Terrible service. Disrespectful to homeowners. They hang up on phone calls and don't answer emails. They arrange payments with plumbing companies without confirming with the homeowner what actually happened. When I asked for an explanation for what I'm paying for on the invoice, they didn't give me one. The company didn't either, because they say they were hired by Gordon James, but guess who pays the bill? read more

11 October 2024 - I hope the company responds so I can revise this review in the future My relationship with Gordon James *was* great for 12 years! As soon as I planned to sell my investment property and was no longer a revenue source for them, the support and willingness to engage with me disappeared. This has created numerous headaches as I plan to sell my rental property. 1) The company accepted a tenant-cleaned property, but still told me they would be charging the tenant for a move-out cleaning. When the tenant complained about the withheld deposit - the company refuses to acknowledge that they told me *in writing* that the $690 cleaning would be charged to the deposit. Now I owe the tenant another $690. 2) The company mailed the keys and garage door openers to my realtor. The package is lost and was not insured by the company. Now they simply suggest filing a "missing package" request and are not willing to accept responsibility for replacing the items that I entrusted to them. 3) Besides from one phone call, all communication is over email, which is creating delays in resolving these issues, leading the former tenant to threaten legal action against me. The company is not taking ownership of any of the issues that were caused by their miscommunication or negligence. Be careful! read more

Awful experience. They are always late to respond and cannot make any decisions. Jake C said it BEST: Do NOT hire Gordon James as your property manager. read more

I am a client of the property management service of Gordon James Realty. Several months ago, there was a change of the longtime representative for my property, who always responded quickly and did an excellent job. The transition to a new property representative has been seamless. Diego, my current representative, has been similarly responsive and acts in a very timely and thoughtful manner to resolve issues that arise at the property. I extend this positive review to Gordon James Realty in appreciation of my experience to date, and the very good value of services with excellent staff members at the company. read more

It is impossible to get anyone on the phone to help you with an issue like automatic payment. The person who answered the phone didn't know anything about our condominium despite the fact that they manage it. I am very disappointed. read more

Excellent property management service from Millie and the entire Gordon James Company!

Do NOT hire Gordon James as your property manager. We selected Gordon James to manage our rental condo, believing they offered the best services and fees of a few companies we interviewed. We were wrong. The majority of the two-year period was filled with frustration and extra work for us due to their lack of attentiveness and proactivity. Here are the main issues we faced: 1. Owner Portal Issues: The owner portal was consistently outdated, often showing financial information that was 30 to 90 days behind. We never once had a good understanding of the financial situation as a result (which led to later issues I mention). Despite promises from management to send me monthly tenant ledgers with more information after I raised this issue, I only received them each month after I had asked and reminded them they were to be sent, often time after repeated reminders. 2. Lease Renewal and Rent Issues: When our tenants' lease was up for renewal, we asked Gordon James about the relationship with the tenants and whether there had been any reason not to offer them an extended lease with no rent increases to retain them (should they have been problem-free tenants). They failed to inform us of any issues and said that they were unaware of any issues with the tenants, resulting in us offering this no-increase extension. We later discovered that for several months preceding this discussion, the tenants had not been paying full rent or paying late, which was never communicated to us when it happened OR when we had this conversation. 3. Handling of Delinquent Payments: As it turns out, when tenants missed payments or paid late, the company's ONLY action was to send automated late fees through the payment portal, OR send email communications to the tenants asking them to paid their unpaid rent. Which, to no surprise, they stopped responding to, did not pay, and often the only reason additional communications were sent was because we asked them to keep notifying the tenants as evidence for future potential eviction proceedings. Over 6-9 months, the tenants accumulated $13,000 in unpaid rent. After repeated discussion to try and get a handle on the situation, Gordon James advised us that the only other option would be for us to consult a lawyer rather if we wish to pursue other action than taking effective action themselves. It seems like supporting a need to evict tenants or send them to debt collections in these type of situations would be a very high-priority need for property management support that they would provide. If I would have known that I'd have to just find someone else to help me in this situation, I would not have bothered hiring them at all. 4. Move-Out Issues: When we decided to sell the property, Gordon James failed to meet our listing agents for the scheduled move-out inspection and key handover. Our agents were left waiting, and the tenants had to leave the keys inside the unlocked property due to lack of coordination. They also didn't collect the mailbox keys, costing us $100 for a new lock and keys. Despite our listing agent completing an inspection, Gordon James delayed their inspection by a week and only confirmed the issues already identified by our agent, only after I insisted they fulfill their contractual obligations. 5. Fees and Contract Termination: Even after we kept the final security deposit to recoup a portion of the unpaid rent when the tenants finally elected to vacate, the company deducted their management fees from it. Additionally, when we finally terminated the management contract, they required us to pay their missing management fees that were never collected from the unpaid proportion of rent that THEY failed collect, leaving me the opportunity to pay them for their failure to do what they were hired for. In summary, Gordon James did not provide basic property management services, causing us more stress and work. Avoid this company and save yourself the trouble read more

