Wow, just wow. The Salem Real Estate Group is just a gem of a team here in Salem. Home buying can…read morebe a very daunting process, especially during the first time, but this team made it so much easier. Communication was top-notch from beginning to the end and they were so patient with our endless questions. We moved here from out of state and worked with them mainly remotely due to Covid and it could not have been more stress-free and seamless. The Salem Real Estate Group had our best interest from the beginning and we are so thankful we chose them. Special thanks to Kellie, Katy, and Dewey for helping us find our first home! You are all rockstars!

We sold our home with Salem Real Estate Group. I would be hard pressed to recommend them. It took a…read morevery long time for us to get our home sold. My husband and I had to be very proactive in dropping the price instead of being advised. I would recommend shopping around for a more responsive realtor when selling a high end property.

Traci is a very sweet lady and my only intent for this review is to share our experience and…read morehopefully give some constructive feedback so other clients do not go through what we went through. My fiancé and I just got a new house. Our realtor (a coworker of mine) referred us to Traci for our mortgage/ financing. We knew from the start that buying a house would require us to jump though many hoops and is not an easy to do. We figured that Traci would shed some light and give us some direction because all of this was very confusing, and we kept an open mind during the process. We were not that impressed with Traci's services. Little did we know, another coworker of ours also went through Traci and had a negative experience with her but we were not aware of that at the time. We were under the impression that Traci would take good care of us and keep us in the loop, given that she has so many 5-star reviews. Instead we felt that we were treated poorly. For example, Traci is very hard to get a hold of over phone. All my calls would go to voicemail and most of our communication was done over text (which can be hard to interpret and is not the best method of communication because she would take up to a day to respond). Our intention of hiring Traci was to be able to call her up, give her some numbers to crunch ASAP, and then put in an offer (all of this is very time sensitive) but on many occasions, she would take hours to get back and told us to use her app to crunch numbers ourselves (which we were not comfortable doing). Instead of being 1 step ahead of things, we felt like were always 2 steps behind. Traci never gave us any heads up or checked up on us during this process. She would send us cute and informative check lists way after we needed them or after that step was completed (which was no help to us at all). We did take COVID into consideration, but she mentioned that she sent our closing kit (what to expect when closing) late. She also misspelled our names on letters multiple times and that made us feel like she did not pay close attention to detail (we have emailed and texted her numerous times and they have our signatures with our names). She would also give us deadlines with no heads up. Given that we were trying to close on the house and needed to request paperwork during the week of 4 of July (most offices are closed for the Holiday) which gave us a super small time frame (about a day) to get papers in and drop our Escrow check. We wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt because she came highly recommended but what really upset us was the fact that our Escrow office NEVER received any of our paperwork. On the day we were supposed to receive our phone call to make our appointment for the closing table, we never received any call and found out that Traci had once again dropped the ball and never sent our paperwork to the office (which could have messed up the entire closing process and potentially make us temporarily homeless). Even after we called and requested her to send our papers off, she sent them 30 minutes before the actual escrow appointment (when typically this sensitive information is sent 2-3 days prior to the appointment so they can catch any mistakes ahead of time). I feel that we were not treated with any kind of priority and that we did more work than she did. She also gave us inaccurate information regarding payment methods and refund checks (which isn't a huge deal) but could have caused a delay for us. In the end she did send us pizza on our move in day along with a blanket as a welcoming gift (which was very thoughtful), but I am still not comfortable recommending her to our friends, family, or community.

Traci was absolutely wonderful! When anything came up during our house buying process she remained…read morehelpful and hopeful. She also sent us little gifts in the mail just to let us know she was thinking of us. She was so thoughtful through the whole process, patient, and kind even when my frustration levels were at their highest. She was seriously the best. I would highly recommend her help with any of your house buying needs.

Karen is just solid people! Made the whole move in process go so smoothly - could not be more…read moregrateful for her willingness to help out wherever she can.

