Never had a problem with Cooke Realty and have been renting our favorite beach house from them for the last 3 summers. Great customer service, quick response, easy to get to location. Good solid company and will continue to use for our cherished beach trips to Ocean Isle. read more

Cooke Realty - Property Management Near Me - Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina

Wish I would have read previous reviews. Booked a vacation through VRBO with them. They cancelled due to their mistake and I got stuck with the $200 VRBO fee. I ask them to refund, because it was their error that caused it and they would not. read more

We booked a beach house months prior to our vacation and we were told that check in was at 3pm. When we arrived to pick up our keys at Cooke Reality, they were running behind and did not have our house ready. We waited for 20 minutes outside of the Cooke Reality building along with about 20 other people who were patiently waiting to check in. A lady came outside of the building and gave everyone their keys and did apologize for the inconvenience. I appreciated her words until she laughed and said, "now get off of my porch". When we got to the house, it was dirty (pee on the toilet, hair on the sinks, some kind of sauce on the kitchen table, dirty bath tubs with sand and used soap in them, dead bugs, dirty bath mats..I could go on..). We had 3 young kids with us and did not want to bring them inside a dirty home among covid-19. After calling CookeReality, we were told that they would refund us a cleaning fee however they were not sure when a cleaning person would be by. We asked for them to expedite this or compensate us more for this inconvenience and we were then told to "take our money and go elsewhere if we weren't happy". I would NEVER and will never rent from this company. They have absolutely no customer service or hospitality. We will be renting elsewhere for our next vacation to avoid being treated like trash for not wanting to stay in a dirty beach house. -it has been 1 week and we are still waiting to be compensated for staying in a house that was not cleaned read more

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I have to come back and update my review here for Cooke Realty after this past trip to OIB. We had a less than satisfactory result this time despite the good interactions we have enjoyed in the past. The property pics really did portray the property as a bit more attractive than reality imparted to us, but I understand that you always show the best to get bookings ("capture its good side"). My main concern was that the house was not cleaned as normally expected. We checked in multiple times Saturday afternoon, including 3pm, 4pm, etc. and apparently there is a statement on the email sent along the lines that check in is aimed for completion between 4-6pm. The management company told my colleague that secured the cottage this time there were difficulties in getting the cleaning crew to show up this day. I realize they cannot control the individual cleaning crew that did not show up to work, but this fact was realized early in the afternoon...arrangements should be quickly made to get the occupants in ASAP to honor the email statement. Sitting out in your car all afternoon on a hot day waiting to get your house cleaned is not a good way to spend your Saturday afternoon at the beach. After being assured each time we contacted the office that someone was coming right over, it was only at 630pm that someone showed up to clean the property. So at 7pm we were able to unpack and use the house. At the time of this writing, no compensation has been offered to my colleague regarding this first day and loss of time. Bottom line: I had great experiences with Cooke Realty up until this year (see previous review I entered), and dropping the ball getting the property cleaned to meet an on time check in has left me coming back to reevaluate Cooke, losing a star for services experienced. read more

We rented a home the weekend after labor day. The home was exceptional, the staff at Cooke Realty was very nice, but they have a deposit rule that is less than stellar in order to make a few extra bucks of interest by holding on to it for over 30 days. Let me just preface by saying that we had no issues with the home, the weekend of, or anything of that nature. Cooke Realty even let us check in early and gave us a goody bag. Very sweet ladies at the office. But when I have rented homes in the past (Bald Head, Oak Island, Carolina Beach, Wilmington, etc), no one has EVER kept my deposit longer than 1 week past stay. This company states they will not under any circumstances give your deposit back (even if the house is in spectacular shape) until 30 days from the day you vacated the property and then it takes an additional 2-3 days from that time to get your money back. So while most people will put their deposit (upwards of $500) on their credit card to keep from tying up liquid funds, be warned that you will pay interest waiting to get that deposit back AND Cooke Realty will make money for it sitting in their bank account, unused for that 30 days. This is a very selfish way, in my opinion, to treat customers who are already paying a premium for their nice homes that they rent. I will probably never rent from Cooke Realty again despite how awesome the owner of the home was and the lovely home we stayed in. read more

