I just finished buying a home with the awesome Gina Odom. From the very beginning she asked…read morepertinent questions to make sure she understood my needs. She was thorough and thoughtful throughout the entire process. She made great recommendations yet it was always driven to meet my needs. If you want a knowledgeable and seasoned professional...... Gina is that and more. She and her team were kind and generous every time we spoke or met. I highly recommend you give her a call.

From start to finish, Gina and everyone at GRO were fantastic! We needed a house that would be big…read moreenough to accommodate a family but stay strictly within our budget. With her patient guidance, Gina helped us navigate the housing market in Santa Cruz, and after a few *fun* offer adventures, we landed a fantastic house for our growing family. Even after the closing date, she and her team have been extremely helpful, connecting us to local contractors and providing guidance to us as new home owners. Thank you Gina!

There are not enough words to thank James Godfrey-Thomas for everything he has done for our family…read more James has been helping us search for a home for years. During that time our lives changed tremendously. We grew our family, welcomed two children, changed priorities, explored countless homes, asked endless questions, and took our time making one of the biggest decisions of our lives. Through it all, James remained patient, supportive, knowledgeable, and incredibly generous with his time. What impressed us most was that James never treated us like a transaction. He genuinely cared about helping us find the right home for our family. Whether it was showing a property, answering questions late in the evening, helping us navigate inspections and negotiations, or simply talking through our concerns, he was always there. We know we were not the easiest clients. We were thoughtful, cautious, and sometimes needed extra time to process major decisions. At no point did James make us feel rushed or pressured. Instead, he consistently offered honest advice and steady guidance that helped us feel confident every step of the way. Today we are closing on a home that we truly love, and we would not be here without him. We are so grateful for his professionalism, integrity, patience, and friendship throughout this journey. If you are looking for a realtor who genuinely cares about his clients and will go above and beyond for them, we cannot recommend James Godfrey-Thomas highly enough. Thank you, James. Our family will never forget everything you did to help us get here.

Leticia Hostins at Room helped us find our wonderful home! She was so helpful and knowledgeable! I…read morehighly recommend her to be your realtor!

Jen has been our agent for two sales and one purchase, and each time she was outstanding. She is…read morevery dedicated to her clients, highly knowledgeable of the local market and how to close the deal, both as a buyer and a seller. If you want to partner with the best in Santa Cruz County, she is the obvious choice.

Jen is one of the best real estate agents anywhere. It's not overstatement: she makes her work an…read moreart-form. She made the purchase of our home here such a pleasure--personal, responsive, local, fun, deftly communicative, and she deeply listened for our property wishes. While extremely patient in an extensive search process, once offers were going in, inspection time came, and escrow opened -- she was a complete go-getter with contractors, inspectors, with great local referrals to other professionals, from legal to financial. She even took a water sample to the lab for analysis! Who does that?? (Jen) We will be forever grateful to have had Jen's support and guidance in such an important life decision.

In June 2025, my sister and I made the decision to sell the rental property we jointly owned. Since…read morewe had never sold a home before, we were on unfamiliar territory. We interviewed four different realtors, and honestly, they all appeared to be trustworthy and knowledgeable individuals who could guide us through the sales process. After narrowing down our choices to two realtors, we requested proposals for selling our house from each of them. These proposals included information about the costs of necessary repairs and upgrades as well as estimated selling prices. During the interviews, it became evident that we were entering a buyers' market, which may limit our ability to achieve the desired selling price. In the end we chose Kaelin. Her proposal kept us within our budget for repairs and upgrades, and she was confident that she could sell the home for its fair market value. Our other 'finalist' was not so positive on achieving those goals. One of the daunting aspects of preparing to sell a home is finding reliable and trustworthy contractors to undertake the necessary work to prepare the property. Once you have these contractors, you need to ensure they begin work as soon as possible. Additionally, you must closely monitor the progress of the work to ensure it is completed on time and in the manner you desire. This becomes particularly difficult for owners selling a home that is located far from their primary residence, making it challenging to meet with contractors and monitor the progress. Kaelin truly shines in this role. She already knew the contractors we needed and managed to get them to provide us with quotes. Once approved, she swiftly put them on the job and ensured timely completion of the work. Initially, the ambitious goals we set together at the project's beginning seemed a bit too demanding, but we managed to meet them. When a buyer wanted to make an offer before the house went on the market, she made sure it was a strong and compelling offer that aligned with the high end of the sales price range she had specified in her original proposal. She also didn't hesitate to incur the cost of staging the property (she pays for this), as this demonstrated our readiness to proceed with other offers if theirs wasn't satisfactory. Long story short, she made it happen. We ended up putting in less money than we planned in repairs and upgrades and sold the property right at the high end of what she said she could do. We found Kaelin very easy (even fun) to work with over the 2.5-3 month timeframe as we went from planning and starting repairs & upgrades to closing escrow.