After speaking with a number of property management companies, I decided to go with Karen at Summit…read moreRental Management. She seemed dialed in on Salem's property scene and was initially responsive enough to entrust her with my business. She had high ratings on Yelp and other platforms, so it seemed like a sure thing. I learned quite a bit in my year of working with her: * She's got a lot of ties with the Salem Housing Authority and various organizations in the local area. She has a good amount of experience with various forms and the process it takes to expedite them. * At 10% commission, her fee seemed quite standard for the area. * This is a family run business, consisting of Karen and her daughters. I believe she does most of the face-to-face work and makes herself available to tenants and prospective clients. * She takes Fridays off and most of the weekends. * She is not the most responsive with email. Most of our replies have been between 4 days to a week. * When in doubt, call. She is the most responsive in the mornings and is the least responsive in the afternoons and evenings. * She does not have an online system / portal for folks to check up on their properties. Instead, a monthly report via Quickbooks is scanned and sent as a PDF. The scans are likely done manually, given the non-stop alignment issues. * We had communication issues and accounting issues. They were resolved, but not without a lot follow up. At the end of the day, I think Karen is a super nice person but seems to be at a pace where it may be tough for folks who need an immediate answer. It would be recommended to be on the ground in Salem and to relay any thoughts in person.

Vera Stanley has been my agent for many years, and I can't imagine buying or selling without her…read more My latest purchase was a tough one. Inventory was low, prices were high and interest rates are very high. Vera wrote 5 offers on my behalf, 3 were multiple offer situations, and 4 were accepted. One I terminated before receiving a response. The conditions of the first 3 properties caused us to terminate but lucky number 5 is my beautiful new home. Vera has sold 2 personal homes for me and a rental property. My 2nd home received multiple offers during the Christmas holidays, and she worked tirelessly to negotiate the best offer which we accepted Christmas night. She has the technology, staff and energy to do the hard work that is required to close deals. I highly recommend her regardless of your budget or needs because she works as hard for the first-time buyer as she does for more seasoned folks. When I mentioned to her, I was maybe interested in selling my rental she pulled from a list of previously interested commercial buyers and had an offer waiting for me when I listed. Thank you, Vera, I love my home.

I wouldn't give 1 star if I had a choic…read more DONT WORK WITH HANNAH FOUTS!!! Hannah (who works for HomeSmart Realty) rendered horrible service and did not follow through with her promises. As if packing up a 5 bedroom house and moving from Las, Vegas, NV to Salem, OR isn't stressful enough-- we were given the keys to a home that smelled like dog/urine and was disgustingly dirty. The oven and microwave were absolutely filthy too. When the house was shown to me, I mentioned the smell and I was told the house would be "professionally cleaned" upon arrival and retrieval of the home but that wasn't the case. When I text messaged Hannah pictures and complaint, she had the audacity to recommend I try and use the "self cleaning" option on the stove. To my dismay, the stove that came with the house DOES NOT have this option. This house should have been cleaned, ready for move in and it wasn't! Also, the previous owner left several things, including 2 large trash bins FULL OF GARBAGE. I was told he'd stop by to pick them up and that hasn't happened either. The grass in the yard was up to my knees so it doesn't surprise me that the owner left things this way. Fair warning, DO NOT USE HANNAH FOUTS. I don't recommend her.

HORRIBLE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE My amazing father has dementia…read moreand my family is dealing with the many challenges that come with this disease including the loss of his drivers license and the decision that he can no longer care for himself. It was time to sell his home and he would move to a place where meals are provided and other care that he needs is available. Mind you my parents have only purchased 2 homes in their lifetime and still reside in my childhood home. They are not savvy or knowledgeable about anything related to selling a house. I was ultimately referred to the realtor's broker Melina who contacted me about my requests for fliers and/or a QR code and using social media to promote the house and specifically that in the walkable neighborhood of Englewood where my dad's house is located is a great way to inform people about my dad's remodeled and quaint home. I was told that fliers, social media and other suggestions for advertising were NOT within the advertising agreement that my dad signed with my mom present. They are responsible for signing the agreement but they also didn't know that for the agent/broker commission that all they would essentially receive is staging for a tiny 2 bed 1 bath home, pictures of the property and an open house (neighbors by invitation) the open house was self serving as a way to meet new potential clients and let looky Lou's snoop around the house. I was appalled and shocked no hustle, no strategy whatsoever to make this house move quickly. I believe the house had been on the market for not even 2 weeks and when Melina the owner of this company spoke with me she was a NIGHTMARE think Devil Wears Prada Linda Wintour kind of pompous, rude and condescending. I was hurt, felt disrespected and very upset by her actions and how she treated me. It led to a total breakdown in trust and confidence in her and her agent. I'm not sure if she had even the slightest twinge of care about my family and caregivers fatigue from caring for a family member. Selling his house included the dismantling of my dads home, belongings and it's a painful experience for him and our family. Hiring a realtor and a broker is supposed to take the responsibility and stress away from the family turning it over to "professionals" who happily collect commission and that is when we decided this was not a safe or honorable place to place our trust. The worst part is that I informed Melina owner/broker that my dad didn't have a copy of his signed contract nor did my mother. The broker said that it must be in a box from his move....ummm....No. Electronic email is standard for sending a contract. I did speak to Melina/owner-broker again and I was hoping for a chance to move forward and unfortunately I was again met with a communication style that was abrupt, harsh and her goal is about winning and being right instead of seeking to understand and find common ground. On the complete opposite spectrum our agent remained positive, kind, caring and compassionate. I highly recommend her and hope she's able to find a brokerage firm that matches her energy and professionalism. We appreciate her dedication to our family.

