Melody Russell

Dear Melody, We would like to extend our deepest appreciation for listing and selling our home so professionally. We were particularly impressed with the breadth of your marketing efforts. I have another friend with her house on the market with another agent, and it, despite a desirable location, is not getting anywhere close to the traffic you were able to generate with your marketing efforts. As you know, I have been a California real estate broker for many years and am very fussy about the people we hire to handle our properties. You rank among the very highest I have had the pleasure of working with. It was a wonderfully smooth transaction. Thank you!

We have bought and sold real estate many times over the years, and we can say unequivocally that Melody is a joy to work with. Within weeks, Melody had the home staged, invited brokers to see it, held an Open House and completed a successful contract. A month later, the escrow closed. Melody is a pro!

Melody she never ceased to amaze us with her determination, professionalism and dedication. She always went above and beyond the call of duty during the process of selling our high-end property. Our estate consisting of two homes was a complicated property to sell, yet Melody got the job done in a timely fashion. She always had her bases covered with Plan A and Plan B throughout the process. Her authentic personality made it easy for us. She held our hand along the way and always knew the right thing to say. She negotiated issues on our behalf that we hadnt even considered. The Melody Russell Team put forth an amazing team effort that excelled in all aspects of the transaction. Her team helped us prepare the homes for sale, successfully closed the deal at a high price and even negotiated a rent back for us until we can find a replacement property. There arent enough words of thanks to express our sincere appreciation.

Melody, Juliet and I have been consistently pleased and impressed with your energy and sound advice throughout the whole process of updating and selling our home. We will keep you on our speed dial and spread the word of your great talent. You are truly Wonder Woman! Thank you!

Thanks to her knowledge and experience, Melody exceeded all of our expectations in the sale of our duplex. Melody sold our property in just 10 days, with multiple offers, for $150,000.00 more than we asked her to sell it for! She convinced us that if we used her 'strategic marketing plan' that we would get the best price and the best terms. As a result, we received a much higher price than anything had ever sold for in our neighborhood! Melody is a marketing genius and I highly recommend her!

Thank you for being such a blessing to our family when we needed help selling our parent's home at the worst time to be selling a home. Your strategic marketing created a flurry of interest and we benefited with multiple offers and a great price. We are amazed that you could accomplish this in this current economy. Thank you so much for all that you have done for us! We will recommend you and your team to everyone that we know!

If I ever need to sell another home, I will again work with Melody Russell. She has done a better job than any other Realtor I have ever worked with. She started the process by listening closely to what I had to say about the property, which was important to me since I had put my heart and soul into the place. As a result, effective marketing by a true marketing expert was important to me. Melody was recommended to me as such. Since I lived out of area, I reached out to a top SF agent who highly recommended Melody. Once I hired Melody, her expertise was apparent. From every angle that she directed the photographer to shoot to every word she crafted about my property, her expertise rang through. She oversaw every detail without me having to travel to Santa Cruz. She was available to answer questions constantly, even late at night and early in the morning. She works very hard, is an excellent and experienced negotiator and always keeps her focus on quality and the win-win. I am so thankful to Melody for everything!

When we decided to sell our 10 acres with a large home and a second dwelling on the property, we thought it would take a long time to find the right buyer; especially since it was 15 minutes out of town (from Scotts Valley) and also because other homes on our road had sat on the market for a long time before finally selling. We did not want to live in a home that was on the market for a long time so we asked people we knew for Realtor referrals. As a result, Melody Russell came highly recommended to us. After meeting with Melody, we knew we had found the perfect professional with the experience, education and marketing expertise to provide the service we were looking for. Melody is personable and professional, and went above and beyond in every detail of the selling process. With Melodys focused attention, our home was presented so well that it drew many potential buyers and sold in an unexpected short time! If you are planning to sell your home, we recommend that you call Melody Russell.

Melody... you're the best! We chose you because of your marketing skills since comprehensive marketing is critical to a successful sale. The fact you are so personable, knowledgeable and competent was icing on the cake! Thanks for being there every step of the way through this process and getting us the best price for our home. It was truly a pleasure working with you and your team and we'll be referring you to anyone looking to buy and/or sell a home!

