Denise Montalvo
Compass

Looking to sell your property, buy a new home, or just need some expert real estate advice?

Highlights *
15 recent sales
$320K - $1.71M
LHC
37 days on market
18 years experience
About
I’m a top-producing Realtor and Certified Global Luxury Specialist, as well as a long-term resident of Marin. In 2023, I received the Marin County Agent of the Year award from Rate My Agent for my client satisfaction.
When I'm not selling real estate, I love to spend time running the trails of Marin and taking pictures along the way. I'm known as the "Realtor on the Move – Keeping Pace with the Market." I keep up with the latest trends and developments in the area so that I can provide you with the most up-to-date information and guidance.
Real estate is about more than just finding the perfect home; it's also about navigating the complex market and making informed decisions along the way. Selling real estate in a competitive market demands skill and stamina—qualities I bring to every transaction. I leverage my experience to ensure a successful outcome, whether you're buying, selling, or investing.

Ratings & Reviews
4.9

Andrew Hatin
Unknown, CA
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.

Denise was attentive and responsive. She quickly learned what worked for us and more importantly, what didn't. She was able to filter the list of properties in the search to match what we would need. Quite often she would find out a property was coming on the market before we saw it and she'd send us a heads up. A definite pleasure to work with!

David O
Fairfax, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

I feel very good about working - and recommending Denise Montalvo. It is of course a cliché, but I don't normally write reviews, but I do feel that she went many extra miles to make my house sale a good one, and one that got me the best value for my home, so I am writing this one.

She was recommended to me by a friend of a friend, so I was not sure how much I could trust the recommendation at first. But I had been talking to several other realtors also, and had had two give me estimates on the house along with recommendations. Hers was inline with the other two, but she spent quite a bit of time with me from the start and she suggested several things to do that could make it more attractive and more valuable. This was long before I had made the decision to use her as my realtor.

From the start, I felt that she understood my needs and reservations around selling my home of 20 years. And I felt no pressure to sell or list with her. But once I made the decision to sell, it was actually pretty clear who would be the best, and it was the correct choice as I ended up selling for quite a bi more than I was expecting at the start.

From the start, things went smoothly and it was surprisingly low stress, which was a surprise to me. At every turn, she was there to explain what was going on and what was needed, and it seemed to me, pretty much did almost all of the work. From pictures to inspections to arranging a rent back agreement. I just had to sign things.

I would certainly work with Denise again, and would recommend her to my friends and family.

Brian
Davis, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise is great. She is very patient, thorough, and knowledgeable. She was always communicating with us and we really appreciated her help in our home buying process. We feel really fortunate that we found her as our realtor.

Aparna Branz
Sausalito, CA
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.

Denise is very easy to work with as well as very detailed oriented. She worked hard in a very difficult climate to market and successfully sold my condo. I knew that she had my best interests at heart when it came to working with the buyer and the buyer's agent. I would unequivocally recommend Denise to anyone looking to buy or sell property

Isabel Kazemi
San Rafael, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

We have been working with Denise for a couple of years. She has represented us as sellers and buyers on several properties. Denise is always professional and we trusted her to represent our best interests. Denise is always accessible and available at all transaction levels, from beginning to end.

Lisa W.
Larkspur, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise Montalvo paid impeccable attention to all my questions and needs and went way over and above the call of duty. She thinks of all the possibilities and presents information in a very easily understood fashion. Denise is creative in many ways, and I always look forward to seeing her. She is very kind, thoughtful, generous and knowledgeable and she always goes the extra mile. She gets the highest marks for customer service, knowledge and in every way conceivable she is a superstar in my mind!

Julie R.
Novato, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

If you are looking for a knowledgeable and honest realtor then contact Denise Montalvo for all your real estate needs. I highly recommend her.

BJB
Goodyear, AZ
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise Montalvo has made my transition from Arizona back to Northern
California a very easy one. Moving is stressful enough, but at least
Denise made finding a home as painless as possible. She handled
the transaction perfectly.

I would recommend Denise Montalvo to anyone needing an
agent to buy or sell a home. She will take care of you like
you were her only client going beyond what is expected.

I only wish that she could sell my house in Arizona, too!

Maria Ige
Novato, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise is the best agent in the world. She helped me in a difficult situation and the result was great. I would highly recommend her to anyone buying or selling. She is number one in my book.

Paul Hook
Mill City, OR
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars.

I approached Denise through the internet due to my living over 600 miles away from the location of the property which I was selling. She contacted me very quickly, and helped reassure me of her expertise in the local market (for which I had to rely on her expertise, since I had not been in the area in over 11 years). Having felt that her experience and knowledge for the market was quite good, I agreed to have her represent me as her agent. Denise was amazing, and did everything while keeping me informed of progress. She would present options and have me make the decisions in a straightforward and professional manner. Her candor, and enthusiasm for ensuring a timely sale helped make the deal a reality in a market that is somewhat soft for non-renovated homes. I greatly appreciated her help, and wish her all the best in the future.

Pete Fedec
CA
Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars.

No written review provided.

