Oliver Davis

PRO

Real Estate Agent | Fast Real EstateDRE #01996487

Areas served

Berkeley, Alameda County, CA, Piedmont, Alameda County, CA, Albany, Alameda County, CA, Kensington, Contra Costa County, CA, El Cerrito, CA, Oakland, CA

Expertise

Empty Nester, Downsizing, Fix-and-Flip Investor, Rental Income, International Buyers

Languages

English · French

Contact Oliver

oliver@soldbyod.com

+1 (628) 259-8398

www.oliverdavisrealtor.com

Oliver DavisPRO

Real Estate Agent | Fast Real EstateDRE #01996487

Areas served

Berkeley, Alameda County, CA, Piedmont, Alameda County, CA, Albany, Alameda County, CA, Kensington, Contra Costa County, CA, El Cerrito, CA, Oakland, CA

Expertise

Empty Nester, Downsizing, Fix-and-Flip Investor, Rental Income, International Buyers

Languages

English · French

The French-American real estate agent in the East-Bay

Oliver Davis is a Berkeley-based real estate agent with eXp Realty and Team Fast, real estate investor, and developer with a background in construction engineering. He serves buyers and sellers in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, Piedmont, Kensington, and El Cerrito, with a focus on Northwest Berkeley and the Ocean View neighborhood. Born and raised in Paris, Oliver is fluent in French and English. His experience spans new home construction, ADUs, renovations, apartment investments, and residential real estate. He specializes in helping French-speaking clients, longtime homeowners preparing to sell or downsize, and buyers and sellers of rental income properties. Oliver combines construction knowledge, investing experience, and market expertise to help clients understand property condition, improvement potential, value, and the decisions that matter.

Oliver’s posts

🏡✨ Thinking about selling your Berkeley home in 2026?

Before you put up that For Sale sign, there are a few things worth knowing. 👀

⚡ **Home Energy Score requirements**
🏠 **Potential seismic retrofit tax refunds**
🔧 **Sewer lateral inspections**

A little preparation now could save you thousands 💰—and a few unexpected headaches later.

💭 But here's a question: **Would knowing exactly what to expect make selling feel a little easier?**

That's where having the right plan makes all the difference. 🔑

📍 If selling has been on your mind, let's talk through what your Berkeley home might need before it hits the market.

☕ No pressure. No sales pitch. Just helpful, local insight.

💬 **DM me “BERKELEY”** and let's start the conversation!

#BerkeleyRealEstate #BerkeleyHomes #Berkeleyreal estate agent #HomeSellingTips #EastBayRealEstate #OliverDavisRealEstate

🏡 MARKET UPDATE — this is worth paying attention to if you own a home in Ocean View or Northwest Berkeley, if you’re trying to buy here, or even if you work in this area.
👀 Why? Because the market here is behaving very differently than the list prices make it look.
📊 Over the last 12 months, 58 homes sold across Ocean View and Northwest Berkeley.
💰 A lot of the homes listed around $899K weren’t really selling for $899K — the median sale for homes listed between $800K and $1M was about $1.2M.
🚀 Ocean View also crossed a major line this year with two sales over $2M.
🏠 And right now, there’s just one active listing in the whole area.
So if you’re buying here, maybe the better question isn’t:
❌ “Can I afford the list price?”
It’s:
✅ “What is this home actually likely to sell for?”
And if you already own here:
🤔 “Has my home value moved more than I realize?”
That’s what this update is really about — understanding what’s actually happening in the neighborhood, not just what you see on Zillow.
📍 If you live here, own here, are trying to buy here, or work in the area and want a clearer read on the market, I’m happy to walk you through it.
☕ No pressure — just the numbers and what they may mean for you.

#oceanviewberkeley #northwestberkeley #berkeleyrealestate #berkeleyhomes #berkeleyreal estate agent #eastbayrealestate #eastbayhomes #bayarearealestate #berkeleymarketupdate #realestatemarketupdate #berkeleyhomeowners #berkeleyhomebuyers #homebuyingbayarea #berkeleyca #eastbayliving

🏡 Found a home you love? Before you start picturing where the furniture goes… there's something worth checking. 👀

If you're buying a home, you probably have a few things on your mind: the location, the price, the monthly payment, and whether the house feels right.

