property prior to selling our current home—the mortgage broker and insurance agents. We felt confident in her recommendations of what to do, and who to have doing it. The title company she uses was very easy to work with and the entire process went smoothly both for the purchase of the property with an incredible seven day close and the subsequent longer close for the sale of our home in Albany. She has been a terrific liaison between us the buyers and their agent. We have never questioned her judgement or choices. She was open to hearing our concerns and we were able to reach her anytime/any day (within reason!) with questions. She was very responsive and texted through the day and evening as things arose we needed to know about. Sarah initially gave us a price range within which she anticipated our house would sell—she was in range and we were pleased with the outcome of the sale. She has an aggressive marketing strategy and had pinpointed who she felt potential buyers would be and in fact was spot on regarding who bought our house. Her recommendations were based on her deep knowledge of local real estate and the fact she has been a part of the community her whole life. She handled negotiating our purchase of the new property beautifully prior to selling our home in Albany —helping us secure a bridge loan to finance it—so we felt very confident in her negotiating skills when it came time to deal with buyers for our house. They presented us with a no contingency offer and we didn’t have to make any concessions since we had the house so well prepared in advance. We felt the money we put into getting the house ready was recouped at the time of sale and made the process go quickly and smoothly. Having known Sarah for 25+ years we are delighted that she has truly found her calling and is able to utilize her expertise to help people sell and/or find home. Additionally, her daughter, Ellie is a highly competent realtor on her own and works closely with her mother on many sales. Twice the woman-power! If one was busy, the other was usually available.

Fantastic experience: Sarah was the best of the best. We could not have asked for someone more incredible to help us get our first home. We had a particularly challenging situation. She navigated it like a breeze and helped us feel confident throughout the transaction. She is one of the best professionals I have ever worked with in any industry over the course of my adult life. I cannot recommend her more highly and what I can say doesn't even begin to describe how phenomenal she was. THANK YOU SARAH!!!

Fantastic experience: She is a treasure! Our closing was challenging and she remained calm and cool, guiding us towards the finish line.

Fantastic experience: We worked with Sarah on purchasing our first home and we cannot recommend her enough!! We had no idea what to expect with buying a home and were feeling a bit overwhelmed, especially in the crazy east bay market. We were so lucky to find Sarah! She is extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of homes—the construction, electrical, roofing, flooring, upkeep, etc. She taught us what to look for when visiting open houses and we learned a ton. Knowing what aspects of a home will need repairing down the line is really valuable. She took her time with us in our search and let us discover what type of home would be best for us. In just under three months, we found our dream home! The neighborhood is so cute and charming, and the house is in impeccable condition. Because of these great features, you can imagine it was a competitive sale. Sarah, through her vast connections in local real estate, knew the listing agent of the house and this relationship truly helped us close the home. We couldn’t have done it without her! We are forever grateful for Sarah (and Ellie!). They are also such great people and we really enjoyed spending time with them!

Fantastic experience: Buying a home in Berkeley in today’s market is no joke, and we are so glad we found Sarah to help us navigate these choppy waters successfully. We came to Sarah looking for change after months of frustration and several failed offers that felt like shots in the dark without a coherent strategy. We had clear ideas on what we were looking for in our next agent, and had planned to interview several realtors before making our decision, but one meeting with Sarah was all it took to let us know we had found the right person! She listened to what we were looking for, asked detailed questions and was able to articulate a strategy that we felt confident in. She was insistent on visiting houses together so we could talk openly about specific pluses and minuses and she could continue to build out a refined sense of our needs and wants. We really came to trust her judgment, and in a short amount of time she almost knew what we were looking for better than we ourselves did. But of course, there is the reality of the Berkeley housing market – limited availability, houses with multiple offers selling well beyond list price, no contingencies (ha!) and so on – and this is where her exceptional knowledge of the area, deep relationships with sellers agents and in-depth knowledge of construction and home inspection issues really came through. We would review listings together, and she was uncanny in her ability to predict final sale price time after time – and she was able to articulate reasons based on location, nature of buyers for the neighborhood, specifics of the home condition, her familiarity with the sellers agent etc, so it did not feel like guesswork. Each of these visits and discussions allowed us to feel more confident in her approach and strategy. When we finally found a house we liked enough to make an offer on, Sarah made several visits to the house with us, pointed out things we should be focused on, reviewed all the disclosures and reports in detail and really helped us establish expectations for a winning bid. She was confident that there would be multiple offers, and had a strategy to make sure our first offer was compelling enough to receive a call back – and this was based not only on her analytics, but also on her ability to leverage relationships and to understand the dynamics of potential agents we could be going up against. As expected, the house had multiple offers and Sarah expertly guided us through the counter process to get us our dream home. While this was not our first time buying a house, the market dynamics were definitely challenging and I cannot imagine we would have been successful without Sarah’s exceptional abilities to guide us. Sarah is a pleasure to work with, and we would highly (highly!) recommend her to anyone.

Fantastic experience: After reading the other reviews, it's no surprise Sarah, Ellie and her team have such glowing testimonials. I am happy that we get to share ours from a sellers perspective. Not only were we selling, but also buying outside the area - timing was going to be VERY important. Sarah led us through the process every step of the way. She coordinated the strategy, the renovation with a 3rd party, the mechanical improvements, staging, the negotiations and listing....all the while constantly communicating with us. If you need a full service agent, hire Sarah before it's too late. If it were up to me, Sarah should have been paid both ours and the buyer's agent's commission...she certainly deserved it. At the end of what seemed like a hurricane, tornado and nuclear attack for us, Sarah guided us through unscathed...and with a very competitive preemptive offer to boot. We couldn't have sold our house to someone who loved it as much as we did, and couldn't have bought our new dream house without Sarah and Ellie. Thank you!

