This was our first time renting with Southern Shores, after renting with another company for 18…read moreyears. I wasn't sure what to expect regarding cleanliness and the rental property being in good condition. What a pleasant surprise, all exceeded our expectations. Staff was friendly, knowledgeable and quick to answer my questions after checking in. We will definitely be renting with them again! Linda & Gary Woodruff Stokesdale, NC

We rented Written in Sand (#1361) in Duck through Southern Shores Realty. The location was good and…read morewe enjoyed having the private pool, but unfortunately the condition of the house upon arrival was well below what we expected from a professionally managed vacation rental. The biggest problem was cleanliness. We arrived to a puddle of water on the floor by the refrigerator, dirty dishes, and dishes/water stacked in the pantry area. Kitchen counters and cabinets were sticky and dirty, as were railings and other surfaces throughout the house. Ceiling fans needed cleaning and the gas grill had not been cleaned. The bedding was particularly disappointing. We found blankets on the beds that were visibly dirty/hairy, multiple blankets with stains, and a stack of pillows sitting directly on the floor. One bathroom had a very dirty shower curtain and another was missing a shower curtain altogether. There were also maintenance issues. The exterior sliding doors on the second level were difficult to lock, the kitchen threshold/floor laminate needs repair, and the Wi-Fi was very unreliable and repeatedly went in and out. The house is also very basic in terms of amenities. Even simple things like hand soap weren't provided. The living room could also really use a couple of freestanding lamps, as the lighting is poor. To be fair to Southern Shores, we didn't call about the cleaning issues until Thursday during a Sunday-to-Sunday stay, so we weren't expecting them to send a cleaning crew back at that point. The representative was apologetic and acknowledged that having only one person clean a five-bedroom house was likely inadequate. Our concern is primarily that the property should never have been turned over to arriving guests in this condition. Dirty/stained bedding, dirty dishes and sticky, uncleaned surfaces should have been caught before check-in. Written in Sand has a good location and potential, but it needs substantially more attention to housekeeping, maintenance and basic guest amenities. Based on our experience, we would not rent this particular property again without significant improvements.

we were very satisfied with Stephen as our agent in the home buying process…read more friendly,knowledgeable, easy to work with. very quick response to questions and always had great advice during the search process and also the negotiations.

Working with Stephen as our Buyer's agent was a pleasure. His knowledge or real estate that would…read morefit our needs was very helpful, and he was very accommodating with schedule and questions. Would recommend!

As a first time home buyer I had no idea what I was getting in to but Jim took really great care of…read moreme. His knowledge and experience is evident as well as the fact that he really cares about helping you find the perfect home. I wasn't looking to purchase right away yet he still gave me all of his effort without being pushy. I knew what I was looking for and he constantly sent me updates on new homes as they came on the market. Jim was honest and insightful during the entire process and I couldn't be happier with the experience or my choice in realtor!

From the owner: Real Estate agent in Duck, Corolla, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Colington, Nags…read moreHead, Manteo and other areas of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Catherine was our buying agent and was wonderful. Responsive and prepared. Knew the area and helped…read moreus find a great home.

We highly recommend Catherine Strachan-Brown if you are looking for your "forever" home in the…read moreNorthern Outer Banks in North Carolina. We had first met Catherine over two years ago. She worked with us throughout that time to find is exactly the right home to meet our current and future needs. Catherine actively listened to our wants, needs and concerns and then came up with a realistic plan to make our dream a reality.! Kind regards, Craig & Pamela Elliott Carolla, NC

We stayed at the property Salt & Light unit 526-A the week of July 4th 2026. The house has a great…read morelocation and is directly across from a public beach access. Plenty of room for extended family. A few opportunities exist however: most of the doors are not lockable for the bedrooms, the outdoor shower is only lockable from the outside, the mattresses for both king size beds need to be replaced ( very uncomfortable and a must for the owner), and the pool requires attention with respect to a slow leak that the pool maintenance worker mentioned to us on Monday ( two days after check-in) which is also a must to fix.

After renting the same house for 20 years (and 5 more years at another house) through Sun Realty,…read morethey have booked our house out from underneath us for next year, while we are still here in it on vacation. It has always been a policy that the current renter has first option to book for next year. This policy I believe is pretty standard throughout all rental companies, but Sun Realty! We have been informed that it is now first come first serve and we need to change our weeks. No, we had to change realtors. We're charged a cleaning fee (WHY?), and for what! Every year I need to wash EVERYTHING in the kitchen before we can use anything. Things were so greasy that they almost fell out of your hands. We have a king size matress pad on a queen size bed. At least we had one. Have arrived to no matress pads or wrong size. No shower curtain, vaccuum cleaner that had a broken belt, so you know that nothing was cleaned. Had a toilet that wouldn't flush, and the list goes on and on over the years and nothing has improved. If anything, it's worse!!! If I could rate Sun a -10 I would! They are a terrible company to deal with and they don't care at all about their guests! All they want is the money! NEVER USE THEM AND I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE!!!! WISH THE OWNERS COULD SEE THIS AND KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO THEIR GUESTS!

