This experience has been incredibly unprofessional and deeply frustrating, especially considering…read morethat we never even moved into the property. We applied over a week ago and made consistent, good-faith efforts to stay in communication to ensure that all information was received correctly. The application process itself is somewhat flawed, as certain fields can be cut off upon submission, which we proactively tried to clarify. Initially, we worked with Judith, who was kind, understanding, and aware that we were under a time constraint. At that point, our application was nearly complete and progressing well; the only remaining item was my boyfriend's rental verification. Unfortunately, when Judith was unavailable, we were redirected to Theresa, the property manager, and the situation deteriorated significantly. Theresa spoke to my boyfriend in a hostile and accusatory manner, questioned why he was moving, and accused him of falsifying information on the application. She issued an abrupt ultimatum, stating that if his current landlord did not respond the same day, our applications would be denied. She further claimed that she had not received any verification documents and accused us of lying and wasting her time. At one point, she stated that the application indicated my boyfriend still lived in Bakersfield, which is categorically untrue. His landlord was hospitalized and without her phone at the time--an explanation Theresa dismissed outright, accusing him of fabricating stories. I called to seek clarification, genuinely believing there must have been some misunderstanding, as every staff member we had interacted with prior to Theresa had been courteous and helpful. Upon answering, Theresa opened the conversation with, "What do you need?" in a dismissive and hostile tone. When I calmly asked why we were suddenly being told documents were missing and that we were now at risk of denial, she again accused us of lying. I then asked--sincerely--why she was being so rude to us, as we had done everything requested and had not been treated this way before. This escalated the situation further. Theresa raised her voice and abruptly stated that our applications were denied because we were "too persistent," accused us of yelling and calling her names (which did not occur), claimed we had bad credit, and then hung up the phone. These statements are false. We have solid credit, earn well over three times the required rent, received positive references from both employers and previous rental companies, and even had a co-signer prepared if needed. There was no reasonable or factual basis for this denial. Given the aggressive behavior, false accusations, and sudden denial following repeated claims that we were lying, I feel we were treated unfairly and unprofessionally. I intend to file a complaint with the Fair Housing Act, as this interaction raises serious concerns about discrimination and misconduct. I sincerely hope this property considers replacing its management with someone capable of communicating professionally and respectfully, even under pressure.

I almost passed on these apartments after reading some of the negative reviews, but I'm glad I…read moredidn't. What I've experienced here is very different from what many of those negative reviews describe. The community is clean, quiet, and well maintained. The area is peaceful, with plenty of walking paths, and it's dog-friendly, which was important to me. Parking has not been an issue at all. There are plenty of spaces available, even if you have guests or more than one car. The apartment itself is beautiful. I love the layout, the patio is a great size, and everything feels comfortable and well designed. The leasing team, including their manager, have been friendly, helpful, and easy to work with. They took the time to explain things clearly and were patient throughout the process. From what I've seen, a lot of the negative reviews seem misleading or tied to individual issues like not paying their rent.... rather than the actual living conditions. Those reviews don't reflect the day-to-day experience here. If I had relied on them, I would have missed out on seeing the property at all. I'm glad I formed my own opinion instead of taking the reviews at face value.

Cassandra and Shonda are a fabulous team…read more When I decided to sell my home, I appreciated how Cassandra asked insightful questions to clarify my needs and provided helpful pointers to prepare the property for sale. Even when we encountered a complex issue with the septic system, Cassandra's help in finding an expert to implement a solution was invaluable. Once the solution was implemented, the team went to work guiding me through the process and paperwork to list my home (made those tasks so easy.) They kept in constant contact updating me with each viewing and in just four days after listing my home was sold. Cassandra and Shonda's market expertise, attention to detail, guidance, and frequent communication made all the difference throughout this process. I highly recommend Merrill & Associates!

Cassandra Merrill provided a highly professional real estate service, while also bringing a true…read moreempathetic approach to service. My circumstances involved selling the home of my recently deceased sister while I did not live in California. Cassandra took control of the situation offering practical suggestions on how to dispose of my sister's furniture, making sure the home was in tip top condition to sell, and assisting me through the very confusing process of selling a property in California. Her commission structure is extremely competitive, her plan for marketing the property was thorough, and she communicated weekly on the progress of the sale. The house was listed in December (not a great time) and was sold in May. While she is definitely someone you would want to work with to sell your property, more importantly, she is someone you would want as a friend. I highly recommend her to anyone interested in selling a property.

