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 find our videos informative and interesting, please don't forget to subscribe, like and comment so we know what your views are about our series.

Today, I am very happy to introduce to you all a dynamic and versatile real estate specialist, Ria Rossi. Ria is exquisite both in personality and by profession. She comes across as a specialist that not just delivers but will deliver as per your wishes.

When I first met Ria, my first thought was, wow, she is energetic. And as you get to know her a little bit, her hardworking and enthusiastic nature comes across. She has a positive attitude and can handle fast-paced transactions very, very well.

Ria brings with her years of experience in the real estate industry. An agent since 2015 and having grown up in Orinda and worked with No. 1 producing team, she possesses a keen knowledge of the East Bay Area and expertise in the Contra Costa real estate market.

Praises one of her clients: Her professionalism isn't loud or performative. It's steady, consistent and rooted in genuine dedication to the people who put their trust in her.

One of the things I value most about working with Ria is how seamlessly she collaborates When challenges come up, and in our industry, they always do, she remains calm, solutions-focused and centered on what is truly best for her clients.

Today it's my pleasure and honor to introduce to you all the multidimensional Ria Rossi. Hello Ria, welcome to India Parent Magazine.

Meena Yeggina: Good morning and thank you so much for being here today for my readers and for my listeners as well. I'm so proud to have you on board for our top 30 women real estate specialists of the Bay Area representing us for the city of Alamo. Thank you, Ria.
Ria Rossi: Happy to be here. Thank you, Meena, for having me.

Meena Yeggina: And to start off, Ria, can you say something about yourself, your background, your education?
Ria Rossi: Yes, so I grew up in Orinda in the East Bay. My father bought an old home on an acre lot and over the years I helped him finish out every room and design every room. He was a contractor and I got the experience working on our own house growing up.

He also had properties that he managed, so I was introduced into the real estate world and homes really from a young age. I went through the Orinda school system, which was a wonderful education. I went on to UC Santa Barbara, a wonderful school.

And when I graduated, it was 2011, the job market was not at its best at the time. And I was working in PR and I thought to myself, I just feel like I'm working circles around these people in these entry level positions, but I can't get the jobs that I want to get. So what can I do where my efforts will be rewarded and matched by my rewards? And I actually ended up hosting a couple of open houses.

A friend of mine was a realtor. I wrote up their marketing collateral, the copy, which I really enjoyed. And I thought, I think there's something here. I really enjoy this and I'm good at it. So I ended up pursuing real estate in a career where what you put in is what you get out, exactly what you get out. And I've never looked back.

So I moved recently to Alamo. I have a son who is five next week and he starts kindergarten this coming fall. He's in a wonderful preschool and I love the community here.

That's very education forward and community forward. And I believe at this stage in time where you send your children to school is more important than it's ever been because of all the outside influences in the world. So I very intentionally made the move here to Alamo, California, and I could not be happier. I cannot wait to start him at Rancho next year. And that's our story. That's where we are.

Meena Yeggina: Thank you for sharing that. what really, you know, excites you in real estate? What's so special about that profession that you stuck to it and you love it? We've been there for some time. Can you tell us why?
Ria Rossi: Yeah, a few things. So firstly, I believe the home is so important, right? It is the foundation for everything we do. It was the foundation for our family, for our well-being, for everything. And when I'm guiding my clients through the process of finding a home or when I'm selling a home for others to look at, to potentially live in, it's a lifestyle, right? It's an entire lifestyle. And it is where this next chapter will begin for a family. It is location, education, you know, like holistic health, all of it. It's all wrapped into the home.

And I love the idea of helping people start that next chapter of their life in a space that suits them and their specific family, family's needs. Additionally, I love making things beautiful, right? It's just the call a spade a spade. I see a home as an asset as well, especially when I go to sell it or when I'm buying. I look at the bones of it. I look at, you know, the layout, the way the land is, the topography. I look at it all. And I think, how can we make this as best as it can possibly be? How can we make this asset the most valuable it possibly can be to either present it to the masses and get top dollar from my clients or to help my buyers see the vision of what's possible with a home that may be under-marketed, right? And under-presented, which often homes are. So I take a lot of pride and passion in that. I really enjoy it to my core.

