Duncan Wheeler, Vanguard Properties

Duncan was our agent for a home we just purchased in December 2015. We had been working with Duncan most of 2015 and it was a great experience. We first met Duncan at an open house and he spent a great deal of time talking to us about the place, the neighborhood, and San Francisco generally. We liked him so much we asked him to help us search both in SF and the east bay. Duncan was incredibly knowledgable and was great about only sending us listings that might our criteria and he genuinely thought we would like. As we progressed from offer to close, Duncan was very helpful in reviewing all docs with us, explaining exactly what each meant, and highlighting any areas where he thought we should pay particular attention.
Overall a great home buying experience, and I strongly recommend him to friends that are starting to look in the bay area.

I visited SF about 6 months ago, and new it was the place for me. I worked with Duncan, and after moving in 5 different cities and buying all over the place. I have to say Duncan is the best real estate agent i have ever worked with. He is extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and connected. Not only is he very professional, he is also down to earth and easy to work with. Going with any other agent would be a mistake.

I have knew Duncan for many years. He has represented myself and friends as both seller & buyer, and is able to get the best deal in all market conditions. (Yes buyers’ markets have actually existed in the Bay Area). He makes the process very enjoyable and shares important insight that last long after the transaction. I have always been amazed how responsive Duncan is to communications and the time he provided me. He really made me feel like I was his only client. Do yourself a favor and consider this man.

I have done several real estate transactions with Duncan and have found him to be knowledgeable, dedicated and always acting in the best interest of his customers. He knows the market extremely well and is very strategic in terms of handling the offers and counter offers to get to a close.

I have purchased 4 homes over the past 10 years so I have worked with a bunch of realtors and Duncan is truly the best! He knows the SF market so well — what things should be selling for, what offers to be making and how to take care of everything in between — property management, repairs, furniture, remodeling etc. In addition to all this he knows so much about each neighborhood and gets to really know who you are and what you want/​would make you happy vs. just trying to get you to buy the first available option. In addition to all of this he is just so pleasant and honest to speak with. I met a lot of realtors in SF and most laughed at my budget or basically told me I had only one or two options. Duncan took the time, helped me through all the nuttiness that is the SF housing market and I walked away with my dream condo in SOMA. Duncan will be my realtor for any and all needs going forward.

Duncan was a huge help in making our first San Francisco home purchase a reality. Duncan was referred to us by a family member that had had a great experience previously. Duncan did not disappoint. We ended up making an offer on the only property we saw together. Finding the real estate was the easy part. The property had issues associated with it. Duncan was able to help us navigate through the noise to arrive at a deal that worked for us and the seller. He is a true service oriented businessman that keeps his client’s interest at the forefront of the process — never swayed by the commission. We highly recommend Duncan’s services. We move in this week and hope to have many happy years in our new home.

I moved from Chicago to SF last year and have been renting while planning to find my next home. A very good friend of mine who worked with Duncan more than once referred me to him. I couldn’t be happier with my experience with Duncan.
He started sending me new properties as soon as they got listed, and in many cases even before, the more he sent me the more he learnt about what I am looking for (that sometime I even don’t know when I have to write the wish list in few minutes), until I found truly the dream home that I fell in love with right away. This is the most crucial step of the process, to ‘win’ the house in this competitive market, and this is really where Duncan skills shine. Not surprisingly, there were multiple offers on the house, have I not done exactly what Duncan advised me to do, my offer would not have been accepted. It is not always about offering more money than other offers.
I strongly recommend Duncan whether you need to buy or sell. He’s truly professional and knowledgeable of this insanely aggressive market in SF, add to this his friendly and positive attitude. I am thankful to him for many years to come.
Kamal

Duncan was amazing when I purchased my home and sold my home with him. He gave me his full attention and I knew he was on my side. It’s always so stressful to sell or buy and Duncan took so much of the pain out of it. He had mnumbers of people I would need at hand, was insightful to what I might need and took the time to help me decide what was best. I will go with Duncan again when the time comes.

Duncan helped me with my first home purchase, and I’m so glad I used him. Having been a renter in SF for years and not being able to afford a home there, I ended up buying a house in Sonoma. I knew nothing about the process and he kept me well informed throughout the whole transaction. He even connected me with a great mortgage broker. The house I ended up buying was not even listed, I would NEVER have discovered it on my own. I don’t know how he did it! Thanks Duncan! I would definitely recommend him to all of my friends and family.

My wife and I recently started looking at the prospects of buying a house. It would be our first home and we were really not sure about whether to continue renting or buying. Everything is so expensive in SF right now and the process is quite intimidating to say the least. Duncan was referred to us by a friend and thank god met him. I was thoroughly impressed with how well Duncan listened to our thoughts on both sides of the fence. He was able to walk us through the pros and cons of each scenario and really get us comfortable with our decision. I can’t recommend him enough!

