My wife and I have had the pleasure of working with David in two different capacities. First was…read moreregarding a property management issue where his resources proved invaluable and settled some anxiety quickly. And second when we looked at purchasing our home. David has great insights into that help buys and sellers achieve their goals. David is a stellar advocate for your Real Estate needs. Only able to give him 5 stars but he deserves more.

David was very knowledgeable, professional, and nice. He gives you useful information in simple…read morelanguage. He devoted a lot of time to me even though our moving plans were not even certain. We ended up not moving to Santa Cruz so we didn't buy a house, but our experience was so positive that we will contact him if things change in the future.

Do NOT DO BUSINESS WITH I tried for sometime to rent a…read morewarehouse at 54 Old Pueblo Rd from them. I noticed the place has been available for over 6 months with no movement. I contacted Allen property and Taylor Cohan. Taylor is the most lethargic, unmotivated property agent I have ever met. After playing phone tag and him approving the use I needed it for, we agreed to a time to view the warehouse. The guy showed up late looking like he just came off a bender and didn't bring the keys, genius. So I chased him down to meet the next day and he was late again but called. I viewed the warehouse and we decided to move forward. I had told Taylor my credit score was low but I could provide stellar rental references and pay the first year in advance. Taylor said that would work and he would present this to the owner and see what we could work out. So my rental reference sent a reference to Taylor. I also sent a profit loss statement, a personal letter describing my situation. This is the first time using Taylor's email so I was looking for confirmation that he received my personal information? I send him a text on a Friday to see if he received. Most professional managers will acknowledge your very personal emails with a response, not him. So my text went ignored. On Monday I texted again to see if he received, once again crickets no response, very amateur. Then I called Allen Properties and asked for Steve Allen the owner, I left him a voicemail about Taylor's incompetence. A woman named Felicia called me back and apologized for Taylor's incompetence, almost like its a regular thing. I told Felicia I had sent personal document to Taylor and he hasn't told me he received them. Felicia then told me that she would present my info and that I'd pay a year in advance for the warehouse to the owner to the owner. Taylor and Felicia called me back together and told me the owner denied rent for the warehouse a year in advance and denied my references that were excellent. I get screwed because Taylor sucks at his job and the owner of the warehouse gets screwed because Taylor sucks at his job, and Allen properties gets this bad review because Taylor sucks at his job. Steve Allen I was told was in the loop the whole way on this? Nice work Steve good company ethics.

Allen Property Group runs a handful of small coastal hotels, including the Venetian in Capitola and…read morethe Rio Sands in Aptos. We travel to that area about once a month, sometimes more. Our long term plan is to actually purchase a home in Aptos when our kids graduate high school, so we make a point to try to be involved in the community we plan on relocating to. That said we recently had a very awful stay at the Rio Sands and it led to a pretty unpleasant and unprofessional interaction with Steve Allen. I brought my family to one of his hotels and we ended up with no heat or plumbing. The staff at the hotel was entirely unhelpful so we reached out to Steve. He ignored all calls and emails and was unresponsive. Apparently he thinks it's perfectly fine for families to stay at his hotels and not provide them with plumbing or heat in the winter. Interesting way to do business but ok. While most of our interactions in the area have been wonderful, and we've met some really wonderful and kind community leaders and business owners, there is always a random "bad apple" that preys on tourists and it seems like the hospitality branch of Allen Property Group does just that. We obviously won't be spending our money at any of their hotels and will be sure to steer clear of their real estate side when we purchase our home in Aptos.

I cannot say enough good things about the Strock Team. They assisted my family and I with the sale…read moreof a family member's house who had passed away, and highly exceeded our expectations. The prospect of hosting an estate sale, de-cluttering, hauling away junk, facilitating inspections and necessary repairs, was overwhelming to say the least. It turns out, Strock handled it all - soup to nuts. From beginning to end, they executed flawlessly. We put the house on the market on a Thursday, and 12 days later, had a closed deal. We accepted an incredible offer, well over asking price. I was amazed to have received 6 solid offers after only one open house weekend. The Strock team's ability to remove stress from the equation was critical at this moment in our life, and I can't thank him enough. If you are making a decision on a realtor, do not look further. Hire the Strock team.

