Meth House. Yep, Barry Ward rented me one then kicked my family out when we contacted a lawyer…read more 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.)

I used An agent from Barry award to purchase my cabin in 2016 and it was awesome. As that agent…read moreleft 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.

Drove to Arnold today (6 Sep 20) to look at a select few properties from the Bay Area. Upon arrival…read moreto our first stop we were greeted by a very agitated real estate agent named Linda Forrester. She began to explain to us that she was not going to let me, my wife and my real estate agent view the property unless we had a printed pre approval letter to show proof of funds. I explained that I had it on email but she told us to go get a printed copy. She was very difficult to speak with. She turned away a guy in a truck as we were walking up, and she turned away another family as we were leaving. Her Century 21 website shows her to have great reviews from sellers but today she was not doing very good. I wouldn't let her sell my house.

21 SIERRA PROPERTY THE WORST Last New Years Eve we rented a…read morehome for a 3 day weekend. We had 2 adults with disabilities, which we advised 21 Sierra Properties. Our rental had an elevator and a hot tub. The elevator worked for 2 hours. We contacted 21 Sierra and they could not send anyone out till the next day. After waiting 2 hours for a late arrival, the repair person told us they just were out here last week to repair and this time they were unable to repair the elevator. Without an elevator we could not leave to go to the snow & leave our mothers at home. We also had to pay $75 to use the hot tub. The $75 was to cover cleaning & chemicals for the hot tub. The hot tub was not clean and did not have chemicals. The water was stagnant and full of bubbles & scum. The response to our dissatisfaction with the condition of the 6 bedroom rental was, we are sorry for the condition of the rental, but we can't do anything about it. We had to carry our mothers down all the stairs and could / would not use the hot tub in that condition. 21 Sierra would not even refund the $75 we paid for a clean hot tub usage. The worst rental company we ever used for a vacation and we would never use them or recommend them to anyone. We have however, told everyone we know of the unprofessional manner this vacation rental company is run.

Sheila had a great proposal to list my cabin. She came highly recommended through a Dorrington…read morelocal and I would have loved to work with her if I had listed my cabin. Ultimately I chose not to sell, but I would recommend her, she is very knowledgeable, pays attention to detail, and is very well respected within the community; great follow through and follow up!

Dorrington Realty was great to work with. I am an agent and also the buyer. We bought one of…read moreLinda's listings. She was very professional and responsive to work with. She made the whole transaction painless as I didn't have to hound the other side for any documents and she was extremely accommodating. I would recommend her if you are looking in and around the Dorrington/Camp Connell area. I know she will be my #1 agent I refer people to from now on.

This real estate agency allows fraudulent parties to buy and sell properties without a realtor…read morelicense. I have reported to agency to the FTC, FBI, and the HUD OID. Extremely distasteful use of power over a small community. You should be ashamed at how you've been treating the small community you claim to serve. It is against the law for a realtor and homeowner to discriminate against you for having children and for being on social security. You don't serve this community, you cripple it!

