About

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

$350,000,000

Total Sales as A Broker

19+

Years of Experience

Top 1.5%

RealTrend's America's Best Real Estate Professional 2019-2023

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GET TO KNOW ME

Brenda van der Merwe

Brenda has been an active real estate broker in the Boston area for the past nineteen years, and in that time has developed lasting relationships and extensive experience with her clients, listing and selling homes not only in the existing single-family and condominium markets, but also in the fields of luxury homes and new construction. She has worked intensively with clients on condominium conversion projects with multi-family homes, investment and income properties of all types, she has been instrumental in assisting many investors and new developers build their portfolios, and in helping many first-time home buyers enter the market.

Brenda has also assisted members of the Boston Red Sox to buy and sell homes in the greater Boston area. She has worked with attorneys, doctors and chiefs of surgery at various hospitals in the Boston area, Google executives, CEOs of major national and global multi-national companies, and many professors and educators tenured at local area universities. While Brenda’s primary focus is Newton, Brookline and Chestnut Hill, she has also sold a tremendous number of properties in the surrounding communities of Boston, Cambridge, Belmont, Arlington, Lexington, Somerville, Needham, Wellesley and Watertown, helping her clients in the communities where they wish to sell and buy. In addition, Brenda has over twenty years experience as a landlord in the Boston area.

Real Estate Professional

TOP PRODUCER IN BOSTON

As a seasoned broker with nineteen years’ experience and over $350,000,000 in sold properties, she has managed successful transactions for both buyers and sellers in many communities around the Boston area. With her multi-faceted and cutting-edge marketing strategies, analytical approach to both buying and selling, ambitious production levels, and engaging personality, she has a proven track record as a top producer in the Boston area, with an average sales volume in the top 1% of agents. For 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, she achieved the company-wide distinction of International President’s Premier, an award featuring the Top 1% of 100,000 NRT Agents Internationally. For 2021, she received the Coldwell Banker International Society of Excellence Award. In 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, she was named “Top Real Estate Producer” by Boston Magazine. She received the RealTrend's America's Best Top 1.5% of Real Estate Professionals award in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

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AWARD-WINNING BROKER

KNOWLEDGE. PROFESSIONALISM.

Brenda's strengths lie in her ability to appropriately price properties, using an analytical approach that provides the consumer with local area data, property absorption levels, comparable sales, and investment calculations to determine the value of a property. She is honest, an experienced and strong negotiator, and provides her clients with a level of service that includes constant communication via email, phone, and text messaging. She has immediate access to contractors, inspectors, attorneys, and service providers of all types for recommendations, should a client need this during the transaction process. She is at the forefront of digital advertising using Facebook, television ads, 3D videos and floor plans, aerial (drone) photography, and featured listings on websites like  zillow.com, trulia.com, newyorktimes.com, wallstreetjournal.com, mansionglobal.com, luxuryrealestate.com, realtor.com and brendasellsboston.com.

Brenda has won several top producer awards documenting her levels of success as a real estate agent at her previous company, including the Chairman's Club Award (2013, 2009 and 2007), the President's Club Award (2011 and 2008), and the Internet Response Team Award (2013 and 2009). She is a member of the Greater Boston Association of REALTORS®, a member of the National Association of REALTORS®, and has achieved over $350,000,000 in sales in her career as a broker.

PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN

VIOLIN VIRTUOSO

Brenda is also a professional violinist who performs in the Boston area, and has concertized in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, and at the Tanglewood Music Center. She was the founding violinist/violist for the Xanthos Ensemble, and has regularly performed chamber and solo works by visiting composers, faculty and graduate fellows at Brandeis University, Boston University, Wellesley College, New England Conservatory, Dartmouth College, with the Harvard Group for New Music, and the Fromm Players at Harvard.  he has appeared in chamber music concerts with former members of the Mendelssohn and Brentano String Quartets, and has appeared in concert with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Opera Boston, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, ALEA III, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Arizona Opera, and the Tucson Symphony. 
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THE VIOLIN VIRTUOSO

EXPERIENCED PERFORMER

She has performed with MidAmerica Productions' Chamber and Solo Music Series in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, at the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival, with the Walden Chamber Players, AUROS Group for New Music, at the Gaudeamus International Interpreter’s Competition, with Guerilla Opera, and has appeared twice as a soloist in the Boston Cyber Arts Festival program for the Electronic Music Marathon at Brandeis University. She has also been a concerto soloist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. As a member of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, she has recorded for Naxos, Chandos, Oxingale, and New World Records. Brenda was also featured on a CD of contemporary chamber music works recorded in Carnegie Hall and released on Clear Note Publications.

Brenda van der Merwe holds the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Boston University, where she studied with Bayla Keyes and was String Department Assistant. Her teachers and coaches have included Bayla Keyes, Peter Zazofsky, Yuri Mazurkevich, Nicholas Mann, Lukas Foss, Mark Rush, and members of the Peabody Trio and the Muir and Lydian String Quartets. She has been a member of the faculties of Music on the Hill Chamber Music Festival and Powers Music School, where she was named Chair of the String Department. She has also coached for the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division and adjudicated for their annual Concerto Competition. At the University of Arizona, she received a Master of Music as well as a Bachelor of Music, graduating summa cum laude with Honors.

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Experience excellence in real estate with Brenda, a top-producing broker in Boston. Benefit from her 19 years of expertise, strong negotiation skills, and cutting-edge marketing strategies. Trust Brenda for a successful and satisfying real estate journey.

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