For Sellers

No two homes sell the same way.

Tell me the address and I’ll send you a price range and the closed sales behind it. You don’t have to be selling for that to be useful.

What’s my home worth?
What sets me apart

Your listing is not one of a stack. You sign with me, and I do the work myself, from the first walkthrough to closing day. The people who help me with the details work alongside me. Nobody else takes over your sale.

Your home gets the spotlight, not me

Your home gets my full attention. The photography, the prep, the story that gets it noticed. So buyers talk about the house. Your listing comes first, every time.

Three ways to sell

Let’s build the right plan for your home.

Which one is right depends on your timing, your privacy, and how much preparation the home needs. One of the three covers the preparation with nothing out of your pocket until closing.

You can sell
without the MLS.

Sell off market

Private · Controlled · Strategic

  • No sign, no lockbox, no weekend open house
  • Shown by appointment only, to pre-approved buyers and my registered off-market list
  • Office exclusive inside Intero, shared one to one with agents who have a buyer for it
  • Right for tenants in place, for privacy, or to test a price

You can sell
exactly as it is.

Sell as-is, on the market

Market ready · No repairs needed

  • On the market exactly as it stands, with no repairs needed
  • Full MLS exposure and professional photography
  • Pre-listing inspection and complete disclosures up front
  • Right for a home that is already market ready, or for a trust or estate sale

You can sell
without paying up front.

Pre-listing improvements

Prepare · Then go to market

  • No upfront investment, paid through escrow at closing
  • Staging, paint, flooring, landscaping and repairs
  • One team, fully managed, on an agreed timeline
  • Only the work that returns more than it costs

What it costs to sell

The part most sellers have no number for. Here is the short version, with the county’s own figures behind it.

Transfer taxesThe county taxes every sale. San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View add a city tax on top of it. San Jose and Mountain View each add a second tax above a price threshold, and that one applies to the whole sale price rather than the amount over the line.
Escrow and titleHere the seller customarily pays for the owner’s title policy and the two sides usually split escrow. Both scale with price and are quoted by your escrow officer, not set by the county.
The small ones that add upRecording fees. Property taxes prorated to the day you close. A city report or sewer lateral inspection where required. HOA documents. The hazard disclosure report.
CommissionNegotiable, and there is no standard rate. What I charge is set in our written agreement, and what a buyer’s agent is paid is a separate decision.
Let’s run the numbers on your home or read the full breakdown

Which one fits your plans?

Let’s connect

Selling in a particular city? Read what I’d tell you about your market.

Selling approach

How I sell

Whichever path you choose, the work runs the same way.

1
Price itRecent closed sales, current market conditions, and how buyers are behaving right now, not a number chosen to win the listing.
2
Inspect firstHome inspection, roof inspection and termite report, ordered before we go to market. Knowing the answers first means you decide what to fix, what to disclose and what to price in. You set the terms instead of reacting to theirs.
3
PrepareDeclutter, repairs, paint and landscaping. You get the timeline before anything starts, and I line up the trades.
4
Stage itFurniture, lighting and layout chosen for how a buyer walks through a house and how it photographs, not for how you live in it. Of everything on this list, staging is usually the change with the clearest return.
5
PhotographProfessional photography, aerial, 360 tour, video, and a property website of its own.
6
MarketingMLS and full syndication, that property website, targeted paid advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Google, social campaigns, print into the neighborhood, and my off-market network.
7
Bring the buyersBroker preview, open house weekends, and direct calls to the agents who already have buyers at your price point. Once your home is in the MLS, I also share it with Top Agent Network, the invitation only group I belong to.
8
Offer negotiationEvery offer weighed on price, terms, timing and strength, then negotiated. More than two decades in mortgage means I know which one actually closes, and where there is room to push.
9
Manage the escrowEvery deadline tracked to recording, and you hear from me before you have to ask.

And you watch it happen

Most sellers spend escrow waiting for someone to call them back. You get a private page instead: every offer side by side with price, deposit, loan type, contingency periods and close date; a running log of showings and agent feedback; and every deadline from acceptance to recording, with whose obligation each one is.

See what my clients get
Seller’s guide

Step by step

The full process, one topic at a time. Click any question to open it.

Listing Your Home

There’s more than one way to bring a home to market, and the right one depends on what you need: convenience, discretion, or the strongest possible result. Every seller sees three paths before choosing one:

  • Off market sale: your home is offered privately, one agent at a time, with your signed consent. Right for tenants in place, privacy, or testing a price.
  • Sell as-is, on the market: list in current condition and maximize exposure to attract competitive offers.
  • Pre-listing improvements: Your home is prepared to show at its best, with no upfront cost, and I coordinate the work. It’s paid through escrow.

Whichever path fits, it comes with no upfront investment, one team handling everything design-to-closing, clear timelines, and a focus on your bottom line.

