Matt Vance and Peter Ashbaugh – East Bay Modern Real Estate

You really get two for the price of one! Matt & Peter sold our Oakland home for a price that still dazzles us. They were so patient with these senior citizens who hadn’t a clue of what we were doing. They listened intently and gently guided us to make all the right decisions to get the process speeding ahead. We were so impressed with their professionalism, integrity and knowledge of the market. We have been telling everyone we know that they are the best and we highly recommend them. They went way beyond what most realtors are expected to do and did so cheerfully.

Can’t recommend these guys enough. Super helpful and patient at every step of the way! We are very happy in our new home and would not be here if not for Matt and Peter’s guidance!

I had the pleasure of working with both Peter and Matt at different stages during our recent purchase of our first home in Oakland. I would recommend them in an instant to anyone looking to buy in the East Bay (And have recommended them to friends). They are great people, a pleasure to work with, who really know the crazy east bay real estate market. And we were successful on our 2^nd offer!
Matt worked with us during our hunt, and even though we thought we knew Oakland, it was Matt who suggested we take a look at the house we ended up buying. This shows the value of working with a great agent who knows the area like the back of their hand, as it was perfect for us, met all our non negotiables (walking distance to BART and cafes/​restaurants) and yet if it wasnt for Matt we wouldnt have given it a look due to misconceptions of the area. We also got almost double the sqf than we had expected!
Peter worked with us through the offer process, and is the best type of competitive that you want in your corner! He was so honest and straight talking, taking us through what he thought would happen with other offers, different scenarios and concrete reasons why he thought the price will go for what it did. Even though, due to the crazy market, we were ready to go all in with our max price, Peter recommended a significantly lower bid (hes not blinded by emotion like us buyers!), which won!
They are both very very responsive to any questions, thoughts etc throughout the whole process, and are used to working with first home buyers.
Thanks Matt and Peter!

Whether you’re a first-​time or experienced homebuyer (or are looking for a recommendation for your mom, sister, uncle, coworker or best friend!), Matt and Peter are the people you want on your team in this competitive housing market. They have all of the qualities you would want in your realtor: knowledgeable, professional, responsive, driven and personable. They are incredibly tenacious and will work tirelessly on your behalf.
As a mortgage consultant, I appreciate how proactive they are in working with me to ensure our clients’ needs are best-​served and that we have a smooth, efficient transaction for all parties involved. This includes updating me on prospective properties that our clients are interested in (especially important with condos!) so I can make sure there are no potential financing issues before an offer is made, providing me with any information or documents pertaining to the property they think I may need before I even request it, and taking an active interest on what is happening on the financing side so that we’re all on the same page and timeline. They also take the time to inquire about lending guidelines so that they can better assist clients with financing needs with their home search. Few realtors take the time to do all of this, so it speaks volumes to the Peter’s and Matt’s dedication to their work and helping home buyers.
I recommend Matt and Peter to buyers whenever I can because I’m confident of their ability to get them into contract, and that the clients will be well taken care of throughout the process. I truly can’t speak highly enough of them!
Jennifer Chau
Home Mortgage Consultant
NMLSR #: 1 048 664

I worked with Matt for about 6 months, and it was nothing but a positive experience. As a first time home buyer with very picky and specific criteria on what I wanted within the Oakland area, Matt helped me navigate the market expertly. He was extremely responsive to all the endless questions I had throughout the process and was very patient. He consistently makes the extra effort to keep you up-​to-​date on all proceedings, and throughout my search, I really felt like he understood my preferences and was always quick to provide his thoughts. I highly recommend Matt if you want someone who is genuinely invested into your search and will be right there with you as you find that perfect home!

Matt recently helped me with my first home purchase. He was always extremely professional, very responsive to my questions and gave me lots of helpful advice throughout the process. He is also kind, easy to talk to and have a good sense of humor. He definitely made my home buying process much less stressful.
I highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to buy home in the Bay Area!

I highly recommend Matt if you’re looking to buy a home in the bay area. He is THE reason why me and my boyfriend were able to find the perfect place for us in an absolutely crazy bay area housing market. In just one month of seriously searching, we were able to find the perfect condo that fit our needs. He was very patient and extremely responsive to all our requests to see other properties. He knows the market very well and was able to help us understand what our options were for every place we looked at. We only put in one serious offer in our search and won it with much credit to Matt’s knowledge on the property and market, and network with other real estate agents.
It was an absolute pleasure working with Matt. If you’re looking for a guide who will help you navigate the bay area housing market, Matt is your guy!