Metropolis DMV Contracting works closely with Gordan James Realty, an excellent property management company. I hear various amazing reviews from multiple homeowners. We are partnering with Alexandra Cisse, who is a phenomenal property manager. They are efficient and responsive to any needs we have regarding vendor contracting! read more

I've been using Gordon James for a year now and it's been great. I've been wanting to rent one of my apartments for a while and they were able to find tenants for me within a few weeks of management. I had a great leasing contact; prompt and accommodating to my worrying questions about the process. I moved out of the area a few months ago so I'm a bit farther away from the apartment, but everything's been running smoothly so far! read more

Please think twice about using this company. They are unresponsive to tenants and from my understanding, in talking to owners, the owners have no idea who is actually managing their properties and that tenants are treated poorly. This means bad business for the property owners. I don't leave reviews often, this may only be my second one ever. But strongly strongly recommend you looking for other options. read more

In general everyone has always been very helpful giving us peace in mind; and now we are working with Camilla who happens to be very professional, efficient and her continued communication makes this business very successful. Thank you for been there for us. Gr read more

I spent a lot of time researching management companies in the area due to my relocation. I think it's very important to find a company that will actually care about the property since it's one of the bigger investments people make in life. Also realized that some of these companies do not really know the local laws, which scares me given the tenant rights in DC and Maryland. Anyways, after the long research I decided to go with Gordon James since they had really good contents on their website and was able to speak with someone knowledgeable. Turned out to be a good experience overall working with them through the tenant finding process and moving them in. Honestly thought that managing the rental myself wouldn't have been that difficult, but after a long research on the whole process, I definitely realized that a busy layman would not be appropriately equipped to do so. I think the best part of the experience with Gordon James was that I did not even have to go to their office to get everything done. They provided good information throughout the process electronically so I was able to just read and understand on my own time. They also utilize e-signatures which is very helpful so I didn't have to drive into DC to their office. I'd say if you want your property to be managed properly, spend the money and go with a professional management company. Gordon James is a good example of a professional management. read more

Where to begin with this god awful company. Zero stars needs to be an option. Gordan James Realty does not care about you the owner or you the tenant. They are unresponsive to tenants needs. They are unresponsive to owners requests. I question what they really do other than take your money. My property suffered major damage under their care and they didn't even contact me. I had to learn from a neighbor that there was an issue after the tenant mentioned to them in a conversation. No one from Gordan James Realty contacted me. The tenants had emails and call logs of them contacting Gordan James. They had pictures of the damage. I visited the property and saw the damage. Yet Gordan James called them and myself liars and denied that my property had any issues. This company SUCKS!! Do not hire!! read more

I felt stuck trying to rent out my property in Arlington. My house is located in a great neighborhood near several great public schools, but the house had several issues with it that needed immediate attention. Gordon James was a lifesaver for me when it came to recommending contractors to fix cosmetic issues that helped improve the value of my home and REALLY helped with getting it rented out faster. They've been nothing but super responsive throughout my time having them as my property management company. Most importantly, when I compare my time managing my house on my own versus the time I've been with Gordon James is night and day. They make me forget I have an investment property by taking care of issues that pop up (big and small) and having everything noted/tracked in their online portal is a gamechanger. Highly recommended to others. read more

I've been very satisfied with the service that I have received from Gordon James Realty, especially from their property management division, Agon Property Management. Their agent, Christina, has done an outstanding job in managing my rental property and she has always been extremely professional. Great service! read more

