Derek M. Wagley, Broker

06/12/2026

Coming Soon!
2/1 798 Sq ft
$449,000
34732 Skylark Dr Union City
www.EastBayCondoGuide.com
DRE # 01724531
925-451-6679

06/03/2026

New website geared specifically to Contra Costa and Alameda County condos, townhomes and lofts. Check out all current listings and related articles. DRE #01724531

Browse East Bay condos, townhomes, and lofts for sale throughout Contra Costa County and Alameda County.

04/15/2026

22135 Sevilla Rd #32 Hayward
Open Sunday 11am-3pm

Located in the Hayward hills, this Vista Del Plaza two bedroom, two bathroom residence offers privacy, convenience, and thoughtful modern updates. The home features an updated kitchen with custom countertops, designer backsplash, and contemporary finishes, along with refreshed bathrooms that give the space a clean, modern feel. The living area includes a wood-burning fireplace, built-in dry bar, and vaulted ceilings creating a comfortable setting for everyday living and entertaining. The primary bedroom offers a walk-in closet, while a two-car tandem garage and ample guest parking add practical value. Residents enjoy amenities such as a pool, spa, fitness center, clubhouse, and nearby dog parks, with easy access to downtown Hayward, major freeways, and BART, making this hillside home both convenient and well connected.

Offered at $535,000

Derek M. Wagley
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
DRE 01724531
925-451-6679
www.DerekWagley.com

04/05/2026

Medi-cal and the Primary Residence

A crossover question between real estate and trust planning came up recently involving Medi-Cal repayment. It was a good reminder of how often these issues intersect, and why I consistently recommend having a simple revocable living trust in place to hold key assets.

Roughly one in three Californians are on Medi-Cal. Most people do not think about it until something forces the conversation. It usually begins with a change in health or a gradual decline that makes living independently difficult. The discussion quickly shifts from what is happening medically to how care will be paid for. Long-term care, whether at home or in a facility, is very expensive and for many families, Medi-Cal becomes the only realistic option.

Once Medi-Cal is involved, the natural question becomes: when does the state get paid back, and what happens to the primary residence?

In California, this is often misunderstood. The system is not designed to force the sale of a primary residence during a person’s lifetime. If the home is your primary residence, or there is an intent to return to it, it is generally treated differently than liquid assets. In most cases, a home does not need to be sold in order to qualify for Medi-Cal.

The repayment issue arises later. California may seek reimbursement for benefits it paid, but generally only from assets that pass through probate.

If a home is held in an individual’s name at death and requires probate, it becomes part of the estate that may be subject to recovery. If the property avoids probate, it is typically outside of that process. So the question is not whether Medi-Cal “takes the house,” but whether the house becomes part of a probate estate.

This is where a revocable living trust becomes important. When a home is properly titled in a trust, it passes according to the terms of that trust without going through probate. That change in how the property transfers often changes the outcome. The transfer is private, avoids court involvement, and is generally outside the scope of Medi-Cal estate recovery.

It is important to be precise about what a revocable trust does and does not do. It does not protect the home during your lifetime. You still own it, control it, and it remains your asset for eligibility purposes. What it does is control the manner of transfer at death. In California, that distinction is often the difference between a straightforward transition and a recoverable estate.

Finally, none of this is to say Medi-cal will always seek recovery. There are exemptions and other issues that can make it fact dependent. The above is not offered as legal advice. If you have a legal question, speak to an attorney directly about that.

If you have any real estate related questions, I can be reached at 925-451-6679.

Derek

Derek M. Wagley, Esq
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
www.DerekWagley.com
DRE 01724531
925-451-6679

CA DRE 01724531

02/21/2026

I’ve worked in probate and trust-related real estate sales for more than twenty years. These sales look similar to traditional transactions on the surface, but they’re not the same. They involve fiduciary duties, tax considerations, and family dynamics that require more than just getting a property on the market.

When someone passes, responsibility shifts quickly. Trustees and executors, who are often family members, are expected to make important decisions right away, usually without much practical guidance. Most are thoughtful and capable. They just haven’t done this before.

In these sales my role is straightforward. It is to bring clarity to the process, protect the fiduciary, and make sure decisions are deliberate. The property is important, but so is how the transaction is handled and how everyone feels about it afterward.

I recently put some of these considerations into writing as a practical resource for trustees, executors, attorneys and the real estate professionals who advise their clients in these types of transactions. The book is titled The Estate Transaction. I’ll be sending complimentary copies to clients and colleagues in the next week or so once they arrive from the publisher. It’s also available on Kindle under The Estate Transaction. If you're interested, just type my name in amazon and it will show.

Derek Wagley
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
DRE01724531
925-451-6679

01/29/2026

The part about inheriting a home nobody warns you about.

When a parent dies and a child inherits a house, the two questions that almost always come up are what happens to the existing mortgage and whether property taxes will go up. The answers depend on federal law in the first instance and California property tax law in the second, and the results can be very different depending on how the property was used.

An existing mortgage does not disappear when a property is inherited. The loan stays attached to the house. However, federal law generally prevents a lender from calling the loan due solely because the property transfers from a parent to a child through death or trust administration. The child does not become personally responsible for the loan unless they assume it or refinance, but the monthly payments still have to be made. If payments stop, the lender can still foreclose, just as it could before the parent’s death. These mortgage rules are the same whether the property was a primary residence or a rental.

