Quick resume / facts on Mary Pope-Handy, Silicon Valley Realtor:
- Licensed, full time since 1993
- With Sereno since 2009
- Second generation Silicon Valley Realtor
- Co-author of a book, “Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley”
- Author of numerous blogs, winner of many awards for blogging / writing
- Social media focus as it works with writing – well known nationally for success in this arena
- Top producer: consistently in the top 5%
- Education junkie: 8 college real estate courses; multiple professional designations; continuously investing in classes on negotiation, marketing, international real estate, contracts & forms, working with seniors, and countless related real estate topics. Recently completed a negotiation class offered through Stanford University. Designations included CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) and CRS (Certified Real Estate Specialist) as well as SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) and ABR (Accredited Buyer Representative).
- Specialize in Los Gatos and nearby areas of San Jose’s Cambrian and Almaden, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Campbell – but work throughout Santa Clara County
- How clients find me: repeat and referral business plus new clients from my writing & online presence
I entered real estate full time as a licensed professional and a Realtor (a member of the National Association of Realtors, Calif Assn of Realtors and Silicon Valley Assn of Realtors – these are trade groups with high standards demanded and not all licensees are members) in the first few weeks of 1993. The market was slow and difficult. I cut my teeth on a couple of short sales, never knowing I’d need to do more of them in 2008 – 2010 and beyond.
My mother, Pat Pope, was a Realtor since before I was born and she logged 40 years in the business. I like to joke that my first words were “raised foundation“. I learned a lot from her and am grateful that we had a few overlapping years. She was a great coach and mentor!
In the course of my career I have worked in several offices (for several brokerages) and know a lot of the local Los Gatos – Saratoga – Almaden – San Jose area agents. I have been with Sereno since 2009 and only wish I’d joined this amazing company sooner. This is very helpful with networking. I also racked up a lot of classes, seminars and conferences and truly am an education junkie. In that vein, I also worked to earn a number of certifications and designations, the most prized of which is the CRS, Certified Residential Specialist (which is held by only about 7% of all Realtors) and also the CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist. Many of my clients come from far away lands and I love working with them. I love to write and in 2004 co-authored a book on selling homes in Silicon Valley.
I’m usually somewhere in the top 3-5% for real estate sales and sometimes top 1%. I have won many awards for production and also for service. My main goal is to help my buyers and sellers to be successful and each one matters. For me it’s not a numbers game, it’s people work. Our mutual success is what has put me in the list of top ranking agents.
Because I have been exceptionally successful with my websites and writing, I am often asked to speak on panels about blogging and social media, or to teach at conferences. Public speaking is a lot of fun for me and I’m happy to share what has worked for me in my career.
My real estate sales have centered around the west valley communities of Silicon Valley: Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Campbell, Willow Glen and nearby areas. I have sold all over Santa Clara County (Los Altos, West San Jose, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Alum Rock, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Teresa, Blossom Valley…) and occasionally have sold in neighboring counties too (at my clients’ request), but ordinarily do not go beyond the Santa Clara County boundary. Need Fremont or Pleasanton or somewhere beyond the SCC border? I know great Realtors all over (many of them are bloggers) and will be happy to introduce you.
The price points and home types I work with range from modest 1 bedroom condos listed at under $500,000 to houses or duplexes to multi-million dollar estate properties. I have sold new homes as well as “resale”. I do not sell apartment buildings, raw land, commercial properties, or mobile homes, but will gladly introduce you to a great Realtor who can help with those.
Personal info:
*I’m happily married and my husband Jim and I have two adult children, both living in California.
*I have a BA in Religious Studies (Gonzaga University) and MA in Systematic Theology (Graduate Theological Union / Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley – JSTB is now part of Santa Clara University and is called just JST). My prior career was as a religion teacher in Catholic high schools, which I loved, but the pay wasn’t great in the 80s… I have done some volunteer hospital chaplaincy, volunteer work with grieving kids, and some youth ministry.
*For fun I love to travel (spent my junior year of college in Florence, Italy, and can still speak a little Italian), take walks in my neighborhood, fiddle a bit with jewelry making & beading, spend time with family and friends, and sometimes dabble in handwriting analysis or graphology. I love to write and would someday enjoy learning to write a novel.
Today most of my clients come to me either through my blogs and websites or are repeat or referral based. I love meeting my blog readers and often they not only become clients, they become friends.
For more information: To read a complete resume and list of my designations, awards, college level real estate courses and more, please visit my profile on my popehandy.com website: http://popehandy.com/about/
And please also read testimonials from my clients here on Zillow or Yelp.
