Cook Realty

They had multiple chances to sell my home and blew it every time… I listed it with another agent and it was sold above asking price in 3 days. Do not trust them! I also heard that their property management services are the worst in town, and I am not surprised. #awful

This all started about a month and a half ago with us wanting to sell our house getting a referral from a close friend who has used Cooks in the past. We met Lesley de Barrena-​Sarobe in person after our second phone conversation. She came over and explained the process to us on selling and buying a new house. She literally held our hand and guided us in making the best decision. She was always on time and extremely professional and had things done in very timely manner. Not at all did we feel pressured or rushed. Throughout the whole process we felt that we where in excellent hands and that she had our best interest at heart. I would highly recommend her for all of your real estates needs. Thank you for our great sale and helping us getting into the house of our dreams.

The Cook agency is simply the best example of an unethical business run by a nest of complete crooks. The agency operates within a nucleus of continuous unethical behavior. How Sacramento is still allowing them to do business is a direct reflection on our failing values and inability to question the obvious for fear of the unpopular but true, truth. Beware of this agency both in rental and in real estate. They are master manipulators who lie, lie and lie. This is my personal and unfortunate experience. The details are many and the problems unbelievable. I am ashamed to have attended school with some of the cook agencys owners, opperators and family members. The business is morally void and opperates within this reality. One star was given only because there is not a minus 5 star option.
Sincerely Britt Moise

My apologies for giving one star for your property management services. But there wasn’t a «zero» stars option. If you want quality renters, then show properties when people are not working. They made the owner show us a property because they «didn’t have time». We replied to an ad on Craigslist for a home. The ad had been on Craigslist for a few weeks. But when you call this company, the only option you have is to leave a message on extention 25. Finally, after four messages, we received a call back. The gentleman that called us acted as though we were bothering him. When we asked to view the property at 5pm the next day, he actually told us that he didn’t have time. After being persistent, he called the owners and they agreed to show us the property right away. We spent a couple hours with the owners. They were lovely people who were excited to have us move in. They told us that they didn’t know why they weren’t getting any showings on their home. They too were quite frustrated with Cook. We attempted again to reach Cook Realty Property Management to submit an application. After a week, they finally called us back only to tell us that we could drop our application and fees through the mail slot in their office. So we did. The very next morning, there was a new ad on Craigslist advertising the property. After 3 days we called back to inquire about our application. Someone actually answered the phone this time. We were told that they had several showings coming up on the property and would let us know if our application was chosen after they’ve received them all. A week later, after several messages, a girl called us (while eating) to say that the owners chose another applicant. By this time, we had already decided that we would not take this home because we would have to deal with Cook Realty Property Management. Also by this time, we had found another property through a «professional» PM company, applied, and signed a lease. RENTERS BEWARE!

Ed Daniels of Cook is both knowledgeable and willing to go the extra mile for his clients. After giving Ed a list of requirements for my future home he found several homes that met the criteria. The home was located in the Pocket area of Sacramento, in a perfect location for myself, and my girls. The entire process went better than I could have hoped for. I have bought a few pieces of property, three homes, and Ed is the most proficient realtor I’ve had the pleasure to deal with.

This review is in regard to the Property Management part of the business.
This company was recommended to me by a family member who reported good service from them.
I had a rental property to list, and Brittany came to meet me and evaluate the property. I mentioned a listing price, but there was no other discussion.
The property was assigned to Sandy, who promised to call weekly until rented. The house was eventually rented at my suggested monthly rate.
Communication from Sandy was poor, at best. Emails and phone calls were not promptly returned. Worst of all, tenant related issues were simply forwarded to me. I expected a management company to manage, and they simply did not.
With regard to keeping the rental rate competitive, Cook Property Management was not my advocate.
With so many other property management companies around, I do not recommend this company.