I originally started working with Matt last year and ended up putting the house search on hold due to being new to the area. Matt has been very accommodating and picked up the search again around July and found a place in a month. All of the credit goes to Matt since we would have never found it without him :) Simply the best and will be recommending him to all our friends.
When it’s time to look for another property we will definitely be in contact with Matt again =)
Thanks again!

Peter and Matt really helped us narrow down our search and find exactly what we needed. Within a month of beginning our search, we had put in a successful offer. Three weeks later, we moved in.
They helped us to be competitive with our offers, while making us feel well-​informed and comfortable. As first-​time homebuyers, we really appreciated this. There was no way we could have navigated everything on our own. Peter was always available to meet us or answer questions.
We had a great experience, and now we have a great condo.

Matt worked with my family to help us buy a home recently in Walnut Creek. If I could give him 10 stars, I would. He is just that good!
Matt is smart, patient and knowledge about communities throughout the East Bay. He is incredibly responsive by email, text or phone which is so important in this fast-​paced market. Our budget was tight (for the Bay Area) but Matt managed to find us a house that we love in a great neighborhood.
One day I plan on being real estate mogul and buying property all over the world. And when that time comes, I will be working with Matt Vance!

We chose Matt because he knows everything about exactly what we were looking for: loft space in the East Bay. We initially contacted him through his website
well before we were ready and he was thoughtful and helpful with our early inquiries.
Matt doesn’t use any of the pushy sales tactics or irritating email blasts you experience with a lot of other realtors. He would check in with us every few months to see where we were at in the process, but not just to try and make a sale. Over this time he got to know our tastes (and our budget) and when we were finally ready to start looking at things in person, he showed us exactly what we had in mind right away. We saved quite a lot of time and only saw what we were interested in and could afford.
He lives in an East Bay loft himself, and had great, honest advice about the experience and what the overall market in Oakland is like. Every question we had he answered quickly, often including information as first time homebuyers we didn’t even think to ask. Honestly, I don’t know when he sleeps.
During the process we had a small hiccup that was totally our fault. It could have sunk the deal, but he fought for us and everyone ended up happy. Everyone we interacted with through the initial showing to close spoke highly of him and let us know how great of a realtor he is.
He helped us make a great choice and he’d be a great choice for anyone.

Matt worked with my partner and I to purchase our first home in Oakland. He was knowledgeable, patient, and consistently available for showings, questions, and to talk through all aspects of the process. He was very responsive and he worked effortlessly with all parties involved. He made buying a first home in a very difficult market a low-​stress, enjoyable process — what a feat! Can’t recommend him highly enough!

Matt was such a pleasure to work with. He helped me navigate the East Bay neighborhoods, figuring out which areas made sense for me and which did not. He spent a lot of time driving me around to see the various neighborhoods as well as mapping it out. My experience with other realtors has been to just go to the open houses and then they write up the offer and wait to get paid. Matt was completely different. He spent the time to get to know me and what I was looking for. His insight and guidance on what to bid was invaluable. I had no idea how competitive the East Bay market would be, but with Matt’s help I was able to obtain the perfect investment property.
I highly recommend Matt for anyone looking for property in the East Bay.

I found Matt on Unilocal,and boy am I glad we did.
As you all may know, shopping for a home in the Bay area can be an arduous task. Matt was our realtor throughout, and really made the process straightforward. He was extremely knowledgeable about the neighborhoods in Oakland, and was patient with us as we went through multiple bids/​offers.
We just closed on our 1^st home last week. I can’t recommend him enough. If you are looking for an Oakland realtor, Matt is your guy!

I had the pleasure of working with Matt on a recent purchase transaction. I was very impressed with his ability to keep open communication and the amount of support and dedication he was able to provide his clients was unparalleled. I would highly recommend Matt if you are buying or selling in the Oakland area.

Matt helped us buy a house this winter in Brentwood and we couldn’t have been more happy with the experience. We were selling our other house, and it was under contract, so we were really pressed for time.
Matt helped us find a house that was a great fit for us in the location we wanted. Moreover, due to it being the holidays, he helped find us a great deal, too — below market value. We were really pleased with how helpful and responsive Matt was during the process… it all went really smoothly. I would definitely recommend Matt Vance if you’re looking to buy a house in the East Bay.