Kaelin is an outstanding real estate agent. She knows the market and can guide you in what to do…read moreand what not to do in preparing your house for sale. I can't speak highly enough of her integrity and doing whatever needs to be done to sell your home. In our case, we were not able to do the upgrades, as we had left the area. Kaelin jumped in and lined up contractors, supervised their work, and beautifully staged out home. She was always present at the Open Houses, followed up on leads, regularly communicated, and kept our best interests foremost in her thought and actions. I highly recommend her and her team. They kept us appraised the dates for the work, Open Houses, and any bills. Simply a wonderful, warm, and engaging agent with a dynamic team who will work with and for you!

We had a fantastic experience working with MC to research homes in Santa Cruz County. Every home…read morehas its pros and cons and MC thoroughly pointed out the drawbacks to every option we considered. In particular, she did a great job walking us back from a few homes that tugged on our heartstrings but were impractical choices. Buying a home in Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scott's Valley, or Bonny Doon is very different than buying a home in Chicago, where we lived previously, and MC had deep knowledge on the factors to consider for each home along with the particularities of not just neighborhoods, but specific streets. She was in absolutely no rush for us to select a home, and a typical conversation would run for over an hour as we thought through a decision from many angles. Ultimately MC helped us find our new home right after a significant price drop in an area that wasn't on our radar (Bonny Doon), but which we now prefer over the other locations we were considering. Best of all, the home was fairly new, rare for this area, which allowed us to move forward with confidence. Even then, MC was extremely thorough in evaluating all the risks and potential items we may want to inspect, drawing upon her deep experience from seeing these issues surface with past clients. In the end, by working with MC we were able to purchase a home that met all our original criteria, along with some new criteria that MC helped educate us on through our journey together, at a price that was within our budget. We'd certainly work with MC again and wish her the best of luck!!

Thanks for the 10-year anniversary card. We're happy with…read moreour home (built in 1935) albeit it would be better if we replace it with a more-modern architecture & engineering (which would cost over a million bucks, no doubt). The foundation isn't the greatest either. Still it's quiet at night and the air is clean for the super low price that we had to pay (we paid off the mortgage a year ago). And fortunately we evaded the huge wild fire a couple of years ago. It came within a mile of the property. The property is gently slopping into a San Lorenzo tributary with a steeper slope behind us; which leads me to a segue to what has happened a week ago. I had heard a few snapping sounds in the morning and had thought it must be a deer rummaging thru the trees and hence, returned to the house. Then it got louder a few minutes later and I thought a maintenance crew was on the property. I went back out to investigate and notice thelarge oak tree at about 45 deg angle on the slope before the house, just outside our gate, over our drive way. It provide a lot of shade that we truly miss. Then it happened: it started to break at the base of the trunk heading downward. This was a large tree and it took about 20 secs to fully snap and crash down, crossing our driveway and onto Highway 9. It blocked half the street. I had witness this at about 10:30 a.m. last Thursday. Fortunately a CalTran guy was nearby and started clear the road with his chainsaw. It took another week to have the crew remove the debris along the street. BTW: no such trees exist behind the house, fortunately.

Michelle and her team did an amazing job for my lending situation with expertise in being able to…read morenegotiate a win win solution for a real estate transaction. Thank you for being a leader in our community.

We went out to eat this afternoon and saw an open house on the drive home. We are local and will…read morebe in the market to sell our current home and purchase something larger in the next year or so. I have never had such a negative experience in previewing an open home as I did today with Lorrie. Upon walking into this vacant listing, she mentioned the owners asked for all people coming through to sign in, which I happily did. When asked for a phone number or email address, I said I'd rather not. Even with her offer that I wouldn't be contacted, sharing further information did not interest me and I clarified that we were not in the market at this time. The mood greatly shifted as she then proceeded thank us for coming by and wished us a nice day. When we said we were just going to take a look upstairs on our way out, Lorrie stated our contact information was required to preview the home any further. I could have put down a fake phone number or email address as so many others do, but wasn't in the mood to deal with the tension of the hard sales push and we chose to move on. All I have to say is working as a Realtor, you are a salesperson. Open houses are primarily to establish relationships with potential clients. The majority of the traffic that comes through an open house consists of others like me. Everyone who walks through the door should be looked at as someone who may hire you to help them along the way. I may not be willing to give anymore than my name and city on a sign in sheet as I enter. However, if I feel I've had a good experience and made a connection with you, I would be the one to contact you when the time is right. Something you may want to consider in the future.

From the owner: Real Estate Services Real Estate Agent…read moreRealtor

I had the opportunity to work with Pam on a recent purchase transaction for my client where she was…read morethe listing agent representing the seller. I greatly appreciated Pam's effective and speedy communication. I can tell that she truly care about people and what she does. Her seller was elderly and she drove over 5 hours back and forth to accommodate her seller which is absolutely amazing and not very common now a days. She was always available for my client and his agent as well. She is an excellent Realtor and and I would highly recommend her if you are looking for a realtor.

