Testimonials
We cannot say enough good things about our selling experience with Michelle. She is the ultimate professional who makes a life changing experience run smoothly. Always on time, responds to questions promptly, and guides you through the process with care and concern.
Michelle knows and loves the area. She makes all of the paperwork seamless.
We highly recommend her as your real estate professional.
— Carol and Mike, Moraga sellers
“Michelle is the best of the best! If you are looking for a realtor that knows the area, pricing, listens and knows how to execute, Michelle is the one. We had so many things to do, reports, inspections, renovations, contractors, staging, landscaping, etc ... and Michelle has the BEST contacts, no snags at all. My brother and I worked with Michelle, and I honestly can say, life would've been 9x harder without her. She's the person you want in your corner, hands down!”
— Laurie, Moraga seller
“Michelle has the unique combination of deep local knowledge, a keen eye, attention to details, dedication to her clients and thoughtfulness, that are so important in helping finding a home.
We could not be happier and she surpassed all our expectations as she helped us discover what we want and find the right home.”
— Yossi and Hadar, Moraga buyers
“Michelle is the consummate professional! She is very organized and responsive. She treats you as if you were her ONLY client and I know that's not the case. It was a joy working with Michelle and I would highly recommend her.”
— Adrienne, Orinda seller
“Michelle worked with us for about a year and helped us find a perfect first home. She knows the Lamorinda area really well and was a great guide as we went through our home buyer journey. She knew all the things to look out for and helped us keep up our energy despite the difficult market. She’s super personable and prompt and was genuinely supportive throughout the closing process and after. Highly recommend working with her!”
— Caroline and Brandt, Moraga buyers
“Michelle was the perfect realtor for us. She is friendly, warm, accepting, and helpful. She got to know us and what we were looking for in a home very quickly and made sure the houses she recommended fit what we were looking for.
Michelle's goal was to find the house that fit us well. She genuinely wanted us to love the house we bought. She was consistently positive about finding us our house and very encouraging in a difficult market.
Her estimates of what each house would sell for were very accurate.
Part of the time we were looking for a house, we were living an hour away from Lamorinda. Michelle previewed possible houses and made videos for us. Her assessment and comments about houses were honest, accurate, and knowledgeable. She informed us of any issues she noticed that might rule the house out for us.
Michelle kept us regularly informed of houses as they came on the market and when they were coming soon. She answered our calls, emails and texts promptly. Her communication was clear, accurate, and helpful.
She is incredibly knowledgeable about the Lamorinda area and specific neighborhoods. She also referred us to agents in other areas when we saw listings of interest outside of Lamorinda.
Michelle went above and beyond for us and we give her the highest recommendation possible.”
— Kathy, Moraga buyer
“If you've ever wondered about the value of an outstanding realtor, let me tell you a story.
We decided to move from Moraga in late September and thought we had missed the peak season. Due to Michelle's outstanding reputation and knowledge of the area, we put her on our shortlist and were leaning toward waiting until the spring of 2022 to put the house on the market. Fortunately, we followed her guidance.
She patiently explained her approach and, shared her insights re: timing and asking price -- she constantly was analyzing the market conditions including other listings in the entire Lamorinda area. Most importantly for us, she simply "owned" the entire process and communicated frequently in various modes. Michelle engaged the stager, carpet installer, painter, and landscaper to make the house move-in ready within 2 weeks. And she did all of this with integrity, objectivity, grace, humor and patience ;-)
Oh, if you just wanted the Cliff Notes version, here it is: 10 offers, all over asking price and the house was on the market one week.”
— Yale and Chie, Moraga sellers
“Michelle recently completed sale of my home where I have lived for 50 years. The sale perfectly fit our planned schedule as to price and escrow closing date. This occurred as a result of her outstanding professional abilities. I am a retired executive and I found her to be completely knowledgeable in all aspects of her work but also totally focused on the task at hand. Of equal importance to me was her wide list of people that made the task virtually turn key. She has great people to handle staging, packing, painting and moving etc. She met the challenges beautifully.”