Fantastic experience: Can't say enough good things about Sarah - we've worked with her on 2 homes (as buyers and sellers) during very different market conditions. We trusted her judgement on everything from list price, upgrades / repairs, timing, offer structure , negotiations etc. and couldn't be happier with the results. She is very knowledgeable about the East Bay, has great attention to detail and was particularly insightful about structural issues that saved us a ton of issues later on. Highly recommend working with Sarah - she is a consummate professional !

Fantastic experience: I wish I could give Sarah MANY more stars! I had the absolute privilege of working with Sarah and Ellie to purchase my very first home earlier this year. I cannot say enough about what a complete package Sarah is as a realtor and a human. It was really important to me to find someone who would be open (and maybe even excited) to teach and contextualize this significant and intimidating process. Not only was she an incredible teacher, she gave what I keep telling people was essentially a master class!! I learned so much not just about the logistics of purchasing the home, but she taught me SO much about the mechanics of homes in general- foundations, roofs, construction, she is so freaking smart and experienced that I was honestly a little disappointed when I bought my house that we wouldn't get to spend more time together! I keep recommending Sarah and Ellie, because they will genuinely work around the clock, doing their best to find you a home that fits you and your unique needs. Their reputation in the community is fantastic and will absolutely be an asset to you in this competitive market. Do not think twice, you will be in excellent hands!

Fantastic experience: Working with Sarah during our recent home purchase journey was an exceptionally positive experience. Sarah is someone who stands by her clients and has a tremendous expertise in the market, construction, and the nuances of the home buying process. Even though we were at the lower end of budgets of clients that Sarah works with, she gave us more than 110% to find the right home and see the process though, even when working with a challenging rent-back purchase setup. Sarah's in-depth market knowledge made the process feel so much more accessible -- with everything from understanding the nuances of how real estate in the east bay is priced, to details about city history, taxes and regulations, to general quality of the buildings and what to keep our eyes on, it was invaluable help that made navigating a really unique market feel a lot more manageable. Coming from a family with a background in construction, Sarah also brought a unique perspective to the table and would jump in to take a look at wires, drainage and plaster walls and always have her eyes out for things to ask for in inspection reports. She expertly guided us to focus on the most crucial aspects of a property, ensuring that we were going to make a sound investment and knew if there were any impending updates a home might need. Sarah's strong local connections were also invaluable. She facilitated efficient inspections and more, making the entire process seamless and straightforward. We can't recommend Sarah highly enough to anyone looking to purchase in the east bay. Her expertise, insights, and positive attitude make her someone you want to spend time looking at homes with, and her expertise and experience ensured a really high quality, professional, stress-free experience when the time came to close. She is really someone that goes above and beyond and was a total joy to work with!

Fantastic experience: Buying a home can be an overwhelming process, especially when you're looking for the perfect fit for your family. But we had a great experience working with Sarah. From our very first meeting, Sarah impressed us with their deep knowledge of the real estate market. She guided us through every step in our journey, from understanding our needs to getting us the keys to our new home. Her guidance not only made us feel secure in our decisions but also enlightened us about aspects of home buying we hadn't considered before. Sarah is highly professional, knowledgable, and fun to work with. She helped us through negotiation and closing all the way through. We highly recommend Sarah!

Fantastic experience: This might be the hardest review I've ever had to write --it just isn't possible to put into words how thankful we are to have met Sarah and Ellie. Before meeting the Ridges, my partner and I had been actively looking for our first house for over a year and had made 8 failed offers, never even hearing back from the sellers. When we decided it was time for a change, we wanted to be 100% confident in the next realtor we worked with, so we interviewed 6. Sarah blew us away with the depth and breadth of her knowledge about real estate and construction, her enthusiasm, and her candor. Two weeks later, we were in contract on a house we absolutely loved, with an inspection contingency because Sarah had some concerns, and a strategy for negotiation depending on what the inspection found. Sarah called in favors to get us our inspections on time, and ultimately advised us against buying the home. We were sad, but incredibly relieved we hadn't made a very expensive mistake in buying a very water-damaged home. Ultimately it was a blessing in disguise for two reasons: (1) it confirmed for us what we already felt in our gut, that we could trust Sarah's judgement and advice, and (2) two weeks later, we were in contract on a magical home in our dream neighborhood (that we never thought we'd be able to afford). 100% thanks to Sarah, we avoided getting into a bidding war despite 7 other offers, and ended up paying just 10k higher than the next highest offer (and less than our house was later appraised for!). We've been in our new home for about 3 months now and are still blown away that we get to live here. We still reach out to Sarah and Ellie when we have questions or need a referral, and there's no doubt that we'd work with them again if the opportunity arose. We love the Ridges!

Fantastic experience: I worked with Sarah to buy my first house after being referred by friends. Five years, and one baby, later I worked with Sarah and Ellie to sell that house and buy a second. If life circumstances change again she’d be the first person I call. Sarah works hard, is always available for you, and uses her experience and network to make transactions work in your favor.

