09/15/2020 — Nancy Stagliano
Once again, Marilyn was invaluable to me in identifying and purchasing a parcel of land that suited my needs perfectly. Her knowledge of the inventory made the purchase possible in a competitive marketplace. She provided me with all of the necessary contacts for land and water use and made it a seamless process. I will always call Marilyn if I need help with real estate. She is a pleasure to work with and gets the job done!
09/14/2020 — Elizabeth Quick
We have had Marilyn Elam as our realtor for 20 years and she has helped us with property management as well as selling a house and a vacant lot. Both properties were challenging to sell and Marilyn worked hard to find the perfect buyers. She is extremely conscientious and ethical in dealing with us and the buyers. We also recommended her to close friends and once again she worked over time to find them the right home in their price range. Marilyn has become a valued friend and contact in the professional world of real estate and we would definitely use only her and Danielle and continue to refer her to our friends.
06/27/2018 — Shawn Amir
I moved to Solvang from the SF Bay Area and used Marilyn and Danielle to represent me in the purchase of my house. I can definitely recommend this team without hesitation and will use them myself for any future transactions. I had initially wanted to proceed on my own, basically find a house and buy it myself. It was in this way that I met Marilyn, as she was the selling agent for a house that I was interested it. I soon realized that she had incredible local knowledge as well as a great deal of experience, smarts, and business savvy. We had very compatible styles, as I am a just-the-facts type engineer and she is very logical and used to dealing with technical people. The process of buying a house from afar is not an easy one and I think Marilyn and Danielle (mostly Danielle) spent very many hours physically in the house, waiting for all manner of inspections and repairs. More importantly, they found and hired all the inspectors and contractors, everything from septic pumping to window repair, stucco plasterer, and roofer. We had a very fast closing process and these two ladies were running non-stop for a couple of weeks to get all the ducks to line up. I could not get this many people lined up in my own neighborhood, so I am not sure how they did it. All in all, I am very happy that I chose them.
06/27/2018 — Valerie Fuette
I had a very positive experience in having Traci Harrison represent me in the sale of my very large home in Solvang. Throughout the open house process, Traci exhibited strong knowledge of the housing sale environment in Santa Ynez Valley. Additionally, the asking price Traci suggested for my home was well-received and not "off-putting" to prospective buyers. On the paperwork, Traci was consistently on top of it and always offered to come to me with each additional document that required my signature. She also used "DocuSign", a computer program that expedites the signature process. Traci's readily responded to all of my concerns and tasks. In many instances, I thought she exceeded in her role of representing and assisting me in the sale of my home. For example, she locally posted on-line extra items that I had in my home that I needed to sell as they would not be going with me to my new home. Her negotiation skills were strong, too. Once I was in receipt of a viable offer, she guided me in making only the appropriate concessions to the buyer. Perhaps, what I appreciated the most in having Traci Harrison represent me is her overall demeanor. She is very personable and professional, and I am well aware that she worked tirelessly in getting me the best possible price in selling my home, all while sparing me any "work" in achieving the sale. I couldn't be any more grateful to this promising professional.
05/03/2018 — user52952811
Danielle represented us on the recent sale of our home, and she was simply amazing to work with! Her knowledge of the local market is excellent and helped us get top dollar for our property. She communicated with us every step of the way, and she was always right there any time I had a question. I had been dreading the home-selling process, but it turned out to be painless. I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking an agent.
03/23/2018 — Nancy Stagliano
Marilyn worked patiently with me over a two-year period to find me the perfect ranch in Santa Ynez. Marilyn is well connected and informed, very responsive and works tirelessly through the entire process. Marilyn knows the housing inventory (both on and pre-market) and local contacts in the valley to provide excellent assistance both during and after a sale. I would highly recommend her!
02/2018 — Mel Pedrazzini
Again, Danielle has been amazing both on the buy and the sell side. She is smart, intuitive and creative...all the perfect qualities to create the ideal deal for her clients. We love Danielle and Marilyn and trust their advice completely.
