Lighthouse Realty & Property Management - Santa Cruz, California

Danica Hergenroeder

As a student in Santa Cruz it can be very difficult to find affordable housing. I came upon a listing from Lighthouse Realty one day after a month or two of looking for housing. I came to meet Kristi. She is one of the kindest people ever and was so helpful and worked so hard to find a house for me and my housemates. We can’t even begin to say how thankful we are for having found her. She has been an amazing landlord, always quick to respond and keep us updated. Lighthouse Realty is one of the best in Santa Cruz and would highly recommend using them to find a house or apartment!

M. M.

I see after reading a few other reviews I'm not the only one stung by dealing with Lighthouse Reality & Property. My experience was with John O'Donnell - John is a serial (daily)liar and verbal abuser. If you can't tell he is a bad apple just by looking at his website face pictures (I wish I had seen before dealing with him on the telephone - go look. His soul shows in his pictures - not only a creep - he's abusive - that's the only thing you can trust about him. You would be insane to trust your business to him or this firm.

Sander Nauenberg

The team at lighthouse realty was unbelievably knowledgeable and helpful in regards to helping us find our first home. Peters experience and knowledge in regards to what to look for in a home and his knowledge regarding the various neighborhoods throughout Santa Cruz was essential in us finding both the location and the type of home we wanted. Beyond just being a realtor, the team helped us throughout all the additional steps in the process and even helped us with many of our questions after purchasing our home. Since finding our home we have used Lighthouse to help us find a second property as well as have recommended them to numerous friends whom they have helped find their first homes. Santa Cruz Is such a unique place, having people as experienced and informed as Peter and Krista is crucial to finding the right place.

Brian Le

Our agent Kristi is the best agent I've been blessed to have. She went above in beyond in helping me find a new place. Would highly recommend Lighthouse Realty if anyone is looking for a house or apartment in the Santa Cruz area.

Matthew Shirley

Lighthouse poorly manages a multi-unit building on my street. Year after year they rent to the worst tenants. There is frequently trash and furniture littering the sidewalk from lazy tenants who can't manage their belongings. The sprinkler system has had a blowout for 7 months that just gushes all the water into the storm drain and misses the grass completely. I've texted the property manager, Kristy Torkos, several times and she does nothing about it. Peter says that they react quickly to complaints, but I have a text trail showing that I notified Kristy 4 times over 7 months about the busted sprinkler line. I did also reach out directly to Peter and he promptly blocked my phone number... and didn't fix the sprinkler. That makes for a 5th time alerting Lighthouse about a huge waste of water. Same pipe, never fixed. They also had the sprinkler running during the winter '22/'23 atmospheric rivers. The street was flooded but the sprinklers were running. That has nothing to do with the tenants. It's poor property management.

Quinn McLaughlin

Without Peter Cook and his amazing team I probably would never have been able to have become a property owner in Santa Cruz. Lighthouse will move mountains to help you.

I'm disappointed there is a smear campaign against Peter and Lighthouse running by people that don't agree with his political views. Slandering his business or leaving unattributed low score reviews - that's just low and lacks any integrity. Please review people for their work not because you agree or disagree with their politics.

Braden Coolidge

Peter Cook and Lighthouse Realty have been invaluable in helping us navigate the nuanced Santa Cruz real estate market, with a keen mind for ownership, rental property management and a spot on analysis of evolving local market factors. His insight and guidance helped us navigate several difficult transactions, even going so far as to crawl under a house to personally inspect a foundation. Highly recommend.

Tatum Holguin

My experience with Lighthouse Realty wasn’t terrible because the individual landlords I had listened to any upcoming house issues but definitely took advantage of us monetarily. But, I’m here to talk about Peter Cook, who has been known to peep on renters homes, take advantage of poor folks, ignore requests about mold issues, and most recently, tried to run over local protesters in the streets. I do not support this business.