Fantastic experience: From the first moment we met Sarah, we vibed. Sarah is honest and a realist which we very much appreciated. She really knows and understands Oakland and is very attuned to the overall economy not just the real estate market. Sarah also has a wonderful bedside manner. This was our first time selling a house and needed (a ton) of handholding. She graciously answered every question— even when we knew we were getting annoying. She was super responsive, and really went above and beyond— whether it was jumping on a quick call or answering late night emails. She also has an amazing team who helped get the house “list-ready”. If we weren’t leaving Oakland we would be trying to steal her contractors because they did fabulous work! We cannot thank Sarah enough for being so incredibly easy to work with and making our selling our home a seamless experience!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is an incredible realtor - she helped us find our dream home in Berkeley, in a very tough market, from out of state, and for a great price. As someone new to the area, I found her in-depth knowledge of construction best practices to be very useful. Sarah is not afraid to climb into crawl spaces or shimmy into a basement to make sure a foundation is up to code. She really goes above and beyond for her clients. Overall, a great experience - we will be using her again if the need ever arises.

Fantastic experience: Sarah was incredible to work with. We purchased our first home with her, and she made it a great experience. Always answered our questions either by phone, email or text. Was available whenever we needed her. Going in we did not think buying a home would be this easy. Sarah made the whole process very enjoyable. Her knowledge of construction and knowing what to look for in both new and old homes proved to be extremely helpful for us. Highly recommended and will definitely work with her in the future!

Fantastic experience: We can’t recommend Sarah enough! She’s kind, down-to-earth, and full of experience and connections — and she helped us buy a home we love in a neighborhood we didn’t think we’d be able to afford. Sarah will be honest with you about how certain houses may or may not align with your budget, but she’ll also let you take the lead if there’s a property you’re interested in that feels like a stretch. We offered on one house that we thought we had a shot at, and were outbid quite a bit. But the next house — the one we now own — initially seemed out of reach until we read the disclosures with Sarah and realized it needed some repairs that turned off other buyers. Sarah used her connections to help us understand the scope, timeline, and approximate cost of those repairs so we could make an offer we’d be comfortable with, and we won! Sarah is responsive in her communications (call/text/email) and can work around your schedule to go look at properties. You’ll enjoy your time with her, and she’ll really teach you how to fish when it comes to the East Bay market and home ownership in general. You’re in good hands with Sarah, so hire her now!

Fantastic experience: Sarah Ridge is a fantastic realtor. I bought my home at the top of the market in May 2022; then I had to sell it in January 2023 after the market had bottomed out the previous fall. I was sure I would lose every penny. Somehow – with her intelligence, integrity, conscientiousness, superb organization, and hardwork – Sarah managed to sell my house for $20,000 more than I paid for it. Sarah’s results speak for themselves. Absolutely awesome! You don’t need to interview anyone else.

Fantastic experience: I can't recommend Sarah highly enough. She helped us with our first condo purchase 6 years ago, provided us with many home improvement referrals in the interim years, and then helped us sell the original condo and buy a slightly larger place last month. When we decided it was time to move last year, she tirelessly worked with me for months and months and offer after offer until we found the perfect place. She has a lot of knowledge about building and brings in her contractor husband as needed to provide estimates and evaluate whether the potential price is worth the headache of necessary upgrades -- something so important in our market, where most of the homes are 100+ years old. She's definitely not going to oversell something that she doesn't think is right for you and her honesty and integrity are apparent in every conversation. Sarah is an amazing resource and I'm kind of sad I won't get to talk with her as regularly, now that our projects are closed!

Fantastic experience: We were lucky enough to find Sarah during our search for a home in the East Bay. Sarah was tireless in her efforts driving our multiple times on short notice to see a house with us , was incredibly knowledgeable about the market and had a deeply intuitive feel for what we would need as a family. She was also really knowledgeable about the more functional aspects of a house- what needs redoing, what is structural vs cosmetic damage, how long might a renovation actually take, which helped us have a realistic sense for what move in costs might look like. With Sarah’s help, we were able to secure a home from an off market listing, which helped us avoid bidding wars and the like. I definitely recommend Sarah as a great realtor in the Berkeley/ Albany area.

Fantastic experience: Buying a home in the Bay Area is a daunting process, but Sarah makes it as easy as possible! As first time home buyers, it was important to myself and my partner that we had a capable real estate agent. Sarah is that and a whole lot more - she possesses decades of experience and a broad professional network. She invests quality time with her clients and shows deep care for her work. We learned so much from Sarah about how to navigate the market and spot potential issues or opportunities on listings. Her construction knowledge is extensive, which is particularly helpful in such a competitive market. Perhaps most importantly, she steered us when we needed it and helped us build confidence in what we were doing.

Fantastic experience: Sarah helped us sell our East Bay home in early 2022. We loved working with her and highly recommend her to anyone looking for a smart, skilled, and strategic agent to help navigate the challenging East Bay real estate market. Sarah is the consummate real estate professional. She brings a wealth of experience representing both buyers and sellers. She is extremely savvy, and you want someone on your side who has such great judgment and deep real estate knowledge. Sarah was always super responsive to our many questions, providing timely and thorough answers. Communication was great throughout the 10 months that we worked with her. She provided daily updates at critical times, and was always responsive to our calls, texts, and emails. Sarah is passionate about real estate, and it shows. It takes a lot of experience, skill, and passion to be a top-producing agent, and Sarah has all of these great qualities in abundance. Sarah advised us on the remodel of our house in preparation for sale, and offered well-informed strategic marketing decisions about staging, timing, and pricing. She was the ultimate guide during a long and challenging journey. Perhaps the clincher is that Sarah is a nice person, and a pleasure to interact with. We cannot recommend her enough.

Fantastic experience: Sarah is simply wonderful. She understood our family needs and supported us in finding just the right place for us. She has a good eye for fine details, wether it's high end finishes or nitty-gritty foundation issues. Sarah helped us understand what we should look at when checking out a house, what we should beware of and what we should seek. She knows the market well, regarding cost and value, and is well connected. Sarah is also kind and sensitive. She never pushed us to he supported us in this exciting-yet nerve wracking process of finding a home, reading disclosures, signing the deal and everything in between, and was always available and responsive. If you are looking for a home and need an agent, well, look no further- she's the one!!