02/20/2017 — CNordgren05
Marilyn and Danielle were the consummate professional team as they helped us relocate locally. Their combined years of expertise helped us feel confident navigating the finer details of a home purchase. Because of their teamwork and availability, our process from start to finish was quite speedy. We would definitely recommend this agency for home buyers who want honesty and clear communication.
12/12/2017 — Mel Pedrazzini
An excellent experience representing us with both the sale of our property and the purchase of our new home. Both Marilyn and Danielle were professional, highly knowledgeable and a delight to work with. We recommend this team highly!
12/04/2017 — teamtag
Danielle is a pleasure to work with. She knows the area and how to work the business of buying and selling property into our bus lives. She is readily available for texts, emails or phone calls.
12/04/2017 — JPalka7067
This is the second time my family has used Danielle Crystal as our real estate agent and we couldn’t be more pleased with her service, knowledge, and how personable she is! Danielle went above and beyond what she needed to do to assist my family during our search to find our house. I won’t use anyone but Danielle Crystal for our real estate needs!
11/01/2017 — Pamela Blood
Danielle is amazing. This is the second house she's sold us and every time she goes above and beyond to answer any and all questions we have. Always quick to respond and helps us along the way. We highly recommend her to anyone looking to buy.
10/08/2017 — MamaLion10
Marilyn Elam is a classy lady who gets the job done in a VERY professional way. We could not have asked for a better person to sell our home. A smooth, quick transaction, yet her demeanor and decorum made it enjoyable! Any anxiety we had in trying to sell our home By Owner dissipated once - Marilyn took over for us. Marilyn is and was the best Broker/Realtor to represent our best interests in selling our Solvang home. Whether a person has a million dollar estate, (not us) or a cozy family home, she will smile and settle anyone's nerves. A+ class act! We cannot recommend anyone in the Santa Ynez Valley more highly than Marilyn Elam, Owner/Broker of Elam & Associates. Greg and Lisa Sanders
09/15/2017 — Heather and Chris
Danielle is the consummate professional and extremely knowledgeable about the listing, showing and sale processes. We have twice engaged her over the last year, sometimes with pretty difficult objectives and challenges involved, and both times she hit the ball out of the park. She knows the community and its heart and the way to manage everything involved and will bring you and yours the trust, reassurance and then results you need. Top notch all the way!!!
08/18/2017 — Suzette Stahl
We listed our home in the Santa Ynez Valley in the spring. Our home was shown more than 5 times a week until it sold. In addition to the open house and realtor caravan, we experienced a lot of action with an incredible amount of feedback from everyone involved. Our home was under contract in less than 60 days, and we couldn't be happier. Danielle's negotiating skills, guidance and down-right friendship was unsurpassable. We are now in escrow out of state, and we miss having an attentive, knowledgeable, trustworthy agent. If we could use them in our new venture, we certainly would. Loyalty, honor and knowledge are not always packaged together. We were lucky to have such a great team on our side. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Danielle Crystal and Marilyn Elam! You're simply the BEST!
07/30/2017 — Steve Fredette
Danielle was great to work with and her knowledge of the local market helped us secure the best valuation for our home without making unnecessary renovations and improvements. We received a full price cash offer the 1st weekend the house was listed. Thanks again!
07/18/2017 — King4553
Danielle Crystal is a great very experienced realtor. She knows the market and area very well. Danielle makes a stressful time fun. And exciting. We have done several real estate transactions with Danielle and we will never use anyone else. We very highly recommend Danielle Crystal!!
