There are many apartments, duplexes and house available for rent on the East side of town. However,…read moreit is my duty to warn those who are considering renting about one Landlord in particular - Kenneth 'Ken' Thompson. Most of you know recently my little brother, Roosevelt 'Keon' Dale died. He rented from Ken whose company is called Thompson Holdings LLC. I cleaned out his apartment and noticed many things which caused concern. Not on Roosevelt's part but Ken's. The apartment, located on Quincy Street, is close to being what, according to Iowa Fire Code, should be condemned. However, Roosevelt was a 'neat freak' (much more than I) and the apartment was clean. Further, the windows on the front porch were covered in plastic. When I looked at his electric bill and for an apartment that small, I was BLOWN AWAY! For those who may not know, a small apartment even somewhat (not well) insulated should run about $125 per month and with energy efficient windows, that number drops. His bill was several hundred which is outrageous. The health and safety issues were numerous and I remember thinking - "How could someone treat others so?" I left the apartment clean (I am a landlord in Colorado and understand what that means from a tenant deposit reimbursement standpoint). When Roosevelt's next of kin attempted to retrieve the deposit, Ken, the landlord said "He broke his lease". How? Well, apparently and even though the law states 'spouses' (he wasn't married) can be held accountable but next of kin, non-spouse can not, Kenneth believed someone no longer living was still obligated to him. Roosevelt was killed and Ken had someone in the place (entered with no money down by the way). Just some brief research (and more to come) reveals Ken owns many properties, most of which are barely liveable. Some of you may have heard about the fire on Boston Street recently. This was caused by a space heater which shouldn't even be necessary IF a landlord abides by the Iowa law which decrees habitation heating requirements. A black family could have been killed for trying to keep warm. Roosevelt also had a small space heater. Here is the story - http://goo.gl/PjcWC - So why did Roosevelt live there? For those of us who grew up and are now, on the East Side, you know housing is difficult to obtain for many reasons none of which need be listed here. This isn't restricted to Waterloo, Iowa either because my family and I, in 2004, with great credit, no evictions were almost forced out of Fort Collins, Colorado by, well, you know the type. Believe me, my wife and would've stood pat had we not had two teenage children to be concerned with. Safe to say, we moved to Denver, around our own. My point is - I don't know how long this will be up and not 'flagged' by other 'slum lords' or Mr. Thompson but for those of you currently living in his properties or considering renting from him, HUD (Housing and Urban Development) responsible for assuring adequate protections for you against serpents like Ken, provides rights for you as a tenant! Whether, veteran, disabled (or having a disabled child), minority, senior citizen or other categories, make sure Ken or any of the others including those who are among us and VICTIMIZE us in housing in like manner, GIVE YOU WHAT YOU PAY FOR. These sorts will make all sorts of threats about evicting you IF you try and press the issue for better housing, maintenance etc but they CAN NOT do so! If they do and you are educated on your tenant rights, I can say with some surety, working in the industry, you will be well compensated from these vultures and may end up owning the property where the victimization occurred. Don't be fooled by the fact they OWN property. The truth is, they own the debt and like many on the East Side, are a few paychecks away from being 'on the street'. I am going to post a few links so that you may understand legal remedies available. If there is ANY issue which threatens your safety (like no hot water, heat, non-functioning doors, abestos etc), make a written request for these issue to be fixed by the landlord, keep a copy and then follow the process in the below links. Let me be clear - when you demand safe housing and these slum lords threaten you in anyway, whatever their color and disposition, immediately determine which of the below agencies is best for your circumstance.

The guy above is not telling the truth. He just didn't get what he wanted. He was an excellent…read moreLandlord. Considering there has only been one complaint. Can't win with everyone. Hey this man cared deeply for his tenets. He often would let people who were short on money get away without paying the full amount.

We recieved real value for money. Quality work, communications, and consideration for operation of…read moreour home during the work. I could not be more pleased.

This is a Great company. A lot of my family has used Bobby Kastli as there realtor. He is very…read moreknowledgeable, kind ,understanding and goes above and Beyond to help you out. You cannot go wrong using Bobby as your realtor. And Remax Home group.

