I've had nothing but positive experiences with the property management here. When we've submitted repair requests thru the resident portal, they have taken action on the requests in very acceptable time frames. They are also very responsive to emails. As noted, there is a resident portal that is also used for easy rent payment. Unfortunately, there is a service fee associated with its use, so checks can be mailed, use bill pay thru a bank, or even drop off a rent check at the office. If I ever move to a different property, I know I'll be lucky if this company manages it. read more

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Do not rent from these people. They will nickel and dime you to death. Having to go back and forth and threaten court to get my money they kept from my security deposit for routine painting that I am not supposed to pay for. Also charged for other little things but as I was going through a stressful moving situation (with movers not showing up or doing their job) I forgot to take pics before I left. So will have to eat the rest. Live and learn. At least I can warn others. Save yourself the headache. read more

I came to know Chris 6 years ago, renting an office space from him. Through that relationship I have refinanced my primary residence, purchased 4 investment properties, and had his organization manage each of those properties. His company has done a very good job of managing my properties, enabling me to treat them as investments instead of a second job. Chris ensures that the investor is getting the highest value for their property, and He knows how to balance the interests of the investors and tenants. I've not met anybody in the Real Estate business with a higher level of expertise and commitment. I highly recommend Chris and his company to anybody that is looking to invest in Real Estate. read more

I came to Chris Warren Realty when Karl Jennings moved from my previous property management company to Chris Warren real estate. Karl and I have worked together for a long time and he is a great property manager! When there is a problem with the property, he investigates it thoroughly, gets several quotes and then makes a recommendation to me. I always trust his judgement, knowing that he is making the best recommendation to save me money for the short and long term. He is proactive in communication and always extremely responsive when I have questions. Chris Warren Real Estate has a very good online statement system for their monthly statments. Karl was my real estate agent when I sold these two properties. He did a great job negotiating the best sales price for me. He handled the sale and ensured a smooth closing process. read more

it has been 4 months I've been dealing with insect infestatio. when I placed the work order I was told it was my responsibilit. there is no reasonable way to stop the ants and bugs from coming in. I sent pictures to document the issue and explained there is no way for me to treat the problem. every crack in this house including bath room tile has insec of some sort coming out. they treated the place 1 time and told me it was complementar. I sweep 30-50 insects up a day. I hate it here. it's embarrassing to have a rental property someone trusted you to oversee and they don't keep up with simple maintenances. I wonder if these inhabitable conditions is acceptable for Mr. Warren himself. I wish I didnt have to knock a insect off me ever 30 minutes. worst living situation ever. read more

Karl Jennings was my property manager in the Austin area. He is extremely knowledgeable, organized and professional. I really appreciated his service. read more

Chris and his team were able to get us into our new home faster than expected. We came to them with almost an impossible timing issue, and they made it work. Everyone was responsive and extremely professional. This could not of been a smoother move in. Thanks to Chris and the team at Smart Source realty! Overwhelmingly satisfied, Trey Franklin read more

