San Carlos Real Estate Agent
A bungalow near Laurel Street and a foothill lot with Bay views can fall under different floor-area rules, depending on lot size. Representation that starts with your parcel.
Lisa M. Lum is a San Carlos real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, working from the office at 1706 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. San Carlos is a smaller-scale central Peninsula city of roughly 5.5 square miles, known locally as the City of Good Living.
Downtown Laurel Street anchors daily life with restaurants and boutiques. The city’s Hometown Days celebration comes around each May.
From there, the residential neighborhoods step up the western foothills toward the Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve. White Oaks and Oak Park hold older homes close to the center, and Cordilleras Heights offers elevated lots with Bay views.
Burton Park has the city’s main pool and event lawn, and Big Canyon Park adds hillside trails minutes from downtown. The Hiller Aviation Museum sits at the eastern edge, near the San Carlos Airport.
San Carlos zoning uses its own single-family designations and a floor-area formula that changes at 7,500 square feet. Check how those rules apply to a specific lot with the city’s planning staff before you decide what it’s worth.
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 San Carlos home
A San Carlos sale is priced lot by lot. A White Oaks bungalow near downtown and a Beverly Terrace ranch home on a larger lot answer to different comparable sales.
Lisa prices from comparable sales in your neighborhood, so the number reflects your 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. Standard California disclosures apply, and an older home can carry supplemental items depending on its age and neighborhood, so the file is worth starting early.
Floor-area math belongs in the marketing. Buyers planning an addition will ask about the lot size and its RS designation, so have both ready.
If tree work is planned, the heritage tree permit belongs on the calendar before photography.
Lisa manages the marketing, showings and negotiations. When offers arrive, she reviews each one with you on price, terms, contingencies and the buyer’s financing.
Go deeper: current San Carlos 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 San Carlos
Start with schools, because assignment follows the address. San Carlos School District serves K-8, including Tierra Linda Middle and Central Middle, and 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 learn the zoning. San Carlos uses RS-3 and RS-6 single-family designations in place of the conventional R-1.
Floor area follows a formula. On lots up to 7,500 square feet, the maximum is the larger of 1,100 square feet plus 35% of lot area, or 50% of lot area. Larger lots are capped at 50%.
If you’re planning an addition, verify which calculation governs your parcel with the city’s planning staff before you budget the project. White Oaks and Oak Park also have their own design guidelines for new construction and substantial remodels.
Hillside parcels in Cordilleras Heights and the western foothills face added geotechnical review, and slope conditions may call for a soils report during your inspection period.
The Heritage Tree Ordinance requires a permit to remove protected species, so note the trees on a lot before you sketch any changes.
For the full picture of the market, see the San Carlos community guide and Lisa’s buyer’s guide.
Recent results in San Carlos
From Lisa's published client reviews.
“From our first meeting to closing day, Lisa was responsive, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in finding us the right home. She went above and beyond.”
San Carlos neighborhoods served
- White Oaks1920s to 1940s bungalow and Craftsman homes on 5,000 to 7,000 square foot lots east of El Camino Real, walkable to Laurel Street and Caltrain.
- Howard ParkMid-century ranch homes and newer construction on 6,000 to 8,000 square foot lots west of El Camino Real.
- Cordilleras HeightsElevated 7,500 to 12,000 square foot lots in the western foothills, with Bay views and mature canopy.
- EatonPost-war single-family homes on 5,000 to 7,000 square foot lots in south-central San Carlos.
- Beverly TerraceMid-century ranch architecture on curving streets in western San Carlos, with 6,000 to 8,500 square foot lots.
- Oak ParkA small historic neighborhood in central San Carlos with 1920s to 1950s homes, mature canopy and its own design guidelines.
Every neighborhood above has a full profile in the San Carlos community guide.