Property taxes are where the analysis changes. Under California’s Proposition 19, the key question is whether the property was the parent’s primary residence at the time of death or a rental or second home.

If the property was the parent’s primary residence, favorable tax treatment may be preserved, but only if specific steps are taken. The child must move into the property and use it as their own principal residence, and a Proposition 19 claim must be filed with the county assessor on time. If those requirements are met, the existing assessed value can be preserved up to one million dollars of additional market value. Any value above that amount is reassessed.

For example, if a parent bought a home decades ago and it is assessed at $350,000 but worth $1.2 million at the time of death, a child who moves in and files the proper claim can often keep property taxes close to the parent’s level. If the value had increased beyond the allowed threshold, only the excess portion would be reassessed.

If the inherited property was not the parent’s primary residence, the outcome is very different. Rental properties, second homes, and investment properties do not qualify for the parent-child exclusion under current law. In those cases, the property is reassessed to its full current market value, even if the child later decides to move in. Holding the property in a trust does not prevent reassessment.

This distinction catches many families by surprise. Heirs who are not up to date on recent changes in the law often assume property taxes will remain low because the home has been in the family for years, only to receive a much higher tax bill after the transfer. Understanding whether a property qualifies as a primary residence under Proposition 19 is often critical to deciding whether keeping the home makes financial sense.

This article is for informational purposes only. Please consult an attorney or tax professional for legal or tax advice.

If you have any real estate related needs, feel free to reach out at your convenience.

Derek M. Wagley, Esq
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
www.DerekWagley.com
DRE 01724531
925-451-6679

01/23/2026

Coming soon in Hayward! $535,000
Interior photos will be taken soon and posted.

Located in the Hayward hills, this Vista Del Plaza two bedroom, two bathroom residence offers privacy, convenience, and thoughtful modern updates. The home features an updated kitchen with custom countertops, designer backsplash, and contemporary finishes, along with refreshed bathrooms that give the space a clean, modern feel. The living area includes a wood-burning fireplace and built-in dry bar, and vaulted ceilings creating a comfortable setting for everyday living and entertaining. The primary bedroom offers a walk-in closet, while a two-car tandem garage and ample guest parking add practical value. Residents enjoy amenities such as a pool, spa, fitness center, clubhouse, and nearby dog parks, with easy access to downtown Hayward, major freeways, and BART—making this hillside home both convenient and well connected.

Derek M. Wagley, Esq
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
DRE 01724531
925-451-6679
www.DerekWagley.com

Located in the Hayward hills, this Vista Del Plaza two bedroom, two bathroom residence offers privacy, convenience, and thoughtful modern updates. The home features an updated kitchen with custom countertops, designer backsplash, and contemporary finishes, along with refreshed bathrooms that give th...

01/23/2026

For more than twenty years, I’ve worked with families, professional fiduciaries, attorneys, and financial institutions on the sale of estate-owned real property.

One of the most common misconceptions I encounter is the idea that heirs automatically have authority over a home after someone passes away. In reality, a deceased person can “own” a house for years, even though no one has legal authority to sell it, refinance it, or sign a listing agreement.

In probate, the owner of record remains the decedent. Until a court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters of Administration or Letters Testamentary, the property is effectively frozen. During that time:

-No valid listing agreement can be signed.
-No sale can close.
-No lender can be negotiated with.
-No one has legal authority, even if they are paying the taxes, insurance, and utilities.

To the public, the house appears owned. Legally, it is not transferable. One common way families avoid this limbo is through a properly structured revocable trust.

Even once authority is in place, trust and probate sales can run into trouble because of a single early mistake. More often, things unravel later. Disclosures are out. Buyers are involved. Decisions that once felt routine suddenly carry real consequences.

I see this most often around choices like whether to order inspections early, how to describe known conditions, or whether a particular repair actually reduces risk or simply creates new disclosure obligations. None of these decisions feels significant on its own, but together they determine how much leverage exists once a property is in escrow.

These transactions also carry pressures that ordinary sales do not. Timelines are tighter. Authority has to be exercised carefully. The paper trail matters. And once a deal is in motion, it can be difficult to step back and reset.

There is also the very practical challenge of preparing the property itself. In many estates, funds are limited and the burden quietly falls on the administrator. Over the years, I’ve handled that work directly when needed, coordinating estate sales and liquidators, managing clean-outs, addressing minor repairs, and even handling basic property preparation myself when budgets are thin. The goal is never perfection. It is to present the property responsibly without turning administration into a second full-time job.

The smoothest outcomes I see come from treating the sale as a process, not a marketing exercise. When information is organized early and decisions are made deliberately, transactions tend to move forward with fewer surprises and far less friction.

What I’ve learned over time is that estate property sales tend to go best when they’re handled deliberately and with an eye toward the full picture. When authority is clear, information is organized early, and practical issues are addressed before buyers get involved, the process is usually calmer and more predictable for everyone involved.

Derek
Derek M. Wagley, Esq
Broker Associate
Keller Williams Realty
DRE 01724531
www.DerekWagley.com
925-451-6679