Dear Melody, You made the sale of our home happen with the best possible outcome for all parties. Thank you for your unparalleled professional and individual attention through the whole process. We truly appreciate everything you did. THANK YOU!!

We highly recommend Melody Russell to anyone who wants to sell their home! Melody has the experience and marketing expertise necessary to sell your home in even the most difficult buyer's market! Our home was for sale for 2 years before we met Melody. We had almost given up on our dream of retirement. Then Melody was referred to us and she sold our property quickly! Thanks to her, we are now living in Hawaii. We love her so much. We only wish that we could have met her earlier! If you really want to sell, call Melody. She will make your dreams a reality!

How does one go from entertaining an idea about selling their home to having the house in contract a week later and signing the closing documents a few weeks after that? By finding the right agent. Melody uses her great market sense and excellent sales tactics. She knows what sells and how to sell. Her professionalism helped us to cut out the stress from the typically painful process of having the house for sale. We would strongly recommend Melody to anybody who is looking for successful listing agent. Melody - thanks for making it happen!

Melody... You are the best! You did such an awesome job with the sale of my home! Thank you so much!

Melody sold the home of my departed relative. Melodys professionalism and sensitivity greatly relieved the stress of the situation. The sale was accomplished while I remained in San Diego. Melody brought in her professional organizer to oversee the packing and sorting of years of accumulation and the estate sale. The listing price was twice what I had expected. Within 10 days we had offers. Melodys skill in negotiation resulted in a sale above asking price. All beneficiaries of the estate were ecstatic! I found the process to be as stress-free as possible under the circumstances and almost enjoyable. I could not imagine any other agent could have done what Melody did for me. I heartily recommend her!

Melody... Thank you for all the work that you did for my family. I am not sure what we would have done without you. You have been a "Godsend" in so many ways. Thank you for selling our home in a very difficult market and for always being there for us. I will highly recommend you to anyone who wants or needs to sell their home!

Melody Russell did an amazing job of selling our estate in just a few short weeks! She accomplished this in a market when other high end homes have been sitting on the market for months or years. When I interviewed other realtors, I was impressed that Melody specializes in listing and selling homes and so she is not distracted by the time consuming work of working with buyers. Her specialized focus on only the marketing of her listings gave my property the edge and delivered the results she promised. She had the time to work with us on the staging of the home and she did weeks of "coming soon" advertising which generated a group of buyers before we ever went on the market. Then she priced the property correctly so that buyers were actually bidding against each other (for a $1,400,000 home) in what is known as a "buyer's market". Melody's vast marketing expertise created a "seller's market" for my estate when other sellers are experiencing a buyer's market. Thank you Melody! I will highly recommend you to anyone who wants to protect their property value by working with the best realtor for the job!