Used to rent from here many years ago when i was a Kid.. Had a major Problem with Oak Island Accommodations and needless to say left Oak Island and headed back here. After a stay at a local hotel we checked out several vacation rentals from Cooke Realtors. We found a very nice and very clean location at Wind Jammers. It was a nice condo with beachfront view. We had a great time following a horrible customer service treatment at Oak Island Accomodations and Cooke Realty did it again. They are easy to deal with and provide great service.. The real trick is to show up in person and check the location out before you pay.. This way you get what you want and some place like Oak Island Accomodations cant mess you over.. Cooke Realtors A+++ read more

Gosia at Cooke Property rentals has tried to scam me into paying for a bathroom door that was already broken when we arrived at one of their properties in Myrtle Beach SC. The room reeked of old cigarette smoke and was not clean at all. I will never rent from any property (nor should you) that this person is affiliated with. If you choose to rent from them, be sure to take photos of everything or she may try to scam you as well. If I could give a ZERO or NEGATIVE NUMBER rating that would be my true rating. RENTERS BEWARE!!!! read more

We do not recommend Cooke Realty at all. Our OIB beach week got cancelled because of Hurricane Isasias (August, 2020). Obviously nobody can control mother nature, however you can control how you treat customers. We spent hard earned money on our beach rental and we lost EVERY SINGLE PENNY. The contract we signed clearly stated a refund would be given if there was a mandatory evacuation directed by local or states authorities, which was the case with Isasias. When we contacted Cooke to arrange for a refund, we were directed to their representative Reann Eaton. Ms. Eaton never accepted our phone calls nor did she reply to emails or phone messages. Eventually, direct contact was made to coordinate the refund only to be informed the sign & legally binding contract would not be honored thus no refund. Cooke's representatives are friendly & supportive when reserving a unit but will abandon you should issues arise. Our family was not even offered a voucher to use for a different week. Perhaps like you & your family, our family has been vacationing on OIB for generations. Many of us consider OIB as a second home. Many units from previous years were booked through Cooke but not anymore. We are repeat customers yet treated poorly & unfairly. We strongly encourage you to reserve your unit with an agency other than Cooke & any of the Cooke affiliates. You need an agency that will work with you in times of crisis. read more

DON'T RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE. We booked one of their properties and had to cancel due to the state of emergency gas shortage. We were not able to drive from Ga to Myrtle Beach (both states with massive gas shortages). Instead of giving us another weekend or refunding us, even partially, they decided to keep all of our money and even kept the cleaning fee as an added bonus. Rent somewhere else, these ppl are crooks. read more

VERY DISAPPOINTED in Cooke Realty Management. We have rented from Cooke for over 30 years and generally all is good. Last summer the house we rented had no air for first 3 days in mid July. While it was fixed we suffered for 3 nights in almost 100 degree temps. I complained many times to Cooke and while their staff listened; the owners did nothing about it. They knew the air was broke and would not be fixed until Tuesday and DID NOT TELL US. Their contract states not responsible for HVAC, but come on. Have some consideration to communicate, offer another house, a portable AC unit, or compensation. Would not return my calls, did not reply to BBB. VERY DIsappointed! read more

I am extremely disappointed in their unresponsiveness. I have called twice and been told to expect a call back, but still haven't gotten a phone call. It's been two weeks. read more

Very disappointed in our experience renting through Cooke. When we arrived at property the bath tub was full of plaster remnant, as was the shower, too. Big unfinished piece of ceiling and tools in bathroom. Bed was rumpled, sweeper had not been run. Dealt with owner's wife who was very rude and condescending. Ended up staying in condo after it was cleaned; however, found blood stains on sofa bed mattress, balcony door would not lock and kitchen faucet would not stay on. Overall unclean and needs updated. Would not recommend unit OP205 or Cooke Realty. Have also used Sloane Realty and would highly recommend. read more