Meena Yeggina: That’s awesome. Actually loving what you're doing is very, very crucial. And to move on, tell us a little bit about your city, Alamo? Why should people buy something there or even move out of there at this point of time? Can you tell us a little bit about the city itself?
Ria Rossi: Yes. So currently, Alamo has the highest median home price in all of Contra Costa County. It is a small community. There isn't a lot of opportunity for development on raw land. So in terms of the security of your asset, there will not be a flood of inventory from new construction. For example, the homes that are here are pretty much the homes that are here. We see them, you know, sometimes remodeled or torn down to be newly constructed. But the value of your home is protected because of lack of new inventory. It is also very community family based, sort of like a quiet town, right? It's not a commuter town.

There isn't a lot of retail and restaurants here that attract people from other towns to come and visit. So it's very community centric. But at the same time, we are adjacent to Walnut Creek, we are adjacent to Danville, which are thriving towns with so much retail, so many dining options, and we're five minutes from each way, right? Five to Walnut Creek, five to Danville.

I think the difference too, there's a lot of wealth here and we see a lot of that wealth going into education and a lot of the resources, parents' resources going into their children and their education, whether it's, you know, PTA, volunteer time, whether it's private education, it is high priority in this town. It's why I moved here when my son is four or five years old, right? So with regard to buying here, you are close to San Francisco, you are close to incredible, you know, metropolises of Walnut Creek and Danville, which are increasingly thriving. The retail that's coming into Walnut Creek right now in 2026 is incredible.

Restoration hardware, dining showroom experience is coming this year. I mean, it is becoming such a thriving area. So you have that draw, you have the weather of the Bay Area, you have the tech industry and AI, which is now booming in San Francisco, and we're feeling the effects of it all the way out here in Contra Costa as well.

And you have these real sources of industry and a real draw to these areas that will be sustainable. In addition, the lifestyle that this town provides and the trails and all of it, it's just a wonderful place to raise a family and to live. Absolutely.

Meena Yeggina: And finally, Ria, if, say, a young couple wants to move into Alamo, what is the first step they should take? Where should they start? What is your advice for them?
Ria Rossi: Good question. You know, as always, start with a professional. So there are a couple of things. Because there is a good amount of wealth here, you want to make sure that you are aligned with a lender who can help you get strategically approved, not just an online approval, a strategic approval, who may, depending on the price point, be competing with cash shoppers. So ensure that your lender is savvy enough, knows the market enough, and knows how to not only meet deadlines, work with a realtor, you know, in an aligned manner where they can get things done. That is of crucial importance.

But in addition, ensure that they can look at your entire financial picture and help get strategically, excuse me, approved. So that might mean leveraging your assets in different ways that can give you a bit of a competitive edge. So start there, reach out to a realtor if you don't know a lender.

We always have the top, you know, I work with the top lenders in the area who know this market extremely well, who work with people with sometimes complicated financial pictures and can help them really determine what the best route is for them. If it's a business owner, it's going to be one financial strategy. If it's someone who's a W-2 employee, it's totally different, right? And that's just the bare bones of it all.

But that is the best place to start. And meeting with a realtor that knows the area well that can help educate them on the nuances of the community and the different neighborhoods and what the different neighborhoods offer and ensuring that you have someone in your corner who knows the real values of these homes and knows when you might have to spend a bit more to get a home or knows when you can scale back and maybe, you know, get a deal on a property. Find someone who is very, who is savvy in this market and knows it well.

That is the first step.

Meena Yeggina: Thank you, Ria. It's been an honor having you on board. And to all my listeners, Ria is one of the most, what should I say, very grounded person that I've met. And she's one of the fantastic people. If it's Alamo, then please, please call her first, talk to her first. This is my very strong advice. And thank you, Ria, for being here today. It means a lot to us.
Ria Rossi: Thank you, Meena. It was my pleasure. I so appreciate you and the community you've built and all you're doing. It's phenomenal. And our community needs this and needs you. So thank you.

Meena Yeggina: Thanks, Ria. Thank you.