But have you thought about whether **the home itself meets your loan's requirements?**

That's something buyers don't always think about until they're already deep into the process.

And if you're using a **UC MOP loan**, there are a few extra details worth knowing.

🔑 Not every property is eligible.
🔍 Inspections and repairs can affect your financing.
📋 Even the wording of seller credits can make a difference.

And here's the thing… finding the right house is only part of it. Making sure everything lines up *before* you write an offer can save you some pretty frustrating surprises later.

**Wouldn't you rather know what to look for before you've already fallen in love with the place?** 😉

Swipe through for a few things worth knowing before your next home tour. 👉

And whether you're just starting to explore your options or getting ready to make an offer, feel free to reach out. Always happy to talk things through.

**Oliver Davis | Fast Real Estate / eXp Realty**
📞 628-259-8398 | oliver@soldbyod.com

#berkeleyrealestate #eastbayhomes #bayarearealestate #ucberkeley #moploans #faculty #homebuyingtips #berkeleyhomes

A house I sold in Oakland closed a few weeks ago, and every night since, a cat had been showing up at the front door trying to get in. 🐾
The seller had two cats she loved. On moving day one of them, Gigi, got out. She searched, came back the following day, and eventually had to leave without her. Then about a week later the buyer's agent texted me — the new owners had a cat appearing at their door every evening and were trying to figure out who it belonged to.
I connected it immediately, called the previous owner, and we worked out a plan to coax Gigi inside so she could be collected. Yesterday they were reunited.
I share this because the part of this job that actually stays with me usually has nothing to do with the contract. A closing looks like a date on a calendar and a set of signatures. For the person moving out, it's the end of years of ordinary life in that space, and it tends to be more disorienting than anyone plans for — especially for the animals, who have no context for why everything is suddenly in boxes. 🏡
The practical takeaway for anyone listing with pets: secure them off-site before movers arrive, not during. Doors get propped open and nobody is watching them. And to the buyers and the agent on the other side who took the time to ask a question instead of shrugging it off — that's the reason this ended well.
If you've got a moving-day story of your own, I'd genuinely like to read it in the comments.
Oliver Davis · Fast Real Estate / eXp Realty
📞 628-259-8398 | oliver@soldbyod.com | @oliverdavisreal estate agent
#RealEstate #EastBayRealEstate #Oakland #movingwithpets

The fastest way to stall a clean escrow isn't the inspection or the appraisal. It's a bank transfer sent the wrong way. 💭
This happened to me this week. My buyer went to fund their earnest money deposit, roughly 3% of the purchase price, and sent it as an ACH instead of a wire. Escrow doesn't accept ACH, so the funds are being returned to their bank. That's about three days of money in motion doing nothing, and then they get to start over.
Nobody did anything careless here. They used the transfer type they use for everything else in their life, because most people have no reason to know the difference. A wire moves same day if it goes in before the bank's cutoff, which on the West Coast tends to be around 2pm. ACH takes days, and escrow won't take it regardless.
The part I want sellers to sit with is who actually absorbs that delay. It isn't only the buyer. It's the seller watching a contingency clock while everyone waits on a bank to unwind a transfer. 🏡 So I've started walking buyers through the funding step out loud before they ever open their banking app, and I ask them to call the escrow officer and verbally confirm the wiring instructions every single time. Wire fraud attempts are up, and the fake emails are convincing enough that a phone call is the only reliable defense left.
Worth saving for the next time you're in escrow. And if you're a homeowner thinking about listing and you want to understand where transactions actually go sideways, I'm happy to talk it through — 628-259-8398.
Oliver Davis · Fast Real Estate / eXp Realty
📞 628-259-8398 | oliver@soldbyod.com | @oliverdavisreal estate agent

