Alan Marks
Broker Associate
For three decades, Alan has lived and worked in the East Bay. A successful, highly regarded professional, he has a deep understanding of all aspects of real estate – from land, apartment and home development to construction, renovation, asset management and residential and commercial sales. His portfolio of homes purchased and sold includes some of the highest priced homes in Lamorinda.
Alan is licensed as both a Realtor and a Broker, and he founded the Alain Pinel Realtors Orinda office more than 17 years ago. His knowledge of the area, the industry, marketing and technology, coupled with his excellent negotiation skills, make him a vital choice for your real estate transaction. He’s a consistent top-producing agent and member of the Alain Pinel President’s Club.
It is Alan’s goal to be “hands-on” and accessible to his clients, and to handle the inevitable issues that arise in many transactions quickly, efficiently, and with complete attention to detail. As a result, a large percentage of satisfied clients come back to Alan, and often recommend him to family and friends. He’s able to consistently guide transactions through the listing, marketing and escrow periods with the highest degree of professionalism.
Alan holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois. Before his residential real estate career, he held corporate real estate executive positions with companies such as Balcor/American Express and Castle & Cooke Real Estate Development.
Alan, along with his wife Ellie and their three children, relocated to Northern California from their hometown of Chicago. With their children now grown, they live with their Golden Retriever, Murphy. Having lived in Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga, Alan is an expert in each area (public and private schools, churches and synagogues, doctors, commute, etc.). He also serves in a volunteer capacity in many of the local schools and various charitable organizations. For the past 10 years he’s been on the Board of Directors for the California Brain Tumor Association (CABTA).
Cal License# 01160227
My Sold Listings
“"We have just completed the sale of my parent’s home in Lafayette and luckily we selected Alan Marks as our realtor. I would unequivocally recommend him and his firm. As a resident of Palo Alto, Cailfonia, and the only local family member available to sell my parent’s home, after my Dad passed away, I was overwhelmed. I had never renovated or sold a house. The house was run down. My parents had lived there roughly 50 years. In their nineties they were reluctant to pay for upkeep, so the house needed help. With a full time job, living an hour away from Lafayette, and grieving the loss of my Dad, I needed help. After interviewing four local Lafayette realtors, I chose Alan. He immediately saw the value in the house. He managed all the subs who quickly cleaned out 50 years of things, painted the inside and out, redid the floors, did minor landscaping, and even dealt with a surprise flooding during a sudden storm. He handled every aspect of the home’s makeover, all within budget and time. His speed allowed the house to be put on the market when inventory was low. It sold for over asking price and far over the appraisal price we got two years before when my Mom passed away. It was an emotional process for me, which Alan understood with kindness and sensitivity. He even showed up the last day we were to see the house to gather a few special potted plants from the yard after the sale. He kindly helped us put them in the trailer and then gave me time privately to say, “good bye” to the home I grew up in. I can’t thank him and his team enough. It was a true pleasure to work with Alan Marks during the six week process to sell the house."”
“"Alan Marks brings an amazing amount of experience, depth and breadth of knowledge to the entire home buying process. He's fantastic. My husband and I had a fabulous experience from the 1:1 "drive" tour all the way to escrow, close and even post-move follow up for home fixes/services/vendor recommendations and beyond. It's beneficial that he is able to speak first hand about living in all areas of Lamorinda having had all three of his children go through many of the schools, too. He not only knows the basics, but we found his in-depth knowledge immensely helpful when it came to home improvements, repair, structures, utilities, plumbing, pests and many other key areas that first time home buyers need extra love and education on. He has developed/built/sold many homes in the area, and therefore, truly understands the intricacies and nuances of home construction issues. We found him incredibly patient, sincere, not pushy and lends a level head with good insight regarding: mortgage/financing, the buying/selling process, inspections/titles/deeds/home improvements/remodels/updates and much more. He also knows everyone in the biz! We highly recommend Alan Marks without a doubt and have been so happy since we moved to Lafayette this summer."”
“”Alan has been a friend for 20 years, but I solicited his real estate advice a year ago for the first time - and very glad that I called Alan Marks first. Alan took me thru the market analysis, answered a million questions, and then referred an agent who was best suited to take on this listing - selling it in ONE WEEK! Alan told me that APR's internet expertise would help find a buyer, and we did sell to a buyer moving here from Texas. I highly recommend Alan Marks for his complete knowledge of the East Bay real estate market, and for his years of experience making the transaction very manageable.” ”
““Alan has been an absolutely godsend through the whole process of buying our first house. He provided excellent service, was always available and guided us through a very grueling and emotionally charged process. We decided to purchase at a time when the market was very hot and there was a lot of competition for the type of properties we were looking for. Through it all, Alan was always available and able to give us accurate advise, letting us know which properties where good and worth it and when to pass. His advise and words of wisdom where so valuable and we could not have done it without him! So after a few months of searching and a few offers we finally found our dream home and we couldn't be happier to become official Lafayette residents! Alan's service didn't end after the deal was closed and he was instrumental in helping us find tradesmen to do additional projects in our house and giving us ideas on potential ways we could further improve the value of the property. In case I did not make myself clear, Alan went above and beyond on his duties as a realtor, he knows the area inside out and is very well connected. He will always fight to make sure you get the best deal possible, is super ethical and trustworthy. We are so thankful for everything he has done for us and will for sure stay in touch with him. If you are looking for a realtor for Lamorinda area, Alan Marks is you guy! “ ”
““We used Alan to purchase our home in Lafayette during a crazy market and could not have been more pleased with his advice, patience and overall service. We initially used one of the top Lamorinda agents, and I found the service to be impersonal (she didn't find me any listings I couldn't myself on Redfin, Trulia, etc., and those listings she did point out were not even a good fit!) I switched to Alan based on the recommendation of our mortgage broker in San Francisco who has been in real estate for two decades. Alan was a perfect fit for us: a young family relocating from SF -- he has deep, long-standing market knowledge (during times both good & bad); raised his kids / lived in Orinda, Lafayette and San Francisco; helped train many agents in the industry. Alan is well-known and well-respected by other brokers and agents in the area (very helpful when it comes to negotiating). He was also very helpful and knowledgeable during the inspection and closing process and has remained a resource ever since. Alan is patient, steady and reasonable. He was super-responsive including over holidays. His own experience renovating many, many homes was especially helpful for us as we analyzed which properties to buy. I would not hesitate to recommend Alan to anyone looking to buy (or sell)!” ”