Testimonials

Laurie Jacobs

Irene's local knowledge extended well beyond the house and neighborhood. She is exceptionally capable of identifying the right issues, and engaging in a frank and helpful dialogue with buyers and sellers. Irene Arriola is a real estate agent with your interests at heart.

Mel and Sharon Clark

Irene Arriola was our agent during our purchase of a short sale. Since short sales can be extremely lengthy and complicated we were very fortunate to have Irene by our side through all of it. She was instrumental in locating the perfect condo for us and walked us thru and held our hand during the whole process. Thank you Irene!!!

Jon Benoit

Irene has sold two properties for me in the last twelve months and I have another listing pending. Irene is very detail oriented and is very helpful in getting deals done. I would give Irene five stars any day.

Chad Smith

Irene's knowledge of the St Augustine area is amazing. She has a network of professional contacts which is unbelievable! If she doesn't already know the answer to your question (which she probably does) she knows exactly who to call. She and her firm Saltwater Property Group make buying or selling in St Augustine straightforward and secure. Trust and integrity are the most important factors to me and she's got them.

Melissa and John

Irene has a great depth of knowledge of our town and gives her honest opinions of properties. She is very busy and so may be harder to reach than other agents. However, when the right house came along she was a whirlwind of action. Also, we are confident that the brokers, contractors, and other people she recommends are equally reliable and honest.

Janet and Fred

Irene was referred to us by our daughter ... who had worked with Irene this past spring in buying a home in St. Augustine. Our daughter had the highest praise for Irene and knew that we would enjoy working with her, too. She was right!

Irene did a tremendous job for us. We found her to be honest, direct, extremely hard-working ... and, of course, very knowledgeable. Our search process was fairly brief but intense. We explained our objectives, and she was right on it! We wasted no time as Irene showed us a series of attractive properties ... any of which could have been our future home. When we decided to make any offer on one, Irene conducted a quick and thoroughly professional series of negotiations on our behalf. We ended up with a new (to us) home at a great price.

What particularly impressed us through the entire process was Irene's eagerness to help us in ALL aspects of buying our new home: helping us find a good attorney, arranging for all inspections and surveys, helping secure all insurances, and lining up great professionals to do remodeling work.

She made it EASY for us! Working with Irene was a wonderful experience, and we now consider her to be a good friend (in addition to being an outstanding professional).

The Gulicks

Upon deciding that we were moving to St. Augustine, FL we began to research realtors. At the top of everyone's list was Irene Arriola. We contacted her via e-mail and got a prompt response, from here we began the search. She took the time to listen to our needs and understand them before taking us out to any properties. Since we were new to the area she explained all of the different areas of St. Augustine so that we could make the most informed decision possible. With her help and guidance we bought an amazing home that we are proud to come home to each and every day. We can honestly say that she made it all possible for us. She was there for us before, during and even now after the purchase. Irene is always willing to guide us if we are looking for answers to local questions constantly going above and beyond. We are very happy that we moved to St. Augustine and used such an informed and honest realtor.

Corinne and Allen White

It's rare to find "five-stars", but Irene Arriola is exceptional. In July 2011, we purchased a house in St. Augustine. Irene's knowledge, expertise, and exquisite attention to detail made the entire transaction seem like a peaceful walk in the park on a gentle day. Irene is an honest, open broker of a fair deal. She is the consummate professional, straight-forward, with finely honed skills that she adeptly uses to creatively solve problems. Irene is also effective because she devotes the time and energy to her clients that is both necessary and sufficient for the job; but, she will not waste your time (or hers). Should you have questions about the community, Irene is a literal storehouse of accurate, thorough, and complete information, which she generously shares. In sum, if there were ever to be a real estate based utopia, we suspect that it could not be conceived, organized, and sustained without benefit of Irene Arriola's considerable talent, judgment, and wit.

Cathy Brown

I consider Irene Arriola the consummate professional. She is knowledgeable, responsive, honest, dedicated and delightful to work with. I have done several transactions with Irene and would never seek to work with anyone else. I recommend her highly!!!

Patrice Hughes

Irene took immense care to find the right house in the right neighborhood to fit my long term needs. She taught me about the different neighborhoods pointing out positive and negative aspects of each area. Irene went above and beyond navigating me through the entire house buying process.

If you are looking for a professional, ethical and knowledgeable agent to assist in the purchase or sale of property, call Irene today. You won't be sorry.