I have twice recently worked with Melody Russell of Keller Williams Realty and her team, and can recommend her unreservedly. Melody first helped with the sale of our home at Santa Cruz harbor last year. As soon as we met, Melody and her team had demonstrated a proactive approach. In coming to a recommended listing price, Melody used comparable data along with the input of other real estate professionals, including appraisers. It appears to me that in real estate, it is tempting for a broker to propose a high listing price that the seller wants to hear. Melody does not yield to this temptation. Because of her realistic approach, her knowledge of the market, her network of associates and also because of her warm and friendly but firm and excellent communication skills, we quickly built confidence in Melody and determined to give her our listing. We have since had no reason to doubt our first and ongoing appraisal of her skills. Melody prepared carefully for the sale, bringing in stagers to decorate the home and a professional photographer and then prepared effective marketing materials. Melody works with those professionals to achieve the best results. Similarly, she is proactive in reserving the most impactful advertising spots in local newspapers several months ahead. She is very well connected in the real estate industry, so was able to draw many realtors to the listing and many buyers to the open houses. An issue about our harbor home was that there was litigation involved between me and a third party. It could have concerned potential buyers if Melody had not so well handled the matter. Fortunately she takes the spirit as well as the letter of the relevant professional law very seriously, and advised complete disclosure of all pertinent issues concerning the house, and this resonates well with my own business habits. Unfortunately not all real estate people are so forthright; I think this is to the ultimate detriment of their clients. At all times, Melody was diligent to keep us completely and realistically informed. We never had occasion to wonder what was going on. This was a complicated sale due to the litigation but Melody got the home sold. I have since had the opportunity to meet the buyers, and they commented favorably about Melodys team. It is pertinent to compare our involvement with this selling process, with our experiences when we were earlier viewing properties to acquire a larger home in the area. We were surprised and disappointed to go to many open houses where there was a single attending broker, often a junior colleague of the listing agent and unfamiliar with the details of the property. By contrast, Melodys open houses are busy affairs, and staffed by Melodys enthusiastic and well-informed team, usually including herself. It was while we were ourselves house-hunting that we first encountered Melody and her marketing approach. We were impressed and made a mental note, particularly after our broker at the time recommended Melody as a potential listing broker for our sale. (He represents buyers only, not sellers). More recently, we had to decide where we wanted to live. We had a choice between our house in a rural area of Soquel and our house in a coastal area of Aptos. We had no hesitation in immediately contacting Melody & her team, without even considering any other brokers, to help determine our choice and to sell one of these homes. Again, Melody and her team went into action, and very soon we had a realistic appraisal of the marketability of the homes. I learned from Melody that selling a rural home is not the same as selling a city home. A rural home on a dreary winter day presents a different face than in brighter times. Then considerations of well water, fire fighting contingencies, and septic tanks, uneven cell phone service, all require consideration. Melody demonstrated her usual diligence by considering all these issues, and further investigating the history of the property with Santa Cruz County. Inspections were ordered, records consulted, staging arranged, photographs taken, brochures designed, advertising put in place, and open houses organized. Melody and her team again showed her ability to be a magnet for other real estate professionals, importantly considering the attraction of the home to Silicon Valley commuters. Melody sold the home successfully and closed escrow for full listing price just 2 months ago. So we have had a year of experience with Melody and her team. We have been impressed by her calm professional manner and, most importantly, her results. She maintains high professional standards, but is also diligent, considerate and instills trust. We recommend her professional services without reservation. We are delighted that she has also become a friend. Melodys clients and prospective clients are welcome to contact me to discuss my recommendations.

We would like to recommend Melody Russell to anyone who is considering listing their home for sale. Melody worked hard to sell our home in Pasatiempo. We noticed that, unlike some other agents who sell in the area, she did all our open houses herself. She even came to our home early, before each showing, to turn all of the lights on in our home and to give the prospective buyers and their agents the tour, so that our home was presented in the best possible fashion. We benefited by the fact that she is an expert in listing homes since the result was a strong focus on high-quality mass marketing of our home and getting our home sold. We feel that Melody is the best real estate agent in the Santa Cruz area and we highly recommend her to anyone who wants to work with the best.

In April, with Melodys assistance, I bought a home in the Sunny Cove area of Santa Cruz. Separately, using a very well-known agent who I contracted before I met Melody, I am selling another home in Corralitos. Two entirely different experiences. The Corralitos home has been on the market since before the Holidays; the selling process has been busy, but halting, uncertain, and in many ways, dated and uninformed. In dramatic contrast, I enlisted Melody to help me with the Sunny Cove deal. She was recommended to me by a number of friends, former clients of hers, and even my CEO. 100% positive endorsements. At first I was not going to attempt this off market purchase since the owner wanted $1,900,000. and I did not want to pay even $1,700,000. Melody assured me that negotiating the difference would not be a problem for her and so we moved forward by submitting an offer to the owner's agent. The Sunny Cove property transaction was managed superlatively. Competence was professionally expressed at every turn: Market knowledge, transactional fluency, great feel for the players, complete understanding of every quirk and nuance that emerged. The deal moved steadily, every inevitable problem became a solution. Ill add that while Ive been in business for decades, the Seller was a well-known and widely respected CEO in his own right, and a strong personality with set ideas and opinions. We were impossibly similar and too far apart by everyones measure. While Melody represented me, she expertly choreographed the entire transaction. Both sides came to have complete confidence and trust in her abilities and integrity and thanks to her I ended up purchasing the property for less than my bottom line on the transaction. As a result, I am glad she ultimately was representing my interests at the end of the day. She is savvy, smart, efficient, and a bonus a pleasure to work with. I recommend her unreservedly.

