Ira Serkes

We offer Handcrafted Real Estate Service to sellers and buyers in Berkeley and nearby communities.

What do Clients Say?

It's been many years since Ira and Carol sold our first home for us in Berkeley. They are amazing agents and great people. We've sold and bought many homes since that first time and no one compares!How can we adequately express how pleasant it was to work with you both? You were, from the first time we met, completely reliable, intensely involved, and exceedingly competent in each step involved in the sale of our Berkeley home! You helped us to understand the present market situation, were creative in helping us to take advantage of that specific market and guided us ably into a contract which completely blew our socks off! We appreciated your dealings with our relocation agency, which helped to eliminate the stress involved with a big move. And most of all, we appreciated your ease and and sense of humor, and your sound advice throughout the sales process.We will highly recommend you to our friends and family. We hope that we will have a chance to ask you to represent us in the future, should we return to this area. Thank you!

Andrea & Michael Scharff

After talking with you and learning about your experience, I felt so comfortable, I decided to put the house on the market with your assistance without ever going back to California or meeting you personally. My decision was confirmed throughout the selling process. Here’s why:Honest and straight-forward. This was my first impression. It was a lasting one.Technologically savvy. I was extremely impressed with your use of technology to improve the sales process from listing my house on your website with plenty of beautiful pictures and details showcasing the house, an interactive map showing its location, to scanning inspection reports so they could be provided in electronic format to interested buyers. This definitely set you apart.Knowledgeable. It was evident in conversations, and by your guidance throughout the process, that you know real estate and the local market. You provided beneficial information and suggestions to a multitude of issues affecting me as an out-of-state seller from the tenants then living in my house to primary residence status. Your guidance/representation were invaluable in negotiations during the closing and inspection periods in making me feel I was making informed decisions and giving me confidence in the positions I took.

Lisa Newton, Contract Negotiator

Carol and Ira you were both wonderful to work with - always stating clearly and calmly what you needed us to do next and providing us with ample information and our options succinctly outlines so we could make our decisions easily and quickly. Your general attitude and seasoned negotiating skills reduced our stress factor by 90%. And last but certainly not least you sold the house in an amazingly short period of time and for better than asking price. We are most grateful!

John & Rebecca

My sister and I recently found ourselves in need of selling my mother’s home as part of the estate liquidation process. Needless to say, it was an emotional and trying time for us. We needed a real estate agent who would be understanding of our needs, knowledgeable of the area, market, and effective in bringing the sale to closure in a short period of time. We turned to a family member who had retired from the real estate business, for references. With no hesitation and with absolute confidence he recommended the Serkes .. the Berkeley experts... who will take care of all your needs! Now we owe both the family friend and Ira and Carol Serkes team a great deal of gratitude!

Mary Fonseca & Bill Gonsalves

I am writing to express my gratitude at the handling of the relocation sale of our home. I am five months pregnant, moving to another state, and dealing with a forest of paperwork relating to my husbands relocation for work. It is hard to believe, but I was required to interview various agents and some would not even speak to me because they knew doing a relocation would be extra work – more paperwork, more signatures, more reviews, more delays – everything you can think of needed to be reviewed by three parties aside from buyer and seller. To my surprise and delight, Carol and Ira insisted that this extra work was not only ‘no problem’, that they had done it many times before and were prepared for the intensity of a very short time frame. Within a course of less than three weeks, we had my home listed, inspected, staged, shown and sold for above asking – all with a smile on their faces. This was extremely important to me as my spouse had already moved and I was doing this alone while pregnant and struggling with the additional requirements a relocation entails. The following list summarizes just some of the specifics as to why I would recommend using this great team:Two head are better than one, and their work personalities compliment each other.They have vast experience with relocation (the most difficult of transactions!).They have a good balance of technology and personal touch.They always answered the phone or called right back.Oh, and Carol bought me muffins for my trip to the airport knowing I did not have time to stop and was a very typically hungry pregnant person! Overall, the experience was not just painless, it was pleasant and we would whole heartedly recommend Carol and Ira to anyone seeking assistance in buying or selling.

Michael & Andrea Mohan

About Ira

Ira is co-author of the Nolo Press Book "How To Buy A House In California" (over 150,000 copies sold and Co-Author of "Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Home" San Francisco Bay Area Edition. We specialize in personalized, handcrafted real estate service and offer extraordinary local and web based marketing to sellers and amazing buyer brokerage services to buyers.