Fantastic experience: The short version: We are very glad to have found an amazing realtor with many years of experience. Through Sarah, we found a condo we love in the neighborhood we wanted to be in. She made the process of finding and buying the house as easy as possible. And beyond that, she is still helping us as we experience home ownership for the first time. She has given us many ideas for possible improvements and recommendations on who can fix home issues. She has even dealt with the home warranty company on our behalf. We have recommended Sarah to several of our friends who all found houses they really enjoy and reported similarly positive experiences with Sarah. The long story: We should point out that Sarah has been very patient with us. Four years passed from the time we first reached out to her until we committed to make our first offer on a house. The reasons for this were entirely on our side as my husband decided to have his mid-career crisis and we even moved temporarily out of state. Despite the interruptions, Sarah was always very responsive and understanding. Whenever we said we like a house, she was doing the necessary research on the house to give us her honest opinion about the property. But she also made sure to hear about our impressions of a property so she quickly picked up our taste. And even though we could not exactly verbalize ourselves what features we were looking for in a house, she soon was able to find exactly the right properties for us. Despite the many houses we looked at with her, we never felt any pressure from her end to commit to anything. Sarah's passion is definitively the foundation and roofing of a house and she makes sure to inspect those in person - even if it requires going through crawl space herself. With her many years of experience, she can give you a rough price estimate for all the big ticketed repairs a house needs. But her research for a house also includes many other aspects that you would not think of. For example, she looks at the history of the HOA to gauge whether the other owners are willing to make future investments into the complex. The first time we told Sarah we wanted to (finally) make an offer for a particular house, she again proved her integrity. She said that as our representative, she was willing to move forward if we really wanted to but actually recommended against it pointing out several potential red flags after having visited the place and contacted the selling realtor. She immediately pointed us to a different property only a couple of blocks away - which we really liked and ultimately bought. The bay area is a seller's market. Once you have decided on a house, you need to make a strong offer fast. This is again where Sarah's many years of experience pay off. To illustrate how fast the process ended up being: we saw the property she recommended on Tuesday. The offer for this condo was on Thursday. This was our first offer, we got a counter offer that same Thursday and were in contract by Thursday afternoon. One aspect that made our offer strong and ultimately successful is that we had the loan pre-approved with a reliable and reputable lender that Sarah recommended. To put together the offer, Sarah was on a call with us until midnight that Wednesday to have the offer ready for us to sign by Thursday morning. Despite the time pressure, she still dutifully walked us through the entire inspection report to make sure we understand and are truly comfortable with the decision. We were supposed to write an intro letter - but were so tired by midnight that we were glad when she offered to even do that for us by the next morning. Sarah gifted us a home warranty after purchase. And while we enjoyed our interactions with Sarah, we cannot say the same thing about the home warranty company. Sarah even voiced our complaints to the home warranty company's CEO. She definitely goes above and beyond the call of duty and we highly recommend working with her.

Fantastic experience: Thanks to Sarah Ridge, we sold our house for over twice the price that we originally paid for it and in advance of a very tight deadline. We could not have found a better real estate agent! Her breadth of experience, wise decision-making, seemingly endless patience, great sense of humor, excellent communication skills, and wide professional network supported us throughout the entire process. She provided invaluable counsel and gave us peace of mind at every step. From the beginning, Sarah acquainted herself with our goals and set clear expectations about the road ahead. She responded to all our first-time seller texts, emails, and calls quickly and kindly. She provided highly effective project management during the house’s preparation for sale by diligently budgeting what needed to get done with careful attention to cost efficiency. She identified, hired, and oversaw professional contractors to take care of a wide variety of jobs and made sure the house was set up for success on the market. Once the house was listed, she offered us essential guidance with the strongest offer and advocated strongly on our behalf with the buyer’s agent. She enabled us to close the sale quickly at an incredible price that was way above what we had listed. We are still so impressed by how gracefully and wisely Sarah navigated through all the complexities of real estate sales in close partnership with us. We hope to work with her again in the future and cannot recommend her highly enough!!

Fantastic experience: I don't think I could survive this process without Sarah holding our hands and navigating us through the whole process. Sarah is a professional, always on top of this ever-changing market. She was constantly utilizing her expansive network to get real-time updates on what is happening in the area, find professionals to work with, and outreach to potential buyers. This was a huge benefit as prices fluctuated a lot when we got on the market and we could count on her to give us the best advice on how to proceed. Another truly valuable asset of hers is her ability to figure out how to improve the property while remaining cautious of our expenses as sellers. And did I mention she is the sweetest, most caring and understanding person to work with? Because she is. We highly recommend her and are so glad we chose her as our realtor!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is fabulous! She is warm, engaging, attentive, caring and professional. She brought a wealth of creativity and knowledge to the sale of our house, and it was a huge success! She makes everything easy, and is great at guiding you through the process of selling a house. We recommend her highly!!!

Fantastic experience: Sarah represented us as buyers a few years ago, and as sellers just recently. In both cases she was absolutely fantastic. She goes above and beyond to get things done, and she is extremely knowledgeable, well connected, and transparent. We moved out of state so she managed everything once we moved out - improvements, staging, communication with neighbors and vendors, and she kept us well in the loop. Our open house ended up being on the one day it was a downpour but she rolled with it and made it happen. Our sale went smoothly and happened right on the schedule she laid out for us at the beginning of the process. You really can't go wrong with having her as your realtor.