07/13/2017 — Jeffrey Dunn1
Used Elam and Crystal for both the sale, and then purchase of the last 2 properties. They are a dynamic professional team that works extremely hard to achieve their client’s goals...I could not have asked for a better experience. Certainly, they are the best real estate team I have worked with buying and selling more than 8-properties. I would not hesitate to retain their services again myself or recommend them to others. Our experience with Danielle Crystal and Marilyn Elam could not have been better. We began searching for a home while we still lived about 3 hours away and Danielle made the process so easy and manageable for us. She worked tirelessly to help us determine what made the most sense to do, i.e., buy, build or remodel. There were many emotional moments during our search and she continued to assure us that "everything happens for a reason" and the right house will come! Roughly a year into our search, we found our dream house and couldn't be happier! Danielle is a true professional in every sense of the word and we would highly recommend her to anyone. Our heartfelt gratitude and thanks go out to her and we are further grateful that she has become a dear friend.
07/09/2017 — Kerri Marshall
Marilyn and Danielle have incredible experience and a great service-oriented attitude. We were so glad we chose Elam & Crystal. They took the time to get to know us and thus found us the PERFECT home-- no kidding. They are the best realtors we have ever worked with over our 12 real estate transactions over the years!!!
07/08/2017 — Mia Murphy444
Danielle was wonderful to work with and we would highly recommend her and their firm. She was very professional and very responsive and made the difficult process easy.
04/30/2017 — user1265057
Danielle Crystal is an excellent realtor and a wonderful person. We worked with her for two years (off and on) in the Santa Ynez Valley searching for our first home. She was professional and competent, and we always felt that she had our best interests in mind and would always get the job done. In a competitive market, Danielle is someone you not only want, but need to have on your side. In addition to her impressive professional skills and knowledge about the home purchase process, Danielle became a friend. We trust her and really enjoyed her company throughout the process. We never felt pressured or rushed into anything, and we always knew that she was behind us in full support of our decisions
04/18/2017 — user9938477
If you're looking for a forever home or just investment property you have found the best realtor in the county. Extremely knowledgeable about home values, investment potential and in most cases who your neighbors are. Home shopping just doesn't get any better. I've made 12 purchases in the last 6 years and I can tell you without reservation that this is the best. My wife and I have known Danielle Crystal for 20 years and have done business multiple times. We could not imagine working with another realtor! Danielle provides client service above and beyond expectations. Her knowledge is priceless, along with negotiating skills, will assure the best deal possible for her clients. But above all Danielle's integrity and trustworthiness are unquestionable, period! Thank you, Danielle!!
04/06/2017 — user4285230
We worked with Danielle for a long time before we found our current house. She was very patient and wonderful all the time, even with all our delays. Danielle is a true professional. She knows all aspects of real estate and is always willing to help or answer questions. We could not have had a better agent. We highly recommend Danielle to anyone, who is looking to sell or buy a home. We are very happy clients!!!!!
02/25/2016 — user736098
Marilyn and Danielle were a pleasure to work with and made the often stressful process of buying a home a very pleasant one. Their knowledge of the local real estate market combined with their transaction skills were extremely valuable. I would highly recommend them to anyone buying or selling in the Santa Ynez Valley.
02/20/2016 — Jerry Ewing
Danielle and Marilyn did a great job in marketing and COMPLETING the sale of our home! The latter was very meaningful since we had moved out of the state and encountered medical problems during the critical final stages of the process. They made the scheduling and follow up of inspections and corrective repairs run very smoothly, allowing for a closing date earlier than expected. We chose this agency after seeing how well they had performed in selling a neighboring home in past years, and our choice was certainly confirmed by their efforts with our property.
02/17/2016 — user6312606
Marilyn and Danielle are terrific! We needed to find a home to purchase rather quickly and they were fast and efficient. They spent a lot of time previewing properties, screening for our requirements and arranging for us to see them. The property we purchased came on the market quickly and we were able to view it and make an offer within a few hours. They were instrumental in getting all the details worked out and we closed within about 45 days. Highly recommend them if you are looking to purchase in the Santa Ynez Valley.