Select the Right Agent

Two decades in the mortgage industry come to every listing with me. Your home gets marketed, and every offer on it gets read the way an underwriter would read it, before you have to decide on one.

  • Represent you personally, from the listing agreement through closing.
  • Treat your home like my own.
  • Communicate with honesty, and explain things clearly.
  • Work with integrity, start to finish.
  • Lead every flyer, property website, marketing ad and post with your home, not my name.
  • Fight for your best outcome. That’s the job.

Your trust is my greatest responsibility.

Signing the Listing Agreement

The listing agreement sets the terms we’ll work under: list price, commission, the length of the listing, and what’s included in the sale. Before you sign, we go through every line together, so there are no surprises later and you always know what you’ve agreed to.

Pricing Your Home

Where the market is heading matters as much as where it’s been. Supply and demand, buyer confidence, interest rates, loan availability, and how much competition you’re up against all move the number, and none of it holds still.

The market is also seasonal, especially here in Silicon Valley where school calendars drive a lot of moving decisions:

  • Late January to late February: buyers start looking again after the holidays.
  • March to May: usually the strongest window, timed to enrollment for the next school year.
  • June to August: things slow as families travel over summer.
  • September to October: a second wave as buyers get back from vacation and want to be in before year-end.
  • November to January: the slowest stretch, fewer sellers, and the buyers still looking are usually hoping for a deal.

Your price comes from weighing that seasonal pattern against what’s actually happening in the market right now. List too high and you risk missing the early excitement and having to chase the market down later; price it right and you get the most showings and the strongest activity in the first weeks on market.

Preparing Your Home

The photographer, the stager and the trades are booked for you, and I am there when they are. You approve the plan. I chase everyone in it.

  • Decluttering and preparation: we take out what pulls the eye away from the house.
  • Pre-sale inspection: a proactive look at the roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and foundation. These are the areas buyers notice most, so we can address issues early and build confidence instead of fielding surprises during escrow.
  • Professional staging: furniture and light chosen for how buyers walk through the house and how it photographs.
Marketing Your Home

High-quality visuals and the right reach drive more showings and stronger offers.

  • Photography & video: aerial photography, a 360° virtual tour, professional video, and a custom property website that puts every detail in one shareable place.
  • Targeted marketing: featured on the MLS, top real estate sites and social media, plus strategic advertising and direct outreach to qualified buyers.
  • Broker preview and open house: the agents with buyers see it first, then the public walks through on the weekend.
Negotiating the Contract

Every offer is different, and I help you evaluate each one on price, terms, timing and strength. The number on top is one part of it.

  • Price: understanding true value and comparing offers apples-to-apples.
  • Terms: breaking down the details so you know exactly what you’re agreeing to.
  • Timing: weighing deadlines and timelines to avoid unnecessary delays.
  • Strength: how likely an offer is to actually close rather than look good on paper.

In a negotiation, what matters is knowing which buyer will actually close and where there is room to push. Twenty years reading loan files is how I know.

Going through Escrow

Escrow is mostly chasing. The appraisal, the inspector’s report, the contractor who said Tuesday. You should not find out on day twenty five that something stalled on day twelve.

You’ll always know what’s happening: regular updates, quick responses, clear explanations and honest advice, every step of the way.

Closing the Sale

Every deadline tracked to recording, and you hear from me before you have to ask. When the sale closes, I want you to feel it was handled the way I’d handle my own home: with care, with honesty, and with me in it until the last signature.

See what’s happening in your market right now

Median price, days on market and how many homes are selling over asking, for your city, once a month. The same numbers I use to set your price.

Get the market report

Run your numbers

See what you would walk away with after commission, transfer tax, title, escrow and your loan payoff. Or see only the transfer tax for your city.

Also worth reading: what it actually costs to sell in Santa Clara County, including the Measure E trap in San Jose. Inherited a home or over 55? See inheriting a home under Prop 19 and taking your property tax with you. Have an ADU or room for one? Read ADUs in San Jose in 2026.

In my clients’ words
Carmen Ledesma
“I interviewed three realtors before meeting Carmen, and the moment she stepped into our home, we felt we could trust her.”
Fernando R. · Seller
“From that moment on, she took care of everything. … In the end, she sold my home for more than I expected.”
Peter F. · Seller

5.05.0 on Zillow across 10 reviews, every one written after closing. Read them all on Zillow

What’s your home worth?

Tell me about the property. You’ll get a range, the closed comparables behind it, what’s active and pending against you right now, and the short list of things I’d change before we list.

While a home is listed with another agent I am not able to discuss selling it with you. Send this anyway and I will come back to you when that listing ends.

See the Privacy Policy.

Already have a meeting with me? Here is what I will ask you, so you can think it over first.