Paulo Serna, a San Francisco real estate advisor who thinks like an engineer.

Professional summary

I'm a San Francisco real estate agent with Compass and Level Up Group, and a Certified Real Estate Planner. I work with first-time buyers, move-up sellers, repeat clients, and small investors across all of San Francisco, and into Marin, the East Bay, and the Peninsula when that's where a client's search leads. My home turf is the city's west side, from Central Richmond and the broader Richmond District through the Sunset, where I live and know the blocks street by street.

My work spans single-family homes, condominiums, TICs, duplexes, and 2–4 unit buildings, but my approach is simple to describe and harder to find: treat every transaction as a long-term decision, protect the client's interests above the deal, and be honest about risk. I'd rather lose a commission than watch someone make a move that doesn't hold up.

A San Francisco story

I've lived in San Francisco since 1995, first in the Sunset near West Portal and now in Central Richmond. I know the fog lines, the quiet blocks, the bakeries worth the walk, and the way the light changes two streets over. Every time I bike around my neighborhood, I'm reminded how lucky I am to live here. That's not a sales line; it's why I do this work where I do it.

When I'm not working, I'm often on my bike, frequently crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into the Marin Headlands, or playing bocce at the waterfront courts near the Ferry Building. I know these neighborhoods block by block: the morning line at Arsicault Bakery, the breakfast sandwiches at Devil's Teeth, and the depth of Clement Street's food scene. Cycling and bocce have taught me the same things real estate demands: pace yourself, read the conditions, and pick the right gear for the terrain.

Listening, in two languages

I was born in Colombia and I'm fluent in English and Spanish. Arriving in a new country teaches you to listen closely, to what people say and what they actually mean. That early experience made me a careful listener with clients and a calm, attentive negotiator on their behalf when San Francisco transactions get competitive and the pressure rises.

An engineer's eye for property

Before real estate, I built a background that turns out to be unusually useful for evaluating homes:

• Property management: years of seeing how buildings actually perform, age, and cost money once you own them.
• Construction project management: understanding scopes, permits, structural work, and what renovations really take.
• Solar engineering: a technical, systems-level way of looking at a property's energy, roof, and long-term efficiency.
• BS in General Engineering, Santa Clara University: the foundation for how I break a problem down.

When we tour a property, I'm reading the building, not just the staging. Foundations, drainage, roofs, electrical, additions done with or without permits, and the next decade of maintenance. It's one of the clearest ways I protect clients before they commit.

A planner's view of the decision

As a Certified Real Estate Planner, I integrate local market data, macroeconomic signals, leverage strategy, and tax considerations into each recommendation — always alongside the qualified attorneys, lenders, and tax professionals who handle the legal and tax specifics. Most buyers notice finishes; I look at structure, permitting history, disclosure risk, and how a purchase or sale may perform five, ten, and twenty years from now.

Compass and Level Up Group

I'm affiliated with Compass through the Level Up Group team. That gives my clients strong tools, marketing reach, and a network, while keeping the advice personal and grounded. You work with me directly.

How I advise

Here's how I think about it. A good real estate decision should still make sense five, ten, and twenty years from now. So we focus on the things that actually drive that: pricing, disclosures, condition, risk, and whether the move fits your life and finances. The right answer depends on your timeline, your risk tolerance, and what this property needs to do for you.

Sometimes that means buying. Sometimes it means waiting, renting instead of selling, or passing on a place that looks perfect. My job is to help you see the tradeoffs clearly, then support whatever decision is genuinely right for you.