“It felt like they really wanted to make sure we wound up in the best possible home, and not just selling a house. Really making sure we wound up in a good home.”
– Lucas, Homebuyer
“It felt like they really wanted to make sure we wound up in the best possible home, and not just selling a house. Really making sure we wound up in a good home.”
– Lucas, Homebuyer
Expert Advisor / CEO
Brett Jennings is the owner and founder of Real Estate Experts. Brett is an award-winning luxury home marketing specialist and also holds a certificate in negotiation from Harvard Law. In 2017, the Wall Street Journal recognized Brett and his team as one of the top 250 real estate groups in the United States. With over one million agents in the country, this prestigious award places Brett in the top 1/10th of the top 1% among his peers.
Although these statistics are impressive, Brett’s true passion is helping people make smart real estate decisions that positively transform their lives. His extensive background in real estate, finance, and life coaching enables him to draw from a deep well of life experience as he helps his clients make informed, intelligent decisions. In a fluctuating real estate landscape, the expertise and attention he provides are necessary and rare.
Described by his peers and clients as energetic, focused, determined, and engaged, Brett always goes above and beyond. He provides his buyers access to his curated list of over 250 off-market properties, and his sellers benefit from his market-proven home selling process that has set record-breaking prices in almost every neighborhood he sells in. His best-selling book, The New Rise in Real Estate, serves as a further resource for clients wanting to make the most of the current market.
Brett is a charismatic leader who cares as much about his team as he does about his clients. His commitment to delivering a five-star service experience for every client is carefully crafted by a hand-picked, all-star team that consists of transaction coordinators, renovation, marketing, listing, and buyer specialists, all dedicated to offering the highest standard of care in the industry.
When Brett isn’t creating success for his clients and team, he volunteers his time by teaching meditation, which he has been doing for the past eighteen years. He also enjoys spending time outdoors wakeboarding, running, hiking, mountain biking, and snowboarding.
Real Estate Expert
As a lifelong Bay Area resident and a licensed full-time Realtor®, Brad Garofalo has a strong knowledge of the South Bay area that continually helps people buy or sell a home. With more than 25 years in the technology industry, negotiating millions of dollars in sales, clients can feel assured they have a good agent taking care of them. Deftly combining all of his skills and strengths, Brad is fully equipped to address all of his clients’ real estate needs.
Brad’s specializes in residential home sales anywhere in Santa Clara County, from luxury homes to condos and everything in between. He specializes in helping clients remodel their own home or for investment purposes. Clients appreciate the fast response time and attention they receive from Brad, who is always ready to help people find the home of their dreams.
His unique and simple step-by-step processes keep things in order, and he places the chaos of real estate on his shoulders instead of his clients. He is ready to help and guide his clients when they are ready. At that time, his energy and enthusiasm go to work for them, and he doesn’t rest until he knows his job is finished to their satisfaction. If Brad doesn’t know an answer to a question, be assured he will find it.
Real Estate Expert
Born and raised in San Jose and a Willow Glen resident since 2003, Tony Fery has a true love for living and working in the Bay Area. Educated locally, he attended Bellarmine College Preparatory and Santa Clara University, earning his degree in sociology, which reflects his love for people.
A full time realtor®, Tony truly enjoys getting to know his clients and building relationships with them, whether they are selling their home, purchasing their first home, looking for an investment property, or searching for a second home.
Tony leverages out-of-the-box strategies to ensure that his clients are a step ahead of the others in the market so that his buyer clients get the best home at the best possible price, or his seller clients receive more than the neighborhood average for their home.
In addition to real estate, Tony has fun on the fall and winter weekends as the locker room manager for the San Francisco Forty Niners. Happily married since 2001 and a father to three children, Tony prides himself on his dedication to family and clients, as he feels the two are synonymous. He looks forward to helping his clients find what is ultimately right for them.
Real Estate Expert
As a first-generation American, Nneka Jenkins knows how priceless it is to come home. The go-to person amongst friends for real estate, property management, and investment advice long before she was a Realtor®, Nneka has been working and investing in real estate for over seven years. She prides herself on her professional reputation as an agent dedicated to fairness and transparency, and for her ability to quickly fulfill her clients’ needs. Her MBA from the University of Arizona and extensive background in business have made her into a master negotiator who builds trust and rapport effortlessly while working hard to tip the scales in her clients’ favor.
Having relocated to the Bay Area to accept a tech position in San Jose, Nneka has an insider’s understanding of the tech industry and knows the types of homes needed by people who are building thriving, dynamic careers. Described by clients as hard-working, responsive, and someone who makes the impossible happen, Nneka feels fortunate to have built her business mainly on referrals. She relishes any opportunity to serve clients in the ever-changing Bay Area real estate market.
