Redwood City Real Estate Agent
Redwood City runs from wooded Emerald Hills lots to the Redwood Shores lagoons. Representation that starts with the rules for your address.
Lisa M. Lum is a Redwood City real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Redwood City is the seat of San Mateo County, and its neighborhoods cover a wide range of housing.
Downtown centers on Courthouse Square and the restored 1929 Fox Theatre, with its Art Deco stage. A Saturday farmers market runs April through November, and the Caltrain station sits at the heart of the city.
In the western foothills, Emerald Hills offers estate-style homes on wooded lots, partly in unincorporated San Mateo County. Farm Hill, Woodside Plaza and Mount Carmel hold mid-century homes on tree-lined streets.
South of downtown, Stambaugh-Heller has older bungalows and Victorians. On the eastern side, Redwood Shores is a master-planned waterfront community built since 1981, and Bair Island adds 1,400 acres of restored salt marsh reached from the Redwood City Marina.
City and county jurisdiction, HOAs and a tree ordinance can all change from one address to the next. Confirm which rules apply with the city, the county or the HOA before you settle 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 Redwood City home
A Redwood City sale is priced neighborhood by neighborhood. A Redwood Shores townhome, a Farm Hill mid-century home and an Emerald Hills estate 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. In Stambaugh-Heller, many homes date to the early 1900s, and plumbing and roofing may need updating, so it pays to know before launch.
The sewer lateral question is unsettled. The city’s sewer pages describe no point-of-sale requirement, while a March 2026 report lists Redwood City among cities that have adopted one. Confirm the current requirement with Redwood City Public Works before listing.
Removing a protected tree needs a city permit too, so schedule any tree work well before photography.
When offers arrive, Lisa reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing.
Go deeper: current Redwood 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 Redwood City
Start with jurisdiction. Parts of Emerald Hills are unincorporated San Mateo County, and private road easements are common there, so confirm road maintenance arrangements before you buy.
Schools come next. Redwood City School District serves TK-8, and it adopted new attendance boundaries in 2020 around larger regional campuses. If you’re looking in the Roy Cloud, Clifford or Hoover areas, check the post-2020 boundary.
High school runs through the Sequoia Union High School District. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer.
Then the lot. The R-1 district has a 6,000 square foot minimum lot area. Second-story additions and certain exterior alterations need an Architectural Permit under the Residential Design Guide, so talk with the Community Development Department before you plan an expansion.
The Tree Preservation Ordinance protects private trees over 38 inches in trunk circumference, and removal needs a permit. Unpermitted removal carries a $500 fine per tree plus a replacement, so an arborist report belongs in due diligence for any renovation.
For historic homes, the city suspended new Mills Act applications on March 9, 2026. The 41 existing contracts transfer with title, and what that means for your taxes is a question for your tax advisor.
For the full picture of the market, see the Redwood City community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Redwood City neighborhoods served
- Emerald HillsEstate-style homes on quarter-acre to one-acre wooded lots in the western foothills, with valley views.
- Redwood ShoresA master-planned waterfront community built since 1981 around lagoons and walking paths, under one umbrella owners association.
- Farm HillMid-century single-family homes on 6,000 to 10,000 square foot lots above Alameda de las Pulgas, near Edgewood Park.
- Woodside PlazaMid-century ranch and Eichler-style homes on 6,000 to 8,000 square foot lots along Woodside Road, west of US-101.
- Mount CarmelBungalows, Tudors and mid-century homes on tree-lined streets east of downtown, with a voluntary neighborhood association.
- Stambaugh-HellerEarly-1900s bungalows and Victorians along Middlefield Road, within walking distance of Caltrain and Courthouse Square.
- Redwood OaksAn established north Redwood City neighborhood close to Woodside Road and Caltrain.
- Emerald Lake HillsAn unincorporated hillside community in the foothills, with larger wooded lots near Edgewood Park.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the Redwood City community guide.