Augh, Cooke Realty was a complete nightmare for our wedding. We booked one of their properties for an OCEANFRONT beach wedding, paid a very pretty penny for it, meanwhile they knew all along that by the time our wedding would arrive, the property would NOT be beach front, and we had to get married on a construction site with no view of the water. They charged us an oceanfront price and we did NOT get an oceanfront property. When we fought them on this they insisted that it was the owner's responsibility to inform us of the construction, even though our contract was with Cooke. The owner also insisted it was Cooke's responsibility to tell us, and neither one of them had the guts to man up to tell us, we found out from our caterer a week before our wedding. I will avoid Cooke Realty at all costs. read more

We contacted Cooke for a rental on Ocean Isle Beach. There was a home available on the second row on West First St with pool and 5 bedrooms. We were so happy! Clean, new, fresh, great location. I recommend Cooke Realty. read more

Very disappointed! We waited over an hour after check in time for the cleaning crew to "clean" the house just to arrive and find food and sand all over and under the furniture. A/C didnt work properly in half the house leaving it 80°F on stormy days. They did,unknowingly to us, send someone to fix it who showed up at 2am. It never was actually fixed. The dryer took hours to dry one load of 4-5 towels, when addressing this issue we were told to dry 2 at a time in a house with 15 people. WE had to clean the dryer vent outside and it started to work better. Ice maker also was not working properly only making 3 or 4 pieces of ice a day. When all issues were brought to the attention of maintenance manager the response was very snide and rude. Without question will be going back with McClure for our annual ocean isle vacation. read more

Arrived for vacation and found our beach house being cleaned.Well that is what the lady called it. When she left we foundmajor issues,, the place was disgusting. The vacuum cleaners did not work, so the so called cleaning lady didn't even bother. Called the office and complained. Theey sent a new person who inspected the place and after doing some work for over an hour, apologized and said the place had not been properly cleaned for months. BUT still the same issue, no vacuum. She said someone would bring one Sunday morning. By Monday afternooon, no vacuum. Went to office andthey acted like they knew nothing. We had to take the vacuum from the office and clean the place ourrselves. We asked for comppensation, but got none. Never even got an apology for the disgusting condition. DO NOT RENT THRU THESE PEOPLE! They only care abouut getting your moneyy and do not live up to the contract. read more

We gave been a great customer through the years. So we stayed in 80 Laurinburg , again. The first time was a very satisfactory experience. This time we stayed 2 weeks, and we arrived to a bathroom with sand all over the floor. The walls are warped the only thing holding the walls up was the paint. The furniture was the same from 5 years ago. The couch was torn in spots. The AC vent in the kitchen had a weird stain around it. The living had 2 stains on the ceiling from the roof leaking at one time. I could go on but...... Wow read more

I wouldn't even give them 1 star really! Management here is less than professional. They canceled our vacation rental this year ( 2 days before our vacation) because of a feud between them and the home owner. No phone call to explain just an email to say it had been cancelled! We spent over $5000 to rent this house and payed for it back in January and May. I felt like this deserved a call with some explanation. But I had to call them and ask what was going on. Was told they could not give me any explanation. Except I no longer had a vacation rental with them! And this was the 2nd year we had used them. Contacted the homeowner personally and he was surprised how they handled their business. Thankfully he was kind enough to keep our vacation agreement. And now with a good relationship with the home owner we will have a vacation next year at this house. NEVER would I do business with Cooke Reality again . No Professional way to conduct business. Please be aware of them! read more

Just beware: When Cooke says 4:00 check in, they mean it . No exceptions, no budging. This is the first time we've ever not been able to check in early and the first time we've rented though Cooke. So far Cooke has managed to set our vacation on a negative path. We love Ocean Isle Beach but will stick with Vacation Rental by Owner or one of the other smaller, cusomer friendly agencies in the future. read more

The house we rented was not cleaned-- wrappers, dirty tables, dirt, and dust on the furniture. The old cooking range was almost useless in heating anything up. They charge a damage fee which we complained about so they then e-mailed us and told us we broke 2 chairs and were lucky we had paid the fee. Would never use them again!!!! read more