— Herb, Moraga seller
We have known Michelle Holcenberg for over ten years. When the time came to sell our property, it was a very easy decision to choose Michelle. Michelle advised us on our listing price and schedule for putting the house on the market. She also made numerous helpful suggestions for preparing the house for the market. Michelle is honest, trustworthy, reliable, knowledgeable, and stays ahead of the issues of the day. Michelle is an outstanding advisor and a very competent Real Estate Professional. She always responds promptly to any inquires. We heartily recommend her to anyone considering a residential real estate transaction.
— Nikolene and Ed, Moraga sellers
“Michelle is a caring and professional realtor. Her expertise in staging and selling homes in the Lamorinda area was key to getting the best value for my home. She assisted throughout the process of updating my property and making it look its best.”
— Karen, Moraga seller
“The beauty of the recent sale of my condominium was how quickly and effortlessly it happened. Admittedly, the timing was good, but it was Michelle’s knowledge and skill, and what I consider her savvy intuition, which all came together in an amazing sale!
Having worked in contract and grant administration at UC Berkeley for most of my professional life, organization, analysis, and presentation were critical to me. Michelle had all of these abilities at the highest level.
One of her most prized assets to me is that she is very detail oriented. I realized this as she guided me through, for example, the numerous disclosures, some of the legalities (within an agent’s scope), marketing plan including the presentation (to stage or not), use of the web, and price.
And finally: Performance. She was attentive to all needs. She was immediately available to me every day and most hours. And as I said to begin with: it happened quickly and effortlessly, or at least I felt that way. I credit that great experience to Michelle!"
I would be happy to discuss further with you.”
— Bette, Moraga seller
“Michelle is warm, hard-working, and a strong communicator. She worked with us tirelessly over the course of six months to find our new home. Michelle was always clear and honest in her feedback about properties and helped us to ask the right questions.
Her experience in the local market was a great asset; she really understands the ever-changing market and long-term trends of the area. In the end, her suggestions and advice helped our offer stand out.
What a pleasure to work with her!”
— Dan and Jamie, Orinda buyers
“Michelle made selling our house so easy. She is highly experienced and calming in the midst of difficult decisions and emotions. She was a joy to work with and I would recommend her to anyone and everyone in a heartbeat.”
— Heidi and Larry, Moraga sellers
'“As a first time home buyer (with very particular tastes, but in an incredibly challenging market for buyers), I can't recommend Michelle highly enough.
She gave her honest opinions on houses, has terrific knowledge of neighborhoods, local trends, and is highly regarded by her peers. (i.e. they'd rather sell to her clients than to another agent they don't know as well.)
We actually connected with a half dozen agents through our search (did I mention I was particular?), and Michelle stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Even now, after we've purchased our house, she continues to help us plan for our move in, recommending movers, renovation specialists, and even which pool we should join.
"Full service" doesn't begin to describe this amazing agent. Michelle is the best!”
— Rob and Rose, Moraga buyers
“I worked with Michelle for about a year-and-a-half through a house sale and a townhouse purchase. Looking back, we went through a tremendous amount and accomplished so much! The house sale exceeded expectations and set me us nicely to purchase my next home. The house sale was very well-planned and executed. Michelle and her team of experts guided me correctly the entire way. I wouldn't have done anything differently!
The house purchase took a little longer than expected due to market dynamics. I thought I would feel rushed by a real estate agent but at no point was there any pressure put upon me to settle for anything less than perfect (for me). In fact, when I was tired and wanted to give up many times Michelle would call and give me a little pep talk. She knew (I didn't) that we would find something that really made me happy and she was right! She was going to stick by me even if it took years!"
I can't recommend Michelle enough. Many agents do their jobs well but there was something so personal and real she brought to the relationship.”
— Pamela, buyer and seller
“Michelle was the ideal realtor to retain for my Lamorinda home search and purchase.
She knew the current and future listings, pros and cons of neighborhoods, homes and builders, and she knew selling agents well.
That all helped me get a quick and thorough view on my opportunities, and we quickly found and purchased the ideal house for my family. Thank you, Michelle!”
— Kristen, Moraga buyer
“Michelle was always there when we had any questions or doubts, needed guidance and advice, or just a little push to get something finished. She is very hands-on. We appreciated her professional skills, her quick way of sizing up any situation, and her team who helped us get everything done quickly so we were able to get our house on the market in record time. Under her guidance our house sold at a price way beyond our expectations.”
