*Review from a former non-disgruntled Employee* I worked at Starfish for a year while I lived in North Carolina for the 2017-2018 season. Starfish Rentals and Realty is a Boutique agency. (This means a high focus on customer satisfaction and attention to detail however slower or limited resources for maintenance.) They are the only company on the island to conduct through inspections of their homes. Every Saturday you can expect to find the owner inspecting a third of the homes turning over. You can expect that when a call for a concern or a complaint comes in, the owner is addressing it as it is being relayed. You can also expect that during peak season, vendors (A/C technicians, Plummer's, pest control, electricians and any other trade) take longer to get to homes. You can also expect ( just the same as in YOUR hometown), vendors will not enter the home if you do not give permission prior. Especially in today's day and age, and with good reason. Helpful hint...If you are kind when you follow up about an issue being addressed, you will see better results. For those of you still not following; if you act like a jerk, you're going to be treated like a jerk. Now the nitty gritty of the matter. The owner. She is the most stubborn, independent, blunt but also thoughtful, humorous and driven woman you will meet. She started her career 30 years ago at the New York Times where they shaped her work ethic, organization and structure. (This is where her professionalism and stern personality come from) She also has a southern debutant demeanor. (She can chat your ear off.) She can be tough but she means well. She can be matter of fact, but it's because she is analytical. She can also make you laugh until you cry. While I didn't see it at first, she taught me a lot in just a year of working for her that I will be forever grateful for. So when you are looking for an agency that cares about the homeowners, cares about the customer and cares about the business. Take a look at Starfish, because I guarantee when it's 8pm and you are having a bad experience she will be the one to answer your call and take care of you. Ps. Don't book through VRBO, they are trash. Take every bad review with a grain of salt. read more

Unfortunately, my experience was consistent with past reviewers. I thought I was booking directly with property owner on VRBO but it turns out I was really dealing with Starfish. Lots of additional fees but, sadly, that wasn't our biggest problem with Starfish and the owners of 360 Degrees of Heaven in Surf City, NC A family member had planned her wedding for Columbus Day weekend 2016 and many family members rented houses on the island for the weekend so that they could attend the celebration. Unfortunately, Hurricane Matthew hit the area that very weekend. Luckily, it was a well-forecasted storm and we knew more than a week in advance that there was no way the wedding would actually take place that weekend. The southern coast of North Carolina was the bullseye for a record-breaking hurricane precisely on the day we were scheduled to arrive. I didn't really anticipate a problem since the record-breaking storm hitting Florida and then South and North Carolina was all anyone was talking about on the news for at least a week. Unfortunately, I was wrong. When we tried to cancel our reservation, Starfish told me it was "business as usual" on Topsail and refused to let us cancel our reservation or even move the booking to another date when the area wasn't under the threat of a major storm. They insisted on keeping our full rental fee as well as the added charge for rented linens (bed sheets) for a home that was never used. Their reasoning was that somehow the rental company and homeowner were incurring a loss on account of our cancellation. Makes total sense in a situation where there is rain in the forecast so your guests opt to cancel their vacation. But that is far from what happened here. To suggest that there was an opportunity cost incurred because the reservation had been held for us -- instead of making the property available to others who may want to rent the home -- was a complete joke. The southern coast of North Carolina was the bulls eye for a record breaking hurricane precisely on the day we were to arrive. Flights into and out of Wilmington were cancelled. Portions of interstate 95 were closed. Everyone already on the island was being told, emphatically, to leave town. And we've all seen the videos of the aftermath on Topsail - major flooding. Not only would it have been unrealistic and unsafe for anyone to be heading to the island on Friday October 7th but -- if anyone made it there -- they likely would have left with significant damage to property including vehicles. If you choose to deal with Starfish Rental or the home called 360 Degrees of Heaven, you have been warned. read more

I didn't see the bad reviews until after my stay, but this was not my experience with the company. I fell in love with the house online and immediately booked over the phone. We drove down, picked up the keys and spent the whole weekend on the beach. Can't say I got the perfect tan (but, hey, it's still better than cloudy Ohio), but the house was perfect for us. We did have an issue with a toilet in one of the bathrooms, and they sent a plumber out later that day. They even recommended a great place for dinner our first night! Great beach vacation, and we'll definitely be back! read more

We have engaged Starfish for the sale of our home on North Topsail Beach. Lisa Sparrow, the owner and her staff have been courteous, responsive and incredibly helpful. After Hurricane Flo, Starfish was at our property to check on damage before we could make it to the island. They have gone above and beyond to make sure contractors have had access to our home and to go check on the work when it was completed. We highly recommend Starfish. read more

We have never written a review despite coming to the Topsail area and other OBX destinations for 11+ year but we wanted to share our experience for the benefit of the next renter because we've had an extremely negative and unusual experience with this particular owner/realtor (note the realty company, Starfish owns the property and was advertising on VRBO). Despite some issues with the house with the house that we all noticed when we first arrived (old bedding, dirty air filters, missing grout in the bathrooms, marked walls and stained curtains throughout, some one else's worn shoes on top of the refrigerator, trash underneath one of the beds) the main issue we had was with the rental contract that was not standard, as well as an owner who took every opportunity to add additional charges (read reviews on YELP for additional complaints about this). Additional charges that were assessed and where we were overcharged were as follows: unloading the dishwasher, 4 unmade beds (note we rented our own sheets so we are talking about comforters that weren't neatly replaced), 4 hand washed dishes that were on the drying rack, and a kitchen drawer we didn't break, leaving garbage at top vs. bottom of very short driveway. We also requested from the owner/realty company a breakdown of the additional charges by item to determine how these items could amount to an extra $325 and they were never sent. When we challenged the charges and expressed our surprise, we were met with hostility, stubbornness and an overall lack of willingness to work with us and continued reference back to the fact that we signed the contract so oh well, too bad. It went so far as the owner researching our professional careers online and telling us we should know better (which is very creepy by the way) and calling us unprofessional! In fairness, and she will bring this up in her response, our small dog did have an accident in one of the bedrooms (we paid an extra $200 upfront to bring her). Following the trip, we offered to pay for the carpet cleaning up to an additional $125 which we thought was more than generous especially since we paid extra for her in the first place. Instead, the total extra charges that hit our card post trip with no detailed explanation were $325 including the petty items listed above and still without a detailed breakdown. We are astounded that this owner is in the hospitality space. It is our belief based on this experience and after reading the other negative reviews (especially on YELP) that this is her M.O. and her way of collecting additional fees. Again, this isn't standard in our years of experience renting so please beware! read more