Mary is the best! She was our Real Estate Broker 15 years…read moreago when we bought our house in Atascadero. We were very happy with that experience and our home there. When we decided to sell that wonderful property, we called her again and were delighted to work with her again. She's the BEST, so personable, very knowledgeable, extremely helpful, kind, thorough, thoughtful, professional, insightful, easy to work with, friendly, well respected, and very familiar with the area/community. We highly recommend Mary!

She will lie cheat and steal for you so if you're selling she's great but if she's the listing…read moreagent on a home you want to purchase, be careful you're not buying a pig with lipstick, cause that's how she sells.

I have been working with Academe for 7 months on a difficult situation in my rental house in…read moreAtascadero. Cami, Kelly and the crew have been outstanding help. They are knowledgeable, extremely helpful and I can't thank them enough for their kind and caring understanding of my situation. I highly recommend this business. the people are wonderful.

RENTERS BEWARE I've…read morebeen renting a property managed by Academe for the past four years, and my experience has been extremely frustrating. One of the most serious issues was a water leak that went unresolved for more than six months despite being reported. I actively communicated with management for months requesting updates and received little meaningful progress or information. It wasn't until I threatened to withhold rent and pursue legal remedies that action was finally taken to address the issue. The prolonged leak ultimately resulted in mold growth and required significant repairs and mold remediation. During the remediation process, I had to live in a motel for approximately two weeks, which disrupted my daily life and routine. Had the leak been addressed promptly, the extent of the damage, remediation, and disruption could likely have been reduced. Communication has also been a persistent problem. As I prepare to move out at the end of my lease, I emailed Garrett, the office manager, to provide notice and ask several time-sensitive questions regarding the move-out process. It's been a week and I still have not received a response. This lack of communication has made an already stressful process more difficult. Another recurring concern has been delayed weed abatement. I live in a fire-prone area, and there have been multiple occasions when weed abatement occurred after the June 1st deadline. Given the fire risk in the area, this is not an issue that should be treated casually. The deadline date is the same every year. It should not be hard to schedule this. After four years as a tenant, I expected better responsiveness, maintenance, and communication. Based on my experience, I would advise prospective renters to carefully consider these issues before signing a lease with Academe. I hope the move-out process goes more smoothly than the issues described above. At the time of writing, that process is still ongoing, and I will update this review if there are any additional relevant developments.

I turned in a rental application march 11th and got a denial letter in the mail that was dated only…read morea day after I turned in my application. They denied us for "unable to verify employment", " temporary or irregular employment", and "unable to verify income" which was all very confusing since my fiancé has worked at a very well known winery for almost a year now and we turned in his two paystubs with the application. His manager is out of the country, so I went into their office to try and explain that incase that's why they denied us. When I very politely asked if I could give some explanation as to why they may have not been able to contact the manager in order to verify income and employment, a very rude older women said she doesn't need any explaining and better luck next time and then picked up the ringing office phone, as another older women sitting in a chair across from her looked at me and mouthed "sorry" The woman in charge of applications is either RACIST or money hungry for $50 of application fee's because I have never been treated so poorly by any management company in person like that.