Ryan Pinga

Joe Hatin and Kea Blalock did an amazing job selling my house last year. They produced an amazing set of photographs and showcased them on their website in addition to covering the major websites and print. Overall I would give Saltwater Property Group a 10 out of 10 on their marketing and customer service because my home sold in less then 6 weeks in a sea of homes for sale in Bartram Springs. I will be visiting Joe and Saltwater Property Group in the future for all of my real estate needs.

Anthony and Mary Ann Yaeger

We couldn't write a thank you note without addressing the entire Saltwater Property Group team.

Kea, of course, receives top honors for her exceptional service and patience above-and-beyond the call in helping us find our dream retirement home. Even though we consider ourselves experienced home buyers, Kea's research and advice was invaluable and instrumental in our final selection. Her knowledge of the entire Duval and St Johns County areas helped us decide on our final selection in Ponte Vedra Beach. She helped with listing reviews, viewings, offers, contractor contacts and local government contacts. She provided information on certain Florida laws (we moved from CA), insurance considerations and location evaluations. As a result, we viewed, offered and settled in a home without surprises. Thank you Kea! Your personal sacrifices did not go unnoticed.

We thank the entire Saltwater Property Group team because they stepped in to help with research, ideas, experience sharing and viewing. We saw a real family atmosphere in their office and we made a point to stop by during the First Friday Art Walks to say "hi" and "thank you" again and again.

We found our dream home in Ponte Vedra Beach and will always thankfully remember Saltwater Properties for their key role in our relocation and retirement in Florida.

Charise Mauldin

I recently purchased my first home and WOW, what a process! I'm so grateful that Kea Blalock of Saltwater Property Group was my Realtor. She went above and beyond my expectations of what a Realtor should or could do. She was not only my Realtor, she became my friend.

The whole team at Saltwater Property Group was always courteous and professional and ready to help in any way they could.

When, and if, I ever want to sell or purchase another home, I would not even consider working with anyone other than Kea Blalock. She goes the distance! I highly recommend her as she will get the job done!

Dave Lowther

How it Came to Be

I've said before that I didn't know what a normal path to owning this house would look like. Reflecting on that more, I began to consider what a normal home purchase would look like, which - fine you're ahead of me - caused me to consider the normal home. And that's where it all began to make sense. What is a normal home?

A normal home is frame construction, asphalt shingles. A normal home is not too big and not too small. A normal home is in a neighborhood of similar homes - several of which have sold in the last few months in order to provide good comps. A normal home has one kitchen and is easily and irrefutably characterizable as single family. A normal home (in short) will fit nicely into the criteria that makes a normal bank feel safe about lending money against it. Let's see... The Upham Cottage is frame construction and has asphalt shingles. Other than that, none of the normal characteristics. dsc_0765_300x200_small_400

This lack of normalcy seemed to stump a lot of potential buyers over the years - and the house was for sale for years. Whether they didn't want the upkeep, couldn't find a bank to work with them, or were intimidated by the Frankenstein plumbing apparition in the crawlspace, I don't know. What I do know is that we were fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time with the right team of people.

Far and away the most important decision that allowed us to come to live in the Upham Cottage was made several years ago when we began to work with Irene (Arriola of Saltwater Property Group). We chose Irene initially because most of the homes listed that we wanted to see were her listings.

We came to find that the reasons to choose Irene are many. She knows the houses in St. Augustine - and I don't mean from a book. Because she has been working in St. Augustine for so long and ends up friends with many of her clients she ends up participating in the history of the homes she sells - and then has that history to draw on when those clients go to sell their home. She also knows the zoning and code regulations (as Chairperson of the City of St. Augustine Code Enforcement, Adjustment, and Appeals Board) meaning that you don't waste time thinking you can add a garage with an office over it on a property that won't allow for it. And that's just a start to what she knows. Here's an example of the random knowledge she possesses: at closing, she pulled out the name of a painter (fine, a Realtor has to know a painter), a landscaper who could help with the pond (less common, but not that exciting), and a beekeeper - in the neighborhood, no less. Even after several years of working with her I was freshly impressed. But the most beautiful thing I found about Irene was that even with all that knowledge she was very quick to let you know when she didn't know - and just as quick to find out if possible - or accept that some things are unknowable.

And how we tortured Irene! There were historic homes, homes with docks, large homes in need of significant repair (i.e. "gutting"), homes on the island, homes downtown, etc... We were struggling to meet our many criteria for a home in one house. It took us about two years of looking at houses (many of which Irene knew would not work for us) to realize that we would not be able to meet all of our realistic criteria in one house. So we had Irene look to see if there were any places where two houses were very near each other. And on and on. Then we gave up. Then, months later we started again.