When not helping people achieve their real estate goals, Nneka is the devoted mother of four, and her family is the motivation behind everything she does. On date nights, she loves dancing with her main inspiration, her husband, or enjoying a good movie and glass of wine. You can also find her remodeling homes; she’s always on the lookout for the next diamond in the rough to polish up with her signature shine.
Real Estate Expert
Kelly Baldwin truly enjoys getting to know her clients and building a relationship with them, whether they are purchasing their first home, selling their current home, searching for an investment property, or looking for a second home. She leverages out-of-the-box strategies to ensure that her clients are a step ahead of the others in the market so that her buyer clients get the best home at the best possible price or her seller clients receive 3-18% more than the neighborhood average for their home.
Now an agent with the Real Estate Experts, Kelly comes armed with a sincere desire to help people achieve their goals through real estate, past professional experiences that put her in the thick of business development and customer service, and a degree in Marketing that comes in handy as she works every outlet to effectively market her services as a real estate agent.
A native of Connecticut, where she received her first real estate license, Kelly settled in San Jose, CA in 2017 where she was presented with the opportunity to join the Real Estate Experts team, an offer she calls a no-brainer. Described as positive, trustworthy, thorough, and an achiever, Kelly enjoys creating strategies and plans that will help her clients achieve their dreams.
In her personal life, Kelly describes herself as someone who cannot sit still, and she enjoys staying active with activities like hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, country line dancing, and going to concerts.
Inside Sales Agent
As a proud partner of the Real Estate Experts since 2016, David Guardanapo has in a short amount of time worked his up from marketing intern to the team’s Concierge Agent. David learned the ropes from top-producing agent Brett Jennings himself, who recognized that David had the right stuff for a career in real estate, and who has since taught David the ins and outs of the business.
Born and raised in the San Jose community of Willow Glen, David’s blueprint for assisting different types of clients comes in employing strategic approaches that uniquely suit his clients’ specific goals and needs. David lists time management, coordinating events, negotiation, and setting and achieving goals as his key strengths. When working with clients, David is committed to not just getting the job done, but getting it done right.
Described by clients and colleagues alike as driven, caring, upbeat, and available at a moment’s notice, David puts passion into everything he sets his mind to, all in the pursuit of reaching the highest levels of real estate success. On top of all of these attributes, he’s also working on a business marketing degree, all the better to market his clients’ homes for sale on all the top social media and traditional media platforms.
Outside of work, David enjoys hiking, mountain biking, going to the beach, spending quality time with friends and family, and helping coach his high school’s varsity football team.
Real Estate Expert
Olympia Pistalu is quick learner who has enjoyed a meteoric rise in real estate since entering the profession in 2016. In a short amount of time she was named “Rookie Of The Year”, “National Top 100 Agent”, and “Top 1000 In The Nation” while with her previous brokerage. Shortly after obtaining her license she fought for and won a $2.5 million dollar listing and then used creative marketing and her natural tenacity to sell the home in just 19 days. (Should we mention how this was deemed unsellable by the previous hotshot agent?)
It’s this type of aggressive and innovative approach that has allowed Olympia to accomplish so much so quickly. In a short time she has forged her own unique path by swimming against the tide and not doing what other agents do. She employs strategic and thoughtful individual marketing plans for every home she sells, and she deftly guides her clients through the buying and selling process by keeping them educated and engaged. She also believes in complete honesty and transparency, even if that means telling clients what they need to hear as opposed to what they want to hear.
A California native, Olympia is also a first generation American whose parents came to the United States to pursue a life free of political oppression, so she has experienced first-hand the achievement of the American Dream, especially after she was able to buy her parents a home in 2017. She’s also a long-time cancer survivor, which fuels her relentless pursuit for excellence in everything she does. She knows life is short and precious, and she pursues the goals and dreams of her clients with the same gusto, excitement, and positivity that she brings to her personal life.
In short, Olympia Pistalu does everything in her power to enhance the client experience, going the extra mile to provide top-of-the-line marketing that speaks to buyers and outshines the competition.
Director of Client Experience
You needn’t be an agent to be an essential part of a successful, highly functioning real estate team. Just ask Michelle Apana-Horn. As Director of Client Experience for the Real Estate Experts, Michelle’s people and organizational skills and strong attention to detail have helped her become highly successful with the smooth operation of all the behind-the-scenes aspects of a busy real estate agency.
Originally from Hawaii, Michelle graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor’s degree and started working as a real estate professional shortly after graduation in the early 1990s. Since then, she and her husband have bought and sold 10 properties in the San Jose area. Couple these hands-on experiences with her office operations skills and you’ve got someone who knows the real estate industry from both sides of the fence.
Michelle loves the flexibility her position offers, and being surrounded by skilled and professional agents and brokers makes her job interesting and fun, as she’s always learning something new. Being involved in so many aspects of the industry allows her to tap into her strong work ethic and sincere desire to help people.
