Foster City Real Estate Agent
Foster City was planned around seven miles of lagoons, and the waterfront carries its own rules. Representation that reads the HOA documents and the setbacks.
Lisa M. Lum is a Foster City real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Foster City sits on San Francisco Bay, built on a planned grid of artificial lagoons starting in the 1960s.
Developer T. Jack Foster Jr. engineered the city on former tidal marshland, and it incorporated in 1971. Its housing was built primarily between 1965 and 2010.
The lagoons are structural. Seven miles of interconnected waterways are used for sailing and kayaking, and Leo J. Ryan Park adds 11 acres of waterfront open space.
Foster City has dozens of mandatory HOAs covering subdivisions, condominiums and townhome developments. Whalers Island sits on a peninsula formed by the lagoon, and Town Center holds the civic center and the library.
The city sits where US-101 meets Highway 92, and the Bay Trail runs along its eastern edge.
Between HOA documents and waterfront setbacks, two homes on the same lagoon can come with different obligations. Read both before you decide on a price.
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 Foster City home
A Foster City sale is priced by property type and setting. A Marina Point condominium, a Whalers Island townhome and a detached home inland answer to different comparable sales.
Lisa manages the marketing, showings and negotiations.
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. Here, that package should address the city’s location on engineered fill, any HOA membership and CC&Rs, and any waterfront setback restrictions recorded on a lagoon-front parcel.
Foster City has no city-specific point-of-sale sewer lateral ordinance. The Estero Municipal Improvement District runs the public sewer system, and owners are responsible for the upper lateral from the home to the property line.
For a condominium or townhome, have the association’s documents and any recent inspection reports ready for buyers.
When offers arrive, Lisa reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing.
Go deeper: current Foster City 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 Foster City
Start with the paperwork that comes with the home. Condominiums and townhomes usually carry mandatory HOA membership. Single-family detached homes typically have no mandatory HOA but may have CC&Rs from the original master plan.
Ask for the association’s documents early, including the CC&Rs, budget and any recent inspection reports, and read them during due diligence.
Next, schools. San Mateo-Foster City School District serves K-8, with Audubon, Beach Park, Brewer Island and Foster City Elementary plus Bowditch Middle School. High school runs through the San Mateo Union High School District.
San Mateo-Foster City School District is open-enrollment within district boundaries, subject to space. Confirm both the K-8 attendance area and the high school assignment for the exact address with the districts before you write an offer.
On the water, the Waterfront Setback Policy adds setbacks for lagoon-fronting properties to protect views, and special fence, wall and hedge standards apply. Applications filed since February 19, 2026 must meet new objective Single-Family and Two-Family Design and Development Standards, so talk with the Planning Division before you plan a remodel.
The city sits on engineered fill. Read the Natural Hazard Disclosure for flood and sea-level-rise items.
For the full picture of the market, see the Foster City community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Foster City neighborhoods served
- Marina PointA 364-unit condominium and townhome HOA built in 1976 along Beach Park Boulevard, with direct lagoon access.
- The Islands of Foster CityA 174-unit condominium and townhome complex on the central lagoon, with a clubhouse and pool.
- Beach ParkA beach area, kayak and paddle board docking and a waterfront clubhouse with a rooftop deck.
- Whalers IslandSingle-family homes and townhomes on a lagoon peninsula, linked to the rest of the city by bridges.
- Marlin CoveHomes, townhomes and condominiums near the Charter Square shopping center on Shell Boulevard.
- Town CenterThe civic center, library and recreation center near East Hillsdale Boulevard, with newer mixed-use developments and some of the city’s newest residential construction.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Foster City community guide.
