Really enjoyed the professional way of working with Fiona and Ramiro from Cal Agents and the care…read morethey took -- Used Cal Agents on a house in Oakland.

Professional and Reliable Property Management I have been…read moreworking with The Cal Agents since 2025 to manage my house rental in the Bay Area, and it has been a consistently positive experience. Key Highlights: 1. Exceptional Team: I've had the pleasure of working with Wilsen, Ahyeza, Chris, Patricia, Jana, Fiona, Nikki, and Ramiro. They are professional, attentive, and easy to collaborate with. 2. Problem Solvers: One of their greatest strengths is that they never shy away from a hard problem. Whether it's a maintenance issue or a tenant concern, they tackle it head-on with a level of responsiveness that is hard to find. 3. Trusted Partnership: When you are looking for a partner to manage an investment property, creating an empathetic and caring relationship with the tenants is the most important factor. They have proven themselves to be reliable stewards of my property. Pro-Tip for Owners: Because they manage a diverse portfolio of both condos and houses, I found that providing clear context on my specific expectations for house-level marketing and maintenance from the start created a great feedback loop. Their receptiveness to this high level of communication is exactly why our partnership works so well; it ensures everyone is aligned from day one. Overall: If you need a team that is responsive and capable of handling the complexities of the Bay Area rental market, I highly recommend The Cal Agents.

As a Realtor with 27 years of experience at a world-renowned luxury brokerage, I have very high…read morestandards when it comes to real estate professionals. When my husband and his siblings needed to sell their parents' home after 58 years of family ownership, we knew we needed someone exceptional. Sarah Ridge exceeded every expectation. Not only is Sarah an expert in the Berkeley and El Cerrito market, but she also brought together an outstanding team that made the entire process seamless. From strategic pricing and marketing to thoughtful updates, staging, and preparation, every recommendation was spot-on and designed to maximize the home's appeal and value. What impressed me most was Sarah's ability to guide our family through what was an incredibly emotional transition. She was always available, communicated clearly, and patiently walked everyone through each step of the process. Her professionalism, compassion, and attention to detail gave us complete confidence from start to finish. Thanks to Sarah's market knowledge, strong negotiation skills, and excellent relationships with other agents, we received multiple offers and ultimately found the perfect buyer for this cherished family home. The entire experience could not have gone more smoothly. Sarah is constantly studying the market, touring new inventory, and maintaining strong relationships throughout the East Bay, giving her an unmatched pulse on the local real estate landscape. If you're buying or selling in Berkeley, El Cerrito, or the surrounding East Bay communities, I cannot recommend Sarah highly enough. You will be in exceptional hands. Simply put, I wouldn't choose anyone else for this area.

Sarah Ridge is an excellent realtor. She has deep knowledge about the North Berkeley neighborhood…read moreand what things to watch out for in Berkeley houses. She has a lot of contacts, so she can address almost anything that can come up in the home buying process. She is very smart. Go to her website and watch her videos to see if you think she would be a good match for you. That's what we did. The best thing I can say about Sarah is that she was always looking out for our best interests. We went to some open houses on our own and were interested in making offers. Sarah pointed out to us some red flags that we had either missed or ignored. She said she would be willing to write up the offers if that's what we wanted, but she advised against it. She said this is the same advice she would have given to her daughter or a close friend if they were interested in these properties. Fortunately, we listened to her, passed on those properties, and ended up in a great house. Buying a home in the Berkeley market is always going to be stressful. My advice is to find someone like Sarah who will be reducing that stress, not adding to it.

Mel Burnette at The Monday Team helped us purchase our first home recently, and we had such a great…read moreexperience! They spent time getting a thorough understanding of our requirements and helping us land on the right balance of location and price quickly. They were extremely patient with us as we sorted out exactly what we were looking for, which shifted around a few times as we visited open houses and got a better feel for different neighborhoods and how important different criteria were. We found a place we loved, and successfully beat other offers to win the contract. Would highly recommend Mel and The Monday Team especially if you're looking in the Oakland / Alameda area or nearby in the east bay, where they are the local experts.

