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.

Mike is an all-star. He really goes the extra mile and really helped us navigate some challenging…read moresituations with the seller of the property we purchased. Mike always went to bat for us and really tried hard to accommodate our requests and questions (and we had a lot of them!). Mike really had our best interests in mind and always provided practical and realistic advice on how to move forward when we hit a hurdle. The advice we received was never first what would be "easiest" but always what would be "best" for us. For us this was really reassuring throughout the process and allowed us to move forward in confidence. I won't hesitate to contact Mike again when the time comes.

My husband and I were greatly appreciative of our Realtor Mike Morales in many ways!…read more Mike went out of his way to locate the type of homes that could potentially be our forever home! The professionalism he portrayed was beyond satisfactory. When our ideal home was found, Mike quickly acted on it to secure the deal. After the sale was completed and now living in our forever home, Mike continues to treat us a friends. We both highly recommend Mike Morales for all your real estate needs! Tom and Terri Madrid

All of the following is my subjective opinion. I would put a…read morenegative 5 stars if possible!! Whatever you do, do not contact this agent!! She is arrogant and rude and actually hung up on me when I asked to be taken off her mailing lists, not even waiting for my name and address!! I was not upset when I initially called, as it was just a simple request, no problem with most people. We had already asked that Century 21 agents NOT contact us in any way as ours is a vacation home and a friend forwards the mail to wherever we are so it doesn't fill up our mailbox here. (I have to call in every year to remind the Century 21 office in Arnold.)There are so many century 21 agents up here that they all send you stuff fighting each other for your business! Her "zillow" bio page she directs one to in her letter seems arrogant and haughty (read it yourself) as if no one can figure out the real estate market without her. PPS: Please note that her comments to my review try to place the blame on me for complaining as some "emotional" cripple or something. Most realtors when asked not to receive their mailings would just say sure, sorry to inconvenience you and note my name and address. But she actually HUNG UP! This simple call really reveals her character, and I'm sure she must just bubble over with niceness towards those that she's making money off of!!

My wife and I have had experiences with many different real estate agents over the years, and I can…read moresay without hesitation that Sharon has been one of our favorites. During the improbably process of buying our family's favorite "rental house", Sharon helped us successfully navigate a series of obstacles such as keeping tabs on a home that was already sale-pending (but later fell through), and handling a difficult, multiple-offer situation that required a late night change of offer letter that ultimately resulted in our winning offer at a reasonable price. My wife and I often remark that we would not own the home today if it wasn't for the efforts of Sharon during this time. That experience alone is worth a positive review, but what really sets Sharon apart was her desire to make sure the "seal the deal" approach extended into happy home ownership. Sharon helped open the home as furniture was being delivered, drove by to check the driveway, secured help to clean gutters, kept spare keys to be checked out by contractors, did a security check, etc. Even a year after owning the own, we know we can count on Sharon for any referrals or to lend a helping had at a moment's notice. Sharon is truly interested in helping people find the home they love and making everything about home ownership as easy as possible. She's intelligent, hard-working, detail oriented, knowledgeable, trustworthy and a great communicator. I highly recommend her.

Wanda Lake is very deceitful and disingenuous. The neighbor's house is for sale, but instead of…read moreplacing the sign in front of his house, as two previous realtors have done, it's in front of our house, which misleads people. We do share a driveway, however, realtors should be truthful and she is not. Just because the seller wants it, does not require the realtor to go along with misleading the public.