I studied Melody Russell as she marketed a home for a friend of mine. Being a second generation real estate licensee myself, I was impressed by Melody's marketing exposure of my friend's home as well as her thoughtful attention to detail with regards to getting that home ready for the market. I then interviewed Melody regarding selling my home. Of the top producing agents I interviewed Melody was the most passionate, had the most aggressive marketing plan and was the only one who said she would actually be doing the open houses at my home herself. Her team did a beautiful job of staging my home and Melody got it sold for the price I needed. She had to negotiate buyers upwards over $100,000 to make it happen but somehow she did it and I am so grateful. If you want to get your home sold for the best price then I recommend that you hire Melody Russell.

It is our privilege to express our highest appreciation for the outstanding work Melody Russell preformed as our real estate agent. We have purchased numerous homes and been acquainted with some wonderful agents and we have to say, Melody is as good of agent as one can possibly find. She came highly recommended to us and after a detailed search of the best agents in the region we chose her and we are so thankful that we did! Melody is an excellent communicator and got back to us in a quick and timely manner whether it was by phone, email or text. She answered all our questions and helped us with our concerns promptly and effectively. She also had us professionally stage our home, which was something we had never done before. Her stagers did an excellent job and looking back, this was a great move on her part. We believe that this was a significant reason that we were able to receive full asking price for our home. One benefit of working with Melody was that she is a Sellers agent. By that I mean that her entire focus is on the seller, which is very rare these days. From the very start she has had our best interests at heart. We never worried that our interests we not being fully supported. Another benefit of working with Melody is that she is an excellent marketer as well as skillful negotiator. She knows the market, knows people, and knows when to push and when to be patient. She helped get full price for our home, plus a bunch of other pluses. One of the highest compliments we can give Melody is that she is capable of handling expensive homes and the people and issues that come with those homes. She has a unique blend of being very warm and personable, while at the same time coming across very competent and professional. Melody was highly recommended to us and we would highly recommend her to you. If you want your home sold at the highest price, with a great advocate and support at your sidewe would encourage you to partner with Melody. We are so glad we did!

Melody Russell was amazing to work with! She came very highly recommended by a friend who's home she sold. We felt fortunate to have her help. She is exceptional at what she does. She is diligent, communicative, and thoughtful through every step of the process. We are relieved to have sold our home and feel that we absolutely went with the right realtor.

Our investment fund purchased a home in Scotts Valley. We listed it for sale. After a year and several price reductions it did not sell. We decided to change agents. We did research to determine which agents were selling the most homes in the Scotts Valley area. As a result, we hired Melody Russell. She oversaw her recommended renovations over a period of only 2 weeks to improve the curb appeal and appearance of the home. Melody then increased the list price $20K above our previous list price to more than cover the costs of the renovations. She then marketed the home aggressively for 2 weeks and we received multiple offers. The buyer closed escrow in ten days at list price. We were very happy we chose Melody as our listing agent. We wholeheartedly recommend her if you want a knowledgeable agent who goes the extra mile and gets the job done!

First let me say I am and have been a licensed Real Estate Broker for more than 30 years. I have only done non-residential real estate for corporate clients for the last 18 years so when It came time to select a Realtor to represent me in the sale of a property in Santa Cruz I realized I needed professional help. I interviewed the (statistically and rated) best 4 agents in the area. After meeting them and Melody and her Team I decided to list with Melody and follow her suggestions regarding how to market the property. Melody actually LISTENED to my concerns and tailored her services to fit my needs. While I am sure many agents could have sold the home ( it was highly desirable and marketable); Melody did what I asked and got top dollar without having a 3 ring circus of bidding by multiple marginally qualified buyers. She targeted her market price and worked with the selling agent from San Jose to bring in a clean quick closing offer above listing price. She and her Team were available to me at all times and made the process very easy for me because she and her Team were constantly working to make all the details come together. She met and exceeded my expectations.I highly recommend her.