Christopher with Be Valuable Asset Resales was just that- an invaluable asset in my journey of…read moreselling a family home. He and his people are polite, responsive, attentive to details and I never had to worry about the items being in safe hands. I found out Be Valuable serves a unique niche in Asset Sales in the Cedar Valley. They will effectively and privately sell items directly from where they are without the publicity and anxiety of a large auction where unvetted treasure seekers are trampling through your property. Be Valuable's respectful values show up in who they allow to visit your property; all at a very reasonable commission- they only get paid if you get paid. I'd highly recommend Be Valuable Asset Resales to anyone looking to take the stress and worry out of downsizing, estate liquidation, or really any journey you find yourself on that may require effective Asset Sales.

Responsiveness: 5 stars Scheduling: 5 stars…read moreProfessionalism: 5 stars Quality of Inspection Report: 5+ stars From start to finish, I don't have enough good things to say about my experience with Mike over at Eastern Iowa Inspection Services. After sending my initial inquiry by e-mail, I received a phone call back from Mike within the hour. He was friendly and professional, and was able to schedule our inspection for a date that was only 4 days away from the date that I contacted him. Setting up the inspection was incredibly simple, and I really liked that all the pricing was clearly laid out on the website, so there were no surprises when he sent me the invoice. The inspection itself was extremely thorough, and the report was well-organized with all issues categorized by level of severity and accompanied by digital photos that clearly demonstrate exactly what was going on. Despite including an impressive level of detail, Mike had the report in my inbox within hours of leaving the property. To top it all off, 5 days later I checked my mail and was surprised to find a thank you card from Mike, letting me know that he appreciated our business and hoped we were happy with his service. Needless to say, this was an understatement.

called Mike to get information on an inspection. He was very helpful. Then when called him back to…read moreconfirm, was able to set up date to inspect within days. Did a very detailed inspection and was also very helpful when I called him to go over the results. Would recommend his services to everyone!!

Steve Schnieder was exactly the person my wife and I needed in our corner. He helped us navigate…read morethrough al the turmoil of buying our first home and got us approved even when others said there was just no way they could help without a better credit score. He knows his stuff and he didn't encourage us to make an expensive purchase just to get a big commission or anything like that. So not only did he educate us on the entire process, but Steve has good morals as well. It's not just about getting to closing. It was about getting there comfortably, and for that, I have no complaints. Also, his office cabinet just has awards stacked up top like it ain't no thing, so he's doing something right.

Pleasure to work with Steve Schneider at Lincoln Savings Bank. Professional, friendly, he…read morepersonalized our service and was always available with answers and solutions since our mortgage application was a bit more complicated than average. We were always treated with respect. Would recommend to anyone!

I needed a repair on a gutter after a recent storm while under the pressure of selling my home…read more Not only did they get me schedule for a quote the next evening but they had me scheduled for repair within a week. I had the pleasure of working with Isaac who was knowledgeable about the process, thorough on his explanations, great at answering questions, and a personality and sense of humor to boot. Would highly recommend.

It took me a bit to get around to this, but I had Brett, and he helped me by fixing the roof and…read morethen installing the gutters correctly. Brett knew what he was doing and explained it to me. He was very friendly and hopeful, and I appreciate that.

I had Whitetail Home Inspections do an inspection on a home that I was looking to buy. They were…read moreincredibly thorough and came back to me with a 63 page report that included pictures, details, and even what kind of specialist I should contact to help me with each of the issues that were found in the home. Great work, great price, highly recommend!

Matt was hired by the buyers of our home to complete our house inspection. After the inspection,…read moreMatt stated something to the fact that the blinds in our infant daughters room were broken but that he "put it back." I glanced in there and didn't see anything out of place and got side tracked with other things. A couple days went by and we got the report. I find by reviewing this that he had broke the bracket to my infant daughters blinds and put it back; not telling me or pointing out what he in fact did. Matt then proceeded to put it in the report with a picture of the blinds laying on the ground and a picture of the bracket he had broke stating it was insufficient. I know for a fact this bracket was NOT broken prior to him coming as we had the room professionally painted and had removed the blinds (not broken at the time). Additionally, it was obvious upon our arrival (after inspection) that all the windows were checked as all the window cranks were moved and now in an up position. There was no bother to put any of them back to the way they originally were. It was getting colder and colder by the day in our 5 month old daughters room and I couldn't figure out why all of a sudden this was happening. We were SHOCKED to find out today (3 days after the inspection) that Matt had opened the window in her room and left it unlocked letting in the freezing cold air. ITS THE END OF NOVEMBER in Iowa with temperatures dropping in the 30s during the nighttime hours. Leaving my daughters windows unsealed/unlocked is pure carelessness and sloppiness.