I call Duncan my «everything Guru,» because he gave me an opportunity to do something that I always wanted to do, but never knew I could, that is own my own home in the city I love. My wife and I both work for the city and, unsurprisingly, don’t make a lot of money. So the idea of actually owning a home here felt like the pipe dream of all pipe dreams. We were living in a rental right next to the freeway, unhappy with our situation and wondering if, despite the fact that we’ve both devoted our careers to serving the people of San Francisco, we would even be able to continue living in our city.
I had known Duncan for years but always felt uncomfortable asking him to ply his trade for me. I mentioned in passing that I wanted to buy a house and that I was looking for an agent who would work with our precarious situation and Duncan replied «you already have an agent, me.» Within two months of looking, we bought the second house we bid on, which is an anomaly in this market to say the least. Duncan made the process, which I was clueless about, so easy and comfortable that it was almost too easy. At the end of everything, after Duncan held our hand and walked us through financing, buying and renovating our dream house, my wife and I looked around at our beautiful home and I asked her «how’d this happen?» She replied with one word, «Duncan.»
I couldn’t be more grateful, and I couldn’t recommend him more. If you want an agent that is more than just about the bottom line, who cares about his clients and makes sure they are protected, Duncan is the obvious choice. Thanks bud.

I hired Duncan to secure three business leases for me. I can’t say enough about his attention to detail, timely response times and overall professionalism.
The first property he helped to secure was a small little space that he found in the Castro neighborhood. I called him in the morning to explain what I needed and by 4:00pm that day he had the perfect location for me.
The second property was a space in Healdsburg. I mentioned that I wanted to have a space on the square in Healdsburg and he was able to deliver a wonderful opportunity for a space that wasn’t actually listed yet.
The third and final property was a Fillmore location. Highly coveted area and very tough to navigate. He quickly had a wonderful property for me to review and, as with the other properties, it was perfect.
I’ve referred many friends and business associates to Duncan and everyone has amazing things to say about what he’s been able to help them with. I highly recommend him to anyone serious about entering the real estate market. He’s a great agent and and will fight hard to get you what you what.

Duncan is warm, patient, and most of all, effective! I am currently in contract, and this happened largely thanks to Duncan’s skill at finding the right property with incredible speed! He moves as quickly as you want to move, is as responsive as you need him to be, and on top of all that, Duncan, is very charming. I highly recommend Duncan for your real estate search!

We recommend Duncan to all our friends and business associates.
Duncan found our first SF home in 2010, the experience was awesome. He is knowledgable, straight forward, professional, flexible and committed to his client’s full satisfaction.
Last year when we decided to move, there was no question we would have Duncan in charge of our sale and help us find our next home. Throughout our search Duncan found us amazing homes to view, some pre-​market. After we went into contract, Duncan hired a fantastic engineer (Bear) and organized a handyman in the middle of the Holidays.
After we closed on our home we asked Duncan to sell our SF condo ASAP — he did, for exactly what and how we wanted.
While Duncan is fun to be around, it’s really his connections and willingness to answer all our questions drawing us to work with him again and again. Even when his job was done, he helped us resolve issues with our first home for the entire 4 years we lived there. Anything came up, he was our first call (he never complained!) — and always had a suggestion for how to solve our problem or would even make a call for us. Great service. Duncan gets it done.

Ten years ago Duncan found me my first condo, which turned out to be a great home and a great investment. Since then he’s guided me through a complicated TIC to Condo Conversion and the sale of that condo and purchase of a new home, which I LOVE. I couldn’t ask for anything more; Duncan and his assistant Jon are class acts all around.

Working with Duncan on buying our first home has been nothing but pure pleasure — from the moment we met him we knew we were in most capable hands, with his expansive knowledge of the city, the neighborhoods, market trends, and best of all, his many connections with selling agents. Duncan was able to show us homes before they were listed to general public, which gave us significant advantage and made us understand what we want and need without feeling the pressure of competing with many other parties.
He was also extremely good at communicating, moving quickly on gathering information and introducing us to sellers, and finally making our ultimate winning offer. He made time to meet us whenever was convenient for us, from very early mornings to late evenings, and was very patient and accommodating with all our demands. After seeing over 70 properties and almost giving up before meeting him, Duncan was able to secure us our dream home within weeks.
He is also a wonderful human being, sweet, fun and caring, and nothing like the dry and impersonal agents we came across at viewings.
You can’t go wrong with Duncan. He will make you fall in love with San Francisco, and find you a home in it to call your own.