Last summer we rented a canal house for my daughter.s family that was clean, nicely laid out, comfortable and stocked from Cooke realty. This summer we rented a canal home at 12 Fairmont. We looked at the pictures on line that failed to show us how utterly dirty and dilapidated the home was. The carpet was dirty and ripped. In the very small living room was a large spot on the ceiling from a leak that was black with mold. Directly under the spot was a stained area on the carpet. There was one TV in the house and it is the size of a computer monitor. The sofa almost sunk to the floor upon sitting on it. The kitchen was not stocked- 5 forks, no spoons for an example. The refrigerator was rusted on the outside. There was a front and back deck with only 2 chairs total on the decks. The outside paint is peeling and deck and stairs are very rough. The window screens were torn and some of them hanging off the window. The mattresses were very thin and broken down. I asked for new mattress covers because the ones on the mattresses were stained and dirty, The dressers were flimsy and dirty so my daughter ended up living out of the suitcases all week. The dock did not have a ladder, railing or sitting area. Of course I complained in person to Cooke realty and after much discussion I was told there was nothing they could do. They would try to get some of my money back (which did not happen), but they did not have another house to offer us. I told them I would pay the difference but they still did not have a house. It was a very busy week. Needless to say we were in a bind. So my daughter's family stayed. She said it was like staying in a college dump. I have noticed this property is no longer listed with Cooke Realty. It is a shame they had not evaluated this property before we rented it read more

We are staying at a great Cooke rental here at Ocean Isle. Ocean front, a short walk to the beach, interior is very clean and well decorated. I could not have asked for a nicer rental or more friendly service in the Cooke office. Thanks!!!! read more

Should be 0 stars. We booked our family summer vacation with Cooke Realty. The next day Cooke Realty informed us they had cancelled our reservation using some bogus excuse about the online portal. Yet they failed to issue a refund to our credit card. I have gotten the runaround from Sherry with excuse after excuse why I haven't received my refund. First she claimed the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of their business, yet their office closure didn't occur until a week after she cancelled our reservation. Should have issued a refund immediately upon cancellation of reservation. Second excuse, after 16 days Sherry claimed my credit card company was at fault for not processing the refund. Yet VRBO issued a refund of their portion the day after her cancellation. Third excuse Sherry claimed she wasn't in charge of processing refunds and that accounts payable must issue a refund. This woman is a con artist and liar. Almost a month later and still no refund to my credit card. Just dont book your vacation with these people. Read all the reviews on this company here at Yelp and Google Reviews and see for yourself. read more

They are apparently trying to keep my $500 security deposit. I rented a house 4 months ago and have called twice to inquire about it. This is ridiculous. read more

This company and all of its personnel suck! The house we rented did not even come close to the pictures portrayed on their site! After TONS of communication by us to Cooke Realty requesting reimbursment for our crappy experience (FILTHY HOUSE - run down, dirty, unkept, falling apart, lack of supplies, and the list can go on and on!-) Catherine (HOUSEKEEPING MANAGER) and all of their shitty management REFUSED TO RESPOND TO ANY of our emails back once we requested to be financially reimbursed. Completely ignoring the fact that they KNEW EXACTLY what was wrong. Excuse after excuse was given. Cooke Realty is not there to make sure your stay is perfect, they are simply there for a paycheck. i would definitely reconsider using them if you are in the area. There are plenty of other realty companies there I would give a chance to before i even bothered with this poor excuse of a company! you are also forced to pay your balance 30 days before your trip so that we couldn't not even dispute the charges! This company SUCKS! Please view the pictures I attached to the Cooke Realty YELP page or feel free to contact me for a more personal explanation of our disgusting visit to this DUMP! read more

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There were issues with the cleanliness of the rental at Ocean Isle. The floors were in need of vacuuming (dead bugs and debris) , the bathrooms were downright dirty and commode seats in some rooms are stained with something. The kitchen had a couple of nasty drawers that had debris in them. The kitchen light fixture hadn't been dusted in a while and it sits over a glass top table. Ceiling fans needed dusting as well. The house fit our needs but it was not properly cleaned. There was a cleaning lady here but she seemed overwhelmed and had another house to clean after ours and that was at 4 pm. read more

We rented a house through Cooke Realty for a family vacation. Ocean Isle is a wonderful place and the house was very nice, I would never rent through Cooke again. The service was terrible and the woman I dhad to deal with was Debbie, I have never dealt with someone so rude and nasty. Included with the house was cable TV and internet, the cable did not work all week and they told me to call Time Warner. Go to Ocean Isle but avoid Cooke Realty. read more