In 2016 my husband searched online for the top selling Realtor in Scotts Valley, he found Melody Russell. He then placed a preliminary call to her. In 2017, while shopping for a new home in Nevada, I asked our Nevada Realtor who would be the best agent to get us the highest price in Scotts Valley. He referred us to Melody Russell. We then realized that we had each found Melody independently, all sources were pointing to working with her. So we felt good about our decision to hire her. In doing so, we had no idea how seamless Melody would make the entire process. Our life long home was in disarray & had much deferred maintenance. The minute our large family moved out, Melody's team swooped in completely transforming the home then staging it. She sent us the professional photos of the home and they were so beautiful that we wanted to move back. It sold immediately for an amazing price! If you want to maximize the value of your home & desire a hassle-free sale, we recommend you call Melody today!

I have seen over and over again the success people have had using Melody Russell. She sells more, closes faster and gets expectations set for both buyer and seller better than any one in our area. As a local school Board President, where real-estate tax revenue is essential to our schools financial health, Melody is the clear cut leader in getting the highest value for home owners which has a positive impact on our school and eases the fund raising efforts of our hard working parents.

Thank you Melody for everything! You literally changed our lives for the better and we could not have pulled off the fast sale of our home for such a high price without your help. Thank you so much! You will always have a special place in our hearts. You are the best.

I must give Melody Russell & Gayle ONeal of eXp Realty my highest recommendation. As a dynamic and driven team they approached the sale of my Pasatiempo property with a critical eye, creative energy and deep community connections which brought out a top dollar offer in a short time. As an absentee owner I needed a team who could take responsibility for the property, its sale preparation and management of repairs & cleaning. This duo delivered. I could trust in their word and it was followed with action. After lackluster performance of my listing with a previous realtor for over 3 months, it was refreshing to get offers in the first week with Gayle & Melody! If you need a realtor who understands the Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley & Pasatiempo market, you need Gayle & Melody.

Our experience with Melody Russell was amazing. We sought her help after our Granite Creek Estates home had been on the market with a large local company for almost 8 months with no results. That company had "staged" our home but Melody made us realize that like Realtors, all stagers are not created equal and that we needed Melody's very effective stagers to help us get the sale. We finally agreed to restage the home and land (kicking and screaming all the way). The result was unbelievable. Between the staging and Melody's mass marketing we had an offer for $1,110,000 in 2 weeks! We then called upon Melody's expertise to help us purchase our replacement property. Like most Scotts Valley homes in good condition the home received multiple offers. We were in despair as we still had a contingency of sale to close the escrow on our home plus an appraisal contingency plus a loan contingency and we were up against an all cash offer with no contingencies for the same purchase price that we offered. We were sure we had no chance to get the property that we wanted so badly. Melody asked the listing agent if she could present our offer to the sellers and their agent in person. During this in person presentation Melody convinced the sellers and their agent to accept our offer with 3 contingencies over the all cash offer with no contingencies! We were completely in shock and really did not believe it was reality until we closed escrow a few short weeks later. Melody's lender, Tony Crane, made it possible for the entire finance process to take only a few weeks. We are very grateful to Melody, Tony and Melody's stagers Yolanda and JoAnn and we will recommend them to everyone that we know!

Melody Russells work in the sale of our beloved Santa Cruz home was and continues to be of the utmost quality. Shes a dedicated professional with an unerring sense of the market and an attention to detail. Also shes a delightful person. Moreover, when you work with Melody you also get her team of high-level associate supporteach is a pro at what they do. We had the best help in painting, staging, photography and gardening, which was reflected in the ultimate selling price. She priced our home higher than we expected, then she closed well above that, with multiple offers. By being proactive and clear in her communication, she handled one potentially deal-breaking situation, never losing her cool. Do yourself a big favor: hire Melody Russell for your real estate transaction. Youll find its the best decision youll make!

Melody Russell certainly knows how to get her home selling clients the highest price in the shortest amount of time! We live out of area and contacted her regarding selling our rental property when we saw that she had quickly sold the home next door for a price higher than the others had sold for in the area. Our rental home was in rough condition at the time. Melody and her home stagers made recommendations on what improvements to do in order to get the highest price. Then Melody brought in a team of professionals to improve the appearance of our property. Melody updated us daily on the progress, including sending photos. Within 4 weeks the home was on the market with gorgeous photos that we were not sure could be of what was once our rental home. A full lunch was served to agents at the Broker Tour and a good bottle of wine was given to the first 36 agents who made the drive up the windy road and through the woods to preview our home. A huge ad was placed in the local newspaper and the home was advertised on over 300 websites. After just a week on the market we were pending sale at a price above our list price. Melody has been a dream to work with. We highly recommend her to anyone who wants a true professional with an amazing team to sell their home!