Fantastic experience: In this hyper-competitive market you NEED an experienced and efficient realtor to navigate this daunting task of finding the right home. Sarah not only helped us win the perfect home, she did so without us feeling like we had overspent. We were out-of-town, first-time homebuyers looking to move to Berkeley. Without any family or friends in the area we were unable to be referred to any local trusted realtors so we turned to Google/Yelp Reviews and found Sarah. I ended up scouring her reviews as well those of her competitors. After digesting all the information, I felt Sarah would be the one that would be truly capable of finding us a home with exactly everything we were looking for. From day one, Sarah was completely invested in our success. Communicating with her, whether it be through email, text, or over the phone was a breeze because she was always easygoing, transparent, and most importantly honest! In fact, Sarah never once tried to up-sell us or rush us into a purchase. You don’t just want a dream home that looks great, you want one that will: retain/grow its value, suit your needs as a family, fit your budget, not surprise you with hidden costs, and have the ability to be added/improved upon. Sarah was able to ensure that all these items were checked off for us! We peppered her with inquiries of all kinds including those of pest issues, seismic retrofitting, HVAC items, and etc. She not only provided extremely detailed answers to all our concerns/questions but also made sure to provide us additional information to ensure that we were properly informed on items like: liquefaction, dry rot, foundations, sewer systems, home expansion/renovation, and etc. She also let us know which items were of priority for repairs/replacement and which could be delayed—saving us time and money. If for any reason, she did not have the answer to our question, she made sure to promptly procure the answer from an expert. When Sarah is your realtor, you not only have her wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, you also have access to a vast network of experts from the relationships that she has cultivated. Armed with this knowledge, we were able to make better-informed decisions on a home. Sarah even took the time to walk us through and coach us on every aspect of the buying process in advance so that we knew what would be ahead of us. When we finally found the perfect home, Sarah immediately reached out and skillfully established a good rapport with the listing agent, which gave us a huge leg-up on the competition right off the bat. She diligently kept tabs on the process the entire time, made sure all parties involved met deadlines, and escalated anything that was at risk. This allowed us to win the bid and successfully close on our dream home in Berkeley during one of the most competitive markets! So we’ve already established that she’s technical, well-connected, and highly effective but guess what? She’s also extremely personable! She’s so down-to-earth, friendly, and relaxed that my toddler always jumps for joy when she hears we’re heading to Berkeley, which she equates to seeing Sarah. My husband, who is super analytical, loves chatting with her and learning about all the technical aspects. I myself am generally slow to warm up to people and skew towards the introvert side but felt instantly comforted upon meeting her and have always felt an immense amount of trust in not just her capacity to execute but also in that of her motivation to do everything ethically with the best of intentions for our family. Even though we are not at the higher range in terms of spending power out of all of her clients, never once did we feel like we were treated as less important or as if we were just another transaction. In fact, she is STILL helping us with the home we bought in regards to repairs/renovations/advice. We are so grateful to Sarah for taking out all the guesswork and stress for us so that we could just stay laser-focused on our goals. If we ever buy another home or sell our existing home, she’d be the only person we’d call!

Fantastic experience: We successfully purchased a condominium in Albany several years ago, and recently sold it. Sarah was our agent throughout both transactions. She was very helpful in understanding the local real estate market, current trends, the value of location, and the process of buying and selling in California. We would highly recommend her services to anyone who intends to buy or sell a home in the local East Bay area. She is conscientious, knowledgeable, personable, and very familiar with market trends. We look forward to working with her again. Laurel & Tom

Fantastic experience: My husband and I knew buying a home in the Bay Area would be difficult! However, after making more than 15 offers with another realtor, we decided to take a different approach and took our friend’s suggestion to connect with Sarah. Our friend had described Sarah as incredibly knowledgeable (she also has a construction and landscape design background), honest, and easy to work with. She bought her dream home from her as well! After meeting and working with Sarah, we found the same to be true for us. Sarah spent time getting to know exactly what we were looking for, got under houses to report on the foundation, and thought strategically about how to bid on each home we were interested in. We got the second home we bid on with her in a location everyone else told us to give up on. We couldn’t be more grateful to Sarah for helping us find and buy our first home. I recommend her to everyone I know thinking about getting into the market!

Fantastic experience: Sarah really is an all-star. She has immense knowledge and dedication, and deeply cares about her clients. She's straightforward, trustworthy, and totally down to earth; we really appreciated how much heart and soul she put into the whole process. We were casually looking to buy for over a year and she always made herself available to show us a house we had interest in. She would quickly get us disclosures, set up visits, and crawl around underneath houses to check the structure and utilities. She was so patient and accommodating as we expanded our search and honed in on what we were looking for. She connected us with another excellent realtor when she went on vacation and made sure we were well taken care of the whole time. She even provided a thorough summary of the house we ended up getting while she was away, and followed up with referrals after we closed. We are so thankful for Sarah and her expertise.

Fantastic experience: Sarah Ridge helped my family find and secure a dream home in West Berkeley with responsive communication and insider guidance all along. I spoke with three different realtors before choosing Sarah because of her Bay Area expertise in both selling and buying, background knowledge in construction, and professional connections with local lenders. She recommended local lenders and buying approaches that gave us an edge in a tough market, and was patient when I had many questions as a first-time home buyer. At the end of the day, it was so valuable to have a realtor I could trust in my corner that I cannot imagine buying or selling without her. We were underdogs, and she fought for us, laughed with us, and landed us a gem of a house. Thanks so much Sarah!

