Wendy Graves

3/15/22Mark Niemczyk

Google Review

Wendy was fantastic to work with. She helped me sell my first house, which I had expected to be a very stressful experience.

She explained all the steps as we went along, and really made it a pain free transaction. It helps that she is so experienced and been through both buying and selling enough to know where the problems are most likely to occur. My deal went exactly like she said it would, and definitely helped keep my anxiety to a minimum.

My house was essentially sold several days after the first showing, and her advice on pricing was right on the money.
10/10 would recommend her to anyone in the Bay Area who are looking at buying or selling a home. She was my real estate agent, but I trust her like a true friend.

9/17/21John Binkov

Google Review

Wendy is extremely knowledgeable about what it takes to buy or sell a home. She has a sharp eye for details that others may miss.
She also is very available when you need advice.
Last and most important Wendy is personable, friendly, willing to go the extra mile for clients, and she understands how stressful this can be.

7/15/21Michael Stevens

Google Review

Wendy helped my buy my first place, a condo in Berkeley, in 2010. The condo was a short-sale, Wendy stuck it out through 8 months of what turned out to be a very difficult sale to put me in my first non-rental home. When we decided to relocate in 2016, she worked with us on five bids over the course of the year and a half we spent looking, eventually putting us in a fantastic place in Alameda, and then handled the sale of our Berkeley condo. When we opted to move out-of-state in 2021, she was able to recommend a fantastic agent in our new location in addition to selling our Alameda house for us. Wendy went above and beyond the call of duty for us as both buyers and sellers. She not only knew exactly the steps we needed to take to maximize the sale prices when we sold, but was also able to suggest vendors she trusted to do repairs, updates, staging, and photography at reasonable prices.

12/23/20Beatrice Arbaiza

Google Review

Wendy went the extra mile dealing with problems as they occurred. She was always available to answer questions and if she didn't have a answer for a question immediately she always found it and got back to us. At one point when a realtor was showing our home to a potential buyer a homeless man entered our home and took the house key with him. Well the other realtor didn't know how to handle it but Wendy did. We were already in our new home when this occurred so you can imagine how upset we were, thinking we may need to return to deal with it. Wendy however already did. By the time we learned more of the details Wendy had the lock to the door changed! That was Awesome! That's what I'm talking about.

12/19/20Susan Spence

Google Review

This writing serves as high recognition for Wendy Graves, real estate agent for Winkler real estate group. Wendy came to me as a reference from a neighbor with glowing recommendations! Wendy did not disappoint and was always a pleasure to work with. Completely professional, enthusiastic, responsive, always attention to detail and very knowledgeable of the area and the process. Wendy served me well with her personal service, integrity, impressive work ethic and market knowledge. I look forward to working with her again in the future!

11/20/20Kathleen Hill

Google Review

Wendy Graves is incredibly organized, always responsive, a master of clear communication and very, very, patient. Wendy's professionalism is enough to recommend her but the real reason I would not hesitate to recommend her is that she consistently goes above and beyond the norm to assist her clients. We had a few unusual issues arise during our transaction she was always able to calmly help us find solutions. You will not find a better agent to work with. I can not recommend her more highly.

11/17/20Sarah Trent

Google Review

Wendy was a great sellers agent and I'd recommend her to anyone -- she helped me get $80k more for my house than I thought was possible, she managed the showings and care for my property while I was away, and she really knows her stuff when it comes to marketing and selling strategy in the crazy East Bay market (especially Oakland's Maxwell Park + surrounds).

8/6/20Danielle Dai

Google Review

Wendy is fantastic! My husband and I are first-time homebuyers, and are extremely fortunate to enjoy our new home in Oakland during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and Shelter in Place, thanks to Wendy. She is professional, responsive, and friendly, always going above and beyond to provide quality service.

We were apprehensive about entering the highly competitive and desirable Oakland market, which seemed to get even more competitive during COVID-19. Luckily, we had Wendy.

Wendy was patient and professional, answering every question under the moon. No question was too basic, which, for a Type A person like me going through 200 pages of legalese, was super great. Also, unlike other agents who may try to rush you into making an offer, we never felt pressured. In fact, Wendy nearly talked us out of every potential offer by providing a very thorough and honest assessment of the house — here’s what you really need to worry about from the disclosures, here’s what was missing, here are some other considerations, etc. We LOVED this about Wendy. Her knowledge of home maintenance is unparalleled, and set us up for the realities of home ownership.