#eastbayrealestate #berkeleyrealestate #oaklandrealestate #escrowtips #wirefraud #homesellertips #realestateadvice #bayareahomes

he beret is a joke. The culture shock was real. 🏡
When I moved here from Paris 11 years ago, Bay Area houses gave me a few things to process.
Wait… the house is wood?
The laundry is in the garage?
And why do I need a jacket? This is California.
Then came the backyards. The lemon trees. The porches where you could happily lose an entire Sunday.
Bon. I’m staying.
Eleven years later, those surprises are part of what I love about Berkeley and the East Bay. The houses have character, quirks, and a way of changing how you live.
But my first reactions deserved a carousel. And apparently, a baguette. 🥖
Swipe for a little Parisian culture shock.
What surprised YOU when you first moved to the Bay Area?👇
#berkeleyrealestate #eastbayhomes #bayarealiving #cultureshock #oliverdavisreal estate agent

Talk to your CPA before you talk to me. Seriously. 💰
I meet a lot of homeowners who are thinking about selling, sometimes for very good reasons, but they wait months to really explore it because they’re worried about the capital gains taxes.
And I get it.
If you bought your Berkeley home 20 or 30 years ago, you may be sitting on a huge amount of equity. That’s great — but it can also mean a significant tax bill when you sell. 🏡
On the other hand, maybe you bought only a couple of years ago and now need to relocate. You may be wondering whether you even qualify for the capital gains exclusion.
Those are completely different situations, and I’m not the person who should be giving you the tax answer. Your CPA is.
What I can tell you is: don’t wait until you’re already in escrow to figure this out.
Talk to your CPA early. Understand what your potential tax exposure is, what improvements may increase your cost basis, whether you qualify for an exclusion, and whether the timing of the sale makes a difference.
Once you know the numbers, you can actually make a good decision about whether selling makes sense.
If you’re thinking about selling this year and don’t have a CPA who understands real estate, call or text me at 628-259-8398. I’m happy to make an introduction.
No obligation to sell anything with me.
Filmed this one by Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, where I do a lot of my morning runs. 🌊
Oliver Davis
Fast Real Estate / eXp Realty
📞: 628-259-8398 | oliver@soldbyod.com | @oliverdavisreal estate agent
#eastbayrealestate #berkeleyca #capitalgains #berkeleyrealestate

Articles

What Does Berkeley's San Pablo Avenue Height-Limit Change Mean for Homeowners and Small Investors?

On Sept. 29, 2026, Berkeley raised the height limit on 2.3 miles of San Pablo Avenue from three stories to seven. Berkeley agent Oliver Davis explains what it means for nearby homeowners and small investors.

What's Happening in Ocean View and Northwest Berkeley: A Year in 58 Sales

Fifty of the 58 homes that sold in Ocean View and Northwest Berkeley this year went over asking, and buyers paid a combined $20 million above list price. After eight years living here, I watched Ocean View cross $2 million for the first time — here's what the numbers say for anyone who owns here or wants to.

Real Estate Trends: AI Wealth in Berkeley Luxury

An in-depth look at ten multi-million dollar Berkeley home sales, examining how tech liquidity and buyer demand reshape the top tier of local housing.

Oliver Davis

PRO

Real Estate Agent | Fast Real EstateDRE #01996487

Areas served

Berkeley, Alameda County, CA, Piedmont, Alameda County, CA, Albany, Alameda County, CA, Kensington, Contra Costa County, CA, El Cerrito, CA, Oakland, CA

Expertise

Empty Nester, Downsizing, Fix-and-Flip Investor, Rental Income, International Buyers

Languages

English · French

Contact Oliver

oliver@soldbyod.com

+1 (628) 259-8398

www.oliverdavisrealtor.com

Oliver DavisPRO

Real Estate Agent | Fast Real EstateDRE #01996487

Areas served

Berkeley, Alameda County, CA, Piedmont, Alameda County, CA, Albany, Alameda County, CA, Kensington, Contra Costa County, CA, El Cerrito, CA, Oakland, CA

Expertise

Empty Nester, Downsizing, Fix-and-Flip Investor, Rental Income, International Buyers

Languages

English · French

The French-American real estate agent in the East-Bay

Oliver’s posts

Articles

What Does Berkeley's San Pablo Avenue Height-Limit Change Mean for Homeowners and Small Investors?

What's Happening in Ocean View and Northwest Berkeley: A Year in 58 Sales

Real Estate Trends: AI Wealth in Berkeley Luxury

An in-depth look at ten multi-million dollar Berkeley home sales, examining how tech liquidity and buyer demand reshape the top tier of local housing.