Leonore Deaton

Leonore helped me and my partner through every step with skill and care. She is a great communicator, knows the market well, and has a good eye during details. We bought a house with her and are planning to sell as well.

Working with Leonore to sell our family home was an experience I'll always be grateful for. This wasn't just any property - it was the house my family built over 60 years ago, filled with generations of memories. Leonore understood what our home meant to us from the very beginning. From start to finish, she handled the many moving parts with incredible care and professionalism. She coordinated all the preparations beautifully, treating our home with the respect it deserved along with including thoughtful touches to the adjacent vacant lot. Even when we hit a few bumps along the way, Leonore kept everything on track without missing a beat. Her timelines were spot-on - we sold within two weeks of listing at quite a significant amount over our asking price. It was both heartwarming and bittersweet to see so many people appreciate the home we loved. Letting go of a home that held 66 years of our family's history wasn't easy, but Leonore couldn't have made the process any smoother or more successful!

Resourceful, experienced and diligent If you are looking for a realtor who gets stuff done and advocates for you, look no further than Leonore! We had the good fortune of meeting her at an open house and were instantly struck by her professionalism and attention to detail. As prospective first time home buyers with no idea what we were getting into, Leonore was indispensable in helping us navigate the craziness of Bay Area real estate. Some highlights include: - Respected our budget and never once pressured us one way or another - listened intently to what we liked and didn't like, didn't waste our time - An astute understanding of the Oakland market - toured us around open houses that were all very close to what we were looking for (and found one that was exactly what we wanted!) - Detail oriented and persistent - every step of the offer process was laid out and communicated perfectly. Leonore was in constant communication with the selling agent and provided us helpful updates along the way - A fantastic people person - Leonore has great energy and is a joy to work with. She had connections with vendors and experts for everything we needed, including a lending agent who made closing a breeze! - Incredibly responsive at all times of the day, throughout the process (even after handing over the keys!) Had we not met Leonore, I honestly believe we would still be searching aimlessly for our dream home. I wholeheartedly recommend her services to anyone looking to buy a home in the East Bay.

As first time home buyers, Leonore is everything we were looking for in a real estate agent -- knowledgeable, calm, kind, and aligned with our goals. After months of meeting agents who felt too pushy or mismatched, finding her was a breath of fresh air. She helped us land our dream home in the East Bay on our first offer, without ever making us feel rushed or pressured. Leonore made the whole process smooth and stress-free, and her trusted network of lenders and contractors made post-closing just as easy. We felt like we were working with a close friend who genuinely cared. Couldn't recommend her more!

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Leonore to buy my home in Rockridge, and I truly couldn't have asked for a better experience. As a first-time buyer unfamiliar with all the neighborhoods in Oakland, I really valued her thoughtful guidance in helping me find a home that fit my lifestyle and priorities. The market was incredibly competitive when I was looking, but Leonore helped me navigate it with confidence and a clear strategy. Thanks to her expertise and steady support, I was able to land a home in a neighborhood I genuinely love--something I didn't expect would fall into place so seamlessly. Leonore is incredibly client-focused. She supported me through every step of the process, always advocating for my best interests. And even after closing, she's stayed in touch--showing how much she genuinely cares about her clients' long-term happiness. She's smart, kind, responsive, and a joy to work with. The value she brings goes far beyond the transaction--I recommend her wholeheartedly.

TL;DR Leonore was an absolute pleasure to work with! She cares, listens, and knows the market. The longer story: Let me be honest, the process of buying a home is kind of terrifying in general. It was the largest purchase we had ever made in our life, and we were navigating a very hot market in Oakland in a very desirable neighborhood. The market may be different now, but in Oakland at the time, pricing and bidding was a ridiculous situation. Homes listed for $950k were selling for ~$1.4m, while others listed at $1.1m could sell anywhere from $1.3-1.8m?!? What the heck was a house actually going to sell for, and what would we bid when making an offer along with 8+ others!?! It was a rough time in the market. Leonore helped us navigate this. She took the time to listen and understand who we were, what we were looking for, and what we could afford. Her advice was always thoughtful, kind, and realistic. When it came down to bidding on houses, we were always in the running. When it seemed like a shot in the dark and anyone's guess, Leonore had her finger on the pulse of the market. It was a ridiculous time with bidding wars where more than one selling realtor said to us: "We got a few offers near yours, and now we want you to make your very best offer". Again, rough time in the market. Leonore's professionalism, patience, and insight helped us navigate these unprecedented situations with other realtors. She always had our best interests at heart. She guided us with expert advice, pros and cons, and helped us navigate competitive situations with grace. And ultimately helped us find a wonderful home. In life, you need people who care. People who are rooting for you and helping you get where you want to go. Leonore is that kind of person.