I was just now physically assaulted by Cathy who works at the front desk and reportedly takes care…read moreof accepting new applicants. She fails to listen to anyone or let them talk on the phone and then hangs up if she doesn't get her way. So, I went down there to justify my case. Here's the story: The owner is a very nice and respectable business woman who showed me 2 properties. I sent in a rental application about a week later. Kathy was rude on the phone the first time I ever called, which was a Thursday. She was inappropriately rude while not even knowing who I am or what I look like or anything, just rude to some random stranger on the phone who is inquiring about the properties. Kathy told me she viewed my application. This was a lie. Next day, I call to speak to the owner again, seeing if she's in or if she got my "note that Kathy left to call me back" and I get the same nasty demeanor, brushing me off. As if finding a rental isn't already stressful enough without the additional interpersonal barriers. Then, she says something weird and outlandish in a somewhat childlike voice, "I can't force her to talk to you, she's busy." As if I was pushing the issue in an inappropriate way. I wasn't. I simply called back, following up on the property and my application. Kathy talks to you as if you're burden when really she's just lazy and not doing her job because I found out she never even viewed my application because I realized I sent it to the wrong email address. The site listed summersre1@hotmail.com. This may have been an old site or something. The current email is @gmail.com. Therefore, she lied about even reviewing it from the start. And had asked me to "send it again" to the gmail account AFTER I told her I was interested in staying in touch until I find a place. She thought she could just brush me off and not help me. So once she finally reviews my application she said they need a $25 cash application fee. I spent an extra $15 to overnight it because I was very interested in both places the owner showed me, but I decided that a week after viewing them. This was on a Friday I sent the money. Monday morning I call when the money was delivered and she tells me she found a renter for both places, magically, and that she can send me my money back because she hasn't "processed" my application yet. This was because I applied to places that were "already off the market," in her eyes. SHE was willing to send back the money. I said, "hang onto it because the owner said they might have new rentals pop up that I might be interested in." This is when she realized she wasn't going to get rid of me and that I would be in touch trying to find a new place. She agreed to hang onto the application fee and only charge me if she found a place for me to apply to. She told me she would contact me if she found anything after I told her what I'm looking for. I told her the price range and number of bedrooms, etc. I quit bothering her and kept shopping on my own because every time I called, she was annoyed. So I was giving her the chance to contact me. I let a couple weeks go by. I call today and try to explain this situation and before I could get 2 sentences out she starts talking loudly over me, won't listen. Hangs up. I go there. I start explaining. She's trying to talk over me loud enough so no one else can hear this craziness on her end. I was in there for literally 2 minutes, not even, before she walks quickly around the front desk and opens the front door and puts both hands on my right arm and starts yanking at my arm, scratching me through my shirt. I'm telling her not to touch me. "Don't touch me Don't touch me you're assaulting me!" I'm verbally telling her to get off of me. And I'm pulling away from her tryin to get out of her grip without touching her back and she lets go and watches me fall hard on my ass on the floor and is yelling at ME that SHE is going to call the cops. When she stole Money from me, never helped me out, physically assaulted me, never heard me out. The "non refundable application fee" I totally get. IF your application was actually processed and reviewed for a specific unit. That never happened. She offered to give me my money back and then it later became an issue???? I told her to hang on to it if they find a unit for me to apply to. I never applied. My application was never "processed," is the word she likes to use. So, she's threatening to call the cops on me when I was there for all of about 5-7 minutes in total. I'm a frustrated customer who wanted to be heard. That was all. It should have never gotten physical. She's not security. She has no rights to physically touch me. And she knows that. And the other woman behind the desk knows that too. To yank on my arm and make me fall down and then try to humiliate me. She's awful. And should be charged with assault.

Linda Jensen is a wonderful realtor She has handled two purchases for us. Linda was not just…read moreinterested in selling us anything she can find. She was interested in finding us something we were interested in at the price we wanted. She went the full process with us. She was done when we were happy. Warm, friendly, and has a long track record here in the area. I trust her impliitly.

Linda Has been extremely valuable during my real estate transactions. On the last deal she saved me…read moreover 20k while working on a for closure short sale. For the Best See Linda Immediately!

I want to express the wonderful experiences I have had in contacting and working with Joshua Milne…read morethe Maintenance & Compliance Supervisor at MARK IV Systems, Inc. His responsiveness, positivity and professionalism is wonderful! He remains in contact and has always kept me informed regarding situations that have occurred requiring maintenance and repair on our Condominium. Josh always makes a potentially stressful situation so much easier to manage and rectify due to his caring and top notch abilities! He is an extraordinarily skilled representative and I am very grateful for all of his hard work! I would highly recommend Mark IV!

Definitely do not recommend this business. The Association uses them but has no idea of our…read morecomplains that go unresolved for months. If you insist too much they give you the run around " leave a message". There are complains that go unanswered for decades...causing damages to the inside of houses which they don't take responsibility for it! Pleasant to talk to but extremely inefficient and poor communicators. Our Association meetings are in horrible timeframes because they have people outside the area, in another state, working with us. The houses need painting but have not been painted but one in 10 years... the roofs were done poorly through the years have caused damages to select property owners. They do the bare minimal and ignore it whenever possible. Unfortunately the association meetings are done during very uncomfortable times for people that have a job acomodating only the time frames of Mark IV Property Management. A small sample left over from a leaking roof which took complains for several years to be resolved...

You don't get to pick your title company, but I can say Darlene knocked it out of the park. She was…read moreso helpful, always available to take questions on the phone and email, and made handing I over large checks less painful!

We closed escrow on our property and we are in November and we have not received our deed . Very…read morepoor professionalism .

Max Zappas of Z Villages did an exceptional job listing, marketing, and selling my office…read morecondominium during a time where there are vacant offices that haven't been selling quickly. I selected him because he had a positive attitude about my property and seemed confident that he could find a buyer. I got a fair price for my property and would highly recommend him and his company.

Z Villages Management has done a great job managing our property in Atascadero. We are delighted…read morewith their handling of all the typical landlord hassles - leasing, bookkeeping, maintenance & tenant relations. They provide us with reports that keep us in the loop and all the services we need. Strongly recommend.