Meth House. Yep, Barry Ward rented me one then kicked my family out when we contacted a lawyer. Cliff notes We rented the property at 1265 Shady Circle in Arnold. Family with pregnant wife and toddler at home. Discovered it was positive for Meth Contamination (see photos). Tried to work out an amicable solution. No dice. Contacted a lawyer and was immediately issued a 30 day notice to get out. Lived in a meth house for 9 months without being notified as such, Barry Ward kicked us out when we said something. DO NOT RENT THIS ADDRESS until you have personally verified the meth contamination has been remediated and you have lab results in hand to prove it! _________ Long Story: In the Fall of 2014, Barry Ward Realty rented my family and I a home and neighboring studio cabin (1265 Shady Circle in Arnold). We have a toddler and at the time of this writing, I am currently 8 months pregnant with baby #2. Over the months, we had repeated found rusty nails, coils, and broken glass galore in the yard as well as mysterious white substances scattered throughout the soil. Tons of trash filling the entire outdoor property, much of it hazardous and dangerous for a child to play or even to walk without shoes. Shortly after moving in, we noticed that the studio cabin had bizarre industrial lab cabinets and the sink drains in the kitchen has been completely chemically corroded - we had our suspicions. Then, at about 8 months into living at this location, our neighbors informed us that the previous residents were meth users. The informed us that the guy who had lived there for many years was a heavy user and potential cooker and they even knew where he obtained meth. We contacted the landlord about this immediately and he did nothing and denied knowledge. For our own peace of mind with a child and with a developing baby, we decided to have both the house and the cabin test with preliminary tests for meth contamination (me, pregnant this whole time). We paid for these out of pocket and I put my MS Graduate Degree training to use in the most unconventional way - no longer was I running samples in a lab, I was doing it in my own house. The preliminary tests were positive immediately for both the house and the cabin (see photos). Our next step was to contact the County, who informed us that while they couldn't do anything legally because there was never a police bust for meth, it was not safe for us to be there. The state of California has a legal limit for safe habitation with meth contamination of 1.5ug/100cm2. The health department advises that once an initial test is positive, that lab testing is completed to verify that the property is habitable. Then, if it exceeds legal limits, they recommend complete remediation and re-testing to ensure the cleaning took care of the contamination. We relayed this information to the landlord, hoping hew ould be on board. He wasn't, because apparently his homeowners insurance would cover none of it because the meth contamination occurred prior to ownership. He refused to test to ensure it was habitable for anyone, let alone a child and a pregnant woman. We contacted a lawyer. Lawyer contacted the landlord. Within 48 hours, we were issued a 30-day termination of our lease and boom - pregnant lady and family are out on the streets. All because Barry Ward and friends rented us a meth house without our knowledge and we found out. We had the property lab tested out of our own pocket, see photos for results, and the studio cabin did, in fact, exceed legal habitable limits for the state of California at 2.4ug/100cm2 and 1.8 ug/100cm2. The legal limit is 1.5ug/100cm2. This is the cabin that I, the pregnant lady, used as my home office while we lived there. Despite the fact that we were rented a meth house without our knowledge, while pregnant and with a toddler at home, the landlord not only refused to ensure it was safe to live in, but also kicked us out after we raised issue. If you value your health and safety, and your family's health and safety, I would strongly advise you to not rent the property at 1265 Shady Circle until you have verified that meth contamination is cleared and you have lab results in hand to support this claim. Additionally, a county employee advised us that the soil is not safe for children to play in and the water table is also contaminated, so the water is not safe to drink. Barry Ward - test your homes before you rent them to people. While we are currently not pursuing legal action against the advice of our lawyer (mostly, because I'm pregnant and we want to get on with our lives), others will sue you and sue you for THOUSANDS. If this baby is delivered with health problems, you better believe you'll get slammed with a suit. Everyone else - 1265 Shady Circle is a Meth House, beware and rent at your own risk (P.S. Both my daughter and I experienced nausea and headaches after only 3 months of living there.) read more

Barry Ward Realty - Preliminary meth tests for both properties rented by Barry Ward at 1265 Shady Circle. Both are positive, two lines like a pregnancy test. - Real Estate Services Near Me - Arnold, California