02/07/2016 — Ailee7
Marilyn helped us find the ideal home for us in the Santa Ynez Valley. She is extremely professional and well respected among her peers (case in point - after viewing one home, the agent asked Marilyn if she could pick her brain a bit). She was extremely responsive and flexible, and did a great job negotiating for us and making the purchase process as smooth as possible. She is also a warm and friendly person and made us feel at home immediately. She took the time to share local bits of knowledge to help us learn about life in the Valley.
05/21/2015 — user14459569
I had a great home buying experience with Danielle Crystal. She found us our perfect home and helped us negotiate to a price within our budget. We would definitely recommend her and will use her in the future for any other purchases we may have.
02/26/2015 — UnderWaterWally
Danielle represented us for the purchase and sell of our condo in Buellton. Her experienced and honest advice allowed us to take full advantage of a beneficial market. She was always in contact, on time and very professional. I would recommend Danielle to anyone looking for an agent.
02/20/2015 — Mel Pedrazzini
Danielle is the best of the best. I feel blessed beyond measure to have found her...through Zillow in fact. She worked with us for over a year to find the perfect house for us....and the perfect mortgage broker. She changed our lives. We love her and the Valley. No more SB - unless we go shopping. :)
02/01/2015 — Clayton P. Jones
Danielle Crystal helped with my short sale. She took care of everything, was very open and always available to call to make the process easier (short sales can have a lot of hiccups). In short, she was a lifesaver and made the process as smooth as possible. Thank you, Danielle!
01/23/2015 — Pamela Blood
Danielle went above and beyond to help us find they right home. She made herself available whenever we had questions and always got us the answers we needed. We highly recommend her.
01/21/2015 — laporter26
We were extremely pleased with our experience working with Danielle Crystal! She was very knowledgeable, extremely responsive, and made our entire process much easier. I would absolutely recommend her services when buying or selling in the Santa Ynez Valley and I would love to work with her again in the future if needed!
01/20/2015 — hartfor2
Our experience with selling our home was quick and easy. Danielle made us feel very at ease through the whole process and was able reduce any stress related to selling and moving. Our sale was handled professionally and with expertise and we would love to work with Danielle again if ever the occasion arose.
12/17/2014 — Maria Croca
Our experience with Marilyn was incredible, she went above and beyond the normal duties of a real estate agent. Even though she is very successful and quite busy, we could reach her anytime, email, texts or phone calls, she was always available, she was helping us sell one house and buy another one, all this long distance, and most amazing of all, she made sure we could close on both properties on the same day, no glitches, she dealt with two different escrow companies in two towns and we, the buyer, sellers in another town. We highly recommend Marilyn, she took care of us like family
Marilyn's response: Working with Peter and Maria was a pleasure, rather complicated since they were living in Glendale, selling a second home in San Luis Obispo, and buying a home in the Santa Ynez Valley. We found a buyer for the country house in SLO, and a replacement country house in the SY Valley, we did it, all concurrently. It was a nice well-orchestrated experience!
10/21/2013 — ArmsteadChristine
Our experience with Danielle Crystal was exceptional. She provided honest, helpful guidance in our relocation to Solvang. Even though the purchase happened quickly it was far from stress free. The sellers lived out of town and we were still in the Los Angeles area. Danielle made the paperwork process quick and efficient for us. I could call anytime day or night and get an immediate response. Danielle also helped with one of our biggest stumbling blocks - getting a timely appraisal. Without her knowledgeable assistance our sale would have fallen through. Danielle and her firm look after their clients (even long after the sale closes).
10/10/2013 — momdadmygatt
Elam @ Associates came very highly recommended to us when we were selling our home. We had the pleasure of having Danielle as our agent. She was very professional, knowledgeable and prompt. As our agent she took the burden off of us when we had issues selling our property. Her vast knowledge of the valley made our selling process run smoothly. She is a very caring agent who protects her clients interests as if she was selling her own home. I would highly recommend Danielle and use her again.
02/01/2013 — user0809785
When we bought our first home Danielle was amazing, and was with us every step of the way, through the highs and lows that come with buying a home. We felt like she genuinely cared and was excited for us. We would recommend her to anyone!