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!

Britt assisted us in purchasing a second home. She helped with writing an offer, making…read morerecommendations for homes to look at, looking into any matters of concern for us and provided professional advice to us in securing an offer that was accepted.

Britt helped us sell our condo and purchase a manufactured home. She is so personable and…read moreprofessional and really knows her stuff. She kept in close contact with us on a daily basis to make sure we were understanding all the related tasks when selling and buying a home (many forms to sign, inspections to be scheduled, etc.) Britt sent us new listings every day and made sure to keep us informed on the state of the market. She is the best person to have on your side for real estate transactions. I would definitely recommend her to anyone who wants expert guidance through the real estate maze. Britt is a gem!

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!

Lauren's calm and expertise helped guide my Mom through the sale of our family home. She was…read morepatient and kind throughout the whole process, and above all, professional. Lauren gave advice on prepping the home for sale, but she was also a great listener, making sure my mom felt ready and prepared throughout. We are thankful to have worked with Lauren and her team.

Lauren Spencer and her team were wonderful to work with when selling our house. From the first…read moremeeting, we were impressed with Lauren's knowledge, expertise, and communication skills. She made sure our home was readied for sale, coordinating all the repairs, upgrades, and inspections to ensure that the everything went without a hitch. Her team staged the house, took beautiful photos and videos, and made a stunning website. Lauren worked closely with us to determine how to make the house look its very best in order to get the most from the sale. She has broad experience in the Santa Cruz area, is very efficient, and gave us tons of personal support during the entire process. Her professionalism and genuine care made what could have been a stressful experience instead be seamless from start to finish. Our house sold in one week and for over asking price--you can't do better than that! I highly recommend Lauren for anyone looking for an exceptional real estate agent who will get you results.

The best realtor I have ever worked with. He's fantastic and has a wonderful team as well. They…read moreturned our college student rental into a gorgeous coastal gem in a matter of hours. They went above and beyond marketing it, and we received multiple offers above asking price within a day of it listing. Highly recommend.

Ben Strock was the most caring, creative and professional broker I have ever met. We watched many…read morereal estate videos and interviewed at least 7 brokers before choosing Ben. BTW, his team makes the best Real Estate videos anywhere on Youtube! When we initially interviewed him at our beach house in Santa Cruz, he brought all his key team members (not just other Realtors from his office). No other Realtor had this "integrated team approach" advantage. It was amazing to work with a professional team that all had and were allowed to provide good inputs and suggestions and handled so much of the process smoothly. Ben staged the home at his cost, made several video versions for our property (very professional and entertaining) handled all the details, found a buyer in about a month and aced the negotiations. Fantastic job Mr Strock! If you are selling or buying a home I would strongly advise giving Ben and his team the opportunity to represent your property. You will be glad you did! Five Stars!!!!!!

We had a terrific experience with Juan Salas when selling our home in Aromas. We had met him at a…read moreneighbor's open house a couple years back and had saved his card. Very glad we did. Friendly, professional and guided us throughout the process. Juan went the extra mile to make sure our home and we were well represented. He made a stressful process as painless as possible. Highly recommend!

If you are in the market to sell your home, buy a home or perhaps both, you will want to make sure…read morethat you have the very best real estate agent who has your best interest and keeps that best interest in mind. Let's be honest there will always be stressful parts to the real estate process, therefore, you will want to find that agent who will make you laugh when you feel like crying, who will never stop working and tells you the truth; even if it is not the news that you want to hear. The agent who has all of these qualities and more is Juan Salas. He worked around the clock for us by showing us homes that were just listed, drawing up the necessary paperwork and to answer any questions and concerns we had. He is a great communicator and incredibly patient. He is knowledgeable about the market and has strong negotiation skills. Juan understood our specific needs and did not stop working until he sold our house and found us our new perfect home. One of Mr. Juan's best qualities is his honesty. For example, he told us the price point that would attract the most interest and potential buyers when listing our home. He explained why that was the best price to list our home by showing recent comparables and knowing the current market trends. Juan is completely transparent throughout the entire process. He wants you to have all of the information about your perspective new home. Juan has certain procedures and strategies to obtain this information whether it be through ordering inspections or making phone calls to various entities, in order to make you feel completely comfortable and confident in your transactions. Juan has incredible drive and motivation to work tirelessly until the deal is completed.

Realator went on vacation in the middle of a deal, he did not hand off the deal to anyone else,…read morethis delayed the closing 2 weeks which put his clients deposit at risk, and cost the sellers thousands of dollars, very unprofessional, do not trust your livelihood with this conpany.

From the owner: Fair Deal Real Estate Inc. is a full service, fair commission real estate company that combines a…read moredistinct understanding of buyer representation, and listing property needs with expertise in marketing, experienced negotiating and exceptional client care. We have over twenty years of experience, family owned and operated. The corporate office is located in the Monterey Bay in Watsonville, CA and offers services throughout California.

Amiee is truly a dream to work with! So much so that I retained her services to sell two homes in…read morea three-month period. One was a beautiful turnkey home, and the other was a rental that had fallen into disrepair. She knew how to negotiate the terrain to sell both properties with top results on tight deadlines. She works tremendously hard to market her client's properties and will personally do whatever it takes to get a property ready to sell. Her work ethic is amazing. She is knowledgeable about the real estate market, and a shrewd negotiator. She is incredibly personable and professional. I will be working with her going forward and would absolutely recommend her. Simply said.... I trust her to get the job done and done well!

Aimee helped us both sell our old and buy our new home under tight timelines and helped us…read morenegotiate prices on each that topped our expectations. This was not an easy endeavor since there were lots of moving parts and balls in the air in both the sale and purchase of the new home and Aimee deftly navigated us through with a calm, can-do demeanor! Aimee has an easy going nature but also gets it done! We highly recommend her!

When we started looking for a property in Aptos a year ago, we went to Yelp to find realtors that…read morewere familiar with the local market. Mike Bloch's reviews were great, so we contacted him. He stood out for his knowledge of the Santa Cruz market and his personality and positive, open attitude. We decided to work with him, and he and his team delivered. Within a few months, we found a property we liked, so we decided to make an offer. Even though our offer was good, the seller decided to take a different offer (the house was a duplex, half of it occupied). We continued to monitor the market with Mike's help. We narrow down our search to a very specific, relatively small neighborhood close to the beach. It took us several months, but we finally found a great property, made an offer, and we got the house! Thank you, Mike for your patience and for guidance throughout the entire process! :-) :-) :-) :-) Sincerely, The four of us

This is my second time using Mike Bloch's services. First time was like 15 years ago. So many…read morepositive things to say. First, off, we had been looking for a new house for a few year, and he was always so patient with us and never got any pressure. He is down-to-earth, very honest, straight-forward, great communicator, and just a super great guy. He did such a great job marketing our house to be sold and advising me on how to fix it up to sell quickly and for the right price. What a great partner. Thanks Mike.