From the owner: Less than an hour from San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are the…read moreideal location for anyone looking to enjoy an easygoing lifestyle. Here you have the luxury of going to the opera and the beach on the same day -- it's that close. From working at Lockheed Martin to moving into real estate, Pam Spehar knows what it takes to get the job done, and she does it. Pam works with California Dreaming Real Estate, an independent brokerage firm that offers industry leading resources for its agents and clients. She's a full-service REALTOR®, working with buyers and sellers of all experience levels and interests. She especially enjoys working with first-time buyers. Her expertise ranges from small homes to luxury homes to mountain land properties. Over the years, she's built a reputation for having happy clients that remain good friends with her. Whether you're moving for a new job or you're looking to downsize, partner with Pam for unwavering support. DRE#01394567

Cristina was absolutely outstanding throughout our entire home-buying journey. From day one, she…read morewas knowledgeable, responsive, patient, and genuinely invested in helping us find the right home--not just making a sale. She guided us through every step of the process, answered all of our questions promptly, and always made us feel like we were her top priority. Her expertise, attention to detail, and strong negotiation skills gave us confidence during what could have been a very stressful experience. What really sets Cristina apart is how much she truly cares about her clients. She took the time to understand our needs, provided honest advice, and was always available whenever we needed her. Thanks to her hard work and dedication, the entire process went smoothly, and we couldn't be happier with our new home. If you're looking for a Realtor who is professional, trustworthy, knowledgeable, and goes above and beyond for her clients, I can't recommend Cristina highly enough. It was a pleasure working with her, and I would gladly recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell a home.

Cristina and Julie were flat-out amazing to work with. She is responsive, knowledgable, and listens…read moreto her clients' needs. She is as invested as you are in finding the right home for you - in fact, they are the ones that recommended the neighborhood in which I ended up purchasing a home...and that neighborhood wasn't even on my radar! It couldn't be more perfect. They know the market, trends, neighborhoods, what to look for, what red flags to watch out for - and they have a host of connections to help you get set up in your new home post-close. Cristina expertly navigated the offer on the home I really wanted (and it was a nail biter!) - and we landed it in this crazy competitive market! Cristina and Julie guided me through a lightning fast closing (my loan officer said it was the fastest close he's ever done) and even stayed in touch post-close to ensure I was getting settled. Really cannot recommend highly enough - personalized, thoughtful, and knowledgable.

My wife and I are first time home buyers and Manu was our realtor…read more We got our dream house with her but I'm going to try and be objective in this review. Manu has been in the business for a long time now. The connections she has came in clutch multiple times. We got a phenomenal interest rate through her contact, got really helpful escrow people, and had multiple instances of going to open houses and name-dropping her as our agent. People in the business recognize her. You have to understand what you get with Manu though. She played every single move the safest way it could be played. We didn't put multiple offers - only one house at a time. We had contingencies to protect our bids from bad evaluations. Even celebrating the closing was only Manu-approved after the loan was approved and the docs were signed. All of which I appreciate because I'm fairly risk averse. Manu's team is a powerhouse. She made every deadline with room to spare. She was also really good at dealing with my bad mood and stress (real estate is brutal). Although towards the end I think she was a little grateful to be done with us lol. Her MO is also to give you a customized portal in MLS for houses but full honesty, my wife and her house hunting doom scrolling probably found more houses. The house we ended up buying too didn't make it through the filters. She also only comes to open houses after you like them. So she's not going to spoon feed you everything but she makes those expectations pretty clear straight away. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that her advice was a big part of why we stepped up from looking at smaller townhouses to a single family home. No regrets there. Now one month into living at the new house, we did learn some things the hard way like home warranties are fairly useless, Yelp and Home Depot are your best friends, and if you call someone for a free inspection, they're honor bound to find something stupid for you to have to fix. So yeah again, you're not going to be spoonfed everything. So why 5 stars? I did get my dream house. And this whole experience was possibly the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life. Through it, Manu and her team were a good group of people to have in my corner.

Manu is a realtor par excellence. She recently guided us through both buying and selling our home…read morein the Cupertino area. Managing these two processes at the same time can be quite stressful, but Manu's expertise made it feel seamless. Before meeting her, we had spoken with several other realtors, and the experience felt overwhelming. With Manu, it was immediately clear that she has deep knowledge of local schools and neighborhoods. She is very competent, straightforward, and gets you results without any gimmicks. Her negotiation skills are impressive, and thanks to her, both our purchase and sale went smoothly. She is also very practical--recommending only the essential upgrades that truly add value--and connects you with reliable contractors to get things done efficiently. We highly recommend her--she is truly everything she claims in her radio ads and more!