If you are even considering buying a home in Salem/Keizer, I need to tell you a story about an…read moreamazing woman and realtor - Melina Tomson. My Mom recently passed away from brain cancer. It was my job to "handle her affairs", one of which was to sell her home. We interviewed several people based on YELP reviews. We chose Melina to sell Mom's home. We had NO IDEA what a good choice we made. She staged the house just beautifully. Within days we got our first offer. But there were problems on the horizon. Essentially, my Mom's home (which looked beautiful) had a fair amount of deferred maintenance. Here's what we faced 1) sunken oil tank, 2) old roof, 3) heater air-conditioning needed to be replaced, 4) water main to the street needed to be replaced, 5) electrical panel needed to be replaced. That, combined with clouds on the title and some other "issues" meant that we had two "failed sales". Through all of this Melina was "as cool as a cucumber". She always had the answers. More than that - she always knew exactly the right person to call in to help. And, since she's worked with all these contractors before, she was able to get them to do the work with the expectation they would get paid at closing. She did all this with a super positive attitude. The house sold in a fairly short period of time considering the challenges. I don't live in the Salem/Keizer area so there is just no way we could have done this without Melina's finesse, knowledge, and hard work. If you are considering buying or selling a home in the Salem/Keizer market, your first move should be to pick up the phone and call Melina. I'm not a huge referral person, but I would take a phone call from anyone that has any questions. Melina is a rock star! Thanks! You are a friend of the family...

Meredith's knowledge of Silverton and surrounding areas is unmatched. We appreciate her diligence…read moreand patience in finding our next home. She works hard. We highly recommend Meredith!

My husband and I decided to use Silverton Realty to rent our home when we moved out of state. We…read morethought that being a local business in an uppity small town, that we would get great upstanding service, yet what we got was less than poor service. When we filled out papers and left the keys with Micha, we left the home cleaned by a housekeeper, yard had just had $2K in upgrading of landscaping within 60 days, freshly painted within the year, well maintained, furnace filters replaced, light bulbs all in working order, mounted coat hooks in bedrooms, gutters cleaned, roof moss free, house pressure washed, etc. Silverton Realty was to keep up basic maintenance of the home, gutters, furnace filters, light bulbs, ensuring that tenants mowed and maintained landscaping, etc. They said they would provide general maintenance crew for any small problems. Yet we were charged for an electrician because a renter flipped a switch that turned the furnace off. So the realty company called a heating and air company for a service call that cost 'US' $250 just to determine there was no power going to the brand new furnace we had just installed a year prior. So then Silverton Realty calls an electrician for a service call and they charge us another $250 to tell them the tenant had flipped the switch on the wall... marked furnace! We were assured that they had a maintenance staff that could fix simple problems. When the year was up, the tenants moved into a home they just purchased and we fired Silverton Realty. When we took possession of the home, it was filthy and the yard was in disrepair and the doors were left unlocked. I called Micha at Silverton Realty and I threw a fit. She assured me the home would be clean the following week... so I flew from out of state to close the deal with Silverton Realty.... to find out they hadn't touched the home... Still filthy, oven dirty, floors dirty, stole the coat racks out of the bedrooms that were attached to the walls, leaving large holes, crayon scribbles on the wall, large scuffs on the walls, 40% of the light bubs burned out, old food in garbage disposal, back door left unlocked, trash in the fenced in court yard, trash in the front yard and in the fenced large yard, 2 trucks full of old leaves, weeds as tall as my waist, dart board holes all over the outside wall by the front door (on our brand new exterior paint). Knocked down back decorative fence and used wooden stakes to hold it up, stole gas cans,rakes and shovels left in the shed by us to maintain the yard. Unmaintained bushes and landscaping. So I called Micha again and I called her boss... they assured me that they had now gotten the house cleaned up, so they sent us our deposit and closed the account with us. Later I flew back to Oregon to look at my house again... I was shocked at how Silverton Realty had left the once pristine house we had left them. They said they hired a house keeper and landscaper, but what I saw was piss poor. Oven still filthy, crayon scribbles in the hallway, gunk behind the kitchen faucet and in the stove fan, dart holes near front door, trash in courtyard, leaves in gutters, moss on the roof... all they did, that I could see was wiped off counters, vacuumed, mowed and raked 60% of the leaves. Still trash in courtyard, and I had to replace the light-bulbs myself. Silverton Realty took money to manage our property and all they did to earn it was cash the renters checks and issue us checks. Horrible rental company, I wouldn't trust them with a dog house.

