Michael Friedman – The Grubb Company

We worked with Michael to buy a house in Oakland in 2014. It was a fantastic experience. He helped us find the right neighborhood, debriefed with us after open houses, and worked with us on putting together a number of offers. His strong relationships with other agents and his insightful advice on bidding strategy were so helpful to us throughout that process and critical in making sure we ended up in a house that we love. After we moved in, he had great suggestions for updating our kitchen and helped us connect with people to put the plan into action at a reasonable price. We’ve recommended Michael to several friends for their purchases and will continue recommending him to anyone who is in looking to buy or sell in the East Bay.

Michael was a great resource for our July 2015 home purchase in South Berkeley. He knows everyone who works in this space in the East Bay and has great tips about every neighborhood. He is also a pleasure to be around and to work with. We have referred several friends to him since we purchased our home. If you’re looking for a pro agent in the East Bay, you can’t go wrong with Michael.

I’ve worked with Michael twice now, once to buy a home and once to sell. Both experiences were FANTASTIC. I cannot say enough good things.
In the first instance, my new husband and I had been looking at houses casually. We were leaving for long-​planned vacation when friends sent us a listing. We decided just to have a quick look, though knew we weren’t serious yet. Well, we fell in love with the house. Making the offer had to happen the next day, and the rest of the purchase process had to be done via Skype from Europe. Michael strapped in and got us through it, from advising us on what offer to make to actually get the house (always tricky in the Bay Area), to every detail of the purchase despite the logistical challenges. Thanks to Michael, we’re now living in a house we absolutely adore.
The sale of my previous house was the opposite process, a total renovation over the span of almost a year, with permitting delays and the whole thing. Michael was a dream to work with here as well. I was selling my rambling fixer-​upper in an emerging neighborhood in Berkeley, now that I’d remarried and move into the new place. Michael oversaw the whole process. He recommended and helped me select contractors, talked through and advised on things like adding a bathroom and reconfiguring the kitchen. He had the insight to bring on a stager early, and she gave brilliant, creative advice on interior paint colors. He has beautiful taste himself, and recommended cabinets, appliances, light fixtures — even handle pulls! Through all of it, he thought about who our target audience was — who would be buying in that neighborhood, what they’d be looking for and find interesting, how to make my house stand out for them. He also helped manage reno costs, yet investing in things that would really make a difference to buyers. The result was a gorgeous renovation that sold for several hundred thousand more than the asking price, to a nice family that has a real appreciation for a neighborhood I had loved.
What I came to appreciate most about Michael over the many, many months of working with him, is the vibe and the attitude he brings to it all. Both buying and selling a house can be stressful, and renovating a house can make you tear your hair out. Michael is incredibly smart and on top of every aspect of the work, yet manages to bring an easy-​going, ‘life is good’ vibe that makes everything go more smoothly. Michael made both buying and selling a pleasure.

We had a terrific experience with Michael. He took us around Berkeley to introduce us to the area, and showed us a number of houses in Berkeley and Oakland. He was knowledgeable and patient — for example by recommending we go back to the house when it wasn’t an open house and get a feel for what it would feel like to live there. Ultimately we closed on a home in North Berkeley (our third offer) and could not be happier. We definitely recommend Michael for home purchases in the east bay. He also helped us through the purchase process and after with finding appliances, etc.

Loved working with Michael to buy a home in 2015. He helped us tour homes throughout East Bay and was patient, friendly, and helpful while we shopped. We put in a couple of offers with him and one with a realtor at a different agency; Michael was far superior.
I’m a little skeptical of realtors in general (they can make a lot of $ for seeming to not provide that much value), but Michael’s insight and advice was invaluable and I’m convinced he was the decisive factor to help win us our current home in Berkeley.
After escrow closed, Michael helped us decide what home issues exposed in the disclosures were items we should fix immediately vs later. And he even provided recommendations for appliances. Big thumbs up.

Michael managed the sale of my house and was absolutely fantastic to work with. There was lots to do prior to the sale and Michael was able to work through all of the issues big and small. Michael has an extensive network of trustworthy contractors, information sources, and businesses in the area and he used that team of contacts to ready the house for its new owner. The state of the house and the final sale price came in above my expectations. Sure its a hot market for sellers right now but in any kind of market Michael knows what to do and gets it done. I trusted Michael fully and he came through and was so very helpful during the process.

Michael took great care of us both as buyers and as sellers in Berkeley. He’s trustworthy, knows his business and was a really good guide and partner throughout the process. He figured us out quickly and worked with us in a way that inspired confidence that we’d end up with the right results. He was always calm, very prepared and just a good guy to be around — critical qualities for what can otherwise be a nerve-​wracking process.

Michael recently helped us find a home in Berkeley and I could not recommend him more! As first-​time homebuyers that had recently moved to CA, Michael was the perfect advisor to help us understand the general process as well as the particularities of the East Bay market.
Michael’s personal history with the market lends a unique expertise that you may not necessarily find with all realtors. Because Michael has been in the industry for so long, his recommendations for who to work with once we decided to make an offer helped us gather the team that we needed to get all the necessary paperwork in order during escrow. Michael also seems to know a person or a company for anything you might need related to establishing a new home and making changes, which helped us through the transition.
Buying a home is such a major and personal decision, and we were so glad to have worked with someone who was so knowledgeable, personable and generous with their time.