— Andy and Wendy, Moraga sellers
“From the moment that we first called her, Michelle was available day and night to answer all of our questions, give us excellent advice based on her extensive knowledge of this area, and carefully guide us through the multi-faceted selling process. We interviewed several realtors, and Michelle definitely stood out among the others. She is incredible! In the fast-paced housing market that we now live in, Michelle takes the time to truly care about her clients, and she goes the extra step of ensuring that all of our needs are met (like rushing over at 8:00 a.m. when we realized that we had run out of masks for our prospective buyers to wear). Michelle is truly exceptional, and we highly recommend her to anyone buying or selling a home in this area.”
— Mary Anne and Mike, Moraga sellers
“As first-time homebuyers, we couldn’t have imagined a better person to work with. Looking for a home during the pandemic added an extra layer of intensity, and Michelle had the knowledge, expertise, and patience to ensure we didn’t just get any home, but the perfect home for us. One of the many things we appreciated about Michelle was her responsiveness and willingness to talk through any questions or concerns we had. We felt guided, cared for, and never rushed. Her standards of excellence and emphasis on making a wise future investment matched ours. Michelle is a consummate professional, lovely to work with, and we can’t recommend her enough!”
— Yoon and John K., Lafayette buyers
“Our family met Michelle while looking for a house in Orinda. We wanted a local realtor that knew the region well and Michelle met that criteria perfectly having grown up in the area. However after working more with Michelle and getting to know her, we realized how lucky we got, since she not only had a wealth of knowledge about the area but also made a significant effort to welcome us the the neighborhood and introduce us some of the people she knew including some of our new neighbors. Michelle was very honest and didn’t hold back when she needed to express any concerns she had, we never felt pressure to move faster or offer more than we were comfortable with. She truly wanted us to find a house that we would be most comfortable in. Also with her network she was able to collect really good technical information on the region and answer any concerns we had related to the house. I definitely recommend Michelle! Thank you Michelle!”
— Casey and Tassia, Orinda buyers
“We recently purchased our home with Michelle and she was fantastic throughout the whole process. Being first time home buyers, we were new to the whole process and she was extremely patient and knowledgeable, and very responsive to our questions and needs. We would highly recommend her to our friends and family!”
— Tony and Jen, Orinda buyers
“We worked with Michelle to sell our Moraga home given her great reputation in the Lamorinda area, and the very positive impression we got from her after our first meeting. The results exceeded all expectations. Our house had multiple offers over asking price the day after the first open house. Michelle's experience, professionalism and understanding of the process every step along the way were critical to sell our house, especially considering that many of the processes involved were moving more slowly as a result of COVID-19. Michelle communicated clearly and as often as needed, she was incredibly responsive to all our requests and questions, and helped us stay patient and calm throughout the entire process. We fully recommend her services to anyone considering selling their home in Lamorinda.”
— Carlos and Audrey, Moraga sellers
“Michelle helped us back-to-back with the sale of our house and the purchase of our next home right after. She was so professional, honest, and super responsive throughout the entire process for both transactions. Her expertise and knowledge of the area really helped us maximize the sale of our home and we were thrilled with the outcome. She has an extensive list of amazing contacts to help prepare the home for the open house. And when it came time to purchase our home, she helped us stand out in the competition to get the home we'd always dreamed of. Overall, it was Michelle's knowledge of the industry, the area, and her professionalism that really impressed me and I highly recommend her to all of our friends!”
— Grace and Jin, Moraga buyers and sellers
“I highly recommend Michelle in helping to find your new home.
As 3rd time home-buyers and having had experience with 5 different realtors in our life, Michelle was by far the most professional, experienced, and just simply a joy to work with, in every step of the way.
For 15 months, Michelle was patient and persistent in showing us different houses all around the Lamorinda area, as we got to know the neighborhoods, and just what all was out there. Recently we found our dream-home in the Glorietta neighborhood of Orinda, and we could not be happier.
Finding the house was just the beginning, as Michelle then intelligently walked us through all the steps of the disclosures, inspections, loans, contracts, etc. Even after close of escrow she continues to give us referrals for needed neighborhood contractors to help fix a few things before move-in.
She made what could have been a complex and stressful process, as smooth as can be. We give Michelle a big thumbs-up, and a 6th star (if we could)!”