I can’t possibly recommend Matt enough! He was such an amazing asset to me for the sale of my condo. i am SO happy with how smoothly everything went. His attitude, willingness, expertise, communication skills, and familiarity with the neighborhood really made things easy for me. i was just talking to some friends last night about their upcoming sale — and all their major problems with it – and thanking my lucky stars (and my choice of realtors!). He took care of EVERYTHING, and the sale price was beyond my wildest dreams. If you’re buying or selling in the East Bay, I suggest you talk with Matt first.

Matt was fantastic throughout the whole process of buying a house. He was very patient to understand what I was looking for. He was very responsive to questions, and he worked very hard to coordinate with the selling agent whenever there were questions or minor issues to resolve. He is a great communicator. He gave sound recommendations and counsel without ever making me feel pressured. He suggested a very smart move regarding the offer, and in this competitive market, it’s important to have a real estate agent who knows how to maneuver strategically yet professionally. I was shocked at how quickly I was buying a house. I got into a dream home on only the second property for which I had put in an offer; this success was due in large part to Matt’s advice and knowledge.
I would absolutely recommend Matt Vance as your real estate agent, especially if you’re looking for properties with a more modern aesthetic.

Living in San Francisco for the better part of the last decade, I’ve come to accept that the eastward movement will eventually happen whether I like it or not. As time has gone on, I’ve warmed to the idea of potentially living in Oakland and was fortunate enough to have Matt there to get the process started. Most of my hesitation in someday moving to the East Bay was based on the fact that I didn’t know much about the neighborhoods, where to go, what was where, and most importantly, where I would best fit in.
Before we even began looking at houses, Matt drove me around certain areas of Oakland so I could acclimate myself better with certain neighborhoods and understand what made each neighborhood different from the next one over. I was clear about my budget requirements and what things were most important to me when looking for a possible house to buy. What I was particularly struck by was the fact that Matt didn’t try and push me into something we both knew wouldn’t work. I said I needed a backyard and therefore we only looked at houses with backyards. It was as simple as that and I appreciate the fact that he wasn’t trying to steer me to a condo or other situation we both knew wouldn’t work. He actually listened!
I think the best quality of working with Matt was his honesty. I would send him some listings I found that might be good to look at and he would (very quickly I might add) respond with more information about each property and why a particular house might not work for me or why something might be a really great investment for the future. There was a very open and honest dialogue that was refreshing.
I highly recommend working with Matt Vance if you’re looking to buy a home.

We are so fortunate to have worked with Matt during our house hunting process. We highly recommend Matt to anybody looking for a home in the Oakland/​Alameda East Bay area. Matt came highly recommended to us from a Wells Fargo representative, and we decided to meet with him to get a feel for his style and discuss our wish list. We had a really great impression of Matt right away — friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and thorough. We are very glad we worked with Matt because we felt incredibly well taken care of during our exhilarating yet exhausting five month long journey to find our first home.
Anybody shopping for homes in Alameda knows how tough the housing market is. Lots of competition, steep prices, and old homes with small square footage. Being first time home buyers, we looked at what seemed to be an endless number of scenarios: townhomes, condos, single family homes, and even multi-​family units with a potential for income. For five months, Matt made himself available to check all the open houses with us, and quickly set up appointments for us to see places that did not have open houses. Several times we considered purchasing an older home, and Matt was able to schedule a local contractor to come and take a look at the homes with us. It was great to be able to speak with the contractor and figure out what was possible, and how much options like adding a bathroom or taking out asbestos may actually cost.
Here are a few more of Matt’s many positive attributes. Our situation was a little complicated because our families helped us by providing our down payment — while we were grateful for the money, what this meant was that seven people were house hunting instead of two. Matt was very accommodating and answered all of our many questions with extreme patience. Matt knows a lot about the housing market in the East Bay, and on the rare occasion he didn’t have a complete answer, he would consult an expert and get back to us right away. In addition, Matt was very easy to get ahold of — I can’t think of a single time I emailed, texted or called Matt and didn’t get a response back within minutes.
We ended up purchasing a newer townhome on the very edge of Bay Farm island that we love. A small sacrifice in terms of location because we wanted to live on the main island, but we got a home that is updated, spacious, has multiple bathrooms, and is not falling apart — some qualities that are hard to come by on the main island. For right now, we are happy not to be spending all of our earnings on a crumbling, 100 year old house. However, in 10 – 15 years when we are ready to make that leap, we will certainly be contacting Matt to help us :)