A beautiful open house doesn’t tell the whole story. In this episode, host Andrew Orr sits down with Bay Area home inspector Brian Cogley to explore what buyers should know before committing to a Bay Area home; from making sense of inspection findings to understanding potential repair costs. Plus, a practical lightning round to help you look beyond the fresh paint and ask better questions.

Episode Chapters

00:00- Welcome and Guest Intro

02:32- What a Home Inspector Actually Does

08:30- Biggest Red Flags to Fear

30:10- Should Buyers Hire Their Own Inspector?

36:05- Repair Cost Lightning Round

40:38- Closing and Takeaways

About the Guest

Brian Cogley has been inspecting Bay Area homes since 2004. A California licensed general contractor and American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) Certified Inspector, he also holds certifications in residential building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical inspection. Brian served four years as president of Golden Gate ASHI and has taught building inspection and maintenance classes to Native American and public housing authorities across the country. He is also featured on the cover and in the introduction of The Complete Guide to Home Inspection.

Resources and Links

• Cogley Property Inspections— Brian's company website and contact information

Music:

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library
• “Electric Dream” courtesy of Riverside’s license-free music library

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

What did getting a real estate license actually teach me about buying a home? Some of the most useful lessons came from the chapters I could barely get through.

In this short solo episode of HouseCall SF, I share four lessons from real estate school that helped my family navigate our Bay Area home purchase:

• Questioning a lender’s requirement about our purchase agreement.
• Negotiating for a seller-paid home warranty.
• Exploring seller financing—and why we ultimately didn’t use it.
• Taking ownership of the disclosure checklist instead of assuming someone else had it covered.

You don’t need a real estate license to use these lessons. You just need to know what to ask and when to ask someone to explain why.

Follow HouseCall SF for practical homebuying conversations for healthcare workers and other busy professionals. Find more at HouseCallSF.com and on Instagram @housecallsf.

Music:

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

San Francisco single-family-home prices have risen roughly 25% year over year—so where can buyers still find value?

In this episode, Andrew speaks with Michael Williams, a Bay Area real estate broker and a broker-associate at flat-fee brokerage TurboHome, about what is driving the market and where opportunities remain. They discuss relatively affordable neighborhood hidden gems, recent changes in the condo market, strategies for finding value, and Michael’s forecast for the next six to twelve months.

Whether you are actively searching or watching from the sidelines, this episode offers a practical look at where the San Francisco market may be headed and smart tips for how buyers can position themselves for the opportunities ahead.

About the Guest

Michael Williams is a Bay Area real estate agent with 17 years of experience. He is a broker-associate at TurboHome, working with buyers, sellers, and investors throughout the Bay Area, with a particular focus on San Francisco and the mid-Peninsula.

Resources and Links

• Michael Williams at TurboHome — Michael’s profile and contact information

Music:

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library
• “Style” courtesy of Riverside’s license-free music library

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

Where do you even start when you’re ready to buy a home? You can be an expert in your field and still feel lost in the weeds of pre-approvals, disclosures, offers, and escrow.

In this episode, Andrew speaks with San Francisco real estate agent Sam Buckwalter for a practical, step-by-step roadmap outlining the process. They discuss how to choose the right representation, important questions to ask real estate agents, where to focus your attention during an open house and in reviewing disclosures, and why recent comparable sales are better anchors than the list price for certain Bay Area communities.

About the Guest

Sam Buckwalter is a San Francisco Realtor with Compass and cofounder of Renée + Sam Real Homes. Together, Sam and his business partner, Renée Gonsalves, bring 30 years of combined experience and have helped clients buy and sell more than 350 homes throughout San Francisco. Sam is known for helping buyers understand the nuances of the local market and making the homebuying process feel clear, strategic and manageable. A San Francisco resident since 2010, he is also an avid gardener and an active member of the city’s dahlia community.

Resources and Links

https://OwninSF.com- Sam's real estate team website

https://www.instagram.com/sambuckwalter/- Sam's Instagram page

Music:

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library
• “Free Spirit,” courtesy of Riverside’s license-free music library

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

In the Bay Area, it can feel as though there is never a perfect time to buy. Or that waiting even a little longer means falling permanently behind.