I was working with another property management firm that was "local" in the city but I had to quickly look for another firm due to their negligence and lack of professionalism within the first two months. My tenants were furious which also made it much more difficult for me to manage at the time. I don't know why but the previous firm connected me with the tenants to resolve something that should've been handled by the company. Luckily then I found Gordon James Real Estate, which was able to resolve the ongoing issue and was able to make things calm down again. I have to thank the team for jumping into a problem that someone else started and for resolving it. They kept everything very professional and removed me from the disastrous issue that I really did not want to be directly involved with. Also, their system is much more "modern" and technology based unlike other companies that are very "old school." They had me complete everything through digital platforms instead of having me print documents, ink sign, and then scanning them back.  If you are a busy person like me, please do yourself a favor and work with companies like Gordon James that uses the technology that is out there available to us. They have quite a bit of knowledge on DC properties unlike some other company who call themselves "local" but don't know what they are talking about. read more

I would definitely would recommend working with the folks at Gordon James Realty! They were reliable, responsive, and super helpful. They offered a lot of guidance in managing my property. There are a lot of things I had to learn, but didn't quite have the time to sit down and research. I didn't know that there are so many moving parts with finding tenants, marketing our property, managing the lease, and so much more. They are super organized and helped me go through each step by providing me with specific information, and not bombarding me with a lot at once. I'm so glad that I've decided to work with Gordon James Realty. They were able to do the majority of the heavy lifting and conveniently let me sign documents remotely through electronic signature platforms while we couldn't meet up in person. Their website was also really helpful and easy to navigate. I would say their rates were reasonable compared to the other property management companies in the city. I had a great experience and would definitely recommend them to anyone with a busy schedule! read more

I had to look for a property management company in the District since I had to relocate for a new job and found out that this company provided full management services. At first I thought about having a friend take care of the property, but after reviewing their website and the information about renting a property, I decided to go with a professional management company. I was a bit worried at first because I thought I had to be very involved up front to get everything set up while I was already very busy from my own relocation. However, I was impressed with their process of on-boarding and getting everything taken care of after collecting any initial information from me. They were able to find tenants fairly quickly and made the process as easy as possible so I did not have to really think about it. I am glad that I decided to go with Gordon James and a professional management company in general as they are consistent with their communication and keeping me in the loop of only the important things. read more

We recently used Jenna Sinise of Gordon James Realty as our agent for buying a house in Falls Church. She was fantastic! The market was extremely competitive and incredibly frustrating, but with Jenna's help, we were actually able to find and purchase the perfect house in a reasonable amount of time. Her expertise and experience were really invaluable in putting together a successful offer. Any agent can help you to find and buy an affordable house in a buyer's market, but when sellers have the upper hand, like they do today, you really need to have an agent who knows what they're doing. read more

I was initially a bit skeptical of using this company for their brokerage services since they seem to be predominantly a property management company. I still decided to give them a shot since one of my buddies had a really good experience with their team and I am glad that I did. Had a great experience working with them on buying a condo. I always thought buying a house/condo for the first time would be a painful process because of all these stories I've heard in the past about negotiation and stuff. But this company had a very solid process in place where they helped me navigate through the entire transaction and made it as easy as possible. Their team was always available when I had questions (I had a lot of questions) and always showed professionalism. I was honestly kind of shocked that condos have these crazy rules and governance, but the team really seemed knowledgeable in that aspect and was able to help me understand everything before I made the final decision to move forward. I actually heard that they also have a condo management team as well, which probably explains their expertise on it. Overall, very good experience with this company and wish to use them again if the opportunity comes. read more

My husband and I were extremely satisfied with the Gordon James' "life cycle" services. They were generous, informative, and attentive. We feared we'd be overbearing with our questions and ignorance, but Gordon James treated us both with grace and respect. We started by using Gordon James as our property management company for nearly two years while we were living overseas. They walked us through everything we needed to do in DC to become a landlord and then helped us find a tenant. The whole process was easy and they communicated with us every step of the way. During the rental period, they handled all the renter problems and only once did we have to make a decision when the improvement was over $300. When we decided to sell the property, we looked at a few other realtors but in the end decided to go with Matt and his team because they were extremely knowledgeable about our building and the neighborhood. Navigating TOPA rights was confusing but Matt was always willing to answer our questions via Skype and Facetime calls which made the whole experience more personal and real. The price we agreed on seemed to spot on as we sold at asking. All the paperwork was done electronically since we live overseas which made it all so easy. In fact, we were able to even do the notary docs over notary-cam so no mailing back and forth was required. Once settlement happened, we had our balance check within 12 hours. If you want to eliminate the hassle and get straight up answers, Gordon James is the company to choose. read more