– Cathy and Brian, Orinda buyers
“Michelle did a fantastic job with every aspect of selling this property from providing terrific folks to ready the house for listing through weighing the offers and choosing the best solution for all of my questions. She is the best!”
— Kathy T, seller
“Michelle recently helped us sell our house in Moraga. She's extremely knowledgeable about the house, neighborhood and town and made the entire process easy. Valued her advice on pricing, staging, inspections and negotiations. Would highly recommend her to anyone thinking of buying or selling in the area.”
— Greg and Melanie, sellers
“Michelle was our agent for selling our home. She was professional and knowledgeable. She explained the process and kept us in the loop all the time. She had several brochures printed, and added our house to sites beyond the MLS. She picked the exactly right date to put the house on the market, resulting in four offers in one week, all over asking. And she negotiated with the potential buyers so that one increased their offer. Excellent service all around, very happy with Michelle”
— Paul and Mary, sellers
“Michelle planned sales strategy with us including timing, staging, marketing, showing and offer management. She was spot on in every regard and it was very clear that her expertise resulted in our getting 8 offers, seven of which were over our asking price, and the highest ones exceeding our expectations. Michelle has now sold two houses and bought one for us over the past 13 years. She has been more than just a real estate agent to us. She's been a good friend. We trust her implicitly to act in our best interests with impeccable integrity.”
— Marjie and Steve, buyers and sellers
“Michelle streamlined the process of selling my elderly father's home in Moraga. She's very professional, knowledgeable, and pleasant to work with. The process and paperwork can be very intimidating but she took the time to explain the purpose of each document so my father felt comfortable signing them. Her recommended landscaper, handyman, painter, stager, and inspectors were excellent. She's a great communicator and kept us informed throughout the process.”
— Ed H., seller
“Michelle was fantastic to work with when we bought our house in Walnut Creek. She understood exactly what we wanted, and when she saw the right house for us, she knew it immediately (and we bought it!) She was extremely responsive, timely, organized and followed-through with her commitments to us, without fail – she never skipped a beat. We felt like Michelle was constantly working for us 24/7, because she would see listings before we had a chance to, and she immediately notified us when a new listing appeared that we might like. Our only regret is that we didn’t use Michelle to sell our old house. Knowing how she works, we know we would have had a better experience if we had worked with her. We’ll definitely use her again for any future real estate needs.”
— Iris and Todd, buyers
“As sellers from out of state, we really relied on Michelle to not only advise us on the market but to help us find the right people to do renovations and repairs as well as manage these trades people in our absence. She exceeded all of our expectation! She is not only the utmost professional and subject matter expert on all things relating to home sales in Lamorinda, she is the most honest, nicest, and reliable person you'd ever want to work with! Can't recommend this realtor enough...Thanks Michelle!”
— Lisa and Ken, sellers
We moved from the East coast and used Michelle as our agent. We didn’t have a lot of time to house hunt, but she used her knowledge of the area and professionalism to select a group of homes across Lamorinda that best fit our needs. In a seller's market, she brilliantly negotiated the contract, led us smoothly through the real estate purchase process, coordinating inspections and analysis, and thoroughly researched and followed up on all aspects of purchasing our beautiful home.
— Elyse and Chris, buyers
As first time home buyers we were quite overwhelmed by the entire process since there were a lot of unknowns, but Michelle made it easy for us and we whole-heartedly recommend her. When we first met Michelle she had picked out a number of homes that she wanted to show us and she also toured Lamorinda with us to help familiarize us with the are. Once we found the home we wanted, Michelle went out of her way to make the entire process as smooth as possible, scheduling all the inspections, attending some of them while we were out of town, and even taking phone calls from Legoland while she was on vacation to make sure the entire deal went through! She was extremely friendly, knowledgeable of the area, and helped educate us throughout the process. We cannot recommend her enough!
— Dave and Katie, buyers
“Michelle was extremely helpful in selling our house, from assistance with the myriad of technical details and all the work that was done in preparation for the sale, but most important, holding our hand throughout the entire process. Clearly, she knows the local market and has plenty of expertise and experience but beyond that she is abundantly patient, emotionally supportive, and a strong advocate for us. We had multiple offers and ended up selling our home well over asking price much of which we attribute to her. We have sold many homes and she is by far the best realtor we have dealt with.”