Oh my gosh...I can't even tell you what a relief it's been having Ashley on my side this first week…read morewe've been working together. She's professional, detailed and completely on top of the details. Having her handle my latest transaction has freed me up to do the things I'm better at, like showing houses, meeting new buyers, and listing more houses. I'm actually pretty good at details but having to think about attorney approvals and addendums and deposit checks takes my eye off the things that further my business. Having Ashley take care of all those details is incredibly freeing! Thank you Ashley!! If you haven't called her yet, what are you waiting for!?!?

Ashley makes a lot of people's lives easier. Her work ethic sets her apart from other competition,…read morestriving to be the very best on a consistent basis.

Just sold my mom's beach house with Ben Nelson at Southern Cottage Realty. He came highly…read morerecommended by a person in the area we trust. Ben knows the market well and was able to give our family a good idea of the right price range and what we'd need to do to sell the house quickly, which was a priority for my elderly mom. We got an offer before the photos were even posted. Ben also went above and beyond to help us retrieve items of sentimental value before the closing--moving some large items himself when we couldn't down there as expected. Can't recommend him highly enough, and I've dealt with my fair share of agents.

Two words sum up Beach Realty service: world-class. From contract through check-out, the team is…read morefriendly, knowledgeable, responsive and helpful. We experienced two issues at our cottage (bugs and pool water level) and they were taken care of posthaste with a smile. These people are the best! We have been vacationing on the Outer Banks for 50 years and have been renting through Beach Realty the past three -- we will not deal with any other company . . . This year we stayed at Beach Road Cottage in KDH. Five stars, as well. Accommodations were clean and comfortable. The property was steps to the beach and close to restaurants (walk to Goombays Grille & Raw Bar) and attractions. As noted above, a couple of issues were taken care of quickly and professionally. We will book again . . .

I wrote a review for Beach Realty, per their request, on Aug. 5, 2026. They have never responded…read more Clearly they don't care. So decided I'd try to help someone else and tell them AVOID BEACH REALTY LIKE THE PLAGUE!! We rented American Dream. More like American Nightmare! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!! In 2024, 2 of the 3 heat pumps were completely out when we arrived for our week. 90+ degree weather. Management installed temporary window units which were hideous. Several other maintenance items were a disaster. Management promised to repair and offered a discount for 2025. We went back. Second year was much improved. We like the house - lots of room for the family to spread out. Location is super convenient. Kids love the pool. So we decided to go back for summer 2026. When first we reached the 3rd floor it was very hot - the AC was out!!!! I called and it was repaired by 8 pm, but really! AGAIN!!?? Don't they pay any attention to the property and what's working or not?? On Monday morning when we opened the dishwasher, we discovered the bottom was full of gross water. It was Tues afternoon before they got around to sending a maintenance guy. I did not pay the amount of rent they charge for a week to enjoy washing dishes!! One item I have brought to management's attention twice (now it's three times) is the horrible stove. The oven only works halfway. The eyes are so marginal it's ridiculous. My daughter was trying to cook pancakes this year. She set the temp on 4. It got WAY too hot so she cut it to 2. It got HOTTER! Put it on 6 and it cooled off. (The knobs were on correctly.) Surface is a mess. Oven takes more than twice recommended cook time. The large lower drawer does not work and is rusty. Rust inside the microwave as well which is old and not dependable. Again, adjust cooking time by double. The door to the freezer leaks from the ice maker. Every time you open it, water is spread across the floor. Have reported this in prior years. It's actually starting to corrode now. Bins in the refrig are cracked. Several of the lights in the house simply do not work such as 3rd level master bath area, 2nd level closet and most of the exhaust fans make terrible noise and are very marginal. Lamps are missing lightbulbs or have bulbs that do not work. Several of the AC vents are moldy, filthy and rusty. The top glass in the door to the 3rd level deck is gone so you have to keep the door closed. Can't look out to enjoy the ocean and the door itself has such a strong spring on it you risk the health of your heels and toes navigating in and out! Too dangerous to allow the kids to do it on their own. There is a LARGE timber on the back left corner of the pool stockade fence which is broken and appears about ready to collapse completely. Pieces of the broken timber are sticking out and could be the source of a bad injury not to mention disaster for the pool deck with the release of the bank it's holding back. The outside shower under the deck is unusable due to a deep pile of sand which has washed in from the outside. There is some sort of electric box hanging from the north side of the house. I left/sent 3 messages asking for the property manager to contact me and received no response. Hence this review. I repeat - we like the house. LOTS of room and nice layout. Area is great for family excursions. Right on the beach with beautiful views. This year we were there during the hatching of a couple of sea turtle nests which was exciting and educational for all. Bless those turtle volunteers! American Dream...not so much. If Beach Realty is going to charge premium rates, they need to actually inspect and repair the property. I know lots of people come and go and it's difficult to keep on top of every detail. But some of these problems have existed for years. Others are safety concerns. Others are essential to the comfort and well-being of their "guests." Please pay better attention, Beach Realty. I gave it a 3 because of the features and location. But it's barely adequate. Pictures available upon request.  BUT because of their complete lack of response to my calls while in Nags Head and the review (above) I sent them, it's reduced to a 1.