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I used An agent from Barry award to purchase my cabin in 2016 and it was awesome. As that agent left Barry ward to pursue another area, I decided to use Barry Ward Realty when I sold. I was represented by Heidi Ward who seemed fine at first but was extremely short with me when I asked questions and she seemed not engaged with my needs. This was displayed by her always siding with the potential trial buyers for items that needed to be taken care of, putting invoices in escrow that I had already paid (these shouldn't be in escrow anyway as the agreement is with me and the company, not the escrow account), and just overall lack of concern with representing me. The cabin did sell fairly quickly and I received asking price, which was great. The icing on the cake and the evidence that supports my feeling regarding Heidi is that after the deal was finished, even with complications, I did not hear anything from her. No "Thank You " or anything. As I have dear with many real estate transactions , this seemed odd. With an 18k dollar commission paid I would think that there would be some kind of appreciation or less then a months worth of work. I will definitely look at reviews for any new purchases I have in the area. The market is hit up there, even during COVID-19, so do your research before selecting a realtor. read more

Really good experience with Barry Ward and recommend him highly. He's smart, strategic, professional, experienced, connected, easy to work with, and has a good reputation...I actually interviewed three potential realtors and Barry stood out as the one who could close the deal and would be easy to work with. He helped us from the beginning to the close of our property- from suggestions on repairs, improvements to make per our request for his insights to connecting us to locals who could do the work we wanted, to his thorough marketing and excellent follow through - it was a very positive experience. I appreciated that he was willing to talk through concerns and questions along the way and especially appreciated that we could do all business remotely. read more

Barry Ward and his Team did a FANTASTIC job finding a dream 2nd home for my family. Thank you for all of your insight and local knowledge Barry. We are grateful for your guidance! read more

ORIGINAL POST: Bought a house where Barry Ward was representing the seller. The disclosures barely said anything. During our escrow we discovered some undisclosed issues and asked our realtor to get more information for us. His response was NOT "oh that's concerning, let me get more information for your buyers", it was actually "well there are plenty of other people that will buy this house". Really? Your answer is to try to bully us?!? Guess what, we discovered yet another item that we believe was known and never disclosed. It's going to cost us a bundle. He's the sort of guy that gives Realtors a bad name. ________________________________________________________________________ After this post I received an email from Mr. Ward copying my realtor and her broker that: 1. Blasted me for using Yelp 2. Informed me that my experience/information was wrong 3. Did not inquire about and showed no concern for my issue/problem 4. Tried to shame me First bullying, now shaming, what a jerk. read more

We have rented our cabin out that is located in Arnold, Blue Lake Springs area. We have dealt with Kip who has done a wonderful job. She's handled maintenance issues that have come up and has always returned our calls in a timely manner. Her customer service has exceeded our expectations and we are thrilled to have someone manage our 2nd home when we're away. read more

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My wife and I used this agency to buy our cabin in Arnold. So the review is more for our Realtor: Noreen Seeders. If you have to buy something in the area, request her. We only have positive things to say about her. We met her twice (one month interval) to visit homes and she really tried to understand our needs first. She never pushed for any of the homes that we visited and she knew we had a budget. She helped us find our dream cabin. Now down to the ugly part of paper works. Noreen could help us with everything (we leave in the Bay Area). She organized the inspections and helped us to do all the due diligence needed. We felt like we really had someone who was supporting us through the whole process. The best part is that she followed up after the sale. We have been recommending her to all our friends and we would use her again if we have to buy another property in the area. read more

Let me preface this comment with ... I have had real issues with realtors in the past ... Not always representing me in the deal but never ever had I been inclined to post something on yelp ...negative or positive ... Barry, as the selling agent just closed a deal for us on our mountain home in Arnold ... ( we actually used him to buy the place 10 years ago ) and I have to say I was blown away with the way he handled the deal We got way more than I thought we would be able to get and he demonstrated a willingness to help us close the deal that went above and beyond my expectations of what a realtor would do... ... By far the most trouble free, stress free deal I have been a part of Ps John Ereht Has been simply stellar in managing the care and business of our home when we rented it .... Great guy !!!! Consider him a friend at this point .. Grateful read more

