Home Buying Overview

Your home is many things: A feeling, an investment, a hobby, a refuge. But it is above all a physical entity with characteristics that make it strong or weak, more or less valuable and more or less able to withstand the dramatic events that are inevitable in life on the edge of our continent.

How do you buy a home in earthquake country? What does it mean to buy a home in the Special Studies Zone? Should you buy a home on the path of the Hayward Fault?

When I meet with Buyers, I want to help them understand the technical realities of a potential purchase. The quality of the earth a house is standing on, the characteristics of the foundation that connects it to that earth, the structure and design of the home itself are prominent in our evaluation of places to live.

I use all the information I have in construction, soils geology and design, along with my general knowledge of the neighborhood you have identified to this end. Your home will be one you love. I work hard to help you make an outstanding choice.

Curious about Bay Area geology? Please visit the Earthquake Information page.

Ready to begin your home search? View my Featured Homes, Search for a Home on the MLS and sign up to receive Property Updates when homes that match your search criteria come on the market. You may also view your Property Organizer from here, and view Open Homes resources.

Learn about the home buying process

Use a mortgage calculator

Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions about home buying

Request a consultation on home buying

"We cannot recommend Candace highly enough for anyone looking to buy a home in Berkeley. We were first-time buyers, and Candace worked tirelessly to make sure that we got the first house we made an offer on, amidst 11 other offers. We are certain that we would never have been able to buy the home we wanted without her.

Candace is extremely knowledgeable about the market in Berkeley (the East Bay), yet brings so much more to the stressful experience of buying a home -- including her experience as a planner/architect, her skill in communicating even the most complicated details in plain language, her esteem in the community, and her connections with highly competent and efficient people. She goes above and beyond the call of duty to take care of every last detail -- she even sent over a plumber our first day at our home to take care of a small leak. She regards this as the life-transforming event that it is, and treats the experience of buying a home in this holistic manner. She inspires the utmost confidence, and, truly, she is the difference between buying a home or not."

- S. Mackenzie