I'm on the board of an 120 unit condo building in Arlington VA and we switched to Gordon James last year after running into issues with our previous property management company. The difference is unbelievable. With the other company we used to go weeks without an adequate response and had to follow up multiple times before getting an answer. Our portfolio manager now is extremely knowledgeable and we always get a quick response. They also made the transition extremely easy for our owners and other board members. read more

Unethical, unprofessional, and high costs. Will cost you thousands of dollars due to incompetence and their desire to scam you of more money. When a tenant moved out, GJR sent me the security deposit by mail *and didn't tell me.* The contract, and industry standard, is for them to manage the security deposit. The tenant then threatened legal action for the delay which I had to deal with myself and required retaining an attorney. GJR provided no reimbursement, fee reduction, or even acknowledgement for their costly error. When I decided to sell the unit, Gordon James tried to coerce me into listing with their brokerage arm by threatening to and then cancelling managing my unit early. I listed the house for sale with someone else anyway and so GJR delayed the transition by almost 2 months, costing me thousands of dollars. There are plenty of other outfits in town to choose from. Look at their recent reviews almost all 1 star in the last year. The only positive reviews on here are probably bought; don't be fooled. read more

I would most definitely recommend using these guys if you are looking to sell your property. Super knowledgeable about the market. Was a little worried not being local during the sales process, but they made everything nice and easy with all the forms being electronically signed. Seamless just about sums it up. Also impressed with how spot on they were with the pricing. Was able to get a bit above my target price which was a huge plus and they were also able to negotiate an expedited close. Overall, happy with my experience working with them with their quick and smooth service. read more

These people are awful. They don't have an office where you can reach someone. To get in touch you have to send an email or leave a message with their answering service. They don't reply to emails and don't return phone messages. They regularly ignored maintenance requests by my tenants and did not take care of my property. There was an emergency in my building that caused serious damage and they ignored my tenants for days. The tenants ended up calling me to get the problem taken care of. My tenants were extremely unhappy with them and congratulated me when I fired them. read more

I originally reached out to Gordon James Realty because the property management company we were using since 2008 switched hands and the quality of service dramatically decreased. Taking three days to respond to a simple request was not something I was willing to deal with. When I contacted them, I had a great initial conversation with the staff at Gordon James Realty and immediately felt that I would be taken care of. They walked me through the process of switching management companies and the best part about it was that I did not feel pressured. They took the time to understand the frustration I had with my management company and figured out a strategy to make sure same issues would not continue. Their website references their communication as one of their selling points, and I can tell you from my experience with them, it is true. A year and half later, we've seen a huge shift with our renters. Rent is paid in a timely fashion and maintenance issues are resolved quickly with very little work on my part (this is why I wanted a management company in the first place). I had been thinking of switching management companies for a long time but I was dreading the transition process. I was assigned an account manager who helped me every step of the way and make sure I was taken care of. read more

We hired Gordon James to manage our house as rental property after interviewing five companies in advance of moving overseas. They listened to our interests, proposed good approaches, were reasonably priced, provided excellent references, and were extremely responsive. And things have only gotten better from that first meeting. We were dealing with a significant amount of stress and logistical challenges as we planned the move, especially since I was going to go overseas three months before my family. They dealt with anything and everything that we through at them, including letting people into the house and inspecting work for those things that we wanted to contract for ourselves, and arranging for painting estimates and work through their contractors. I found tenants myself and GJ screened them with a credit check, etc. for a reasonable fee. GJ confirmed my expectation that they would be good tenants and they then did the contracting, including dealing with negotiations on some minor points (e.g., repainting of a couple rooms) and adjusting contract language. When our hot water heater sensor died on the day before move-in, they scrambled urgently to get it fixed and everything was good by the time the tenants moved in. I can't imagine if I'd had to deal with that from overseas, especially given that I'm quite busy with my new job. My tenants are happy with GJ's service and they pay me promptly upon receipt of the rental payments. Couldn't be more pleased. I highly recommend Gordon James. read more

My roommate I had the pleasure of viewing three different apartments with one of the listing agents at Gordon James realty and we were nothing but pleased. I called their office and was put in touch with Tom who scheduled the appointment and was at the first property before our arrival (this was a plus because I hate waiting!). He took us through all three apartments and answered all of our questions. When we decided which unit we wanted to rent, Tom was very quick to follow up with a credit and background check and kept me informed throughout the entire process. The place we settled on was clean when we moved in and everything was executed flawlessly (they even recommended very reasonable moving companies in the area). The only issue we have had with the apartment since moving in was that one morning we woke up to find no hot water. To address the issue, I called the property manager and they assured me the problem would be fixed later that day. I thought it was too good to be true but sure enough, when I arrived home from work, everything was taken care of. I have lived in four different apartments with three different property managers and this company is by far the best that I have experienced. If I ever move again, I will use these guys. Very happy with my new home! read more

