Unlike many agents, I choose not to "specialize" in the entire area from San Francisco to Monterey. In my case, I choose the areas I serve using the following criteria:

1. Do I like the community. When I say "like" the community, I am referring to the types of homes and the feeling of the town itself. For instance, I love Morgan Hills downtown. I think it is full of potential and a great place to just stroll. Los Gatos is another town with an amazing dowtown, but it also has some of the greatest architectural diversity in the county. You can drive down the street and in some areas pass a dozen different home styles in just a few blocks. It is fantastic! As a person who loves architecture in addition to real estate, these are the kinds of things that I can get excited about.
2. Do I know the community. This is a big one. Frankly, if I do not really know the market in a community, I am not going to put myself out there as your local professional. I am very well equipped to get up to speed quickly (maybe a day or two of analysis) on a new market, but as a rule and when considering the areas I market myself too, I like to limit my efforts to areas I already know. In this case, my "primary" areas are ones that I have lived in or spent a great deal of time in. I grew up in the Cupertino/Saratoga/West San Jose/Los Gatos area and really have a depth of knowledge about those areas that comes from living there for years - from my days at Argonaut and Blue Hills elementary schools, to Lynbrook High School.