We loved the house we rented, but had trouble with the air conditioning unit. We called early in the week and got no response and then the unit stopped overnight Thursday. We never received a call back and have not received a response to our email question as well. Our posted review on the home has mysteriously not been shown either. read more

Most stressful vacation ever. My family has been going to Ocean Isle for 16 years. We thought we found the perfect house given the layout, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the location. Boy, were we wrong. When we arrived on Saturday, the kitchen island was covered with ants, the cabinets (pots and pans) had bug droppings, and there was a tumbleweed of hair on the kitchen floor. We thought Cooke was responsive when they sent two ladies who said the house was nasty and they would arrange for some people to clean the next morning - we were willing to find somewhere to go because they said the cleaning would take at least 4 hours. Of course we couldn't cook or unpack our groceries that night so we ordered pizza. When we asked if they could at least pay for our dinner, the realty co. said "the contract does not provide for that." When we asked why only 3 bedrooms had TV's instead of the 5 advertised on the website, we were told "that's the owner's issue." Hmmm. On Sun. morning when we called the realty co. to inquire about the cleaning crew, we were told we were "on the list" - we called back and inquired for more specifics, given that we had to be out of the house for the 4-hour cleaning, we were told "I don't know who told you we would clean for 4 hours - we can't clean deeply once you have occupied the house." After much discussion, they agreed to send someone to do the cleaning. We also mentioned that the downstairs air did not seem to be working. They agreed to send someone to check on it. We received a message later that afternoon that the air co. said the downstairs unit was broken and would need to be replaced. They would bring portable units the next day and were scheduled to replace the unit on Wed. but it would take all day. The units did not come on Mon. so we called the realty co. They said they would call back but never did. On Tues. we called the realty co. Again, they would check and call us back. Tues. was hot. We finally got portable units in the bedrooms Tues. night at 8pm - the kitchen, dining, and living room were too large for portable units. They would be back in the morning to replace the whole unit. We called the realty co. twice on Wed. They said they would call back after talking to the air co. but never did. We called twice on Thur.; no call back. On Fri. morning, 9am, our last day of vacation, the air co. knocked on the door, ready to replace the downstairs unit. Hmmm. Interestingly, the realty co. found my phone number and called me back when we politely requested that the air co. not replace the air unit on our last day of vacation (they would have to turn off the upstairs unit and electricity and block access to one of the kids' bedrooms to replace the unit). Had we received any voluntary customer service, we would not have resorted to writing this review. We will never use this realty co. again. read more

We have stayed at Anson 21 in Ocean Isle Beach twice now, both times we have had to perform maintenace or clean upon arrival. The first time, we had to clean all the floors. This time, we had to clean counters and replace light bulbs. This house is in need of major repairs and cleaning. The floors are rotten in the hallway, the shower curtains are mildewed, there is dust ll over everything from ceiling fans to the walls in the bathroom. The drains in the tubs do not drain properly. The lag bolts holding the walkway to the dock have come out and at low tide stick in the air. One of the ropes holding the dock in place is broken. All exterior wood furniture is broken. The living room furniture is supposed to be white, but the arm rests are brown from dirt. This will be the last time that we stay at this house and possibly the last time we use Cooke Realty as this is completely unacceptable for a rental house at OIB. read more

Our house and grounds were absolutey unlivable. We were put into a slum house. I am so ashamed of Cooke Realty that they would rent a property like this to anyone. The whole yard plus the driveway and sidewalk was so loaded with sandspurs that we couldn't even walk without getting them on us. The porch door had a broken handle. The faucets leaked. There were no hangers in the closets. There was a quarter inch of black mud in all of the window sills. There was a half inch of black nasty dust on the ceiling fan. The floors were layered with black dirt. The windows were filthy. This house looked like it had not seen any cleaning in three years or more. When I compained I was told it is out of season (October) and that is why it was not 'so clean.' BS!. If I had chosen to call 'houscleaning' for every problem they would have been living with us the whole week. I could not recommend Cooke Realty for anything more than a very bad time. read more