So, we have been in the house now for 2 months, and there have been ups and downs, but mostly ups…read more The Contractor: We used Gooden Harrison at the recommendation of Clayton (most manufactured home companies in this area use them), and the date we were given for final move in from Gooden Harrison was late June/early July. We moved in after PUSHING LIKE CRAZY(and having to stay in a $1700 air bnb for a month because our lease ended) on October 1st. The people at Gooden harrison blamed it on the City, but I was in contact with the City the whole time and they were always waiting on Gooden Harrison. They received the permit paperwork two months LATER than GH told us they sent it, and the permit record even states that. Overall, the work they did was okay, but you NEED to put a clause in the contract to add financial penalties for not meeting the deadline if you work with them. The House Itself: The house is great, and I did a TON of research on how to build a super sturdy manufactured home when I gave them these specs: "-We will want the lino throughout the house--the dark brown one in the samples you sent. (that's not extra right?). What is the thickness of the lino? - Laminate countertops and edging throughout the house--is that extra? Would that be the wilsonart countertop selection you sent? -We would like a 5" rain gutter added to the house if 6" overhang is all that's available. Is that extra or standard? -Is the smart panel siding a cement-fiber siding like hardi-panel? -We would like the exterior wall studs to be 2x6 instead of 2x4. How much would that be? -Are the floor joists framed 16" on center? -Are the windows dual paned? -Is the plumbing copper, PEX, or CPVC? -If we wanted to increase the roof load to 30#, would that be extra? -We would like the 15' stretch and shed roof as long as the freight doesn't go up. -yes on: the Energy Smart Package The $36 exterior light The chassis The $244 large oval tub/shower Shut off valves at toilets and sinks The $260 base moulding" Every contractor that has worked on the house (adding stuff, etc.) has commented on how incredibly solid this house is. Do the things in the list above for a super solid house, and upgrade the insulation! Also, the Shed roof option is amazing and make the house look WAY bigger and nicer (and more modern). The fireplace is awesome to have. Ducted HVAC is the standard, but it is more expensive and needs more repairs later on than ductless. Get a ductless unit or two after you get the house, and pick wall heaters as your standard heat option. If I Could Do It Again: -I'd wait to get the tub after market-- the huge tub we got was very expensive, but got a crack in it after a month. Clayton sent someone out to repair it, but that's concerning. -I'd get a third-party inspector to check everything before I signed off-- that way, things would all get fixed right away instead of a month or two down the road when we finally noticed it. -I'd amend the contract with the contractor or get a different one. -I'd triple check everything before the order gets sent to the factory- we wanted dark cabinets, and instead have light ones. -I never would have gone to Palm Harbor/Direct Homes in the first place-- they were pretty horrible. ***I will update this review at the one-year mark, after the 1st year warranty ends!

I would recommend Clayton homes in Albany for anyone interested in a manufactured home. They have a…read morequality product, many lot models to view, and a personable, helpful staff with NO high-pressure tactics. They also have an exemplary website with a search filter to bring up the models with the features which are most important to you. There are a lot of manufacturers in the area, but you will save yourself some gas if you go here first. I found the perfect floor plan for my needs and budget. Look for my next review as a Clayton homeowner.....

We sold my father's Salem home while living outside the U.S., and Laura made the process…read moresurprisingly smooth. She coordinated the repairs and improvements the house needed--everything from roof and electrical updates to landscaping--using her local connections. Even when the first buyer withdrew late in the game, she moved quickly and secured a new offer soon after. Clear communication, local know-how, and calm problem-solving--we'd gladly recommend Laura.

Laura Gwyn went above and beyond to help me sell my mother's condominium after she passed away…read more The whole process was challenging for a number of reasons, but Laura stayed vigilant and consistent, and was extremely communicative about everything that was going on. I highly recommend Laura Gwyn for real estate services. She is a step above the rest I can pretty much guarantee...