Terrible.Shes supposed to be the mobile home guru..nop, just sits on her hands until someone sells…read moreit for her.She doesn't do anything. Dresses like she just got up. Was told not a morning person. Don't be bugging her in the morning. Not professional whatsoever. Not impressed whatsoever. Wanted me to lower my price constantly, even though I did the Research and I know it's very comparable too similar mobile homes. That's because they get a set price under a certain amount. So it doesn't matter to them what price it is ass long as it sells fast and they get money in their pocket. I did a fake call, had a friend call to find out what the problem was.She was very uninterested in selling the mobile.Instead, lots of negativity about the park at first. Basically, trying to tell the people to go drive by first.And if you like the park, then we'll talk about selling the mobile, which made no sense to me whatsoever. You sell the home first, and then the park. Not the other way around.Going on 5 months. So I canceled our contract and she put in a clause,if it's sold between now and the original contract she still gets paid I guess for doing nothing. When contract is canceled, you don't have the right to go on.Someone's property without proper notice.Should contact the person to tell them you're picking up your rickety old metal sign from the 80s and lockbox.You don't just show up and and surprise them and go on your property to get your things. Freaked out dog, which I normally would put away if someone was to show up. As for me, trying to relax on my day off with very little clothes on. As we discussed picking those things up on monday, she decided she was in the area on sunday and thought she would just pop in instead Very unprofessional.This company used to be good reputation. No, not anymore.Please go with a active realitor that wants to actually do something to sell your home and represent you as a seller. I do not recommend.

We can't recommend another office more than Remax. We know that we can find a property that fits…read moreour needs using Remax and trust their experience to get the job done!

This agent is likely much better for a buyer than seller. Her description of my family's property…read moreleft out that it is horse property, other important details of the property, only outside pics and stated in the description that the home needed upgrades. Very disappointing.

Paul Wild is the best realtor anyone can have. He has helped me so much. He keeps me in touch with…read morethe real estate market after he helped me buy a cabin in the woods. On time, honest , dependable service. Exceptional knowledge of the area! Will buy my next house through him. He is great.

Steve Campbell at Berkshire Hathaway in Sonora is the best realtor for the job. I am…read moredetail-oriented and analytical but a new home buyer, and Steve was extremely patient while we went through the home buying process. He spent hours explaining every step of the process and was intent on educating me on my rights as a home buyer. He did not move on to the next step until he was sure I understood what we were dealing with at the time. He was always available by email and telephone for my questions, and I never, ever waited for a response from him - it came immediately. At the same time, he worked swiftly and professionally, meeting many deadlines in a short amount of time. He was at all times professional, considerate and supportive of me. When the deal closed, I received a congratulatory email from him even though he was out of the area on another project! I can't imagine a smoother home buying process and I highly recommend this company and this realtor.

We purchased our home from Barbara Barendregt, a Broker Associate with Berkshire Hathaway in…read moreSonora/Tuolumne County. Barbara is a lifelong resident of Tuolumne County and is familiar with all the hidden gems in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties. We owned a vacation home in Tuolumne County for years and thought we knew the area. Barbara found us a home in an area we did not know even existed. She is up-to-date on her marketing area. The minute she heard somebody backed out of a deal she gave us a call. She knows the builders and has a network of connections. Her attention to detail is amazing. Barbara is organized, communicates well and pays attention to sellers/buyers needs. The home we purchased came completely furnished. Barbara cataloged every item in the house to make sure we got everything agreed upon between buyer/seller. She is a problem solver!

Thanks Barbara for all your help with the purchase of my new home and the excellent service since…read moreour closing in just 17 days!

Jim's firm performed as requested initially. However when it was discovered they made a mistake,…read morethey didn't fix it, and still haven't after a few months! (June 8, 2021) I have 20 plus phone calls and emails to Jim but to no avail. I'm not sure of the problem. They know what needs to be done. My concern for future customers is, If you are looking for someone that will stand behind their work, it may be best to go somewhere else, but it's your choice. Like I mentioned in the beginning, the firm did what was asked, but they made a mistake, haven't fixed it, and it is slowing up probate on my mom's estate. This is my factual experience dealing with their firm.

Jim W Hildreth was our mediator in a dispute regarding a failure to disclose in a real estate…read moretransaction. You can be assured you will be getting a professional, well versed expert in real estate matters to assist you through the mediation process. Thank you Jim!