Lauri Nelson
San Rafael, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise Mentalvo is the type of realtor who will always go the last mile for her clients.
Denise's style is friendly and professional. She stays current in Realty issues and has great local knowledge. She also has a strong base of referral business partners - carpet cleaners, storage, inspectors, etc. She made selling and buying properties a pleasure and a "no brainer".

Ed Coe
San Francisco, CA
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars.

My wife and I have worked with Denise Montalvo for over a year. We have been looking for a house in Marin. From the beginning we enjoyed working with Denise. She took the time to listen and understand what we were looking for and we feel she really got it. I always felt she had thorough knowledge of her market and she was honest and open in her communication. Denise has always been patient with us as we changed directions and looked at different options. We truly appreciated that. When we decided to sell our house in San Francisco we did not hesitate to ask Denise to help us. She was honest in telling us that SF was not her area of expertise, but she steered us in the right direction. Because of our trust in her, we insisted she remained involved in the process nevertheless. She did not disappoint. We turned to her many times throughout the process and she helped us immensely with her knowledge, expertise and honest opinions. We would not hesitate to recommend Denise as your agent regardless of if you are looking to buy or sell.

Lisa Sirabella
Brooklyn, NY
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise went above and beyond what any agent has done for me before. I’ve bought and sold properties before, but Denise was the first agent to actually hold my hand through the entire process. She has numerous contacts she can recommend for any services you need. She has extensive knowledge of Marin county and how processes and procedures work in CA. She understood what I was trying to accomplish with my 1031 exchange. She’s very patient and well respected. I’d recommend her to my friends and family without hesitation.

Harmeet Anand
CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

No written review provided.

Isabel
CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

After helping us with a sale of a property, Denise helped us with a purchase of another. We had all the confidence and trust in Denise and she always had our best interests in mind during both processes.

Shirley
San Rafael, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise was my best advocate! She always went the extra mile to ensure a smooth procedure! She is outstanding!!!

She is the best!!!

Denise will always have your best interest in the forefront!

Janice Wong
Woodacre, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise is a very caring, honest, with a good approach of needed improvements to sell my house. I recommend Denise Montalvo to anyone who is selling or buying house, property. Denise has excellent people skills.

Paul C.
Tiburon, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise was extremely attentive to our needs and requirements, which were many and detailed. This left us with fewer-than-normal options, but Denise balanced those criteria with aplomb.

At one point we thought we might not be able to find the right property, but Denise did it -- with one that wasn't even open to the larger market. And it's perfect for us.

Denise did a fabulous job. She's incredibly hard-working, always available, and very friendly.

Nasser Alrobaidi
Fairfax, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

We started our home search end of November 2017 with very little hope to find anything but Denise found us exactly what we wanted and we moved in December 2017. I am not sure I can describe what happened because it was such a wonderful dream and when we woke up from it we were in our new home celebrating 2018. Denise is serious, knowledgeable and most importantly knows everything about her job and pays attention to every little detail. I don't think this review is enough to thank you for the super job you did and I hope readers will take note and hopefully get to experience the wonderful service you provided us.
Nasser & Renata Alrobaidi

Shirley Dahl
San Rafael, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

She's EXCELLENT! What else is there to say? I feel Denise Montalvo and I share the same values which include honesty, integrity and candor.

Kevin Christian
Burlingame, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

I had a wonderful experience working with Denise Montalvo. She communcates clearly and has very strong ethics. Her knowledge of the local market was impeccable.

Connie
Contra Costa County, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Outstanding, patient and meticulous realtor during a stressful and emotional process.

Mary and Larry
San Anselmo, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

I think we were just very lucky that we found a realtor that was dedicated, thoughtful and sensitive to our needs.Denise was professional and extremely knowledgeable about real-estate in Marin. She worked patiently and tirelessly until we found just the right 1031 exchange.Her positive energy and wonderful personality made our days with Denise truly delightful. We will recommend her to all our friends.

In our eyes she has been our best realtor and we have worked with many others over the 40 years we have been buying and selling properties.

As mentioned before we would highly recommend Denise Montalvo, realtor to all our family and friends.

Edward Ostria
San Rafael, CA
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Denise did an excellent job helping to secure our rental. I appreciate her patience and the time she invested to ensure everything went right. She cares about the final outcome and dedicates herself to making it a win/win experience for both parties. Thanks Denise!

Professional Info

Brokerage

Compass
300 Drakes Landing Rd Ste 120
Larkspur, CA 94904

Licensed

Licensed REALTOR®
CA 01780793

Awards

  • Top Producer 2023
  • Marin County Agent of the Year, Rate My Agent
  • Certified Full Service Professional 2025
  • Certified Luxury Specialist

Specialties

  • First-time buyers
  • Investment & property management
  • Luxury properties

Designations

  • LHC

Hobbies

  • Art

Education

San Francisco Academy of Art
Bachelor’s Degree, Graphic Design

Top Cities *

San Rafael

  • 4 sales past 3 years
  • 110 days on market
  • $550K median price

Novato

  • 3 sales past 3 years
  • 28 days on market
  • $900K median price

Corte Madera

  • 1 sales past 3 years
  • 22 days on market
  • $1.52M median price

* Sales data is calculated based on transaction information available to Agent Pronto at the time of publishing and may not accurately reflect all transactions for a given agent.