In this episode, Andrew speaks with Justin Harvey, CFP®, founder of APM Wealth and co-host of Money Meets Medicine, about how buyers can navigate this tension. They discuss buying vs renting in the Bay Area, hidden costs of homeownership, how to determine what you can realistically afford, and how career plans, values, and risk tolerance should shape your choices.

This episode is designed to help local buyers move beyond vague advice and feel confident making smart decisions based on their own circumstances. Whether you are just starting your home search or deep in the process, this episode will help you think more clearly about when buying a home makes sense, and when waiting may be the wiser choice.

Episode Chapters

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:33 - Meet Justin Harvey
00:03:45 - Rent vs Buy Discussion
00:20:33 - How Much Home Can You Afford?
00:30:21 - How Much Cash Is Needed After Closing?
00:34:59 - Should External Factors Influence Timing of Your Home Purchase?
00:38:55 - Physician Loans and Adjustable Rate Mortgages
00:44:22 - The Right Time to Buy is When...

About the Guest

Justin Harvey, CFP®, ChFC®, RICP®, is a fee-only financial advisor with 17 years of experience in the industry and more than 15 years as a business owner. He is also a physician spouse, father of three, podcast host, and—as he puts it—a resident of a “terrible tax jurisdiction.”

Justin is the founder of a wealth management firm built for physicians and high-net-worth families seeking greater clarity, coordination, and control. He works closely with anesthesiologists, pain physicians, practice owners, and physician entrepreneurs. His firm focuses on simplifying complexity for delegation-minded families and helping them make well-calibrated decisions at the intersection of wealth, work, and family.

You can reach Justin at justin@apmsuccess.com.

Resources and Links

• https://www.apm-wealth.com/ — Justin’s wealth-management firm, APM Wealth
• APM Success — Justin’s podcast
• Money Meets Medicine Podcast — Co-hosted by Justin Harvey and Dr. Jimmy Turner
• Redfin: Renting Versus Buying in Major U.S. Markets — The rent-versus-buy comparison discussed during the episode

Music:

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library
• “Blue Tuxedo,” courtesy of Riverside’s license-free music library
• "Electric Dream," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

After a Bay Area fixer-upper sold for $1 million over asking, physician Andrew Orr realized how little he understood about the system behind the biggest financial decision of his life. In this solo introduction, Andrew shares why he earned a California real estate license, what he learned buying his first home, and why he created HouseCall SF to kick the tires on Bay Area real estate to better inform prospective homebuyers.

In This Episode

• Why Bay Area homebuying can feel uniquely confusing and high-stakes
• What Andrew learned from studying real estate and buying without an agent
• How HouseCall SF will help Bay Area homebuyers ask better questions, avoid costly surprises, and make informed decisions

Resources & Links

• Visit HouseCallSF.com to submit a question or suggest a future topic.
• S.F. homes are selling for $1 million over asking — San Francisco Chronicle
• A.I. Boom Upends San Francisco Housing Market — The New York Times

Music

• "Outside the Lines," courtesy of Riverside's license-free music library

Disclaimer

HouseCall SF is for general educational purposes only and does not provide legal, tax, financial, lending, or real estate advice. Andrew Orr holds a California real estate salesperson license but does not provide brokerage services through this podcast or in any other context. Nothing discussed herein or in any HouseCall SF production creates an agency, fiduciary, or other relationship. The views expressed herein are solely those of Andrew Orr, HouseCall SF, and its guests, and do not represent the views of other individual, entity, or institution. Please verify any information and consult a qualified real estate professional before making any real estate decisions.

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.

Buying a home in the Bay Area can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. HouseCall SF brings you candid conversations with local experts to help Bay Area homebuyers navigate the path to homeownership with greater clarity and confidence.

Hosted by Dr. Andrew Orr, a physician who earned his real estate license to better understand the homebuying process and make it easier for others to navigate, HouseCall SF offers independent, practical guidance designed to put buyers' questions and interests first.

Music: “Finish Line,” courtesy of Riverside’s license-free music library.

Have a question, topic idea, or story to share? Visit HouseCallSF.com and contact us. If you found the episode helpful, please follow HouseCall SF and share it with someone navigating Bay Area homeownership.

HouseCall SF is for educational purposes only and does not provide financial, legal, tax, or real estate advice.