Who to Hire as Your Atherton Real Estate Agent in 2026

Michael Warren works Atherton’s estate market from both sides of the table. He represented the buyer in the $40 million sale of 233 Park Lane in 2023, a deal covered by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Real Deal, and the buyer of 74 Lilac Drive at $15.5 million in 2026. He handled both sides of 267 Greenoaks Drive at $12.8 million, and his listing at 51 Toyon Road went pending two days after it hit the market and closed above its asking price. He has spent more than ten years on confidential, NDA-backed and off-market transactions. A Peninsula native with a finance degree and a Silicon Valley startup background, he lives next door in Woodside.

Keri Nicholas grew up in Atherton and now runs Parc Agency, the boutique firm she founded on Oak Grove Avenue in downtown Menlo Park. RealTrends Verified credited her with $330.53 million in 2025 sales across 61 sides, an individual total that placed her 30th in the nation. The Wall Street Journal has listed her among the country’s leading individual agents for 17 consecutive years. Atherton is her home market, and she works it personally rather than through a large team, which appeals to sellers who want one senior agent handling every conversation.

Before selling homes, Tom LeMieux spent 15 years as an executive at a national homebuilder, and he is still a principal of Laurel Homes, a Menlo Park development company. That background helps when an estate’s value depends on construction quality or rebuild potential. His Atherton closings include 267 Camino al Lago at $35.25 million, 30 Adam Way at $23.2 million and 5 Faxon Forest at $23.05 million. He reports more than $3.5 billion in sales since 1998 and runs LeMieux Associates at Compass with Alicia Young.

Hugh Cornish was born and raised in Atherton and has held his California license since 1986. He focuses on four towns, Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside, and RealTrends Verified placed him third by volume in Menlo Park for 2025 with $162.39 million across about 25 sides. He reports career sales above $1.1 billion and has earned Coldwell Banker’s International President’s Premier designation for its top one percent of agents. His Cornish Concierge Service coordinates contractors, painters and landscapers so a home is ready before it reaches the market.

Billy McNair is a licensed attorney and broker who launched the McNair Group in 2008 after helping found two venture-backed technology companies. His Atherton listings include 241 Polhemus Avenue, which sold for $22.75 million in 2026, 138 Almendral Avenue at $19.5 million and 2 Marymont Avenue at $15.8 million, which closed $1 million over asking. Coldwell Banker named the McNair Group its top medium team for 2024 after $215 million in closed volume, and he reports more than $2 billion in career sales. His legal training is useful when a deal carries trust, estate or contract complexity.

Michael Dreyfus is a broker and attorney who founded The Dreyfus Group and serves as president of Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty’s Silicon Valley region. His group represented the buyers of 96 Ridge View Drive at about $31.8 million and 164 Elena Avenue at $27.15 million, both in 2025. RealTrends ranked the team 23rd nationally by 2024 volume at roughly $272 million, and he reports more than $3 billion in career sales. Families working through trusts, estates or unusual ownership structures benefit from having a lawyer in the lead role.

Dana Carmel lives in Atherton with her husband and three sons and founded both the Dana Carmel Group and Represent Realty in Menlo Park. In under a decade her team has grown to $105.72 million on 45 sides in 2025, per RealTrends Verified. Her Atherton sales include 49 Rosewood Drive at $10.4 million and the buyer side of 47 Manzanita Road at $7.3 million. A Cornell marketing graduate, she runs a Make the Move program that has donated more than $100,000 from her commissions to local schools.

Judy Citron leads The Citron Group at Compass, which closed $333.89 million on 53 sides in 2025, first among Menlo Park teams in RealTrends Verified’s rankings. She has designed, built, bought and sold homes in the area since 1995, so she can speak to construction as well as pricing. Recent Atherton sales include 269 Stockbridge Avenue at $19.6 million, 265 Atherton Avenue at $18.24 million and 68 Almendral Avenue at $15.75 million. A former teacher, she backs each recommendation with detailed market research for her clients.

Stephanie Elkins spent 33 years in commercial real estate before turning to residential sales, and in her first residential year she ranked 121st among Coldwell Banker agents nationally. Her Atherton sales include 78 Alejandra Avenue at $19.5 million, 217 Park Lane at $16.9 million and both sides of 402 Middlefield Road at $11.23 million. Before real estate she swam on the U.S. National Team, won gold at the 1978 World Championships and captained Stanford’s women’s team. She also speaks German, which helps with some international buyers.

Jennifer Bitter was raised in Menlo Park and came to residential real estate in 2008 after a career in finance. She was a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers, earned her MBA at Stanford, worked in investment banking in New York and underwrote commercial real estate for a San Francisco private equity firm. That training shows in how she prices homes and negotiates complex deals. Homes.com shows her sales over the prior five years reaching as high as $22 million, and she belongs to Top Agent Network, which is limited to high-producing Bay Area agents.