Years ago, my husband and I were lookie-loos at an open house that Jess McVey was hosting. There…read morewas something in that moment I knew I should get her number in case we were in a position to buy in the future. I'm so glad I did!! Working with Jess has been an absolute blessing. From the very beginning to the very end, she brought kindness, professionalism, and deep knowledge to every step of the process. Her attention to detail gave us complete confidence, and her determination ensured that nothing was overlooked. She was always warm, approachable, and genuinely cared about finding the best outcome for us. We lovingly referred to her as our 'mother hen' and at times our 'little bulldog'. What started as a professional relationship has truly turned into a friendship, and we couldn't be more grateful. We would wholeheartedly recommend Jess to anyone looking for a realtor who goes far above and way beyond.

Lauren's calm and expertise helped guide my Mom through the sale of our family home. She was…read morepatient and kind throughout the whole process, and above all, professional. Lauren gave advice on prepping the home for sale, but she was also a great listener, making sure my mom felt ready and prepared throughout. We are thankful to have worked with Lauren and her team.

Lauren Spencer and her team were wonderful to work with when selling our house. From the first…read moremeeting, we were impressed with Lauren's knowledge, expertise, and communication skills. She made sure our home was readied for sale, coordinating all the repairs, upgrades, and inspections to ensure that the everything went without a hitch. Her team staged the house, took beautiful photos and videos, and made a stunning website. Lauren worked closely with us to determine how to make the house look its very best in order to get the most from the sale. She has broad experience in the Santa Cruz area, is very efficient, and gave us tons of personal support during the entire process. Her professionalism and genuine care made what could have been a stressful experience instead be seamless from start to finish. Our house sold in one week and for over asking price--you can't do better than that! I highly recommend Lauren for anyone looking for an exceptional real estate agent who will get you results.

The best realtor I have ever worked with. He's fantastic and has a wonderful team as well. They…read moreturned our college student rental into a gorgeous coastal gem in a matter of hours. They went above and beyond marketing it, and we received multiple offers above asking price within a day of it listing. Highly recommend.

Ben Strock was the most caring, creative and professional broker I have ever met. We watched many…read morereal estate videos and interviewed at least 7 brokers before choosing Ben. BTW, his team makes the best Real Estate videos anywhere on Youtube! When we initially interviewed him at our beach house in Santa Cruz, he brought all his key team members (not just other Realtors from his office). No other Realtor had this "integrated team approach" advantage. It was amazing to work with a professional team that all had and were allowed to provide good inputs and suggestions and handled so much of the process smoothly. Ben staged the home at his cost, made several video versions for our property (very professional and entertaining) handled all the details, found a buyer in about a month and aced the negotiations. Fantastic job Mr Strock! If you are selling or buying a home I would strongly advise giving Ben and his team the opportunity to represent your property. You will be glad you did! Five Stars!!!!!!

Kaelin is an outstanding real estate agent. She knows the market and can guide you in what to do…read moreand what not to do in preparing your house for sale. I can't speak highly enough of her integrity and doing whatever needs to be done to sell your home. In our case, we were not able to do the upgrades, as we had left the area. Kaelin jumped in and lined up contractors, supervised their work, and beautifully staged out home. She was always present at the Open Houses, followed up on leads, regularly communicated, and kept our best interests foremost in her thought and actions. I highly recommend her and her team. They kept us appraised the dates for the work, Open Houses, and any bills. Simply a wonderful, warm, and engaging agent with a dynamic team who will work with and for you!

