Burlingame Real Estate Agent
Heritage groves and design review set the terms on many Burlingame streets. Representation that reads the trees along with the house.
Lisa M. Lum is a Burlingame real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Burlingame covers roughly 4.4 square miles, and a Heritage Tree Ordinance in place since 1975 governs its canopy.
Downtown centers on Burlingame Avenue, a walkable mile-long commercial corridor with the Caltrain station at its eastern end. Broadway, in north Burlingame, is a second commercial district.
Washington Park, Pershing Park, Bayside Park and the Mills Canyon trails give the city its open space, and the Burlingame Public Library serves as a civic gathering point. The historic Kohl Mansion grounds are a cultural landmark.
Burlingame Park, north of downtown, keeps its mature canopy within walking distance of Burlingame Avenue. Burlingame Hills, near I-280, is a separate California Special District with its own permit considerations.
Tree protections, design review and two permitting authorities mean the same addition can face different paths a mile apart. Those differences belong in the conversation before you set 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 Burlingame home
In Burlingame, price follows the street. A heritage-grove lot in the Easton Addition and a mid-century home in Lyon-Hoag sit on different lots and answer to different rules.
Lisa prices from comparable sales on your street and in your micro-neighborhood, down to lot size and school attendance area.
Through her Home Refresh program, Lisa manages the vendors for repairs, paint, staging and curb appeal, and you approve every estimate before work begins.
If pruning or removal is on the list, plan the permits first. Harming a protected tree is illegal under the ordinance, so tree work belongs on the calendar well before photography.
Home Refresh also covers a pre-listing inspection and a disclosure package. In the Easton Addition, heritage grove status can add tree-related disclosure considerations, and the package can address them up front.
San Mateo County’s documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 applies at recording. Burlingame adds no municipal transfer tax.
When offers arrive, Lisa reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing, so you can compare them side by side.
Go deeper: current Burlingame 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 Burlingame
Start with the trees. The Heritage Tree Ordinance makes it illegal to harm protected trees, including trees of certain size, age, rarity or historical significance.
Easton Drive west of El Camino, and California Drive from Burlingame Avenue to Palm, were designated heritage groves in 1976. In the Easton Addition, most lots have at least one designated heritage tree.
Removal triggers significant in-lieu fees, and construction can carry replacement requirements for each protected tree affected. If you plan to build, model the footprint against the tree protection zones before you write an offer.
Design review applies to most second-story additions and new construction. Talk with Burlingame Planning early and complete tree assessments before you commit to a plan.
In Burlingame Hills, verify which permitting authority applies to the parcel.
Burlingame School District serves the city for K-8, with six elementary schools and Burlingame Intermediate School. High school students attend Burlingame High School in the San Mateo Union High School District.
Elementary assignment follows the address. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
For the full picture of the market, see the Burlingame community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Burlingame neighborhoods served
- Burlingame HillsElevated lots of 7,500 to 15,000 square feet with Bay views and mature canopy.
- Easton Addition1910s to 1930s estate properties along Easton Drive, under eucalyptus, pine, cypress and oak groves.
- Lyon-HoagMid-century homes on roughly 5,000 to 7,000 square foot lots between Burlingame Avenue and Highway 101.
- Burlingame Park1910s to 1930s estate-style architecture on 6,000 to 10,000 square foot lots.
- Ray ParkMid-century homes on 6,000 to 7,500 square foot lots in the southwestern part of the city.
- Mills EstateA planned ranch-era neighborhood of cul-de-sac streets and 5,000 to 7,000 square foot lots in the northwest corner.
- Bay ParkAn eastern Burlingame neighborhood close to the Bay Trail.
- North BurlingameThe city’s northern tier, near the Broadway commercial district.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Burlingame community guide.
