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.

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.)

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.

I had the same experience with John Zunino as did "Marie O" . He is clearly rude, abrupt and very…read moredefensive. There are plenty of good realtors in the Arnold area that deserve our business, Zunino does not!

Kind of funny to see the reviews of John Zunino. Geez, maybe the fast paced life of the Bay takes…read morepeoples sense of humor away??? Yeah he marches to the beat of his own drummer, but I like that about him. The world is full of the boring, used car salesman type of realtors. I had two other realtors show me houses in Arnold. Both guys were nice and highly thought of in the area, but I was just another number in the queue. I just felt like neither of them were really looking hard to find a place for me in particular. Though John was not pushy, he actively tried to earn his money by emailing us places and letting us know when places he thought we might like came up. Ultimately, it was his go getter attitude that got us into a nice house, at a nice price, with everything we were looking for. With our transaction, it was mostly Jon who dealt with us in finding the place, then when it came to the paperwork he turned it over to his wife Patty, who knows this side of things really well. Both my partner and I have a lot to be thankful for, and in regard to our living situation, a lot of it is due to Jon and his team and then Prudential now Berkshire Hathaway.

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!

James is a class act. The photos are second to none and his willingness to meet your needs is just…read morewhat the doctor ordered. He is great when he meets your sellers and shows up on time. His editing work shows a level of skills much needed in the industry. His pricing is reasonable and his services are top notch. He is highly recommended by myself and by my broker.

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