Through all this she was accommodating and patient. We never felt pressured to make offers. In fact more than once Irene told us to be patient, not what you expect to hear from a Realtor (in my experience).

And then there was another price reduction on the Upham Cottage and we made an offer. And after only one counter-offer we were under contract! I don't know who was more surprised Irene, Greg (the seller's agent), or us. And though, as Marisol's fortune said last night, "A bold attempt is half of success," getting under contract turned out to be the easy part.

We knew from previous experience the trouble in acquiring financing on a home that is or has been used as a multi-family dwelling. We were burned badly once trying to buy a house that had been used as a vacation rental. It wasn't until we were under contract and scheduling movers that the house appraised as a duplex - killing the deal because we couldn't afford the different in down payment. So we were scared the same thing would happen in this case.

Enter the best mortgage broker you'll ever meet, Matt Daly at Dolphin Home Mortgage. If Matt and Kim can't make the loan work for you and the house you can safely know that it cannot be done by any conventional means. Of course, he was recommended by Irene as the two have worked together for many years. Matt provided me with solid and creative advice on the loan process and everything related. I won't replay the entire drama and my daily calls for updates from (which Kim answered patiently) but two banks, two appraisals and two desk reviews later the bank approved the loan (with only about 30 conditions).
Certainly not least of importance in making our purchase possible were the seller and seller's agent. Without their accommodation of the banks requirements for financing everything would've fallen apart.

And so that's how it came to be. I don't think we'll ever get to a point where we take the house or the good fortune that made us living here possible for granted.

Click here to read more about Upham Cottage on David's blog: http://www.uphamcottage.com

Anna and Lance Renton

Saltwater Property Group is a first class organization that has employees of the highest character. Our agent, Kea Blalock, was patient and helped us find exactly the house we wanted. We were first time home buyers and needed guidance about the concerns we should have during the home buying process. Kea was very knowledgeable, informative and always had our interests as her top priority. She never applied pressure and allowed us time to discuss our opinions of each house. We looked at houses for nearly 10 months and during that time she never quit sending us house listing to review. Saltwater Property Group has built a culture that doesn't just help people find a house but rather they help you find a home.

The Pedaline Family

Three years ago I purchased a home in Palm Coast. Kea Blalock was my Real Estate Agent. I had worked with her several years earlier and knew her to be very client oriented, hard working, and honest. Not wanting to make any mistakes maneuvering through a volatile real estate market, I wanted someone on my side and immediately thought of Kea.

Her tireless energy and concern as we viewed property after property was so comforting. Even when I was too tired or overwhelmed with options, choices, interest rates, offers and counter offers, she encouraged me. She assured me the right house was out there. She was right. After viewing more than 70 houses, we finally walked through the door of what we both knew was "home". She never waivered in her desire to help me find what I wanted, needed, and could afford.

Perhaps the thing I remember most is what she did for my daughter at our closing. When all was said and done, all the papers signed, Kea Blalock put the keys to our home in my daughter's hand and told her this one belonged to us.

I want you to know that Kea does her job so beautifully with knowledge, caring and heart. She is truly an asset to anyone that has the opportunity to work with her.

ALB

"Irene was great to work with in every aspect . She was informative and thorough in her approach to helping us understand the local real estate market. She provided a trustworthy opinion which we appreciated. Location location location was our mantra since we had a specific purpose for our purchase. With our son entering college locally and my wife and I seeking a second home for vacation and future retirement . Our needs were certainly met within her inventory but she was willing to show other properties which was helpful to us to evaluate and compare the opportunities available. We ended up with a beautiful renovated home in the historic downtown area which filled all of our needs. Proximity to school for our son and a great place for our family to meet at and vacation in. We look forward to many years of fun and comfort at our new home. I would certainly recommend Irene to friends and family. Thanks to Irene and her team we received prompt and accurate responses to our questions and needs in all matters in our purchase and even after the fact which says a lot about her sincerity. With 14 years in the St. Augustine market and her knowledge of all it has to offer my wife and I feel fortunate to have met Irene and now consider her a friend."

Rae Chamberlain

There are no agents like Irene. She is more like a Special Forces Agent. Her energy and attention to detail is amazing. She didn't know me for more than a month and read into who I was and found my house right away. I've now had the pleasure of knowing her for years and have to say I am still impressed daily.

Michael Dowell

Irene is the Moon Goddess of real estate and all things financial.