Had an awful experience applying for a house managed by AAA Realty. We viewed the house, where we were told 'FYI, the landlord does the bare minimum required.' But hey, upfront, and under market price, so maybe it's worth it.
After viewing and deciding to apply, she sent us the lease, which we had several questions about. When we reached out with questions, we were instead met with demands for the deposit ("You have to pay the deposit, it doesn't matter if you don't like the lease."), which she claimed we agreed to. I read everything I signed, there was no required deposit. When I asked her to point out where I signed that I would pay the deposit before even reading the lease (seriously? Who would expect that), she refused to point it out, instead calling my partner and I several times for the next few days, relaying that she didn't have time for our questions, because she was stressing try to collect other people's back rent (not sure why she shared that with us..).
We ended up walking away (minus our _application_ fee, as expected, but without paying the deposit).
Regarding the lease (which, as AAA Realty pointed out, is provided by the landlord, not them, so not fully under their control):
* different timelines for moving out (e.g., one place says 30 days, another 60 days)
* different rules for cleaning on move out (one place says must steam clean, one says must pay for landlord to do so, another says steam if needed, etc.).
* requiring tenant to pay for 2 weeks of utilities _after_ they've moved out
* etc.
The entire process was belittling and stressful, the exact opposite of what a realtor should be. We went with a different agent the next week, and had a very smooth process examining a few homes. Caveat emptor with AAA Realty! read more