My family and I had the most wonderful agent, I just had to write a review.
I met Tanea Evans at a open house she was having and decided to ask for her help in finding a home for my family. Over the next few months Tanea went above and beyond to find just what we were looking for. She helped us through the headache of a short sale, and when that was taking a long time, She kept searching for something better. Finally Tanea found my family our dream home. Even with our lower budget, we sacrificed nothing. She made sure that we got everything we asked for from the seller and pushed the paperwork. I can’t say enough about how wonderful this agent is. If you are looking for a house, or trying to sell one, look no further than Tanea Evans at Cook Realty.

I wish I could give them negative stars. Ok so a couple years ago I rented a house from them. They threatened to evict us for trimming the hedges… Sandy is awful! She is so rude, I went to their office to pay rent one time and she wouldn’t talk to me, but instead talked through another woman two feet away from both her and I. Sandy was about 3 feet away from me. It’s difficult to get them to fix anything as well. I would avoid like the plague!

Gail LaTurner of Cook Realty is absolutely the most knowledgeable, personable, realtor we have ever dealt with! We loved working with her so much and want everyone to know about her. We are a military family and had a short time to find a home. She helped us find exactly what we needed in the price range we could afford! Gail is the best!!!

Just like Dane H, this review and every one of the 5 stars that I’ve given to Cook Realty is because of Meena Chan Lee.
Let’s step back. It’s the winter of 2008-​09 and with everything falling apart around us, I’m thinking «what a perfect time to be a first time homebuyer!». Thanks to Dane’s review, and for lack of any other idea how to do this, I called up Meena and within hours, she had called me back, asked me some basic questions about what I was looking for, and scheduled to meet with me that weekend for a drive around.
I can’t say enough good things about Meena. She was patient, took me around to all the neighborhoods I wanted to see, put up with me doing my own research and going to houses she knew I wouldn’t like for whatever reason. During this whole process, she was also impressively attentive to what I wasn’t saying when we were looking at homes, because often, near the end of our planned trips, she would throw one out that she had seen earlier that week that I *might* be interested in.
One of these last minute, unplanned houses was ultimately the one I looked at and fell in love with, despite being well over my budget. But, she played the system for me and was able to snag me an outrageous deal on the perfect place in Sacramento in the exact neighborhood I wanted to live in. She also made the whole process as painless and convenient for me as possible — and I have a pretty crazy work schedule so I really appreciated that.
I really cannot say enough great things about Meena and how painless the entire home purchase was for me as a first timer. Next time I need a realtor or know someone who needs one, she’ll be the one I go to.
And did I mention painless?
Also, she often bought these Chinese pastries from her mystery bakery — I miss those sweet egg custard bao.

«WTF, only one star?!» This may be your cry of disbelief upon first seeing my review of this highly regarded and long-​established local favorite, but lemme ‘splain.
My review is specific to very recent experience with attempts to have these folks assist me with a few of their rental listings. I called on 2 separate rental ads & left detailed messages more than a week ago that I was interested in seeing each of the properties as soon as possible. The only response I received was a message on my voice mail left by someone at Cook (they left only their first name in the message; no last name was given), who simply re-​stated the information from one of the ads I’d called about.
I called back right away; unfortunately, when calling to Cook, the only options in their automated phone system seem to be either selecting an extension or using their directory to locate your party by last name. Since I had no last name for whoever left me the message, I chose the extension that was listed in one of their ads I was interested in & left another message asking for a return call to let me know how/​when I could set up a time to view the property.
To date, I have not received a response from either of the two Cook reps for whom I left messages on the ads I was interested in.
Maybe they’re only interested in providing quality service to buyers/​sellers and we renters are just S.O.L. Seems that way from my experience.

I never thought I’d ever write a review, especially a 5-​star one, for a real estate person – I’ve found most of them to be self-​absorbed, «only-​interested-​in-​their-​commission» mercenaries. (Think Annette Bening in «American Beauty».
But when I came across this review for Meena Chan Lee I was reminded about how incredible she was negotiating «the deal from hell» on the Eichler I bought. Without regurgitating all the bloody details, she pulled off the nearly impossible and at half her commission (she was pulled in after I had been in negotiations directly with the owner’s mother, who had passed away).
If I ever decide to sell, Meena’s getting the listing! You go girl!