I'm super late here, but Kellie Parker and team were so wonderful with supporting me and all the…read morequestions I had when I finally pulled the trigger and became a home owner! From the first meeting and walkthrough, the initial inspections and close, Kellie specifically was an amazing partner, and I felt sincerely lucky to have her as part of the process. It's not the easiest of processes, but they made it as smooth as possible, and I'm so freaking happy in my little slice of The Bay

This is a long overdue review for Rosie! My wife actually knew about Krista and Rosie from 10+…read moreyears ago when her brother was in the market for a home. Roughly 7 years ago, we linked up with Rosie to help us purchase our first home, and she was so helpful along the way. As we slowly started to outgrow our first home, we worked with Rosie again for a new home last year, and she was so incredibly helpful and encouraging every step of the way. Throughout both times, she was always super responsive, made time to meet with us, and answered all of our questions throughout the home-buying process. We never felt any pressure from her to act on any of the houses we visited, and she always had a calm and relaxed demeanor that put us at ease. Rosie's recommendations & suggestions for insurance providers, lenders, or handy people were also great, and definitely helped us out in a pinch. Rosie made the homebuying process a relatively simple one, and we really couldn't have it without her help. She was really flexible with our schedule, super prompt when we had any last minute questions, and feels like a long-time friend at this point. Rosie provided us invaluable + realistic information around the comps for all the homes we visited, which ultimately helped us land an awesome new home. If you're looking to buy a home, we can't recommend Rosie enough. Thank you so much, Rosie!

Rosie was absolutely fantastic to work with. She's knowledgable about so many different…read moreneighborhoods, and was able to help us as first time home buyers through every step of our process. She was super helpful with all our (many) questions, and was always able to give us great advice and help guide us when we needed it (which was a lot!). If you need an East Bay realtor, she's the one!

SLUMLORD. Would give zero stars if possible…read more From the moment I moved into that apartment I realized I was in a slumlord situation. When I arrived on January 19th there was no working heat and it was in the 40s at night. I was provided with a very small space heater by the "property manager" (that term feels like a big stretch) and I was absolutely freezing all night. The only reason I didn't go to a hotel was because I had just driven for 5 days straight and was literally too exhausted. Additionally, the apartment was ABSOLUTELY FILTHY (I have photos to back this up). The apartment was vacant for months so it is unclear how they did not have time to check the heat or do a basic cleaning. When I complained, Pedram gave me a credit of like $70 for both those issues which is wild as a cleaning service and a hotel stay would easily total $500. Pathetic. I knew I was in for some bullsh*t based on this. From this point on, every time something broke or needed to be fixed, and there were a lot of things that were broken UPON MOVE IN (again, this place was empty and could have been repaired beforehand), Pedram ignored my service requests in the app and my emails. I fixed things with my own time and energy and had to hound him to be reimbursed for the supplies. The whole point of renting is so that I don't have to fix things. I literally had to have a friend fix my leaking kitchen sink because the person who "fixed" it initially didn't actually fix it and Pedram would not respond to my emails at all. I begged him for help. In addition to my actual unit being terrible, the general condition of the property was abhorrent. Overgrown weeds and bushes, filthy walkways that haven't been power washed in years, garbage all over the alley where the bins are, etc. It looked totally ghetto and therefore, people treated it as such. Also, we were told with literally ZERO advanced warning that we would lose access to the washer/dryer for at least a month due to the construction project taking place in the back parking lot (earthquake retrofitting). So then I had to start taking my clothes to a laundromat which is hard to do as a professional working 50+ hr weeks. Additionally, Pedram told us we had to park our cars on the street for this project despite the workers only being there during business hours. There was no reason we had to park on the street at night, other than his negligence with regard to understanding the actual scope of the construction project. My car and several others suffered vandalism/damage due to being on the street. It was completely unnecessary, but he would have known that if he ever stepped foot onto that property or put even the smallest amount of effort into managing it. I finally had to threaten him with legal action to be allowed to break the lease, as I could not continue living in that hell hole. He will not return my security deposit and states he kept it as the lease break fee, which is of course illegal under California state law. So not only did I lose my 2k deposit, I have to pay 1k to fix my car and I paid another 1k for moving expenses. Still very seriously considering taking him to small claims court. I had a completely horrific experience at this place and I have no idea who would write a positive review. I spoke to numerous other residents who all had similar experiences and were completely frustrated and fed up. Pedram, you take advantage of people and you know it. Absolutely disgusting behavior. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You can say I'm disgruntled about the deposit or whatever you need to, to make yourself feel better, but we both know the truth.