During COVID-19, Wendy kept us informed about the latest in the market and exercised extremely safe practices when viewing houses. She kept constant communication with the listing agent, and was always prompt and professional with her responses. We were fortunate to get our current home on the third try, and learned a lot along the way (including that COVID-19 actually created a more competitive market for the houses we were interested in. When our offer was accepted, Wendy continued to provide great customer service, quelling our fears about all the ways in which our offer could fall through and what to expect before getting the keys.

The journey into home ownership is exciting and scary. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone. Get Wendy on your team sooner rather than later! We’re enjoying beautiful views of downtown Oakland and creating a loving home. Thanks for everything Wendy!

7/25/20Kamala Lyn Parks

Google Review

We worked with Wendy to find and buy our first house in February 2020. For years, in fits and starts, I worked with different real estate agents, even ones that were referred by my home-owner friends. However, I was never successful buying a place with previous agents.

My experience with Wendy was successful because she is a very honest, straightforward person. She was not concerned with getting the highest fee possible, instead focused on making sure we were happy with our purchase. Wendy is flexible in how you work with her and is extremely responsive. She provides a wealth of experience and knowledge and spends an extraordinary amount of time reviewing disclosures, which are onerous. She will also endeavor not to waste anyone's time writing offers on bad value property or that she thinks will go out of your price range. Several times, she discouraged us from bidding on a property that was a pretty facade with a rotting foundation, figuratively, even if her commission would have been higher than what we ended up with. She is also very astute when it comes to purchasing condos in terms of looking for red flags in HOA documentation. Ultimately, we purchased a single-family home, but it's important to know that she works well with both residential types.

As buyers, it was incumbent upon us to listen to her expertise and to articulate and embody your "must haves" and "nice to haves". We were unsuccessful twice in bidding and did have to adjust our location choices in order to get the "must haves" and many of our "nice to haves" for our third, successful try. She kept us motivated by sharing her own inspiring experiences with us in addition to strategies she has used in the past. She continues to check in with us regularly to make sure that we are happy with our home.

Since our purchase, I am a devotee of Wendy, referring anyone I know who is looking to buy in the East Bay, and they have been very happy with her, as well. She is by far the most collaborative, creative, thoughtful, and honest agent I've encountered and cannot recommend here enough.

6/27/20Paraskevi Theocharis

Google Review

Wendy is an exceptional realtor. I'd worked with several prior to her, and she blew them out of the water!

From the start, Wendy told me she would take care of everything and make the process of selling my home as painless as possible. I highly doubted this, as I'm an anxious person, but she made good on her word.

Wendy lives to serve her clients, and is available and responsive to them. I texted her a million times and, without fail, she got back to me quickly, even on weekends and evenings. She's relatable and genuine, and never made me feel like l was imposing.

Selling my TIC (tenancy in common) was complicated, and that's when I realized how intelligent and ethical Wendy is. She navigated legal, regulatory, and county compliance issues, involving me only when necessary. I swear, she handled so much for me, I hardly thought about the fact that I was selling my house, much less worried obsessively about it, as I'm prone to doing.

If you need a realtor, do yourself a big favor and contact Wendy. l promise and swear you'll be just as thrilled with her as l was!

1/27/20Rebecca Knell

Google Review

Wendy Graves is the Realtor I recommend to my friends and family. She sold my grandmothers home after she passed, helped me buy my first home and has helped countless friends purchase their first homes. I look forward to the day where she can assist my brother in purchasing his first home.

Wendy is a realist and I appreciate that. She wants you to be as prepared as you can and helps you keep your hopes in check if a home is not realistic or not ideal. When I first came to her with my dream of buying a home, she was very adamant that I should save up as much as I could and be pre approved by JVM Lending (who is fabulous by the way and really allowed me to be competitive in this market with a 14 day close). I spoke to other realtors who gave me false hope of what I could afford and could have ended up with hundreds of dollars extra a month in PMI payments. It felt like they cared more about getting me in a home right away than my own financial stability in the long run. Wendy never made me feel that way. She was in it for the long haul and helped me set me up for success and be in the best financial position I could, personally and competitively. Wendy truly cares about you as a person and getting you into the right home to suit your needs and budget.