Fantastic experience: Sarah represented us as a buyer’s agent for nearly a year (July 2020 – May 2021) during one of the Bay Area’s most intense and dynamic housing markets. We can say with confidence that there is no other agent than Sarah who could have helped us navigate (and win) in such a tumultuous time. She is an East Bay native and knows the area like the back of her hand, having grown up and lived all over this area. Even as East Bay natives ourselves, we found her knowledge invaluable and nuanced -- she could speak to not only amenities of neighborhoods but also to their histories, personalities, and current real estate trajectories. Sarah has an unparalleled network and is liked and respected by all in the real estate world. Sarah’s connections were critical at every part of the buying process: we knew about how other agents were likely to bid; if a home inspection was done by a well-regarded firm; what outcome we could expect from a certain appraiser; and more. Sarah brought a nuanced and strategic perspective to each of our home-buying interactions and bids, calling in personal favors for second opinions or follow-up details to inspections. Moreover, these relationships continue to be so valuable after we won our house – from earthquake insurance to home warranties to arborists, Sarah’s generosity extends well after your “official” relationship ends. Her knowledge also extends well beyond people and process. Sometimes, while Sarah was literally on the ground, highlighting a specific exterior foundation issue, other agents who had arrived early would hover close outside to listen and learn. That’s because Sarah brings so much knowledge about structure, construction, seismic retrofitting, electrical, and much more. In this market with no inspection contingencies and shortened bidding periods, her experience in this space was often the game-changing confidence that we needed to comfortably move forward on (or skip) a house. However, Sarah’s greatest superpower is perhaps her ability to translate this vast expanse of content and connections into competitive bidding strategies, and to do so with warmth and empathy for her clients. Like many buyers, we had multi-faceted needs, e.g., an ADU-compatible lot for family, no desire for modern amenities, transit-accessible, etc. Sarah nimbly translated our needs and preferences, even when we couldn’t always articulate them clearly to her or each other. She balanced hearing our opinions while being a candid, insightful thought partner who would give her honest perspective so we could make an informed decision. We are grateful to have worked with her and truly do not think we would be as happy as we are, where we are, without her talent, experience, and partnership. You will not regret working with her!

Fantastic experience: Sarah Ridge is attentive to the details of selling or buying a home. She is market savvy and will get you the best value in your price range.

Fantastic experience: I cannot say enough wonderful things about Sarah! She represented us as sellers earlier this summer and we are so pleased that she was our realtor. We had interviewed a few realtors before deciding on one and when we met Sarah, we knew she was the one. She is knowledgeable, honest, ethical, strategic, determined, confident, a problem-solver, and quick responder. We moved out of our home prior to putting it on the market and she took care of EVERYTHING! When I say everything, I mean everything. Selling your home can be stressful and overwhelming (especially when you no longer live in the area), but we can honestly say that was not our experience at all. She thoroughly explained and reassured us through each step of the process. When we ran into issues, she was quick to come up with well thought out solutions. She is truly phenomenal! In the end, we received offers well over asking and closed quickly. Sarah was such a pleasure to work with and we really wish she was in Southern California, so she could represent us as buyers here too. We give her our highest recommendation!

Fantastic experience: Finding our home was no easy task. As a matter of fact it was really exhausting - specifically with two very young kids. But you already know that going into that endeavor. What you don’t know, is how much of a difference a great agent will make. Sarah navigated us through the craziness of the 2021 Bay Area market, she took the time and put in a lot of effort to understand what we were looking for, and ultimately found our home for us. We have never heard of, or worked with a real estate agent as passionate, dedicated, inquisitive, and hard-working as Sarah. She is whole-heartedly interested in finding the right home for you. And that doesn’t only mean a beautiful home, but one that has a solid foundation, a well functioning french drain, a structurally reliable roof, a good vibe, and so many more. And if it doesn’t, she will point it out to you, and explain it to you in detail, and make sure you understand everything about it. And yes, she took the time and leveraged her experience to explain many details to us for every single house we visited. And there were many! The most valuable trait Sarah has given us, is that she made us think differently about our home, and that is a gift that keeps on giving. If we ever sell our home, or look for a new one, Sarah will be the one to represent us.

Fantastic experience: I don’t know how to write this review of Sarah Ridge without coming across as hyperbolic- that’s how fantastic she is. As a person, you want to hang out with her and call her a friend. As your realtor, she goes above and beyond a client’s expectations. Simply put, our experience of her preparing our home for the market and navigating the sale, was a dream. We dreaded and were overwhelmed by the thought of having to prepare our house to go on the market. It felt like a boulder was lifted off our shoulders when Sarah explained that, if we would like her to, she could be the project manager for any improvements we needed to make. We blissfully accepted her offer and enjoyed the ease of simply reviewing estimates and paying for work completed. We trusted her thoroughly. Sarah has so many great ideas for touches that would make the home shine, and she was always receptive to our feedback or suggestions. Sarah has extensive knowledge about construction as well as a keen eye for design. She navigates all contractor work with proficiency and ease. She handled any hiccups with grace, humor and solutions. Nothing was ever a problem. Sarah is one of those rare people who sees good rather than bad, potential rather than flaws. Her positivity and relentless optimism allowed us to feel completely unburdened by the process. Sarah would always go the extra mile- from little touches that add up to have a big impact, to weeding anytime she was at the property (which was often). She had a genuine love for our home, it’s potential, and thoughtfulness about what the prospective buyers would want. Her description of our home in the listing was so heartfelt and lovely that it made me emotional. We feel so grateful to have found Sarah, and we know that she works tirelessly for all her clients. We can not recommend her highly enough. Sarah Ridge is magic!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is all you could want in a realtor. She is fearless, kind, sharp, open and ready to listen to exactly what you, your partner, your family are looking for, and then somehow, without pressure or discomfort or anything but smarts and good relationships and hard work, she gets your bid to the top of the pile. Her knowledge around houses and property is boundless, she is trustworthy and just an amazing resource and ally in this brutal market. We were so lucky to have her recommended to us. You know when you see someone who is really, really good at their job? It's like that. Thanks Sarah for our new home, and good luck to all of you out there still searching.