I had the similar experience like Chloe. I hired Stuart Mencher from Chris Warren Realty in 2009. It went well initially. Stuart was able to recruit a tenant in the slow season of September fairly quick. I signed a 9-month lease with the tenant hoping to re-list the property for lease in a better time, as the tenant was going to buy a house. The truth about Stuart at Chris Warren realty unveils when the lease ends... 1) It took Stuart 10 days after the tenant moved out, to get the house cleaned and yard mowed. 2) Stuart did not even go check how exactly the work was done. The back yard was a jungle. 3) The house sat there for 3 months. There was traffic, but nobody wanted to rent it 4) Throughout the duration, it was hard to reach Stuart, really difficult. He usually returned my call in 1 or 2 days, if he happened to return the call. 5) Feeling bizarre, I went out to the house and found out the back yard was a big problem. 6) Stuart declined to be responsible for his own mistake. I paid out of my pocket to get the yard back to what it is supposed to be, for $200. 7) In a couple of days, the house was rented out. The tenant specifically mentioned that the yard is one attraction. This is how much Stuart at Chris Warren realty cost me: 1) 3.5 months vacancy 2) sky high electricity bill ($400 for a month -- the house was put on a commercial account and A/C turned on all the time) 3) $200 to repair the yard, which is supposed to be paid by previous tenant 4) I had to pay him 80% of a month rent for getting me a tenant. I probably can recruit the tenant a lot quicker, if I did it myself. Anyhow, it was the common commission structure. 5) A garage door remote control -- apparently he didn't do inventory check. The conclusions: 1) Stuart at Chris Warren really DO NOT care his property management customers He ever made a remark, which I regret not pay enough attention, "property management is easily, you just get a computer, hire a person, to collect rents and do some paper work". Of course, it is easy if he does not do what they are supposed to do -- manage the property. 2) Stuart was not capable/professional. He didn't even perform the basic check on the house and inventory. 3) It seems like their side goal was to let you spend more money on repairs as they run a handy man company. I will never do business with Chris Warren Realty. I'd recommend the same to anybody. read more

I was recommended to Chris Warren Realty after my last property management company was a nightmare. I thought chris warren realty would be a better experience and initially it was, but in the end, they only care about taking your money whether you are a tenant or a home owner. The charges and fees are ridiculous. They take 80% of one month's rent for finding new tenants but on top of that they charge 7% of the monthly rent so that comes out to 87% for finding tenants which anyone could have found on craigslist themselves. My recommendation is to skip Chris Warren realty and either manage the property yourself or if you can't, find a friend to help manage your property or find someone you know and trust to manage the property. Skip the property management companies. You can do a better job yourself or with people you know and save yourself alot of money and heartache/frustration in the long run. read more

I also strongly recommend against Warren realty. After renting my property twice, one time bringing in his own agent to rent my property. After difficulty with damage to my property with this agent, I ended up in small claims court. Amazingly, Chris testified against me and his own agent (the one I worked with). Lack of character and lack of any loyalty should be a serious red flag. Don't work with this company. read more

Leased a 2 br condo through his agent Karl Jennings in far north Austin in Wilco for over a year. Nice place to live while we looked to buy since moving to the area in 2012. We had new carpet and everything cleaned well prior to move in. When we needed to have microwave fixed, shower door leak addressed and closet light replaced, he was on top of getting it taken care of. Chris' website was convenient to make secure rental payments and make requests for maintenance/repairs. Will choose them again and will recommend to others since the Austin area realtors otherwise have more biz they care to handle. I appreciated Karl taking the time to refer me to a great buyer's agent, Judy Lawson, who helped us close on a listing not otherwise advertised in Round Rock. Sweet and quiet with no regrets. Thanks y'all! read more

Chris Warren Realty has been great for us. We rented a house from them in Round Rock in the fall of 2011. The process was easy enough and Chris was concerned that we were looking for more of a house than we could afford, so he asked for security deposit and a half. I understood his concern and we had no problem jumping through that hoop. We have had a few small issues but none of which were the management companies fault. We had an issue with the toilet flooding downstairs and the service call was super prompt, then with the recent wind storm we called to let them know we had lost shingles and were told that a work order had been issued. However it took weeks (and water leaking into our house) for someone to get out to fix it. Chris called us several times personally to let us know the progress on our work order and that the company they had contracted had dropped the ball (further evidenced by the Roofers refusing to return even our phone calls). The only thing I would complain about really is the rent being raised every year. Of course that too, isn't the fault of the Management company, its simply business. We are still in this house, and are happy with Chris Warren Realty (AKA Smartsource) Thanks Chris! read more