We purchased our cabin through Barry Ward realty in 2008. The purchase experience was fine and they were fairly professional and knowledgeable. We ended up getting somewhat bad advice and arguably paying a little too much for the cabin but were still fairly happy with our purchase. The problems came when we used Barry Ward realty to rent our cabin out through their vacation rental program. They are somewhat one-sided and always favor the renter over the owner. We had several instances where renters broke the rental policies; such as the family who brought 14 people when our limit is only 8 people. We pointed this out to the rental manager and she said there was really nothing that she could do because she didn't want the renters to give them a bad review on the Internet. They also only took reservations via telephone because they claim that gave them more control over who they rented to. They have since reversed that policy and now let people book online with a credit card. Their follow-up on problems was very slow and often incomplete. When we tried to voice our concerns they seemed impatient and annoyed and tried to simply blow us off. Barry Ward told us that we were trying to be too involved in our cabin rentals and we would probably be happier if we were simply unaware of what went on in our cabin when it was rented out. He then told us that maybe were just shouldn't rent our cabin out. We decided that he as partially correct and moved to another property management company in town and we have been much happier ever since. read more

Barry Ward Realty - Real Estate Services Near Me - Arnold, California

Review for Madison Ward, realtor with Barry Ward Realty: If you are thinking about buying a house in the Arnold/ Murphys area, you should meet with Madison Ward. As I am extremely particular and difficult to impress, I was absolutely astonished when I met with Madison. Although she is young, she is incredibly knowledgeable and professional. She is, by far, more thorough and committed than 99% of all realtors with whom I've met and worked in a number of states. I highly recommend. read more

My family and I have rented many vacation homes and have always had a positive experience. Not this time. This time we rented through Barry Ward realty and their representative - Kip Machado. Short version of this review: avoid Kip Machado. The reservation process was smooth and the cabin was actually quite nice, but when we arrived at 6 pm the water was not on. I called Kip to get her to help me and she didn't answer her cell phone. I also e-mailed. With small kids ready for dinner and no help from Kip, I searched and searched until I finally found the shut off valve under the house and turned the water on myself. I could only figure out how to turn on the cold water, though. Still no hot water. No word from Kip until 7:30 am the next day - 13 hours after my initial call - when she finally returned my call. Did Kip apologize? No. First she told me that I was wrong, that her crew had turned on the water when they set up the house (uhh, I think I was pretty clear that no water was coming out of the tap). Then she said if the water wasn't turned on, it was because the owner had sent someone without her knowledge to turn it off (totally plausible, right?). And by the way she's been sick, blah, blah, blah - basically she came across as I was being an incredible annoyance to her for complaining that the house I rented from her didn't have hot water 13 hours after I'd arrived. We headed out for the day to ski, and while we were out Kip finally had the hot water turned on. I spoke to Barry the owner and he promised to refund me the first night's rent for my inconvenience. But get this - now 1 week after my check out date, having not called me after the inspection after my check out - Kip claims that the house was "trashed" (the house was in no way "trashed" - I washed all the dishes - left the house as I found it) and the toilet was clogged and they had to call a plumber - and now they want to charge me an extra $85 for snaking the toilet. Oh and I still haven't seen my refund. Avoid Barry Ward realty and in particular avoid Kip Machado. She acted as if I was a friend to whom she had graciously lent her great ski cabin for the weekend , as opposed to a client who had paid to rent a cabin that it's her job to manage. read more

Me and my family rents vacation houses at least twice a year. Almost with every house there has been some issues but this was the first time ever we felt fooled. This time was the first time we rented through a formal broker so maybe we just ended up in a normal broker behavior?? The house we rented was not even close to live up to the expectation of the description, pictures and the price tag on Barry Wards (BW) home page. I wont bore you with details. In addition it was told to be suitable for families but it wasn't. Even in the guest manual in the house, on the first page, the owners warned the guests to have kids on the terrace. If you see the terrace and all the old planks you would understand why. BW gave us wrong info which made us spend half a day figuring out that we were searching for a guest member card that didn't exist and arguing with wrong HOA to get access to pools and lakes. When returning the keys BW was sorry for everything that had happened and promised to come back with a refund proposal. That never happened so we had to spend time chasing them. After a couple of pushes they came back and refunded us only for the Internet connection that was nonfunctional during most of our visit. This refund was probably coming 100% from the owners and not BWs pocket. BW them self told us that they hadn't done anything wrong and the problems and expectations we had was our problem only. However, this was our first visit to Arnold, Arnold is a great place to stay at. We had a lot of adventures in the nature and lot of good time at Stanislaus River. read more