— Hope and Gary, sellers
“Michelle is an incredible agent - if we could give her 6 stars we would! As first-time home buyers we felt overwhelmed navigating the Bay Area housing market. Michelle started by showing us neighborhoods and teaching us about the East Bay, about houses and what to consider, all the while attentively listening to our desires and worries. Because she is also a mother and also moved from SF to the East Bay in the midst of having children, she brought such helpful perspective to our move and search. She was critical and picky in very helpful ways, and probably spared us from ending up in the wrong house. She was very patient, and helped us assess each property with a number of criteria beyond the basics of aesthetics and neighborhood. She was also realistic in laying out the trade-offs to consider. Michelle helped us to write a winning offer for the house of our dreams in Walnut Creek, and then proceeded to go above and beyond while we were in contract and even after we closed as we discovered little things that needed some work. She is truly a client service rockstar, and we will definitely be partnering with her in the future to buy or sell in the Bay Area!”
— Lija and Jaron, buyers
“Michelle is professional, realistic, honest, and kind. I wanted to sell my home in Moraga and she made the process simple and successful. Her contacts were excellent for updating and staging. Her timeline was exact: my house had multiple offers over asking price in 1 week. I am thrilled with the sale and how easy she made it for me. I can not recommend Michelle Holcenberg highly enough.”
— Judy, seller
Selling your home can be a stressful and time-consuming process.
Michelle was there from the beginning (with tips on exactly what needed to be done, and when) getting the house ready to show, and all the way through closing - and guided us every step of the way.
She kept us informed throughout, and is a consummate professional.
I would highly recommend her and Coldwell Banker to friends and family (and actually have already done so!)
I can't think of anyone better to help in a complicated process. 5+ stars!
— Dawn and Derek, sellers
“We worked with Michelle to sell our condo in Walnut Creek. She patiently walked us through all the steps of the process. She was knowledgeable and always ready to give us her advice, recommendations, and to look for the best option for us. The whole transaction felt like a breeze and we sold within a couple of days of putting the condo on the market. I highly recommend Michelle and will be happy to work with her again!”
— Tania and Fa, sellers
“Michelle was my agent when I was leaving San Francisco and looking to buy in the Diablo Valley, with easy BART access being a priority. Luckily, Michelle specializes in this area.
Michelle was extremely knowledgeable about the various options in and near Walnut Creek. I had a very specific price range and investment goal in mind, and Michelle showed me only properties that would fill those needs. She advised me about local amenities and neighborhoods. She shepherded the transaction through the processes with skill. Document signings were set up at convenient times and locations to accommodate my work schedule.
The condominium I purchased with Michelle's help has become the best home I've ever lived in, in my favorite neighborhood, in the best region of the Bay Area. I couldn't be happier with that decision.
Michelle is exceptionally qualified.”
— Dennis, buyer
“Michelle Holcenberg was an outstanding real estate agent. She listened to what we were looking for and worked tenaciously to help us get the home of our dreams. We are thrilled with the home, the yard, the location... absolutely everything!”
— Nina and James, buyers
“My husband and I loved working with Michelle! She is so incredibly knowledgeable and experienced. Not to mention responsive, hands on and patient. My husband and I are relocating to the East Bay having never spent time in any of the towns that we asked Michelle to look at with us, she provided wonderful guidance and spent many weekends with us making sure that we became familiar with all that each town and neighborhood had to offer. As first time buyers, Michelle was also the perfect coach, guiding us throughout the entire process. I cannot imagine a better experience and we are thrilled with the home we just purchased. Michelle is the best.”
— Megan and Eric, buyers
“We appreciated Michelle's integrity, knowledge and patience in our search for a family home in the Lamorinda area. We found the perfect home for our large family. Further, Michelle had great advice and connections to assist us with putting our personal touches on a great home! Would give her 6 stars for her honesty, ethics and ability to listen to our needs! Her knowledge of this hot market was critical to our success.”
— Sarah and Pete, buyers
“Thanks Michelle, who else could get an offer $100,000 over asking on a day that the Fed raised interest rates by .75 basis point and the stock market went down 1,000 points (ok the backyard helped) and there was nothing but Doom and Gloom in the news…. Great Job!”
— Len, Moraga seller