Hillsborough Real Estate Agent
Large lots and a strict design review board shape every Hillsborough sale. Representation that starts with the parcel and its history.
Lisa M. Lum is a Hillsborough real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Hillsborough is a residential town in San Mateo County with no commercial zoning, no streetlights and limited sidewalks by design.
The town spans roughly 6.2 square miles. Minimum lot sizes vary by R-1 sub-district, from about half an acre to one acre or larger.
Around Burlingame Country Club, the Country Club area has elevated lots with panoramic Bay views. Historic Estates holds many of the town’s grandest early-twentieth-century properties.
Lower North Hillsborough sits between El Camino Real and the foothills, with mid-century estates and updated 1980s to 2000s construction. Tobin Clark, on the western edge near I-280, borders the Crystal Springs reservoir watershed.
The town’s Architectural and Design Review Board reviews new construction, substantial remodels and additions. What a prior owner already took through that board can shape what the next owner may do, so that history belongs in the conversation before anyone sets 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 Hillsborough home
A Hillsborough sale is priced parcel by parcel. An estate in Historic Estates and an updated home in Lower North Hillsborough sit on different lots and carry different histories.
Lisa prices from comparable sales in your neighborhood.
Your design review record is part of the listing. If you’ve taken a renovation through the board, gather the approvals, because buyers want to know what was permitted and what a new application would require.
Recorded landscape easements belong in that file too.
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. Standard California disclosures apply, including the Transfer Disclosure Statement and the Natural Hazard Disclosure, and some properties carry supplemental local disclosures.
San Mateo County’s documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 applies at recording, and Hillsborough adds no municipal transfer tax.
When offers arrive, Lisa reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing.
Go deeper: current Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough
In Hillsborough, design review shapes the purchase. The Architectural and Design Review Board must approve substantial remodels, additions and any new construction, and its review can extend project timelines significantly.
If you plan to change the house, talk with the Town Planning Department early. Ask what the board has already approved on the property and what a new application would require.
Then read the lot. Many parcels in the Country Club and Historic Estates areas carry recorded landscape easements that restrict where construction can go.
Hillside lots in the Country Club and Tobin Clark areas add tree protection and natural-grade requirements to the inspection plan. Confirm the tree rules for your parcel with Town Planning.
Hillsborough City School District serves the town for K-8 through South, North and West schools and Crocker Middle School. High school students attend Burlingame High School or Aragon High School in the San Mateo Union High School District, depending on attendance area.
Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
Homes on the National Register or California Register may qualify for the Mills Act program. Confirm participation with Town Planning, and treat the tax effect as a question for your tax advisor.
For the full picture of the market, see the Hillsborough community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Recent results in Hillsborough
From Lisa's published client reviews.
“Lisa managed the sale of our family home with sensitivity and skill. She understood the emotional side while delivering exceptional results.”
Hillsborough neighborhoods served
- Country Club1920s Mediterranean and Tudor revival homes and modern rebuilds on lots of one acre and up.
- Historic EstatesLots typically an acre and larger, with heritage trees, deep setbacks and original architecture by significant Bay Area firms.
- Lower North HillsboroughLots typically a half acre to one acre in the northern half of town.
- Tobin ClarkCul-de-sac streets and lots often one acre and up, with open space next door.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Hillsborough community guide.