I use Barry Ward regularly for vacation rentals and have found their service top notch, flexible, and always friendly and helpful. Kip is fantastic! read more

We rented a vacation cabin in Arnold thru Kip at Barry Ward Realty. She did a great job for us. She was helpful in understanding our needs and making recomendations for homes based on our requirements. She was very responsive with the procedural stuff, and pleasant in her communication. When we picked up the keys at her office, she was helpful with recomendations, directions, etc. All said it was a great experience. The home worked out perfect for us, and I would definitely use her service again for our next trip to Arnold. read more

Just returned from our third holiday visit to one of the BW Realty rentals. The rental process has worked smoothly for us each year, the house was as advertised, clean and ready for us and we'd recommend using BW Realty without hesitation. read more

Barry Ward Realty, and our rental manager Kip Machado in particular, have provided our family with excellent, consistent, and highly personal service. Both her advice and her ongoing care as our agent have been instrumental in the successful booking of our cabin. She is both proactive in her recommendations as well as there to respond to items that arise for us. We highly recommend Kip to manage vacation rentals in the Arnold area! read more

We have to say that Barry Ward Realty was incredible to work with, they made what seemed like a impossible feat reality, thoughtful, precise & trustworthy.His customer service is unsurpassed.You will not be sorry,they are the best. read more

Used this team once, didn't work out, but will treat you a lot better than the local RE agents in Arnold and especially in Bear.

Very well handled all aspects of our transaction renting a cabin for a long week end in Arnold: easy and efficient website, contract sent within 24 hours, payment processed as expected, directions and guidelines clear and complete. Cabin was also all to be expected: clean, comfortable, well equipped with sufficient kitchen ware, furniture, ... Will definitely rent from them again. read more

I have been planning a move to the mountains, so I took a special trip out to Arnold to look at a few places. I made plans with John Erhart, at Barry ward realty and he was going to show us a few places that he had available. He handles all of the permanent rentals there. I was not able to get off work until late on Friday, so I was forced to reschedule our original apponitment on Saturday morning to Monday morning (which I had to take off work for). When we showed up after driving more that three hrs. to get to him, HE WAS NOT EVEN THERE! the receptionist needed to call him in to the office. He finally showed up close to a half an hr. later, we shook hands and he said "OK, ready?" We went to a house in Blue Lake Springs and this was not the place for us. He informed us that he had another appointment at noon that he needed to make, it was already 11:45 at this point. When we made arrangments with John to go look at places, we made plans to see a few houses. One at big trees, and another down the hill a bit. Then he tried to pawn me off on a Realtor that does not even handle full time rentals AT ALL. When I went back into his office to pull my paper work, he was on the phone with the home owner. John did not know that I had come in. The conversation with the home owner was completely unproessonial and somewhat rude. I kindly asked for my paper work from him, surprised that I was there, he apologized for the comments and told me that I was a paitent man......? It was the worst 7 hrs of my life, and would not recommend stepping foot in this office. read more

I have worked closely with John Ehret on numerous occasions, as I owned and operated a residential cleaning company, and have also had a chance to work with John in a more personal manner when my family needed help finding a rental on short notice. In both instances, John was efficient and professional. As a private business owner I was always given accurate information about the state of the property and received prompt payment. When looking for a home to rent on very short notice all of our needs were taken into account to make sure we had the best fit possible. The thing that really stands out in my mind is the fact that I was able to get a hold of John 7 days a week! When our heater went out on a busy holiday weekend, John made sure to get somebody over the same day! I never had a problem getting a hold of John or anyone else in the office. When we moved out of the area he made sure we received our deposit in a timely manner and went out of his way to make things as easy on us as possible. I have nothing but the highest respect for John and the rest of the Barry Ward team! read more