Fantastic experience: I can’t recommend Sarah Ridge strongly enough. We found her through a recommendation posted in the Berkeley Parents Network and had a fantastic experience. I found that not only does Sarah know real estate in our area incredibly well, she is also good at explaining the pertinent info to her clients. As first time home buyers, I felt my wife and I were greatly helped by Sarah’s ability to set expectations and give context on each house, in each area, and in each offer we made. We were totally new to a lot of the East Bay localities and Sarah was able to let us know when the price was too high, and when we had found a good deal in our price range. Ultimately, we closed on our first home during a really hot market, in a very selective locale, and we wouldn’t have even known up from down if it weren’t for Sarah. I’d also like to note that looking for a home is stressful and if you are looking with a partner you’ll likely each have different priorities that sell you on, or turn you away from a home. Sarah did a great job of listening and reflecting both of our preferences, which made negotiating with each other a lot easier. Finally, I have to mention that Sarah went above and beyond through the unique context of our escrow. She even took a financial hit to keep the sellers happy when we had to delay escrow. This is the kind of dedication you could only get from someone who cares about their reputation even more than their bottom line. Sarah kept everyone happy on BOTH sides of the deal, including the sellers and their realtor. P.S. Sarah has also been incredibly resourceful in pricing and referring reliable companies to do the immediate repairs and upgrades for our new home.

Fantastic experience: We worked with Sarah Ridge to find a house in Oakland. We were first-time home-buyers, so a lot of the process was very new to us. Sarah was able to guide us and patiently answer all of our many questions. I really liked that Sarah made the extra effort to look into (and sometimes crawl into) the crawlspace of every house we visited and explain what was happening underneath the hood. We learned a bunch about seismic and foundation issues, much more than we would have just glancing at the renovated (and often staged) interiors. Sarah also has a ton of remodeling/renovation ideas, especially when we were trying to imagine how we would modify various spaces to work for us. In the end, we actually managed to buy something quite quickly despite the general insanity of the market! Sarah has been super helpful after our purchase as well, helping us to tie up some loose ends with the sellers, and recommending contractors to finish up some final bits of work in the house. All in all, I would definitely recommend working with her!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is incredible. She went above and beyond for us in so many ways, even after we closed on the house. She never pressured us to offer more than we were comfortable with, but always gave us a realistic sense of what a house would actually sell for. She has excellent relationships with many other realtors and was able to get us early access to a handful of houses. She was also very on top of the market shifts (and there were a lot given the pandemic) and adapted her strategies as needed over the 6 months or so we worked together. This is what ultimately helped us close on the perfect house for us at a really good price. Also worth noting, she is really good with kids and took their wants and needs into account as well. Having her local knowledge of the schools, playgrounds, etc. was especially helpful in narrowing down the many great neighborhoods. I would not hesitate to recommend Sarah to anyone looking to buy or sell a home in the east bay. She is seriously the best!

Fantastic experience: I just purchased my first home and Sarah made the process so much less intimidating and easy. Her knowledge about homes in the east bay is so expansive and she knows exactly where to look for issues with homes in this area. Sarah has been great and i would absolutely use her again!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is an incredible realtor. In the past, I’ve worked with real estate agents that reminded me of used car salesmen or jaded HMO doctors. They have a spiel, they do their job as efficiently and quickly as they possibly can, and then they collect their money. They don’t feel fully real. They don’t treat their clients as fully human. Sarah is not like that. At all. She is passionate about helping people, knowledgable about the Bay Area and home maintenance, honest, hard-working, down-to-earth, impeccably ethical, and genuinely kind. Early on in our process of buying a home with Sarah, I compared what she does to home birth midwifery, and she instantly agreed with me. What does that mean, you wonder, especially if you’ve never had a home birth? It means that she sees herself as your partner. She values this unique relationship. She understands that buying a home is a momentous experience, and a monumental transition. She knows it takes time, and she’s willing to be there with you, through the hard work, all the way to the end. She knows that you are the expert on your finances and your desires, and that she is the expert on Bay Area real estate. She’s willing to get dirty—going into a basement to show you what a shear wall is and why it matters, or to explain when some random moisture buildup isn’t a big deal, and when it is. She recognizes that her job is to listen to you, and to help you: to help you find an awesome broker; to help you clarify your own goals; to help you understand the market; to help you become knowledgeable about home flaws you can fix, and home flaws you can't; to help you adjust course when, inevitably, the market temporarily crushes your spirit; to help you have the smoothest, easiest, and safest transition; and, ultimately, to help you actually land in your dream home. When you need a cheerleader, she will be there with realistic optimism. When you need a reality check, she’s not afraid to tell you the truth. She sees her job as a unique opportunity to really get to know you as a client, and then to help you make this profound transformation actually happen. She cares about what you need, and how you want the process to work. She respects your opinions and your budget, and she understands that her job is simply to help you find the home that best meets your family’s personal needs and desires, and then actually make that home your own. Let me be perfectly clear—our home buying process wasn’t easy. We hit some very real challenges just as we were about to close, and Sarah’s knowledge and work ethic saved the day. She not only held our hands through the process, she also wound up supporting the seller’s agent as well. It was a highly unusual and delicate situation, with a hard deadline. Sarah is smart. She was smart enough to recognize when she didn't know the answer to a question, and she immediately reached out to get the answers and help we needed. If it weren’t for Sarah’s knowledge, her extensive contacts, her work ethic, and her exceptionally quick responses, our deal would have fallen through. It didn’t. We still wake up on a regular basis and say to each other “we live here now!!!” We absolutely love our new home, and it’s not hyperbole for me to say that Sarah saved us. I don’t believe we would have gotten our dream home if we’d worked with another agent. Buying a home in the East Bay is challenging on so many different levels—financially, strategically, and emotionally. Sarah’s realtor skills enable her to be a supportive ally and a successful advocate for her clients. But honestly? Her humanity and her personality make her so much more. After going through the home buying process with Sarah’s help, she will always be our friend.