House I rented on the Island called Sunnyside Up had an infestation of roaches which was surprising because this house is decent. I notified Starfish Realty and they said they would "send someone out" meanwhile the week went by without a visit from pest control. It would have been nice to at least get a phone call checking on the issue but they obviously wanted to ignore it. After check out, I expressed my disgust for the bugs and for their blatant disregard for their guests. I also provided them with pictures of the bugs. My family had to throw out food that was placed in the cabinet before we were aware of the roaches and then cram everything new we bought into the fridge to keep it away from the bugs. We sanitized surfaces multiple times a day and didn't place any of our belongings anywhere near where we saw the bugs. This is not what I go to the beach for; I go to relax and be carefree like everyone else that visits. They blamed me for not fully expressing my concern over the roaches and I don't know what else someone should have to say to a rental company other than one of their houses HAS ROACHES! Apparently my understanding and mature approach to the situation was the wrong one to take; I see that I should have gone into the office screaming and demanding something be done. And according to Starfish "the south has a problem with roaches" so I guess it's to be expected?! If you rent from this company, which I do not recommend, hopefully everything goes okay for you because if it doesn't they DO NOT care and they WILL NOT do anything to rectify the issue. Also, stay far away from the house Sunnyside Up unless you feel the same as Starfish and like to live with roaches. I'll never again rent from this company that only cares to take your money. read more

Lisa is rude. Very unprofessional. They also charge an outrageous amount for their rentals.

This agency was very rude and unprofessional! Seriously, should being kind and courteous be an option? How do these kind of businesses, small or large stay in business? read more

My parents rented a lovely beachfront home for a weekend celebration of their 50th anniversary on VRBO. While the house itself was very nice, renters should be warned that they are not renting directly from an individual owner but from Starfish real estate company, a company with some less than scrupulous practices. The rates listed on VRBO were deceivingly low. There were additional fees for EVERYTHING from linens, administrative fees, security deposits, etc. Not including taxes, this took the rate up nearly $1000 for just one weekend. Then there is the list of additional fees you must pay if you arrived early, left late, left dishes in the dishwasher, failed to take out the trash, failed to strip the linens, etc. As a family who rents vacation homes frequently, we already had a bad taste in our mouths before we even got to the beach. Unfortunately, when we inquired about cancelling only a few days after receiving the original contract (still 45 days plus from the vacation date) to find a more agreeable situation, my parents were told they would be charged $350 IF they could find another renter. If they could not, they would lose their entire deposit. We decided to stick it out and make the best of the situation. Fast forward to two days before our anticipated arrival when the rental company contacted my parents yet again and this time told them that VRBO had made a mistake and they owed another $200 plus! Unprofessional to say the least. Talk about taking advantage of a situation and really putting a damper on what should have been a celebratory time for our family. Be very wary of Starfish Realty. Our family will not patronize this firm again. We encourage you to shop around as well. There are plenty of great options in the area without working with these people. read more

I hate to write negative reviews, but just have to write them when I want to save others the pain of a bad experience. My family rented a house last summer through Starfish Realty and were told to come straight to their office to pick up the keys. We were told if the office was closed, that they would leave the keys in an outdoor dropbox and that we could get them that way. We arrived after hours and looked in the dropbox, and no key. We called every listed number we could find, emailed Starfish as well as the owner of the property, and didn't get a response until the next day, after we had already been forced to stay in a hotel and lost many of our groceries under no refrigeration. The next day the company apologized for the inconvenience and admitted that they forgot to leave our key, and agreed to repay us for the night we lost in the hotel. However, they didn't do this very willingly, and when we returned home after our stay, the owner accused us of stealing "expensive, brand new sheets." For one, none of us recalled any of the sheets appearing particularly new or special, and we definitely did not take anything at all from the house when we left. We followed all of the check-out protocol to a T, and left everything spotless. So to add insult to an already horrible start to our stay, we were accused of stealing to boot. Save yourself the heartache, and choose a different company to rent through. Best wishes from a fellow traveler. read more

First and foremost, while I am not the type to write reviews typically. I am the type who reads them to see what exactly people are saying about a place. I was awfully hesitant about using Starfish Rentals and Realty for my family vacation, as I had heard some mixed things. Reading the reviews on yelp made it pretty clear that maybe I shouldn't use this company, however, my sister suggested otherwise. I'm really glad she did. I'm often conflicted with sites like these because you just never know the full story. I did learn that Starfish seems to have a new, young and very vibrant team under the same management. The ladies in the office were very professional, sweet and well versed. I had several interactions with the staff from my booking all the way up to my arrival. They even gave us a courtesy call to make sure we were safely on our way and could get into our home as well as a call the next morning to ensure the house was up to my standards. These ladies at Starfish really seem to have it together and have really built what seems to be a very well oiled machine. Please look past these reviews and give the company a try, I think you'll be really pleased with the service they provide. We cant wait to stay with Starfish again next year and are even considering coming back sooner! read more