Have just recently untangled myself from working with Karl Jennings at Chris Warren Realty for property management of my condo. I was initially referred by a friend who used Chris for property management, however, due to my location in Austin, I was assigned to Karl. I used him for almost five years and, until the last few months, thought that he did a good job of taking care of my condo. Things really crumbled at the end though. Karl spoke to me in an extremely unprofessional manner when we disagreed on a cosmetic change in my condo. His communication skills had never been great, but I found this unacceptable and decided to end our contract. Once we terminated our contract and I was given contact info for my tenants (whom I'd never had contact info for previously), they told me what a poor job Karl had done of keeping the place up--there are quite a few repairs that desperately need to be made. They said that they have wished many times they had my contact info so they could let me know what a poor job Karl was doing. At the time I gave advanced notice to terminate our contract, we were on the verge of finalizing a maintenance project that had been months in the making. It likely could have been finished by the time our contract was over, but Karl stated that he was not going to finish it, however, he was charging me his fee regardless, and I could carry on with the contractor on my own. Then it turned out the contractor would not have anything to do with me when I tried schedule the installation.....a bit too coincidental? Other than the bad experience with Karl, my other interactions directly with the realty were good. Everything is automated, so all of my billing was online, and tax documents were handled for me. read more

Karl Jennings of Smart Source Realty was a diamond in the rough for my husband and I. He was the property manager of our rental property in Leander and then assisted (basically did everything) as our Realtor. I did not know that selling a house would be so easy. He was knowledgeable and assured that my husband and I got the most out of our investment. Thank you again Karl!! PS We're in anohter state; it was very important to have a good team back home! read more

It is true I managed Becca R's condo for 5 years. She had a rotted French door that led to her patio. She instructed me to get some bids which I did. After many design changed by her she agreed to a style and that door was ordered.I informed her once the door was installed we would need to put up some sort of window treatments so the neighbors behind her would not be able to look into her tenants window. This was not a "design" conflict. This was a safety concern I had. She dismissed my concerns and said if the tenants wanted something they could put up any window covering they liked.I informed Becca many times during this conversation I thought it was a safety concern and as her property manager I would not let the tenants up anything they wanted when they wanted.I gave Becca many options on window coverings. She still resisted. I informed Becca if she did not want window covering I thought it would be best if she contacted another property manager to manger what I perceived as a liability risk. Before the door was to be installed she informed me she had found another PM and terminated our agreement. At that time I did charge her in my view a very fair amount considering the time I had involved with this project,gave her my vender's contact information and told her to pass that on to her new PM for final installation. It is unfortunate but from time to time business relationships must be terminated. I wish her all the best. Karl J. read more

I am not sure what the problem is and why there are so many bad reviews. I have been in a rental property for a year that Stuart Mencher found for me that is managed by Chris Warren Realty. Stuart did an excellent job of finding me a rental property. He was very patient with all the houses I wanted to look at. He has always called me back promptly. The only issue I had was when my garage door broke in the middle of the night and Stuart was personally sending over work orders to get it fixed at midnight. They were out there first thing in the morning. I cant say how they treat the people that actually own the properties but from a tenant stand point they are wonderful. read more

I rented a house, and signed a lease agreement in which payment and request for repairs is supposed to go to Chris Warren Realty as the property management company. I received a random email saying they are no longer the property managers. That is fine, except despite numerous emails, they won't give me any contact information for my landlord. It has been three weeks since I requested my dishwasher be repaired, and now it's coming on the first of the month, and I don't know who to pay. The contract states Chris Warren Realty. Why. Why won't they just tell me who the landlord is so I can take this up with her?! Terrible. I'm assuming the landlord fired them due to their failure to communicate and make repairs in a timely manner. read more

We just used Stuart to lease a house in Austin. We found him by chance on the internet after inquiring about a property he was renting out. By the time we contacted him, the property was already pending but he helped us find a house to lease that fit our needs. I was very impressed at how quickly he would respond to my emails, no matter what time of the day it was! He went above and beyond for me and made the process very easy. I found him to be very upfront and honest. I highly recommend using Stuart. I know I will be using him again. read more

From a tenant's perspective, this company is terrible. Their policies change depending upon who you talk to in their office, and they ignore tenant maintenance requests. read more