When my partner and I were looking to sell our single-family house in Santa Fe this summer, we immediately thought of reaching out to the Realtor who helped us buy the very same house in 2021. Our experience working with her to purchase the property was excellent, and we had no hesitation in working with her again. However, our experience with selling our house could not have been any more different from what it was when we bought it: it was unpleasant, uncomfortable, and demoralizing. I want to acknowledge that the housing market shifted quite a bit in Santa Fe after the federal administration change earlier this year. I do not fault our Realtor for that reality, which led us to have to lower the price of our house significantly to meet the demand in the local market. However, our Realtor seemed more interested in appeasing the buyers of our house than supporting and advocating for us as her actual clients. To start, the "professional" photographs of our house were bad. They were so bad that we could have easily gotten better ones on our smartphones. When my partner tried to raise this point, she was gaslit and told that the pictures were fine. She also said that they were not even partially responsible for the slower activity in the house. The ironic part was that we knew this was wrong because we were actively buying a house at the same time. Next, our Realtor was repeatedly condescending toward my partner, which did not occur the first time we worked with her. She also induced multiple panic attacks with her unwarranted catastrophizing, unsupportive approach to communicating the buyers' questions to us, and lack of advising when her expert opinion was sought. It made the whole experience way more stressful than it should have been. Further, our Realtor stated quite defensively that she would "earn [her] keep" during contracts and negotiations when we first met in her office. We never even questioned that, so it was very odd to hear that. However, I would argue that she did not earn her keep since her only "strategy" was giving the buyers more and more money. She never attempted to help us with other types of concessions or strategies to drive interest in our house and protect our bottom line as we moved into buying our next property, which was critical for an appraisal waiver we had to maintain. We suspect that we were treated this way because our house was not worth very much in the Santa Fe market (~$400,000 vs. a median price of $850,000). However, when selling agents charge a 3% commission on the property's price, I expect much more than what we received. Let's face it: most real estate legal documents consist of boilerplate. What makes a Realtor or real estate agent valuable is their expert advice and advocacy for what matters most to their clients. When that is absent, that person becomes much more of a liability than an asset to these transactions. The only reason the rating is not 1 star is that we did ultimately sell our home on time. However, this was with huge tradeoffs, including losing a lot of money we probably did not need to lose on the deal. read more

We could not be happier to have found Barker Realty and specifically Stephanie Duran (at the advice of Yelp reviews we read while looking for an agent!). House hunting is a stressful ordeal, no matter what HGTV would have us all believe, and having a great realtor on your side makes ALL the difference. Stephanie was awesome: honest, on top of the details, fun to spend time with, and quick to "get" us and what we were looking for. She immediately pinpointed specific areas she knew would be a good fit and had really valuable insights--not just knowledge--about different neighborhoods in the Santa Fe area. She found us some great pocket listings, and she and Juli (her fantastic assistant) even Facetimed with us to show us listings that caught our interest online (since we were looking from out of state). We initially made an offer on a house that turned out to have some non-negotiable issues during the inspection, and Stephanie was a total professional about processing the termination quickly and going to bat for us over a slight hiccup in closing things out. When we finally found the right house, Stephanie was on her way home from vacation, but she put an offer together for us in a matter of hours--from the airport. Throughout the homebuying process, she was wonderful about proactively getting repair bids, recommending reliable contractors, and going the extra-extra mile anytime we needed her. In our interactions with other listing agents and our home inspector, it was clear that she is a highly respected and regarded real estate professional in Santa Fe, yet she's super approachable, has a great sense of humor, and gives off zero sales-y or pretentious vibes. We felt 100% confident that she absolutely had our best interests at heart. It's also worth mentioning that everyone else we dealt with at Barker was lovely too, and the communication from the entire team was on point throughout the process. We'd work with Stephanie--and Barker--again in a heartbeat. You should too! read more

If you're looking for your dream home or hoping to sell yours, Stephanie Duran was a godsend. We were ready to buy our first house and had been shopping in Santa Fe for months to no avail. It seemed like everything within our price range and ideal location disappeared immediately. Then we contacted Stephanie after a friend referred her and she worked with us while we were 900 miles away to secure a contract with a house in a prime location. During the whole process, she was very helpful, bringing in professionals to assess the property and inspect every square inch of the house. We just signed on the home and now we have a whole list of contractors to help us make it into our dream home. I can't sing her praises enough. She was on call at all hours of the day and was always super professional! read more

Shatangi thinks Barker has some of the most talented and personable agents in Santa Fe. I've been looking for a place for some time now and my barker contacts have gone out of their way to find a property that meets my needs in the area I want. Old school is the way to go. Personable and responsive. Shatangi told you... read more

My husband and I worked with Ginger Clarke. My daughter and her partner had purchased a house through Ginger, and heartily recommended her when we were looking for a lot to buy. Wow! Ginger went way above and beyond what we ever could have expected, even after we bought the land. She worked on keeping the name of our street when the city wanted to change it. She recommended a banker, as we were from out of state. She always called back promptly, friendly, willing to answer questions, helped to navigate all the ins and outs of county law, very responsive, even went out to talk to the county inspector after the purchase had gone through. We only dealt with Ginger, but a business how has someone this good, goes to the top of the list! read more

If you like the regular national real-estate agencies, this place is NOT for you. But, if you like stellar service, attention to detail, meeting your needs, this is the place to go. I have worked with Stephanie Duran and she is nothing but the best. I recommend her whole heartedly. She is smart, there for you, will work with you, and get you the best deal possible. Stephanie is honest, caring and professional. read more

