Belmont Real Estate Agent
Belmont climbs from flatland near El Camino Real to Bay-view hillsides. Representation that reads the slope and the zoning sub-district first.
Lisa M. Lum is a Belmont real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Belmont sits on the mid-Peninsula between San Carlos and San Mateo, and elevation shapes its character.
In the western part of the city, the Belmont Country Club area holds elevated lots with Bay views and mature canopy. Belmont Heights climbs the steep central-western hillside, with view-oriented lots and newer rebuilds among the mid-century homes.
Sterling Downs, a flatter pocket of central Belmont, holds post-war homes. Hallmark, also in central Belmont, holds mid-century ranch homes. Lots in both typically run 5,500 to 7,500 square feet.
Daily life runs through Carlmont Village, Belmont Plaza and Twin Pines Park, which has hiking trails and event space. The Notre Dame de Namur University campus sits at the city’s western edge, and the Caltrain station is along El Camino Real near downtown.
Belmont’s R-1 zoning uses several sub-districts, with minimum site areas from 5,000 square feet to one acre. A hillside lot and a flatland lot a few streets apart can answer to different rules, so confirm the sub-district with Belmont’s Planning Department before you commit to a number.
Meet Lisa M. Lum
Lisa is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the brokerage’s Menlo Park office at 1706 El Camino Real. She has been licensed in California since 2018 (DRE #02005150) and studied Legal Studies at UC Berkeley.
More about Lisa →Selling your Belmont home
A Belmont sale is priced by elevation and lot. A view lot in the Country Club area and a ranch home in Sterling Downs answer to different comparable sales.
So Lisa prices from comparable sales in your neighborhood. A citywide figure says little about one hillside street.
Through her Home Refresh program, Lisa manages the vendors for repairs, paint, staging and curb appeal, and you approve every estimate before work begins.
Home Refresh also covers a pre-listing inspection and a disclosure package. On a hillside parcel, standard California disclosures often bring more substantial geotechnical and insurance questions, so it helps to gather any reports on file before launch.
If you’ve planned tree work, Belmont requires a permit to remove designated species, and that timeline belongs ahead of photography.
Zoning belongs in the marketing too. Buyers planning an addition will check the lot’s R-1 sub-district, so have the designation ready.
San Mateo County’s documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 applies at recording, and Belmont adds no municipal transfer tax.
Go deeper: current Belmont seller data and the Home Refresh program.
Lisa’s guide
The Home Refresh Guide
How Lisa prepares a home before it goes to market, from the pre-listing inspection to staging.
Buying a home in Belmont
Start with the school boundary. Belmont is served by the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District for K-8, which includes Ralston Middle School, and by the Sequoia Union High School District for high school.
Assignment follows the address, and not every Belmont parcel feeds into Carlmont High School. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
Then read the zoning. R-1E requires one acre and R-1H requires 20,000 square feet, and both apply primarily in the western foothills. Flatland Belmont uses the smaller minimums, from 9,600 square feet in R-1A down to 5,000 in R-1C.
If you’re planning an addition, new construction or an accessory dwelling unit, confirm the sub-district and its standards with Belmont’s Planning Department early. Larger projects may need Planning Commission review, depending on size and scope.
Hillside lots bring their own questions. Parcels in Belmont Heights and the Country Club area face slope-stability and grading considerations, and many have geotechnical reports on file from earlier construction. Ask for them during your inspection period.
Belmont’s Tree Ordinance also requires a permit to remove designated species, so check the trees before you plan around them.
For the full picture of the market, see the Belmont community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Belmont neighborhoods served
- Belmont Country Club AreaElevated 8,000 to 15,000 square foot lots in western Belmont, mixing mid-century estates with updated newer construction.
- Belmont HeightsSteep central-western hillside with 7,000 to 10,000 square foot view-oriented lots.
- Sterling DownsA flatter pocket of central Belmont with post-war single-family homes on 5,500 to 7,500 square foot lots.
- HallmarkMid-century ranch architecture in central Belmont, on 5,500 to 7,500 square foot lots.
- CiprianiMature trees near Cipriani Elementary School, with post-war ranch homes on 6,000 to 8,000 square foot lots.
- Belmont HillsBelmont’s elevated residential tier, with larger lots and panoramic Bay views.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Belmont community guide.
