338
257
total sales
$420
Million
transactions
to date
happy clients
& counting
in business
20 years
As one of the top-producing agents in Lamorinda, Finola gives every client her dedication, attention and expertise in every transaction—simple or complex. She's known for being an excellent communicator (crucial for clients in high-stress bidding situations), a tenacious negotiator and a savvy marketer.
Born and raised in Orinda, she has more than twenty years of local real estate experience, and she's an expert on local market trends, neighborhoods, schools and recreational resources in the Lamorinda area. Finola graduated from Orinda’s Miramonte High School, and received a degree in history from UC Berkeley as well as a master’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga. Before following her passion for real estate and becoming an agent, she spent ten years teaching in the classroom and many more as an entrepreneur— developing a successful private education business (PASS).
Finola comes from a large family that is deeply rooted in the Lamorinda community. Her children have 31 cousins in the immediate area—so she is well versed in area schools, sports, and community resources. Finola is also an active volunteer for the Orinda schools and various other community and athletic programs and organizations.
When Finola isn't helping clients find the perfect house or participating in the Lamorinda community, she spends her time hiking, skiing, traveling and hanging out with her husband, Rob, and her three children, Jack, Betsy and Sally.
About Finola
“Finola represented us in both the sale of our home and simultaneous purchase of a new home. She skillfully navigated us through a very involved process and made it not only straightforward and seamless but sincerely enjoyable. She invested remarkable amounts of time and energy to achieve a phenomenal sale of our home that far exceeded our hopes and also helped us purchase a new home that is absolutely everything we were looking for and more. She is not only a treasure in the Lamorinda community and an absolute expert in her field, she is simply a wonderful person.”
Client Testimonials
“I had the pleasure of working with Finola in purchasing our forever home. She was great to work with at every step. She knows Orinda like the back of her hand and she knew the pluses and minuses of every neighborhood. She had great insight into our house and the issues we needed to look out for (it was built in the 70s), as well as dealing with a very unusual easement that we had to address. Her knowledge and insight added value at every step, from formative to search to bidding to closing. I recommend her without condition.”
—Kate + Scott
—Christina + Chris
read more
“Thank you for your professional guidance, keen strategic insight, and tremendous emotional support throughout the process of preparing and selling my mother-in-law's Piedmont home following her passing. From beginning to end, you went above and beyond to make sure that this difficult process was handled with care, compassion and a level of professionalism that was unparalleled. Simply put, we could not imagine going through this process with anyone else."
—Gordon + Kirsten
"Last year, my family decided to put our Lafayette family home of 50 years on the market. It is very stressful to make the decision to sell and then even more stressful to actually go through the process. Finola walked us through the process, worked within our timeline, and then patiently and thoughtfully took my father through every last detail so he felt comfortable. She has a great understanding of the Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga area since, like us, she was born here. We set a realistic asking price, and because of her great marketing, we were offered above asking! She was with us every step of the way—and further. My entire family was very grateful that she made an otherwise difficult situation into a positive experience."
—The English Family
"Finola has a keen insight into the features, benefits and potential drawbacks of each street, neighborhood, school and commute route. We definitely benefitted from Finola’s expert knowledge of the Lamorinda (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda) area as well as her extensive professional real estate relationships.
Finola mentioned early on in our search that there would be no pressure from her to find a home quickly and that we should feel very comfortable taking our time. Finola would much prefer to take the time to find the right home and avoid the possibility of a new owner reselling soon due to any inadequacies resulting from a hurried decision, even if it meant the search process might take as long as several years. To us, that showed that Finola put our interests and needs first.
If it wasn’t obvious thus far, we could not recommend Finola more highly. She made searching for and buying our home fun and relaxing and more importantly she helped us make the right decision."
—Chris + Susan
“To put it simply, Finola is truly amazing. She helped us with all aspects of our move to Orinda, and made us feel completely comfortable with our transition to a new community. When we first met Finola, we weren't even sure we wanted to move through the tunnel from Oakland, but she shared her vast knowledge of Lamorinda with us and made it clear that moving was the best choice for our family. She knows the ins and outs of every neighborhood and every street in Orinda, and was able to guide us toward a place that was a great fit for our entire family.
In addition, Finola went above and beyond before, during and after the purchase of our home, and was always available for us to meet, call, email or text. I will never forget her, my husband and myself on a conference call at 11 PM on a Monday night going over the ins and outs of a detailed pest report, as she wanted to make 100% sure that we were getting everything taken care of before our contract was finalized. She checked in with me daily (and often several times a day!) during our home buying process, and even though we closed on our house over a month ago she still touches base with me regularly. She isn't just a real estate agent, she has become a friend to our whole family.
Finola's positive energy is infectious, and her dedication to her clients is apparent in all that she does. She perfectly balances the serious nature of home buying with her caring and relaxed personality, which makes what is usually a stressful process enjoyable and rewarding. She puts the needs of her clients first, and is an extremely skilled negotiator to boot. We feel so lucky that we were able to work with Finola.”
—liz + Mark
"After interviewing three highly recommended Realtors, my sister and I were confident we found the right person to help us sell the home our family lived in for 50 years. We put our trust in Finola Fellner, and she worked magic with her team to transform the house into a real showplace that made us proud, and got it all done on schedule and on budget.
At each step of the process, Finola proved again and again that we had the best person helping us, in what was a sometimes stressful and emotional time. She is so professional, knowledgeable and efficient at her job but she is also such a warm and genuine person. It was a real pleasure to work with Finola, and I highly recommend her.
Looking back on the process, I don’t think it could have gone any better, thanks to Finola, and I am so happy that we handed the keys of our transformed home to a new family who promised to love it as much as we did.
—Diane Conway
@finolafellner.realestate on instagram
