Elena Marlowe
Founding Partner
Sixteen years in Montecito and the Riviera, 214 homes sold. Elena leads every launch personally and still walks each house before it lists.
(01) — About Surevo
A small firm, on purpose.
Surevo began in 2010 with one rule: never represent more homes than we can personally walk every week. Sixteen years and more than 1,200 sales later, the rule hasn’t changed.
(02) — Our story
We sell fewer homes, better.
Elena Marlowe opened Surevo after a decade at one of California’s largest brokerages, where she watched good homes sold badly: photographed in a hurry, priced by algorithm, shown by whoever was free.
So we built the opposite. A small team of independent advisors, each responsible for a handful of homes, each walking them weekly and writing to their sellers in plain English. We still prepare, photograph and negotiate every sale ourselves.
Most of our clients come back, or send someone who does. We think that is the only marketing a real estate firm should need.
— Elena Marlowe, Founding Partner
2010
Founded on State Street
1,200+
Homes sold and let
$2.1B
In client sales
4.9 ★
Average client rating
(03) — What we believe
Four rules we don’t bend.
01
Fewer, better listings
Each advisor holds a maximum of eight active homes, so every seller gets a weekly walkthrough and an honest written report.
02
Plain numbers
Every price we suggest comes with the comparables behind it. You see what we see, including the sales that don’t flatter us.
03
One advisor, start to finish
The person who values your home is the person who negotiates the offer and hands you, or your buyer, the keys.
04
Leave it better
One percent of every commission funds coastal restoration on the Carpinteria Bluffs. Twelve acres replanted so far.
(04) — The team
People who’d live here.
Julian Reyes
Senior Advisor, Coastal Homes
A former architect who reads floor plans the way others read prices. Julian specialises in Hope Ranch and the waterfront.
Daniel Okafor
Advisor, Buyers & Rentals
Daniel guides first-time buyers and renters through downtown, the Mesa and Carpinteria, with patience and a spreadsheet for everything.
Clara Lindqvist
Head of Preparation & Styling
Clara runs our trades, stylists and photographers, turning a house into the version buyers remember after the viewing.
(05) — Milestones
Sixteen years, one rule.
Opened at 1120 State Street
Elena Marlowe opens Surevo with two desks, one listing and a borrowed espresso machine.
Our first private sale
We begin matching quiet sellers with pre-qualified buyers. Today four in ten of our sales happen this way.
An in-house preparation studio
Clara Lindqvist joins to run trades, styling and photography, so every home launches looking its best.
The 1,000th home
A 1920s bungalow on the Mesa, sold to the family who had rented it for a decade.
A second door in Carpinteria
A small office opens two blocks from the beach on Linden Avenue, run by Daniel Okafor.
(06) — Work with us
Start with a conversation.
Coffee at the office, a walk around your home or a call on your schedule. No obligation and no pitch deck, just an honest view of your options.
