Skip to content
Margie Lupo
Margie Lupo

Insights · Guides · Community

The Brentwood Blog

Market notes and the questions clients keep asking, written from my desk in Trilogy.

In this collectionAll posts55+ LivingBuyingLocal GuideMarket UpdateSelling

10 guides in Selling

A brass magnifying glass resting on a sunlit stone garden wall in front of a single-story Spanish-style home with a tile roof, olive tree, and golden hills behind it.
Selling

How Accurate Is a Zestimate for a Brentwood Home?

Zillow says its off-market estimates miss by about 8% at the median in the San Francisco metro. What that means on a Brentwood price, and what the models can't see.

6 min read
Read
A ring of house keys on a light oak table in a sunlit living room, with a short stack of moving boxes by a window that looks out on golden hills and vineyard rows.
Selling

Seller Rent-Backs in Brentwood: Staying After Closing

How a seller stays in a Brentwood home after escrow closes: a short stay versus a lease, what to put in writing, the buyer's loan limit, and insurance.

6 min read
Read
A folder of home improvement receipts and a closing statement on a kitchen table beside reading glasses, in soft morning light.
Selling

Will I Owe Taxes When I Sell My Brentwood Home?

The $250,000 and $500,000 home-sale exclusions, the improvements that shrink your gain, and the 3 1/3% California withholding you can stop with one form before escrow closes.

6 min read
Read
A single-story Spanish-style home with a red tile roof and lit windows at dusk, framed by an olive tree and drought-tolerant garden, with golden hills behind it.
Selling

How Do You Price a Trilogy at the Vineyards Home?

Two Trilogy homes on the same street sold $150,000 apart in 2026. Why Trilogy comps beat the ZIP median, and what your first three weeks on the market tell you.

10 min read
Read
Cardboard boxes and belongings being sorted in the living room of a family home.
Selling

Inherited a Brentwood Home? What to Know Before You Sell

California's simplified probate petition now covers homes up to $750,000, right where Brentwood's median sits. Probate, the TDS exemption, Prop 19, and stepped-up basis, in order.

9 min read
Read
A green tractor in a Brentwood field with Mount Diablo behind it on a clear day.
Selling

List Your Brentwood Home This Fall, or Wait for Spring?

Spring wins nationally by under three points, and Contra Costa homes sold in 15 days this July. What the calendar is worth in Brentwood, and what matters more.

10 min read
Read
A quiet Trilogy street in Brentwood, with rooftop solar panels on a home at left.
Selling

Selling a Brentwood Home With Solar: What Happens in Escrow

Owned panels convey with the deed. A lease needs the buyer approved, a solar loan usually leaves a lien on title, and the NEM rate follows the system for 20 years. What to do before you list.

10 min read
Read
What Brentwood Sellers Actually Pay at Closing in 2026
Selling

What Brentwood Sellers Actually Pay at Closing in 2026

Contra Costa's transfer tax, who really pays for title and escrow here, and what changed about commissions — a line-by-line breakdown from someone who spent a career on the escrow side.

9 min read
Read
How to Prepare Your Brentwood Home to Sell: A 3-Week Checklist
Selling

How to Prepare Your Brentwood Home to Sell: A 3-Week Checklist

Three weeks is enough for most Brentwood homes — if you do things in the right order. Week-by-week prep, the repairs worth making, and the one local disclosure that catches sellers off guard.

9 min read
Read
Why I Became a Real Estate Agent
Selling

Why I Became a Real Estate Agent

A home is more than walls and a roof. It's safety, confidence, and a fresh start. Here's how I learned that — and why I built my career around it.

5 min read
Read