Vinicius Brasil - Your Local Real Estate Expert

Hi, I’m Vinicius Brasil, and I have been selling real estate here in the Silicon Valley for 20 years.

I mainly specialize in Santa Clara but work throughout Santa Clara county helping buyers and sellers navigate our often intense Silicon Valley housing market.

I really enjoy getting to know my clients, educating them on Silicon Valley real estate, and working with them on their goal of buying or selling a home.

Thank you for visiting my website. 

This page is about me, my background, how I got into real estate, and my business and life philosophy.

If you would like to contact me, you can call me directly or schedule a meeting with me below.

VINICIUS BRASIL, Realtor, DRE 01419311
Keller Williams - The Brasil Group
19900 Stevens Creek Blvd #100
Cupertino, CA 95014

408.582.3272 | e-mail Schedule a meeting

Becoming a Realtor

Real Estate was something I was always interested in.  

I had seen members of my family do well investing in real estate, and I decided that if I was going to make the change, now would be the time.

I first got into real estate when I was 27 years old. At the time, I didn’t know much about real estate, and I didn’t even own a home or any property. I saw the industry being dominated by individual agents who dressed in fancy clothes and drove nice cars, and it seemed like anyone could get a license to sell.

After being in the industry for about a year, I noticed there were two main classes of real estate agents. Agents who were professionals really knew the areas they worked in and understood the process, keeping up with the changes in the laws and regulations.  And they really provided value and had their client’s best interests at heart. The second class just seemed to focus on getting clients and selling the most homes possible.

Although the idea of selling a lot of homes was attractive to me, I didn’t want to fall into that second category of agents.  To me, the industry already had a used car salesman-type of stigma, and if I was going to set myself apart from most agents, I had to provide value beyond just being a good salesman.

Since I didn’t know much about real estate, I really had to think about what it was that I was selling. What is a home? I started to realize how important the home I grew up in was in shaping who I would eventually become. 

Understanding Homes and Neighborhoods

My parents, my sister, and I immigrated to Santa Clara in 1977 from Brazil. We had extended family here and they helped us get started. After a few years, my parents were able to buy a home on a janitor’s salary and the money my mom made from cleaning homes.  

It was a small home in the Bowers Park tract, close to Wilcox high school.  The greatest thing about that home was that it was just three doors down from a family with three boys, who would eventually become my best friends. They were all older than me, but they took me under their wing.  

They taught me how to ride a bike, play football and basketball, how to hit a baseball, go fishing, and how to fix things, they took me camping, and mountain biking, and in the summer we would go to the beach almost every week.  We went on so many adventures, and those experiences were what gave me the confidence I have today to do anything.  That’s how important home and a neighborhood can be. It can change your life.