Fantastic experience: I was blown away. Sarah is on point. She was very clear about what she though I could get for selling my place (and right) as well as the steps I needed to take. She was a partner every step of the way. Her responsiveness was incredible.

Fantastic experience: We worked with Sarah for one year to find a home in Berkeley. We were not the easiest clients to appease, but Sarah stood by our side throughout the search. She is incredibly knowledgeable, well-connected, and does not hesitate to get her hands dirty. Sarah made a point to check every foundation and always looked in the crawl spaces to inspect the bones of the houses. She has a great historical knowledge of the area and provided so much guidance to us during our search. Sarah is also an expert on plants! She is super communicative - we could reach her at all times, and she was always able to meet us on short notice. She has handled the COVID restrictions very professionally, and again with a lot of information, support, and guidance. We will really miss seeing Sarah so regularly. Even after purchasing our home, she continues to be a wealth of knowledge and has provided many resources and local contacts. We cannot recommend her enough!

Fantastic experience: Sarah was recommended to us by a few friends and she was amazing. We found Sarah to be very responsive to texts, calls, and emails. She was very patient and clear in breaking down the home buying process for confused first time buyers (us!). Sarah really demonstrated that she understands the housing market in the Bay Area and was able to leverage her contacts for information when we needed it. We also really appreciated Sarah's knowledge and experience when we did home visits; she was able to point out features in the crawl space from electrical to plumbing that could either make our lives easy or very difficult. We would definitely work with Sarah again!

Fantastic experience: Sarah is a true gem. With great patience, diligence and knowledge-sharing, she got us into our dream home. We so appreciate Sarah's collaborative approach, true insight and deep expertise on homes, home building and local nuances of the East Bay. She's the type of person who's excited to discover the crawl space of a home so she can climb right in and inspect the foundation. Not only did we become more confident home buyers as a result of working with Sarah, but we became smarter home OWNERS. That's not something you find readily from a realtor. I also very much appreciate her eye - she can see a space for its potential and quickly gets a sense for what would make the ideal home for a buyer. Hands down, we'll work with her again and I highly recommend her.

Fantastic experience: We LOVE Sarah! Cannot recommend her more highly. Not only does she know everything about Bay Area real estate but she has an amazing wealth of knowledge about the homes themselves- everything inside and out- construction, quality of materials, repairs needed, quality of repairs done, etc, etc. In addition to all of that she is so incredibly warm, down to earth, and easy to talk to. We were first time home-buyers and she really made the process a breeze, and even kind of fun!! Definitely do not hesitate to reach out to Sarah if you are buying or selling- you won't be disappointed!

Fantastic experience: My husband and I started doing some research on realtors in the Berkeley/Albany area and came across Sarah’s profile. We were intrigued by the high number of positive 5 stars reviews and also her knowledge in housing construction as my husband works in the field. After our initial phone call, we knew Sarah was the right realtor for us. Her warm and approachable demeanor along with her willingness to educate first time home buyers like us helped seal the deal. Sarah has a great understanding of the housing market in the Berkeley/Albany/Oakland area. She also has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to identifying areas of potential concern regarding the foundation, wood framing, and seismic improvements of the house structure. Sarah understood what we were looking for and was able to identify a potential house for us quickly, cutting our home search process by months. We didn’t think we were going to be able to find a home so quickly! We ended up going into contract by the end of the week right before shelter in place started because of COVID. The mortgage loan approval process was not easy because of new regs & rules banks imposed due to market tightening and economic downturn. Sarah was with us the whole way and guided us through the entire process. We’re now happy home owners in Berkeley! We highly recommend Sarah and will not hesitate to contact her for future home sell and purchase!

Fantastic experience: I couldn’t recommend Sarah more highly. She was our buyer’s agent in a recent home we bought in Berkeley. It was the first time my wife and I bought a home and we’re thrilled with the outcome. We worked with her on a pretty exclusive basis within the Berkeley neighborhood. She knew it well - the recent comps, what’s becoming available, pricing strategy on this home, and what people value there. We put in a couple of offers with her and closed on the second. Throughout the closing process she was responsive and available throughout, making time for House visits and phone calls at our convenience. She walked us through all the docs, worked well with our mortgage lender (we used Wells and they were great as well), followed up with our title company on docs, and actively communicated with the seller’s agent. Despite not having a previous relationship with the seller’s agent she was able to work very well with her and build trust to help guide us in the process. I’d also add that we did informal home inspections on a few houses with a paid contractor prior to looking at this house. Those cost $250. We did not do this on the house we purchased because Sarah did a pretty good job of helping us review the inspection report and walk through the home with that in mind. She’s someone that is happy to get her hands dirty. She also knows her landscaping. Post close she has continued to be available and make sure things go smoothly with things like clearing out some old things, providing referrals on different contractors, and even offered to take out our trash before we got in! Sarah was great and we can’t wait to move into our home!