If it was possible to give a place 0 or even negative stars. This place would definitely get it…read more I'm not sure how lengthy this will get, but buckle up, grab yourself your favorite soda and snack and come with me on my nightmare that was Coldwell Banker Action Realty. (*note, this is based on the property rental service, I have not purchased or sold any homes with this company) (side note, I would never use them for that either based on this experience) Let us first travel back about 25 years. My first visit to the Big Trees, coming at least once a year. Family vacation after family vacation, Big Trees was a constant. Here we are 2011. The time has come to once again make a visit, having sold our cabin a few years earlier. Having tried another rental company in the passed, I decided to try Coldwell because they were a bit cheaper. Big mistake and maybe a lesson of when not to be frugal. I should've known that after the initial request for information, nothing came back that this customer service nightmare was only beginning. Bargain hunting for my family, I stuck with it. I sent a follow up email. Keep in mind this is a town that has 3500 people, I would think any business is good business. No? Oh you're right CB, it is hard to respond to email. I mean we don't have internet on our phones or wifi nearly everywhere there is a pulse. 10 days later, my response was "Yeah we have cabins available, please call for any questions". Gee! Thanks. My stupid self stuck with it, calling for more info. I did find a place that was suitable for a large party and the price was within the budget. After checking with the family we decided to book. I sent an email basically saying yeah lets book. 4 days later (again..this technology thing is hard apparently) response was "I need more info. Please call to set up rental" Suuuuurrre. So I called, "oh I'm sorry our property manager is off" Next day same thing. Next day...oh shes off already. Interesting. Still my stupid self stuck with it. Flash forward to getting the cabin. We checked in and this place looked like a seen from a horror movie. Spiders on the wall, dirty toilets, old bobby pins on the counters, leftover food in the fridge, bugs on the bedspreads, dust everywhere, foul smell, magazines as a center piece that were 2 years old (magazines that come out weekly). I mean this was bad. Spent the first two hours of our family vacation cleaning the house. Yippee. Next day I go in to talk about the place. Response: "yes it was cleaned last night" In my head I'm going "how can I get that job, get paid to not clean, sure I could do that" Response later in the conversation after Ive had my piss fest. "Well, our customers should expect coming into that because this cabins do sit vacant sometimes" Conclusion because I'm tired of writing: I literally would rather eat dog food than deal with this company again. I mean that 100%. We ended up staying 1 night there because our party of 8 had no other choice. Had we not driven over 800 miles and been able to remedy the situation in normal business hours, we would have stayed in the hotel nearby and worried about our deposit later. This company must be doing so well that we our 8 night stay meant nothing. They offered no remedy for our situation besides an unpleasant exchange of keys when I turned them in. No follow up call from management, no apology letter (unless you count my "cleaning deposit letter refund" that came 1 month after my stay saying, and I quote "Your sudden departure was very disturbing to both the homeowner and I", no nothing. Take my word for it. DO NOT USE THIS PLACE FOR YOUR PROPERTY RENTAL!

Despite the smoke from the Yosemite fire, we had a wonderful time this past weekend staying at…read more Bear Lake. The cabins around Bear Lake are privately owned, but the company manages the rentals and the property. We easily found a cabin and the whole process was smooth sailing from start to finish. Cleanup was minimal and they even provide toiletries. We loved the cabin we stayed at. It had an amazing form factor and was right on the lake. Cabin came with a kayak, which we didn't use. Couldn't have had a more comfortable or enjoyable stay, save for the smoke of course. The negatives of our stay mainly have to do with the General Store and restaurant associated with the Bear Valley Lodge. Go over to that review if you want more details. All I will say here is that I highly recommend you bring in all your own food. The community also boasts a play area by the lodge for the kids, and a small gas station and store.

I'm surprised there are not more reviews for BVRE, the only real estate sales company in town in…read moreBear Valley. Joel is the man about town, knows everyone and how to get things done. Please note they no longer manage rentals, that is a different company. BVRE has (three?) agents - Joel, Jeff and Eric - and handles practically every listing in Bear Valley plus the areas of Sky High Ranch and elsewhere. They commonly represent both seller and buyer. Joel is involved in the Bear Valley Business Association as well as efforts to improve Bear Valley such as a skating pavilion and a gondola directly from the village to Bear Valley ski area (which currently is reached via car or shuttle only). For clients, he sometimes helps out in a pinch such as shutting off water before freezing temps if the owner can't make it to BV in time. Joel's wife Pamela also is involved in operations and I was impressed with her efforts.

Working with James from Tangerine Photography was an exceptional experience from start to finish…read more He brought a calm, professional presence and a truly elevated eye to photographing my rental property. Every image -- from wide interiors to stunning drone footage -- was thoughtfully composed and beautifully lit. James was punctual, kind, and incredibly detail-oriented. His work captures the essence and atmosphere of the home with sophistication and style. Highly recommend!

From the owner: Sell Faster for More Money! BE THE BEST by looking your best -…read more Showcase your home with Aerials, Twilight, Matterport, and Floor Plan. HDR Photos come standard! Let Tangerine Photography sell your home for you!

Daniel Seider was our real estate agent & he is amazing!!! He went above & beyond for us…read more He met was us prior to listing & gave some advice, he had professional photos taken & did a lot of research on what the sale price should be. We had a full price offer 1 day after listing our property. He has continued to help us as we navigate thru the escrow process.

Daniel was amazing to work with. Having to sell our parent's house was a difficult decision, Daniel…read moremade the entire selling process easy and stress free. Whenever I would call with questions Daniel would take as much time as needed to answer all of my questions and he kept us informed of every step of the process. I would highly recommend using Big Trees Real Estate for buying or selling of all homes and/or property