Paulo Serna

Paulo Serna is a San Francisco Real Estate Agent, REALTOR®, and First Time Buyer Specialist (FTBS, a California Association of REALTORS certification) with Compass and Level Up Group. He works with buyers, sellers, and small investors across Central Richmond, the Sunset District, Inner Sunset, and surrounding Westside San Francisco neighborhoods.

He approaches real estate as a long-term financial decision, not a transaction. Clients come to him for clarity around pricing strategy, disclosure review, rent-controlled properties, and how a purchase or sale may perform five, ten, or twenty years from now.

Paulo's work spans single-family homes, condominiums, TICs, duplexes, and 2-4 unit buildings, with a growing track record in multi-unit and mixed-use properties throughout Westside San Francisco.

Before real estate, Paulo worked in property management, construction project management, and solar engineering. That background shapes how he evaluates homes. Most buyers notice finishes. He looks at structure, permitting history, disclosure risk, and long-term equity performance.

Paulo's advisory approach integrates 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 specifics. As a First Time Buyer Specialist, he puts particular structure around first purchases: financing paths, the real cost beyond the price, and the decisions that surprise people the first time. He also works with move-up sellers navigating complex transitions and small multifamily investors evaluating cash flow and appreciation potential. His role is not to push a decision, but to help clients understand the trade-offs clearly and move when it makes sense for their life.

Paulo has lived in San Francisco since 1995, first in the Sunset near West Portal and now in Central Richmond, where he regularly bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Marin Headlands. He knows these neighborhoods block by block: the morning line at Arsicault Bakery, the breakfast sandwiches at Devil's Teeth, the depth of Clement Street's food scene, and which streets catch the afternoon sun.

Born in Colombia and fully bilingual in English and Spanish, he learned to read body language before he was fluent in English. That early experience shapes how he negotiates and guides clients through high-pressure decisions in competitive San Francisco transactions. He works with clients in either language, or both in the same conversation, and maintains a complete Spanish-language version of his website.

As part of the Level Up Group at Compass, Paulo combines the resources of a productive team with a focused advisory role. The team closed more than $52.9 million in sales volume in 2025, with $19.6 million in verified closed volume in 2026 through August 1, and on team transactions Paulo is part of negotiations and the sales process beyond his own listings and clients. Those are team figures, distinct from his individual track record above. Within the team he concentrates on strategic pricing, negotiation, disclosure analysis, and guiding clients from listing preparation through closing with clarity and calm.

Outside of real estate, you will often find him cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge, playing bocce at the waterfront courts near the Ferry Building, or earning a croissant at Arsicault Bakery after a long ride. Cycling and bocce have taught him the same things real estate demands: pace yourself, read the conditions, and pick the right gear for the terrain. And there are few better rewards than a flaky pastry after a hard climb, except calling a client to tell them they got the house.

More at pauloserna.com, in English and Spanish