IPM (Meena Yeggina): Hello all, welcome to India Parent Magazine. This is Meena Yeggina with another episode in the series of Top 30 Women Real Estate Specialists of the Bay Area in our Homes and Schools Special Editions. If you like our videos, please don't forget to subscribe, like and comment so we know what your views are about these series. Remember, pressing the like button is crucial as it will help us reach more viewers just like you.

If I have to describe Monika Hanover, one of our Top 30 Women Real Estate Specialists of the Bay Area, in just one word, I would have to say ROOTED. Monika knows exactly what she can do for her clients and always believes that client comes first. And Monika is recognized for her results. She is also one of the kindest human beings I have met in my career. She is kind and believes in the well-being of the community in general.

She approaches you with both peace and confidence, confidence that springs from years of experience. Monika earned her JD in 2004 from the University of Pennsylvania. She practiced at a global law firm, representing lenders and rating agencies in structured finance transactions for several years before serving as an Assistant General Counsel at Aramark.

Subsequently, she and her family lived in Europe and Asia for a decade prior to relocating to the Bay Area. And this vast experience helps her navigate her clients belonging to different cultural and ethnic groups.

Says one of her clients: Monika is motivated, understanding and knowledgeable. She was patient with all of my questions as a first-time homebuyer and took initiative to drive the process forward and prepare our offer. Her thorough and prompt communication throughout the process was very reassuring and I felt confident about each step with Monika representing me. I would highly recommend her to represent you as well as your agent. And now viewers, it's time to meet this very rooted real estate specialist, Monika Hanover.

IPM: Hi Monika, good morning, welcome to India Parent Magazine and I'm so so proud to introduce to all my viewers and listeners and also readers that Monika is one of my favorites and she is one of the best out of our top 30 women real estate specialists of the Bay Area representing Los Altos. Hello Monika, welcome to India Parent Magazine and thank you for being here today.
Monika Hanover: Thank you for having me Meena, it's a pleasure. And Monika to start off, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background for my readers? Sure, I grew up on the East Coast and I was trained there as an attorney and I practiced actually in structured finance law for several years for my husband's job. He's also an attorney, took us abroad.

That's scary, huh? We often marry each other because others can't stand us. We moved abroad for almost a decade and we lived in Switzerland where my son was born and then Singapore and back to Switzerland. And then we decided to relocate to the Bay Area because our son was starting kindergarten and we wanted him to be educated here because there's nowhere else in the world and we've traveled all over Europe and Asia, there's nowhere else in the world where you get this sense of anything is possible.

The spirit that you can do, you can achieve your dreams and your goals. Nowhere besides the US and particularly the Bay Area.

IPM: Wow, awesome. You've traveled almost all over the world. Singapore, one of my favorites. And Monika, can you tell us a little bit about why real estate? You're a lawyer and why did you choose real estate as your profession? What's so special about it that makes you happy there?
Monika Hanover: Absolutely. So it may seem like a big career change coming from practicing law. However, when I practiced structured finance, it was related to commercial mortgage debt. So I was always in real estate, just more on the bigger commercial side.

Even prior to law school, I was a paralegal after college and worked on commercial loan originations and lease reviews. So my experience with real estate does go way back. When we relocated here, I decided to pivot that, take that technical expertise and apply it to residential real estate.

I joined with my partner and it's been an amazing adventure, move, educational experience and it's so much more rewarding, I find, than practicing the structured finance law. Because we get to know our clients on a personal level and they invite you in to be part of this really important journey. This is one of the biggest investments you'll ever make in your life.

And you want to be with someone you trust and have a rapport with. And we are so humbled and grateful when people invite us into that experience.

IPM: Absolutely, well said. And also, can you tell us a little bit about Los Altos? We know schools are good, but from your point of view, why should people invest there at this point of time? What's so great about that city? Maybe can you give us a few examples as to why should people invest there? Or even move out of there at this point of time, for that matter?
Monika Hanover: Sure, yeah. Los Altos, like you said, the schools are top notch. I mean, I could go on. There's several reasons to live in Los Altos, but I'll just highlight a few of the top ones. Yeah, so schools, whether it's public school system, which are constantly rated nines and tens on greatschools.org, they're award-winning schools. You cannot go wrong there.

But even if you wanted to explore the private school options, the greater area has such a varied selection, whether you're looking in Menlo Park, Atherton, in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, there's so many private school options right in your backyard. So from an educational perspective, I mean, it's unbeatable. Then you have the vibrant downtown.

So that is something that some individuals invested in a few years ago and really turned it around. And there are an array of wonderful boutiques, shops, dining options from casual to high end. So there are so many restaurants I could name, but Rustic House in particular is one of my favorites.

I really like that one. So yeah, besides that, I would say the third really wonderful aspect of Los Altos is if you like being in nature, you have so many options like Shoop Park, Rancho San Antonio, Redwood Grove. It's really an active community.

You can get out there either yourself, walking on a bike with your dog. There are so many wonderful outdoor spaces to enjoy. Absolutely.

IPM: Monika, finally, say if a young couple want to move there or even move out of there or somebody like my age want to buy, what is the first step they should take? According to you, what is your advice to them? Where should they start?
Monika Hanover: Yes, I have a pretty strong opinion on this one. I would say one word, pre-approval. So a lot of people think, oh, I'm just going to start going to open houses and see what's out there and then I'll get serious.v And that can be a mistake for two main reasons, I would say. Number one, in the Bay Area, things can move pretty quickly. So you could be casually looking but see the house of your dreams.

And if you aren't ready to move on that, it could be gone the next day. And that's just the unfortunate reality of where we are. So that's number one.

Number two, you can make the mistake of limiting yourself, thinking that your budget is one number when really you could afford more. And so you're not exposing yourself to the full realm of possibilities. Or conversely, you might think your number is up here.

And then so you start looking at these luxury homes. And then once you find out your numbers down here, you've now set unrealistic expectations and you're going to be disappointed. So the pre-approval is really a way to focus your search.

And where we are in our area, it's not just a suggestion in terms of your readiness. It's required. For any serious offer, you must have your pre-approval.

So it's really incumbent upon you to get that. And you shouldn't worry about some people worry about, well, if I get it now, but I don't find something for six months, then what do I do? It's very easy to refresh that pre-approval instead of going through the whole process. It's much quicker and easier to just get a new one.

So yes, that that would be my advice is to really start there because that otherwise you can be overwhelmed. There's you know, there's a great range of properties. And so this this just really helps you focus.

IPM: Absolutely. Actually, you're so right. Thank you so much, Monika, for that interview with us. And I'm so grateful that you're here today. And I'm honored that you are my Top 30 Women Real Estate Sponsors of the Bay Area. So leaders, if Los Altos is what you want, then Monika is for you. Thank you, Monika Have an excellent rest of the day. Thank you so much, Meena.
Monika Hanover: It's been a true pleasure. Thank you.