Melody was referred to us for listing our Santa Cruz home and we are glad that we chose her. She took care of everything, including overseeing the prep for sale of our home, which meant improving every surface due to tenants living in the home for years. She then had the home professionally staged and negotiated an offer above list price within a week. Since we were out of area sellers, we appreciated her and her team overseeing every detail along the way and managing our home prep for sale in a very organized and professional manner with updates almost daily. She went far beyond what other realtors weve used in the past have done. We will use her again and can recommend her with confidence.

Melody Russell brought the highest level of expertise and professionalism to the task of selling our Scotts Valley home. Thanks to her expert team, the house was smartly staged, professionally photographed and beautifully marketed. We received two above asking offers within four days. Not only was she the ultimate professional, she conducted business kindly, timely and gracefully. We have been involved with a number of real estate sales and purchases over the years. Our experience with Melody was that she is exceptional. She receives the highest recommendation from us

To anyone looking for the best real estate team: Look no further than The Melody Russell Team! Melody and her team went above and beyond helping us to sell our home at 101 Zinfandel Circle in Scotts Valley. She sold it in 7 days for our full asking price while other houses are still sitting on the market in our neighborhood. The help from her team in decluttering, organizing and staging our home within a few days was amazing. They all worked around the clock with us. Melody was in constant contact with us keeping us updated through emails and phone calls as the sale of our home progressed to closing. Not only did she go beyond what was necessary in the sale, she also helped us find and buy our dream home. She isn't just another Realtor. Melody is someone that you will recognize as a real friend. We give her and her team the highest ratings possible. We strongly feel that anyone not using her expertise is truly missing out. Thank you Melody and team. You are the BEST. You are amazing and we feel very fortunate to have you in our lives!

This is in reference to my experience with Melody Russell from Keller Williams Realty and the excellent work she did for me in the recent sale of my home. Melody brought a very professional and personal approach to my listing. Professional in that her team aggressively marketed my property and brought many interested parties to the property; personal in that she always had time to answer my questions and was always careful to explain her approach thoroughly. Melody was consistently available, reachable, and willing to counsel me on the process. Melody anticipated my needs well and was always willing to give of her time if more information or market research were required. She was also an excellent advocate for my sales position and fought hard in negotiations to protect my interests. From start to finish the sale of my home was made easier with the help of Melody and her team. Not a day went by that I didn't receive an update on the progress of my listing-the communication was amazing. I feel that I could not have been better served than to have Melody as my agent. I will definitely be seeking her help in all of my future residential real estate transactions. I would eagerly give my recommendation of Melody to anyone who could benefit from her unique approach to residential sales.

After evaluating six qualified Realtors and what they offered, I engaged Melody Russell and her team with conviction. Her track record was the primary factor. She was referred to me by a prominent community member, who's home she had just sold, with the highest of recommendations. A bonus was that I found I really enjoyed working with her. She was a great choice. Melody is smooth, professional and helpful at every turn. After three days on market I received multiple offers. One was cash, a 10 day close with no contingencies and a free 3 month rent back. Melody's advertising generated the best buyer I could have hoped for. Bravo Team Russell! I am appreciative of your work and the unbeatable results you delivered!

Melody - We feel fortunate that we met you when we needed to sell our Scotts Valley home a few years back. Thanks to the knowledge you obtained when you owned a construction company in Palo Alto, you saw through the inaccuracy when our buyers roof inspector said we needed to replace our roof for $20K. You involved an ethical roofer who said we did NOT need a new roof at all! You did an amazing job of protecting our interests and getting us a price for our home above what homes were selling for in the neighborhood. Since we moved, we have LOVED the amazing SC home that you and your team helped us obtain. We were sad when my health forced us to move out of the area but felt blessed to be able to again rely on you standing by our side. I was thankful for your help in the prep for sale due to my health constraints. Again, you set a new high for the neighborhood when you sold our home for $1,735,000.(above list price) with multiple offers! You have become a treasured friend. We will keep you in our hearts and in our Rolodex and look forward to your visits to Arizona.