Wendy is very quick to respond if you have any questions or a question about a potential home. She is very knowledgeable about the gimmicks people put out there to attract people to a home and is good at teaching you how to be aware of those so you don’t continue to have false hope. I’m sure you’ve all seen that home that seems to good to be true, because it usually is and Wendy was great at educating me how to spot those.

When it came time to put an offer on my home I felt very taken care of. I felt that I was making an informed decision thanks to Wendy. She did a wonderful job of building rapport with the listing agent and kept me posted on anything she found out. From how many people pulled disclosures to how many people had already put in offers. When it came time to put an offer in we found out that 4 other people had pulled disclosures and 2 had already put in offers. (Ultimately all 5 of us put in offers). When Wendy did her comp research we learned the amount it may potentially go for was 50k over my max. She was very careful not to push me outside of what I had established as my max unless that was what I felt comfortable doing and could live with my decision if I did not get the house. This was probably the most sound piece of advice she could have given me. She is very honest with you about the potential outcomes and keeps you grounded.

I ended up with my offer being accepted. It was the perfect storm that Wendy helped me prepare for. Starting with the rapport she built with the listing agent, she then helped me construct a beautiful letter to the home owners which really stole their hearts. I had saved up a bunch of money to have a solid down payment (thanks to her stressing to me how important that was over the years) and I was pre approved by a wonderful lender that Wendy works closely with.

Today, I am sitting here writing this in my home and I could not be happier with my purchase. I owe it all to Wendy for setting me up for success and helping me be competitive in this market and guiding me through this process.

I highly recommend Wendy to anyone who is looking to purchase a home whether it is your first or your 5th!

11/7/19Eoghan O'Donnell

Google Review

I cannot speak highly enough of Wendy if you are looking to find a realtor that will serve you very well in buying or selling your property.
She goes the extra mile in following up every minute detail to ensure the process is as smooth as possible, including getting into tight crawl spaces for her own 'peace of mind' inspections.
She has a very personable manner, and it was a pleasure to view many listings with her before we found the right new home for us almost five years ago.
As well as buying into a new part of Oakland, she also helped us sell our old property, which went just as smoothly.
I would without hesitation use Wendy again, and heartily recommend her ;-)

10/25/19Surj Gish

Google Review

Wendy is the best. Back in 2012 or so, my wife and I started looking to buy a house without a realtor. Wendy was the ONLY realtor that responded to our emails and calls respectfully and informatively—so we asked her to help us buy a house.

Wendy was amazing. Things were starting to be very competitive again in the East Bay and she helped us sort out the good from the bad and the beautiful on the surface, but really ugly underneath stuff. She is impeccably professional without being a stuffed shirt—we appreciated her honesty and keeping it real-ness, and her local knowledge as a longtime Oakland resident herself was invaluable. We ended up in a fabulous home, thanks to her, and we still keep in touch and hang out now and then.

10/17/19Sharon Farrell

Google Review

I cannot praise Wendy enough. She helped sell our condo in Oakland and helped us find an amazing house also in Oakland. She is extremely hands on and is not afraid to get her hands dirty - and I mean that literally. She will get under the house into the crawl space to check things out. She is responsive at all times of the day and night. She is also very realistic and knows the Bay Area market extremely well and all the quirkiness that goes with it. She knows the local market extremely well and will suggest neighborhoods you may not even have considered or known existed. She is also not afraid to play hardball on your behalf but can also be very diplomatic when the situation calls for it. Her people skills are amazing and they will work in your favor. She is also extremely patient and will answer an endless list of questions, multiple times! I would not hesitate for a moment in recommending Wendy and in fact have several times and I now have several friends that are also very satisfied customers.

5/17/19Alyson Furnback

Google Review

Wendy is the best! My partner and I are grateful to have had her support while buying and selling our first home. Wendy is knowledgeable and extremely reliable in addition to this she is honest. Wendy is a lovely person and a highly recommend her for any of your real estate needs!

5/17/19Taylor Genovese

Google Review

Wendy helped us buy and sell our first home. She’s honest, reliable and a pleasure to work with. She knows the Bay Area market (especially Oakland) very well and gave us great advice.

4/29/19M. Cullen

Google Review

We worked with Wendy to buy our house and, 7 years later, to sell it- both transactions were fantastic. She's smart, patient and efficient. We would work with her again in a heartbeat but sadly we moved out of the area. She's the best.