Zach Trailer has worked the Mid-Peninsula for more than 17 years and reports over $700 million in sales. The Wall Street Journal has listed him among the top 150 agents in the country. His recent Atherton listings include 97 Santiago Avenue, which closed at $26.2 million in November 2026, 167 Almendral Avenue at $21.9 million and 78 Alejandra Avenue at $19.5 million. He grew up around the Peninsula families he now represents and works as comfortably with young tech buyers as with long-time owners who are downsizing.

Katy Thielke Straser is a Silicon Valley native who learned the business through her mother’s mentorship and founded the Straser Silicon Valley Team at Compass in 2019. The team closed $103.12 million on 43 sides in 2025. Her Atherton sales include 52 Middlefield Road at $11.4 million and 6 Knoll Vista at $9.5 million. Before real estate she worked in sales and marketing for the Olympics, Nordstrom and Coca-Cola, and her seat in Compass’s Sports and Entertainment Division reflects a client list that often needs quiet, quick transactions.

Elyse Barca is a San Francisco native who has sold Peninsula real estate for more than three decades and holds two graduate degrees. Much of her business comes back to her: she has completed eight transactions with one developer and 22 with another developer and their family. Her Atherton sales on Compass include 398 Greenoaks Drive at $5.6 million, 4 Surrey Lane at $5.3 million and 95 Mulberry Lane at $5.25 million. Buyers looking at Atherton’s smaller lots and newer builds will find her pricing knowledge especially relevant.

Liz Daschbach was born at Stanford, has lived in Atherton all her life and has sold Mid-Peninsula homes for more than 34 years. She reports over $3 billion in career sales. Her Atherton record on Compass includes 24 Adam Way and 91 Inglewood Lane at $22 million each and 35 McCormick Lane at $13.6 million, and she represented the buyer of 48 Middlegate Street in October 2026. She keeps her own network of inspectors, contractors, architects and stagers, so clients can line up work without starting a search from scratch.

Loren Dakin has held a California license since 1989 and works from Parc Agency in Menlo Park. He has ranked in the top one percent of agents nationwide for more than ten years. Homes.com counts 88 closed sales worth $322 million over the prior five years, with prices reaching $20 million, and his Atherton work includes the listing at 105 Reservoir Road. He describes his approach as a concierge experience for the discretion the top of the market expects, and clients often mention his understanding of construction when a home needs work before or after a sale.

Josh Rubin was born and raised in Portola Valley, studied computer science at UC Santa Cruz while competing in NCAA water polo and swimming, and taught math before getting his license. RealTrends Verified credited him with $126.81 million across 31 sides in 2024, and he reports more than $637 million in career sales. His Atherton deals include 190 Almendral Avenue at $23 million, 303 Atherton Avenue at $12.5 million and the buyer side of 269 Oak Grove Avenue at $18 million in October 2026. His teaching background shows in plain, data-driven advice.

Brett Caviness entered real estate in 2009 and built his name as a listing specialist who advises sellers on what to fix, what to leave alone and where spending will change the result. His team handles everything from the improvement plan and vendors through staging, pricing and closing. Realtor Magazine named him to its 30 Under 30 class in 2018, and he served as 2022 president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, one of the youngest to hold the role. Redwood City is his core market, and his seller work extends to Atherton and Menlo Park.

Hossein Jalali has been licensed since 1996 and works from Coldwell Banker Realty’s El Camino Real office in Menlo Park. He trained in civil engineering, which gives him a practical read on how a house was built and what a renovation will involve. Homes.com counts 61 closed sales worth $218.8 million over the prior five years. Most of his business comes from repeat clients and referrals, and he holds Coldwell Banker’s International Society of Excellence designation. He also works with clients in Persian as well as English.

Veronica Kogler lives in Atherton and has sold Peninsula homes since 2007 from Coldwell Banker Realty’s Menlo Park office. Her Atherton transactions include 132 Isabella Avenue at $17.7 million, 224 Atherton Avenue at $11 million and her listing at 58 Deodora Drive, which sold for $10.95 million in 2026. Her site reports 44 closed sales totaling $119 million over the prior five years. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a degree from UC Berkeley, and she suits clients who want more of their agent’s time on each sale.

Kimm Terpening has been licensed since 2006 and partners with Jennifer Alfaro at Compass as Jennifer & Kimm Real Estate. RealTrends has placed her in the top 1.5 percent of agents nationwide every year from 2022 through 2025, and the pair closed $71.85 million across 16 sides in 2024. Her client notes include an Atherton purchase that an in-house counsel described as unusually smooth to close. Buyers who value a patient, detail-focused agent for a longer search are a good fit.