The #1 priority my East Bay home buyer clients have in common

Location location location !

Location has always been the most important feature when buying real estate. That’s how “location location location” said 3x became a saying that transcends time.

But what does “location” mean exactly? The right location may mean a coveted school district or neighborhood known for its name, such as Pacific Heights in San Francisco, Berkeley in the East Bay, Beverly Hills in So Cal, or the UES (Upper East Side) in Manhattan.

Location is a delicate balance between an awesome place to live and the nuisances that come with those great locations.

Location is a place that will make you happy. It may be an area where you’re among likeminded people. Perhaps a place that values community above all else.

In choosing that right location, if you’re on a budget, you’ll likely face tradeoffs. For example, you may not want to have airplane noise. But you want to be near an airport. (That’s where double- or triple-paned windows come into play!)

You may not want to have freeway or BART noise. But you want to be able to walk to the BART station or quickly hop onto the freeway for your commute.

You may not want neighboring houses to share fence lines or have windows overlooking your backyard. But you want to be able to afford a house that’s near everything you love with a great commute…that’s still relatively affordable. (Yes, I have Rockridge on the brain.)

Why has location become even more important to home buyers?

There’s one thing you can’t change about the house you buy: The location. (Yes, the exception is if you’re buying a historic home for $1 that the city wants you to move to a new location OR if you’re are buying a mobile house.)

There are neighborhoods around the Bay Area, and around the country, where real estate values have declined in 2026. (Ask me for insightful market trend charts.)

Then there are neighborhoods and properties that continue to see bidding wars, where people who bought in the frothy 2021 / 2022 era, and overbid to win their properties, can still profit or at least break even on their 2026 home sales.

For many who bought just a few years ago, they are reluctantly selling at losses when forced to by job relocation or job losses or other scenarios that call for a quick sale.

What does an aspiring home buyer do if you can’t find a house in the location you want?

Compromise.

Recently a home buyer said to me that you can’t change the layout of a house or the amount of light it gets. So the right layout and lots of light were among their top priorities.

In reality, houses with funky layouts, a variety of flooring, ugly paint, and issues related to light often can be modified. Unlike a house’s location.

Finding a “good enough” house in the location you want might be the strategy.

How to find the right neighborhood for you to buy a house

It’s important to take time and explore different neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods at different times of day, even different times of year. When home buyers come to me and sheepishly say they may not buy for months or even years, I say no problem. (This goes contrary to how we Realtors are trained. They say it’s best to not spend time working with buyers who won’t be ready to buy within a few months. I say: A happy buyer is one who knows they’re buying in a location they’ll love!)

It is also important to know what’s going on in the city and county where you’re thinking of buying. These days with budgets threatening closing of schools and BART stations, choosing a location with contingincies and change in mind is all the more important.

I love keeping track of who’s being elected, grumblings in a city, budget issues, and other changes that might be coming that could impact quality of life and home values.

When you buy a property in California, you’ll receive a Natural Hazard Report as part of the disclosure package. Paying close attention to potential environmental trends and future “movement” (you know the kind I mean) will serve you well.

Depending on the Natural Hazard Report, we discuss ways to mitigate how those potential hazards could impact you and your property should a disaster occur.

Make Location, Location, Location Your #1 Priority

Even if the saying is old-fashioned, hackneyed and trite, there’s a reason you still here it. Location is a timeless a guiding principle to remember when shopping for a home or rental property.

The first step in working together to buy a house is to explore what location you might love. And go from there!