I’m Annie Baker, founder of Next Chapter Real Estate. I help families throughout Silicon Valley navigate the real-estate side of selling an inherited property, trust or probate home—and all the decisions that often come with it.
Whether the house needs to be emptied, sold as-is, repaired, updated, landscaped or staged, I’ll help you determine what makes sense and coordinate the process from beginning to end.
And if you live outside the area, you don’t have to be here to get the house sold.
Real Estate Help for Life’s Next Chapter
Selling a home during a major life transition can feel overwhelming—especially when you’re also dealing with family, belongings accumulated over decades, deferred maintenance or the loss of someone you love.
That’s why Next Chapter Real Estate was created.
I have been a full time Realtor in the Bay Area since 2007, with an almost exclusive focus on selling these type of homes since 2016. I’ve helped Bay Area homeowners and families navigate real estate, with a special focus on inherited properties, trust and probate sales, and seniors who are downsizing or people retiring and transitioning to a new chapter in their life.
My job isn’t simply to list the house.
It's to understand what matters most to you. Whether that's selling quickly and "as-is," or making strategic improvements to maximize your return, we create a plan that meets your goals.
01
You may be wondering:
These are exactly the kinds of situations I help families navigate.
Before you spend money or start emptying the house, let’s look at the property together and create a plan.
02
Inherited properties are often held in a trust or involved in probate, and those transactions can have additional considerations.
I have experience with trust sales, probate real estate sales—including transactions requiring court confirmation—and properties involving conservatorships.
I handle the real-estate portion of the transaction and work alongside attorneys, fiduciaries, CPAs and other professionals when appropriate.
You don’t need to understand the entire process before contacting me.
We’ll start with your situation and figure out the next step.
03
Depending on your situation, I can help coordinate the professionals needed to prepare the property for sale, including:
Help determining what can be sold and coordinating the process.
Resources for belongings the family doesn’t want to keep.
Painters, flooring professionals, handymen, contractors and other trusted resources.
Getting the exterior ready to make a strong first impression.
Preparing the home to show beautifully when that’s the right strategy.
Working alongside the appropriate professionals when legal, tax or estate guidance is needed.
Pricing, marketing, negotiating and managing the transaction through closing.
Next Chapter can help you coordinate the real-estate side of the process.
04
One of the biggest mistakes sellers can make is spending money on a house before knowing whether those improvements are likely to pay off.
Sometimes strategic updates can substantially improve a home’s marketability.
Other times, selling the property in its current condition is the smarter choice.
I’ll help you compare the options before you decide.
We’ll look at the home’s condition, comparable sales, likely buyer, preparation costs and current Silicon Valley market so you can make an informed decision about where spending money makes sense—and where it doesn’t.
The goal isn’t to remodel the house. The goal is to make the best decision for you and the property.
05
Sometimes the next chapter isn’t about an inherited home.
It may be Mom or Dad moving from the family home into independent living, assisted living or memory care. Or perhaps you’ve simply reached a point where maintaining a large home no longer makes sense.
Next Chapter Real Estate grew out of my experience helping families through exactly these transitions.
From sorting belongings and coordinating a move to preparing and selling the existing home, my goal is to make an emotional and complicated transition easier.
06
Meet Annie Baker
I’ve worked in real estate for more than 20 years, and I’ve been helping Silicon Valley families buy and sell homes since returning to the area in 2005.
Over the years, my work increasingly became focused on people going through major life transitions—adult children helping aging parents, families selling inherited homes, siblings managing an estate together, and heirs trying to handle a Silicon Valley property while living hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Those experiences became Next Chapter Real Estate.
I’ve learned that during these transitions, people often need much more than a Realtor.
They need someone who can look at the whole situation, help them develop a plan, connect them with good people and keep everything moving.
That’s what I love doing.
07
If you’ve inherited a Silicon Valley property but live somewhere else, I can be your local point of contact for the real-estate side of preparing and selling the home.
We’ll communicate by phone, text, email or video, and I’ll keep you informed so you can make the important decisions without making repeated trips to California. Whether the property is in San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen or another Silicon Valley community, let’s talk about what’s going on and what you need.
08
She spent quality time taking care of our concerns, brought in a great designer and contractor to get the house ready. She even paid to have all the work done before we listed it!! I was surprised about how much she did to help before we even listed the house.
Highly recommend · Sold in Los Gatos · Read the full review
“Annie helped me sell my home and I lived in a different city but it was fine because she made me feel at ease and kept in touch with me and guided me throughout the process.”
Highly recommend · Sold in Campbell
“She also saw the potential value in our house and worked with us to make it the best showing possible, and ended up getting us 20% more than other realtors suggested as our listing price.”
Highly recommend · Sold in Los Gatos
In their own words
Watch video review
Watch video review
Watch video review
Watch video review
09
That’s okay.
Tell me what’s going on with the property, and we’ll start there.
Annie Baker
Next Chapter Real Estate
California Realtor | License #01831701