Real Estate Videos

Everything Sellers Need to Know About Escrow
As a home seller, you have a lot of things to do between now and the close of escrow. In the purchase agreement, the buyer may have specified a 30-day closing period or even a shorter closing period. In this video, I will walk you through all of the steps of the escrow process, discuss the process, and prepare you for what to expect.
How to Buy and Sell a Home at the Same Time
Are you in the market for a new home but unsure how to navigate the process of buying and selling at the same time? Many homeowners face this challenge, but it is doable with the right strategy and guidance.We'll cover everything you need to know to successfully buy and sell a home at the same time, from timing your transactions to evaluating your financing options. So, whether you're a first-time buyer or an experienced investor, keep reading to find out how to make your next move a success.
How to Stage a Home to Sell for Top Dollar
Selling a house that has been staged can result in a higher sale price and a faster sale. Home staging is a marketing technique that transforms your average, personalized home into a showpiece that appeals to the broadest group of buyers, allowing it to sell quickly and at the best price.
Webinar - Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy a Home
Learn what it takes to be a successful home buyer in our Silicon Valley housing market. I'm Vinicius Brasil, a Silicon Valley native and licensed real estate agent for 20 years. If you're thinking about purchasing a home, you should watch the recap of my online home-buying seminar. We cover everything you need to know before buying a home so that you can make an informed decision and avoid costly mistakes.
How to Hire a Real Estate Agent
You need to start interviewing agents now to discover the best one to sell your house when you're ready to sell next year. When choosing an agent to represent you in the sale of your house, there are many factors to take into account. In this video, we discuss some crucial questions to think about before choosing the best real estate agent to sell your house.
Top 9 Most Common Seller Mistakes
Selling a home is one of the biggest events that can happen in a person’s life. Whether you are downsizing, relocating, or selling your late mother’s home, it’s a monumental event. Considering the price of homes in Santa Clara and the active Santa Clara real estate market, you would think that selling a home in Santa Clara wouldn’t be so difficult. However, as a home seller, be aware that mistakes can be costly and result in the loss of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. Before you sell, b
Understanding Real Estate Commissions
In most real estate transactions, there are two agents involved, with one side representing the seller and the other the buyer. Each of these agents is paid a commission when the sale closes. In our current market, buyer agents are typically compensated at a 2.5% commission rate. This is set on the MLS when the property is first listed. It is important to understand how much the listing agent will offer as compensation to the buyer’s agent. Once you understand what portion of the commission is being offe
Everything Buyers Need to Know About Escrow
As a home buyer, there are lots of things that need to happen between now and the close of escrow. You may have specified a 30-day close in your purchase agreement or possibly an even shorter closing period. In this video, I am going to take you through all the steps during escrow, discuss the process and prepare you on what to expect.
Should I Fix Up My House or Sell It As-Is?
If you have been thinking of selling your home and dreading all the costly repairs that need to be done before you sell, you may be wondering if it makes sense to just sell your home “AS-IS”. This is one of the most frequent questions or concerns I get from sellers, and the answer depends on several variables. For those of you stuck in this predicament, let’s go over the questions you should be asking yourself to determine the best course of action for you.
Webinar - Everything You Need to Know Before Selling Your Home
Learn what it takes to be a successful home seller in our Silicon Valley housing market. I'm Vinicius Brasil, a Silicon Valley native and 20-year licensed real estate agent. If you're considering selling your home, there's a lot you should know first. View a recap of my online home-selling seminar. This one-hour webinar was created to help you understand all aspects of selling a home and avoid mistakes.
Emergency Gas Shut Off Wrench
Utilize the gas shut off valve in your home to safely turn off the gas supply during any emergency. As you are aware, safety around homes is always a concern. The gas meter is one of the most important details about a home. In most homes, gas appliances include the furnace or heater, the water heater, the cooktop, range, oven, clothes dryer, pool heaters, and fireplaces. Each of these devices will have its own gas valve that can be turned off, but the main gas shut-off for the entire house is located at the
Why Should I Buy a Home?
Let's face it: buying a home is a life-changing decision, for better or worse. Buying a home isn't always a good idea; it can be a financial disaster if not properly planned. Thinking about your home purchase will help ensure that you make the right decision. So let's explore. In this video, I'll answer the question, "Why should I buy a home?"
Is Now a Good Time to Buy a Home in the Bay Area?
If you ask a realtor or real estate agent if it is a good time to buy a home in the bay area, the answer will almost always be YES. So let's change that to "is it a good time for ME to buy a home in the Bay Area?" So often in the Bay Area, buyers outnumber available homes for sale, resulting in competitive multiple-offer situations and rising home values. When prices are rising, buyers often become aggressive buyers, outbidding one another for fear of being priced out of the market if they do not buy a home

Learning What a Real Estate Professional Does

I never saw myself as a salesman.

The idea of selling something didn’t make sense. If you need something, just buy it. Why do you need someone to sell it to you?

If I was going to sell homes, I better know what I was selling.  

I felt that I needed to learn as much as I could about homes, how they were constructed, what was a good home; and what was a bad home. What were the different areas and neighborhoods around Santa Clara County?  

If I was going to represent a client on a home purchase or sale, I needed to make sure they were going to deal with a professional, someone that could provide them with valuable information so that they could make the best decision possible.

So it began. I door-knocked neighborhoods and toured as many homes as I could in every area. I would host open houses throughout the valley, from Palo Alto to Morgan Hill and even Fremont.  

I would follow the property inspectors around the home and ask every question imaginable.  There were a few times when I put on coveralls and crawled under the house with the inspectors to see what they were looking for. Having in-depth conversations about the difference between subterranean and dry wood termites.

When I would meet with contractors or foundation experts, I would grill them on their processes and ask questions to understand why a home was experiencing certain issues. 

Whether it was meeting with the city planning department to ask questions about permits or standing on top of a roof with the roofer, I soaked it all in and learned as much as I could.

A Real Estate Career Based on Experience & Compassion

I was learning everything I could about real estate and my business was growing.  More and more referrals from satisfied clients were coming in, and all of a sudden, it all stopped.

When the housing market crashed in 2008, it was an uncertain time for everyone, and for a young agent, I didn’t know what to do. 

Several months went by without any sales. Trying to make sense of what was happening, I started to read about economics to understand how our financial system worked.