Terrible property managers. They rarely respond to service requests and if they do, it is after…read morerepeated calls and service requests. Their voicemail box is always full. If you are a landlord, do not use them because your tenants' maintenance needs will not be addressed, and then they will do their best to fix things on their own, which usually isn't a good idea.

I can hear every single thing the upstairs neighbor does. I even know when he's in the kitchen. I…read morecan hear every. Single. Footstep. Every noise from the above unit radiates throughout the whole apartment. I can't sleep or get any peace. Also, this same neighbor unlawfully entered my unit and the only solution was to call him. I do not want to be here. I do not feel safe. I do not feel comfortable but the property management company won't even respond to my calls or emails. I'll never trust Lapham again. The property manager, Jan, told me the owners don't care about the building. I wish he had of told me that BEFORE I moved in here. He even told me they'd never approve my transfer. So I was reluctant to ask to transfer to a completely different building which is what I wanted, especially in order to get away from the creepy neighbor that came into my apartment when the door was closed but unlocked during maintenance. My safety has been compromised and these people couldn't care less. It's baffling. I transferred units at the beginning of August. I used the thermostat once and it has been stuck at 80 degrees since August 1. Now I'm being told that the "vendor" won't be available until August 19th. I'm sure there must be more than one contractor in the Bay Area that can address this issue but no such option has been offered. I've also been told it will take the vendor so long to address my concern because "the building is old and multiple other units are having the same issue." I've never lived somewhere where there's no accountability. Just excuses. The building is old...deal with it. I regret this move every single day. I transferred units hoping to improve my circumstances but it's the same thing. I will NOT be renewing my lease. I should've trusted the 3 star overall rating. 3 is too high. I've been extremely stressed since moving into this unit. There's water damage in the unit and I can't get a response. I have to wait weeks for maintenance requests to be addressed and sending emails to management is similar to throwing a paper airplane into a black hole. I will be leaving as soon as is legally possible. It's also worth noting that whatever repairs were done were due to extensive advocacy on my part. And none were cosmetic. They literally had to replace the balcony door because it was initially installed upside down. It took them two months to believe me (I reported multiple times that I could not open the door) and another few weeks to actually install the door. Atrocious lack of accountability.

Once upon a time, during undergrad, I rented from Lapham. They were professional and good…read morecommunicators - both in the office and the on-site managers. However, that has obviously changed in recent years. First, I reached out to one of the property managers, Reda, to inquire about a unit. Immediately she lets me know that the specific unit I was interested in was soon to be off the market. She then suggested another property that she manages as well. I responded immediately and told her I was interested and wanted to schedule a visit. At that point the communication stopped on her end. The initial vacant unit I was interested in, is still on the website, still vacant, at this moment. This was nearly two weeks ago and she hasn't followed up with me about the initial unit I wanted, nor the other property I stated I would be interested as well. This is beyond unprofessional. What is she doing? Saving the unit for family or friends? Did she not like my name, so she decided to ignore me? Again, beyond unprofessional. I reached out to another property manager for this same company, Bruk. Now he was a breath of fresh air; responsive, informative and professional. He even sent me an email with additional information/instructions and suggested I reach out to the office to answer any other questions I had re the application process. This "company" never responded to me. Nothing. When I rented from them in the past, I had no issues and paid my rent on time, every month. I later moved to a property managed by J&R Associates, and I see now many, if not all, of their properties are now handled by Lapham. In all, this was a complete waste of time, but more so, it was disappointing. I'm assuming the people who were in office at the telegraph office, the property managers on site while I rented from this place are no longer there. This place has gone completely downhill. I could only imagine how worse it would've been for me if I actually signed a lease with them.

We can't recommend Ellie highly enough. My wife and I relocated to the East Bay for work on a very…read moretight timeline, and she made the process feel manageable from day one. Ellie educated us on the local market and how to compete effectively in it. Her background in construction meant she raised questions we never would have thought to ask, giving us real confidence in our decisions. She was patient with every question and a true advocate during negotiations, helping us land our home in a competitive market. What sets Ellie apart is that her support didn't end at closing. She's continued to connect us with trusted professionals as we've settled in. Thanks to Ellie, we found our forever home.