She also appreciates the fact that working in the back office side of real estate allows her to spend evenings and weekends with her family, which should come as no surprise for some who have embraced a strong “family first” philosophy. She also loves good food and wine and participating in half and full marathons.
Client Care Coordinator
As the Client Care Coordinator with Real Estate Experts, Tiffany Potter’s job is to make the transaction process as easy and seamless for clients as possible. In this capacity, she works to ease their apprehensions as they work through the sometimes intense buying and selling process, answering questions, providing help when needed or directing them to the right team members, and mainly, to listen carefully as they express their real estate wants, needs, and goals.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Tiffany has worked in real estate since 2003, and her first exposure to the industry came when she would put in a few hours working in the office of her real estate agent father. Since then, Tiffany has built on these experiences to earn a well-deserved reputation as someone who is knowledgeable, organized, easy to work with, and professional, and whose ultimate goal in real estate is to help people get into the home of their dreams.
When she’s not in the office working with clients or on files, Tiffany enjoys spending time with family, cake decorating, various types of arts and crafts, and visiting with friends.
Listing Manager
Real estate agent Justin Dahl has always been in the service industry, first at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and later at the Sheraton Silicon Valley in San Jose, CA. Thanks to these experiences, Justin knows exactly what it means to put the client first and foremost.
Licensed since 1989, Justin learned the real estate ropes in downtown San Jose and the surrounding communities of Willow Glen and Rose Garden. This gave him an appreciation for architecturally significant homes as well as older homes in need of rehab. His expertise includes determining the improvements that can be made that will provide the most ROI, referring expert tradespeople, and coordinating between the client, contractors, and the marketing department.
Working as a buyer’s agent for almost 20 years has given him a working knowledge of what buyers want. Now, as the Listing Manager at Brett Jennings Real Estate Experts, he puts that knowledge to good use on behalf of sellers to help them get the highest price, up to 17% more, in some cases.
Justin also gets huge satisfaction working with first-time home buyers and he has conducted workshops for them at credit unions and other lenders. He finds helping people find and purchase their first home to be one of the more rewarding parts of his job.
In his spare time, Justin enjoys traveling, cooking, learning Spanish, and playing racquetball.
Marketing Coordinator
As the Marketing Assistant for the Real Estate Experts, Jen Greenfield designs marketing collateral and coordinates copywriting for new listings, corporate marketing, and advertising campaigns. Her educational background is in digital media with a focus on business and marketing, but she is most passionate about any activity that lets her express her creativity, wit, and vivid imagination. Not surprisingly, in her free time Jen enjoys activities that allow her to express and utilize her creativity, including designing and sewing costumes for comic book conventions, face painting and body art, drawing, and playing piano.
Strategy & Business Advisor
One does not have to hold a realtors® license to be an integral part of an agency. Just ask business consultant Frank Kamal. Frank is instrumental in the behind-the-scenes workings of the Real Estate Experts team, as he partners closely with Brett Jennings to help scale and structure the agency’s growth.
A native of Iran who moved to the Bay Area when he was 16, Frank’s professional backgrounds include 15 years of business consulting as well as various executive and business ownership positions. Bolstering those talents are degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business. While he is not a working real estate professional, his personal experiences with the industry come in being a homeowner and a part-time investor in real estate projects.
As a business consultant, Frank specializes in working with small and medium businesses and he has been working with the Brett Jennings team for two years. He has a knack for seeing through the noise, identifying what’s essential in a business, and providing focus on what’s truly important. His process is simple: listen, understand, and then deliver suitable solutions.
An avid soccer fan, Frank has been a player, coach, and a fan of the game for all of his life.
Real Estate & Tax Lawyer, Broker-of-Record at Side
Acting as our broker and in-house legal counsel, Hilary is the person our agents turn to for legal advice. Before becoming a successful broker in her own right, Hilary practiced real estate law for 5 years at a San Francisco law firm, building a solid foundation of real estate knowledge.
Creative Director
Corey Alverson lived and worked in the midwest as brand manager for a law firm until moving to San Francisco in 2016. As creative director for Reside, Corey is a strong conceptual thinker with over 10 years of graphic design experience.
Marketing Director
Ashley Bledsoe joins Reside as Channel Marketing Director following 7 years at San Francisco’s largest residential real estate brokerage. At Zephyr Real Estate, Ashley worked on agent marketing strategy, from developing novel online marketing channels to elevating and refining traditional real estate marketing efforts. Ashley is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the proud daughter of a top producing Virginia Realtor®.
Director of Engineering
Chris started in software startups over ten years ago in North Carolina, eventually heading to San Francisco in 2013. He now leads the engineering team, ensuring on-time delivery of features, high quality of product, and secure protection of data.
Marketing Engineer
San Franciscan, technology nerd, and knowledge enthusiast. As a digital marketing manager, John has led online marketing programs in web design, web development, lead generation, and SEO. At Reside he is part of a team focused on creating integrated marketing strategies for top performing real estate agents.