In June 2025, my sister and I made the decision to sell the rental property we jointly owned. Since…read morewe had never sold a home before, we were on unfamiliar territory. We interviewed four different realtors, and honestly, they all appeared to be trustworthy and knowledgeable individuals who could guide us through the sales process. After narrowing down our choices to two realtors, we requested proposals for selling our house from each of them. These proposals included information about the costs of necessary repairs and upgrades as well as estimated selling prices. During the interviews, it became evident that we were entering a buyers' market, which may limit our ability to achieve the desired selling price. In the end we chose Kaelin. Her proposal kept us within our budget for repairs and upgrades, and she was confident that she could sell the home for its fair market value. Our other 'finalist' was not so positive on achieving those goals. One of the daunting aspects of preparing to sell a home is finding reliable and trustworthy contractors to undertake the necessary work to prepare the property. Once you have these contractors, you need to ensure they begin work as soon as possible. Additionally, you must closely monitor the progress of the work to ensure it is completed on time and in the manner you desire. This becomes particularly difficult for owners selling a home that is located far from their primary residence, making it challenging to meet with contractors and monitor the progress. Kaelin truly shines in this role. She already knew the contractors we needed and managed to get them to provide us with quotes. Once approved, she swiftly put them on the job and ensured timely completion of the work. Initially, the ambitious goals we set together at the project's beginning seemed a bit too demanding, but we managed to meet them. When a buyer wanted to make an offer before the house went on the market, she made sure it was a strong and compelling offer that aligned with the high end of the sales price range she had specified in her original proposal. She also didn't hesitate to incur the cost of staging the property (she pays for this), as this demonstrated our readiness to proceed with other offers if theirs wasn't satisfactory. Long story short, she made it happen. We ended up putting in less money than we planned in repairs and upgrades and sold the property right at the high end of what she said she could do. We found Kaelin very easy (even fun) to work with over the 2.5-3 month timeframe as we went from planning and starting repairs & upgrades to closing escrow.

Rented a house in Aptos few years ago from Jim really great experience upper Encino alway right…read morethere to fix any problem very on top it.

I lived in a place with sheriff activity every week. Restraining orders between long term tenants…read moreand the landlord didn't do anything to fix. I also cleaned my place for 4 hours upon move out, including vacuum lines, and he charged me 400 for a cleaning. I wouldn't recommend.

We just stayed with Bailey Vacation rentals in Rio Del Mar. Their simply the best. Lisa in the…read moreoffice really took care of us. The place was clean and ready. Great location. They have great recommendations on places to eat just really great service.

I can't tell you how every time I go into the burger barn on the corner of Forest and Winchester to…read morehave either breakfast or lunch how I thoroughly enjoy it. Always greeted by super nice people. The food is great quickly served and delicious and extremely reasonable. I hope it's there forever.

Pacific Appraisers did an outstanding job establishing the value of a residential property that I…read morehave in Santa Cruz. Their charges were very reasonable and I was able to get the appraisal scheduled quickly and they turned around the valuation report just a day later. Both Shain Holden and Brett Marshall were a pleasure to work with and provided meaningful market analysis. I wouldn't hesitate to work with them again and would highly recommend Pacific Appraisers to others.

This is probably the best AMC in the mortgage industry. They answer the phone, respond quickly to…read moreemails and get the job done. Don't waste your time going with another appraisal company.

Stayed at one of their rentals 435 Beach Drive and the absolute best thing about the property was…read morethe view and proximity to the beach. Literally walked across the street and you were on the beach!! Now to the rest of the place. Where do I start? Cleanliness...NOT, dust everywhere! Upstairs patio was full of debris and couldn't use it until we swept! Fully stocked kitchen? TWO forks, yes you read that right 2‼. No dish rags only a mishmash of old kitchen towels. WiFi was spotty but sufficient once we rebooted the router. The kicker was the door to the outside backyard in the downstairs shower, WEIRD! Speaking of bathrooms both sinks, upstairs and downstairs, drained at a snail's pace. This review is specifically for this address! The value for the price we paid seemed lacking!

Stay away, far far away. Bailey Properties will do anything to get a commission, including…read moreaggressive marketing, spreading false information and sharing your valued personal data without your permission. Untrustworthy doesn't begin to describe it. Take a look at this photo of Paul Bailey training new agents to " HUNT SELLERS". You will regret even talking to them. Go elsewhere.