I filled out the request for information on Zillow. I got a very prompt text indicating someone would call me in 10 minutes. As promised I got a call from Alex Grace with Barker Realty. This is where the process derailed. She starts out by asking "Has Carol called you?" No she has not called so she proceeds to try to get Carol on the phone. Then indicates Carol is too busy at the moment and if she can call the next day. I agreed. I got a text shortly after that, that my appointment to speak with Carol had been set for 10am the next day. No less than 5 minutes later Carol calls. I found her to be completely clueless about everything. Her style of conversation is to talk and not listen. She had to ask me for the address I was calling on. Why would anyone return a call and show the technical sophistication to do automated scheduling and communication if she has no idea what property she is calling for? She responded in a rather condescending manner when asked why the Bird's Eye view indicated it was 2 lots. Her response was its whatever the satellite picks up. She, Alex, and Barker Reality did not engender any confidence what so ever! read more

It was a huge hassle, we lost nearly $100K in the selling of our home, clearly Robin is not a good negotiator, her recommendations for outside help were lacking, they did a below average job. She seemed very rushed and not focused on us as clients. Concerned more about her commission than the task at hand. Would not recommend, go with another agent. read more

Probably the oldest and most well established real estate brokerage in Santa Fe. Barker operates professionally with four decades of experience behind them. read more

STAY AWAY unless you like losing money. We attempted to buy three houses with this company.. the first, the sellers tried to back out after contract. And ultimately refused to repair much of the faults found during inspection after they couldn't get out of the contract. The second, the sellers backed out after contracts were signed. Somehow this was allowed because they were also represented by Barker Realty. There was no legitimate reason given, they just decided they wanted to wait another year to sell. We lost all of the money we spent on inspections (over $700). The third, I was in touch with our realtor several times about the correct timeline for moving in, setting up cable/internet installation, etc. Our move-in day arrived and the sellers were still there! They were moving out as we were moving in and as the Direct TV and Comcast guys were there. They left their poor dog in the back yard all day. It was a mess. Sellers continued to move out over the next week. Every experience with this company was unprofessional and completely absurd. read more

After using a number of real estate agents over eight months we finally found Stephanie Duran and Juli King to help us buy a house. Our only regret was not using them sooner. They were great and never pressured us to settle on a house even after working with us for several months. They understood what was important for us in finding a home and were responsive in scheduling, showing, and answering phone calls and emails. Stephanie was excellent at walking us through the home inspection process and even helped pay for a few necessary inspections. The first house we had under contact had a number of serious issues that would have cost us too much to remedy. Stephanie was very professional and discussed the issues that were found and helped us quickly terminate the contract. When we found another home she negotiated fixing issues that needed addressed. Stephanie and Juli also have great relationships with other agents and know contractors to ask if repairs are needed which is especially important if that is necessary to complete before a house closes. We felt lucky to find these well respected professionals and won't hesitate to use them again for buying or selling a home. read more

Barker Real Estate Agency is the locals' choice. They will give you the best service. When you call them, ask for Stephanie Duran. We have used her since 2006 for three transactions. She masterfully negotiated the deals and always represented our best interests. What makes her so special? She immediately puts her clients at ease with her friendly, relaxed, confident demeanor. When Stephanie is representing you, you can rest assured that you have chosen a realtor who is knowledgeable, hard working, and has the utmost integrity. The biggest compliment we could pay Stephanie is that we are privileged to call her our friend. read more

Barker Realty is the premier real estate agency in the Santa Fe area. We've been involved in two home sales transactions with Barker and have been quite pleased. Our last sale was just a few months ago, and the team of Trudi Conkling and Jenny Bishop did an outstanding job. We'd recommend them to anyone wanting quality, personable, and professional services. read more

After dealing with Barker Realty, my advise it to be wary. Think carefully about what David Barker, the owner, says to you. Watch out for smoke and mirrors. Be sure to keep all your paperwork. Be prepared to get a lawyer. read more

Very disrespectful! I received a phone call one late evening from the realtor saying that she was coming over the next day (1pm). Fine, I thought, I'll work with her and my landlord to help my landlord sell the place. Upon coming over the next day at 1, the realtor turned to her friend while holding a camera and said, "I guess we'll use the photos from last year," Implying the place was a wreck. Had I known they were going to take pictures, I would have certainly got the condo ready for pictures. I invited them in to sit down. We have 2 small, well behaved dogs, and after noticing them she was immediately condescending (and judgmental to our private life), even though our landlord accepted pets. I asked her when the place would be on the market. She said it already was, before even meeting with us. She told me that when showing the place, we would have to remove our dogs and clutter. She talked down to me like she was my mother. Where am I supposed to move so much stuff on short notice? Where am I supposed to put things I need access to, in order for her to show the apartment? This is a 1 bedroom apartment with 2 people living in it. Not only am I supposed to clean the place and remove my stuff and dogs before every showing, she insisted this happen on same day notice. All of this is to happen indefinitely, because how long will the condo be on the market? After looking around the apartment that I was in the middle of cleaning, she proceeded to tell me the place was well-kept. After the meeting she called my landlord to report her visit. She told my landlord the place was so messy that she couldn't take pictures, even after the less than 24 hr notice. She also told my landlord that the place smelled like cigarettes. We use the fireplace often and we oppose cigarettes. This realtor actually tried to drive a wedge between me and my landlord to create a rivalry. My landlord immediately called us back furious about the "cigarettes." It took some time for my landlord to realize that her realtor was lying. read more