It was during this time that I started to understand the factors that were influencing our economy and our local market.  This information made me feel more confident when speaking with my clients about timing and the market.  

 Although the market was slow, I kept myself busy.  Working with homeowners at the time that were interested in selling, I urged them to get their homes updated to set them apart from all the distressed homes on the market.  

That’s where I developed my service of helping homeowners update their homes so they would be able to sell them for more money.  

In many cases, the owners just didn’t have the cash for the repairs. 

Knowing that just $10-$20K in updates would help their home sell for much more, I started a system where the homeowners could pay once the home closed escrow. 

At the time, staging was a relatively new concept, and many sellers didn’t want to bother, mainly because of the cost.  

Understanding how a nicely staged home helped homes sell, I added it free to sellers as part of my service.  It wasn’t long before people around Santa Clara County started to notice my work and how my listings were selling faster and for more money.

Standing Out and Being the Best Realtor

My business grew as people started to notice my results.  As I sold more and more homes, people would visit my open houses and comment on how nice the home was presented.  My listings were clearly selling for more money and faster than other listings in the area.

The home repairs and updates, the staging, and quality marketing were really making a difference, and the calls from home sellers and buyers were becoming more frequent. 

When the market started to turn around in 2012, that is when business really started to pick up. I went from an average agent to the top agent in Santa Clara, and eventually one of the top agents in the valley. 

A New Way of Thinking About Real Estate

With all that experience, I gained a better understanding of the economy and our local market. Rather than just being an expert on the process of selling a home, I see the role of a real estate agent as an advisor to my clients. Understanding their goals and objectives and how to best position them for success is key.  And at times they may have been to advise them not to sell or buy.

Although I am far from the most successful agent in the valley, I feel solid in my understanding of real estate and am confident that when a buyer or seller hires me, they will be pleased with the service and results I achieve.

Events

Santa Clara Parade of Champions 2021
Please like and share this video to spread the word. The Santa Clara Parade of Champions (SCPOC) has been a time-honored legacy in Santa Clara since 1945 when we welcomed home our WWII Heroes. Since then generations of Santa Clarans have never forgotten the memories and sense of community that the parade reinforced year after year. 52 Annual Santa Clara Parade of Champions: -Over 80 Groups Participated this year -This Year's Grand Marshall is Crazy George -Various Marching Bands from around the Bay Area
Santa Clara San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail
Welcome to Santa Clara's San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail. A fantastic location for biking, walking, or jogging! The San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail is a suburban paved trail that runs from Monroe Street all the way to the Guadalupe Slough on the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The creek begins in Saratoga and flows through Los Gatos, Campbell, and Santa Clara before meeting the path near Monroe Street. The trail is around 5 miles long and completely paved.
Santa Clara Portuguese Hall - SES
This video takes you on a tour of the SES hall of Santa Clara also known as the Portuguese Hall of Santa Clara. We are going to take a look inside and tell you about its history and its significance to the city of Santa Clara. If you have ever driven down Lafayette street towards downtown Santa Clara you have probably seen the Portuguese hall. It has been here since 1896, making it one of the oldest buildings in Santa Clara. Originally founded by the early Portuguese community of Santa Clara as a place
Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival 2022
After a two-year break, the Santa Clara Art & Wine Festival has returned for its 40th anniversary. Rain fell at the Art and Wine Festival for the first time in its 40-year history. While Saturday was a beautiful late-summer day, the weather changed overnight and delivered rain on Sunday, but it didn't dampen anyone's spirits. We've been sponsoring this event for several years, and it's hands down my favorite event of the year.

Building a Real Estate Legacy

It’s been a long journey of learning and experience. I am no longer the young new agent in the office. 

I turned 46 this year. I’m married and have 3 kids. I now operate with a small team of agents and staff that allows me to continue to help and service my clients and still maintain a healthy life balance.   

What excites me now is the same as before.  

Meeting people, understanding where they are in life, and helping them get through this transition, whether they are buyers or sellers, is the easiest and best way possible.

As always, I am excited to grow and take my business to the next level. Our team is doing such great quality work and providing a level of service that I am proud to put my name on.  

We are continuing to learn and better ourselves, continuing to help clients in the hopes that we are providing them with great information and valuable service.

Thanks again for reading, I look forward to meeting with you and helping you in any way I can.

If you would like to set up a quick call to discuss your real estate situation, click the link right here.

Until next time, I am Vinicius Brasil with the Brasil Group and Keller Williams.

Vinicius Brasil - The Brasil Group

Email: Email Me
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