We owned a home as an investment-rental property for the past 12 years. After renting to two wonderful tenants we decided it was time to simplify our lives and finances by selling. That decision came with a bit of apprehension as to what complexities and headaches would be involved A friend recommended Leonore Deaton as an agent for our sale. What a perfect recommendation! We were comfortable with Leanore from our first introduction, and we quickly learned the importance of working with someone who not only has a comprehensive feel and understanding of the local market, but also has the skill and sensibility to guide us through the process. We could tell she understood us and would be attentive to our expectations and hopes. From the first walkthrough to discuss needed repairs and a pricing target for our charming, but slightly run-down "bungalow," to the final signing, Leonore was always there with advice and an eagerness to help. She was quick to respond by email, text and phone, proving her ability to work hard for us. Her recommendations on "sprucing up" and staging our home were spot on. She managed all the necessary construction and landscaping work with a high degree of professionalism. The home we listed was dramatically improved and more appealing than the home we first walked through. That would not have happened without Leonore's advice and management. The results? It was only 10 days from the first open house to our signing the sales contract. We had multiple offers, and the final negotiations were professional and low stress. Everyone, including the buyer, was happy with the outcome, and the selling price was 31% over our ask. Tremendous! We highly recommend Leonore for anyone needing an excellent real estate agent.

My husband and I are writing to provide our most fervent recommendation for Leonore Deaton, realtor. Leonore helped us to buy our first home in December of 2023, during a particularly challenging time in the real estate market, and we are grateful for everything she has done for us. When we decided to jump in, Leonore patiently and expertly walked us through the home-buying process, making sure that our many questions had answers and that our concerns and anxieties were soothed. She took time to get to know what we wanted and provided guidance and suggestions to lead us in the direction of homes that both suited our needs and fit into our budget scenarios. She identified a number of homes for us to visit, talked us through our evaluations, regularly checked in with sellers' agents, and kept us continually updated throughout the bidding process. She was comforting and determined during several unsuccessful bids, and to the end, never lost faith that we would find a perfect home for us. It was ultimately Leonore who identified and showed us the home that would become ours. Along the way, she also managed to find us a mortgage broker with a more competitive rate and ensure that our new home would be equipped with some absent seismic safety features. Leonore's experience, her dedication to serving her clients, and her knowledge of the Oakland housing market make her a perfect fit for buyers and sellers alike. 5/5, would highly recommend!

After 30 years in our Crocker Highlands home, my wife Glenna and I were ready to downsize and find a new home that was physically more suitable, and to cash in on our accrued equity for a comfortable retirement. After a brief interviewing process, we chose Leonore to represent us on the sale of our home and we could not have asked for better care and attendance to our needs than what we received from her. From the start she communicated clearly and honestly about the home selling process that we were embarking on. Throughout the sales process she updated us almost daily, keeping us informed on the level of interest and her communications with potential buyers' agents. The whole way through we felt certain that our largest investment was in safe hands. Her focus and calm demeanor helped steady us at a time of great change! Leonore got the job done, and done well. She's the kind of agent who takes nothing for granted, who anticipates issues we never would have thought of, and who follows up consistently and promptly. She works with a great team who prepared our home for the sale, and we never had to wonder if a work item was being attended to or if we had failed to do our part in any aspect of this process. You can imagine that (1) finding a new house, (2) arranging finance to do a competitive bid on that house, (3) downsizing our accumulated possessions, (4) moving out of our home of three decades, and (5) selling our old house would be stressful, but I can't emphasize enough how well Leonore took on the tasks (all of them) and took a huge load off our shoulders. It speaks volumes to her capability, responsiveness, and integrity.