Working with Ellie Ridge was key to our unexpectedly quick success buying a home in Berkeley's…read morefamously competitive (and famously opaque) market. Recent transplants from the East Coast, we knew little about the mechanical and structural systems and real estate practices peculiar to the East Bay. Over the course of a few short weeks, Ellie taught us how to evaluate the condition of older homes, spotting key features of sellers' disclosures and crab-walking crawl spaces with us to scrutinize the physical facts. She arranged pre-inspections by expert engineers, providing us helpful clarity and perspective and signaling to sellers that we had done our homework before making our offer. Ellie helped us evaluate the actual market value of homes (quite untethered from the list prices!) and positioned us to make a strong offer. By astutely attending to our reactions, she quickly and accurately discerned our needs and wants in a home and a neighborhood, mindful of market conditions and our budget. Eventually, it was Ellie who brought us to the home we ultimately purchased, correctly anticipating our positive reaction (despite knowing our focus had been elsewhere). Ellie then set to work, suggesting a successful offer strategy aided by financing and insurance professionals with whom she maintains excellent relationships. Ellie, an East Bay native raised by a realtor and a construction contractor, "sees through" houses, recognizing untapped potential and hidden flaws. She also reads people with commendable skill, understanding a seller's expectations and sizing up the competition. Barely half our age, Ellie earned our entire trust to navigate and negotiate this high-stakes process. Her remarkable combination of expertise, intuition, and drive won us over. Every seller's agent lit up when we identified her as our agent, and each (correctly) assured us that we were in excellent hands. Ellie takes her clients' interest as a sacred trust, and (with a smile) will deploy an Olympian's competitiveness to secure your aims. (Perhaps she will help you first clarify those aims, as she did for us.) Ellie won't pressure you. She will make the whole process of buying a house fun. And she won't rest until she achieves your goal. We cannot recommend her highly enough. You won't go wrong with Ellie as your agent!

They have great people on their maintenance team. They responded to my service ticket very quickly…read moreand left a great impression. Shout out to Julio Gonzalez for installing my new blinds and leaving no mess behind. Excellent service, excellent management and maintenance team.

I've rented through Advent Properties for a year now. They have been responsive and considerate…read more There are some glitches with the ap Meld, but they have been easy to resolve.

The BIGGEST reason we are sitting here- in a beautiful, sunny living room, in our FIRST house-…read moretyping this review; is because of Sean Walsh with Compass Realty. We had the incredible fortune of working with this exceptional realtor, who was so dedicated in getting us into our forever home. His exceptional work ethic and tireless efforts were apparent throughout the entire process. He expertly navigated negotiations and advocated for our best interests every step of the way. As this was our first home-buying experience, Sean was incredibly patient and understanding- often repeating things without comment or angst. He took time to explain every detail and was available whenever we needed him. Every. Little. Thing, that could go wrong; went wrong buying this house. Sean was the conductor of sanity and progress. He made the processes so much easier, and they would have been impossible without his professionalism and aptitude. What truly set Sean apart was his unwavering determination to secure the best deal for us. We would be emphatically quick and proud to refer Sean Walsh to anyone looking to buy in the Oakland Bay Area. ***What do Real Estate Agents have to be thankful for? Lots... hehe. And we are thankful for Sean.

Sean Walsh is an extremely sharp and knowledgeable realtor. My family was looking to buy a property…read morein the East Bay in the spring of 2023. As the CalHFA downpayment program was coming available, Sean was able to hook us up with a qualified lender so that we could be ready to go. When the program ended quickly before we could take advantage of it, he continued to help us refine our goals and needs, give us advice about neighborhoods and the state of the market, and we ultimately decided to buy land instead to build our dream home. Sean was very helpful and gave us great advice every step of the way. His assessment of the market was consistently on point, and he was very responsive and attentive to our needs, even as we moved to a smaller dollar vacant land transaction. I would definitely recommend him and will be calling him up again the next time I need a realtor in the Bay Area.

Michele and Bradley are top-tier agents who know how to navigate a tough Oakland real estate…read moremarket. They handled every challenge we faced with expert strategy, incredible attention to detail, and tireless effort to get our condo deal closed. Through it all, they were a complete joy to work with. If you need agents who will advocate for you and handle complex transactions with ease, hire Michele and Bradley.

Michele and Bradley made selling my Oakland home genuinely painless. They were communicative…read morethroughout, knew the market, and kept things moving even when escrow hit some snags with Alameda County recording. I always knew what was happening and why. If you're buying or selling in the East Bay, these two are the real deal.