I purchased a condo in the DC area before the whole housing market downturn and decided to rent it out recently rather than sell it (I have since moved to NYC for a new job). I hired Gordon James Realty to be the property manager for my condo and have been very impressed with their level of service. Granted, this is my first time working with a property manager, but they have been very responsive and willing to accommodate my numerous "quirks." It was a very simple and straightforward process -- Tom and team have been a joy to work with (not to mention finding renters to actually rent my condo). They are very quick to get things fixed and keep me informed and up to date on my property. The fees are reasonable and I don't have any complaints so far. Definitely could not be more happy with the service. read more

I heard about Gordon James from a friend in the Foreign Service who has worked with them for last few years. And thank goodness I did. Very shortly after hiring them to manage my condo in Arlington, the AC unit stopped working which happened a few times while I was living there. My property manager, Jon, notified me of the issue and had an AC repairman sent over to the property and the repairs were completed on the same day. What would have a huge headache for me was reduced to one phone call from Jon. His team handled everything for me and the cost was more than reasonable. Also used the leasing team to find my tenant and found that they were knowledgeable about the market and the rental price suggested was spot on. Rented my condo out in 2 weeks for $75 higher than my next door neighbor's unit! Positive experience so far. read more

I referred a high net worth client to their brokerage division. Confidentiality and having a signed NDA in place was a stipulation being that this individual was an executive for a public company who was relocating prior to the press release being issued. Their legal team's turnaround with the necessary documents was the quickest I've seen in my 25 years in real estate. Provided parameters for the type of property that he and his wife were looking for. They not only found a historic home in upper Northwest that they absolutely fell in love with, but they were able to push the settlement forward a week early which made the relocation so much easier for them. read more

I've been using Gordon James for around 2 years and they are always responsive and very attentive to my needs and my tenants needs. You won't go wrong hiring these guys. read more

If you're looking for a company with people who actually care about your home & can get things done go with Gordon James Realty! Gordon James Realty managed my 3 bed 2 bath townhouse in DC from 2016 to 2020 while I was overseas. I had quite a bit going on with the move and had never rented my home out before, so I knew I would need to find a company that would make sure my house was taken care of while it was being rented out and actually keep me in the loop if any major issues came up. I was worried about the upkeep of my home and ultimately the prospect of handing my keys over to future renters, but Gordon James immediately put my mind at ease with their professionalism, attention to detail, and speed. I admit, I kept putting off getting my house taken care of with all the other arrangements that I had to coordinate at the time, so their ability to jump in and take care of everything was a life saver. I found Gordon James's website on a property management search engine and submitted a request on their contact form. I had done the same on a couple of other property management sites, but Gordon James got back to me pretty quickly! I didn't feel like I was at a dealership getting the full court press where they try to confuse you with numbers or promise you things they can't deliver which was refreshing. They took care of everything needed to get my house in front of renters. They captured great pictures and a video walkthrough of my house and got them posted online. They found a really nice couple to lease our home and my husband and I had zero complaints when we returned 4 years later. I'm big on communication and there wasn't a second that I didn't feel like I didn't know what was going on even though we were thousands of miles away. Whether it was the time our AC unit had a fit and needed to be replaced, or just knowing that seasonal maintenance was being taken care of, Gordon James took care of it and kept me in the loop. read more

Jenna got me an offer on my home within 3 weeks of listing! I felt hopeless trying to sell my home for a few months with a former agent; something was not right with such a long DOM, so I went with Jenna and Matt to help me and I wish I had met them sooner. Jenna did a proper CMA and adjusted our pricing as necessary and I got an offer! I was able to call/email/text her when needed, and she was quick to respond, and on top of my sale details. I was trying to sell a home from across the country and they did it for me! I had used their management company for many years for my rental, and had been very happy with their services, so I had little doubt when they referred me to GJR. At first meeting, I could tell they would be great to work with, with their competence and knowledge of the DMV area! read more

My boyfriend and I have lived in one of Gordon James' buildings for 3+ years now and couldn't be happier. The staff has been responsive, super quick to respond and just generally pleasant to deal with. Ryan is amazing and everyone else has been great to work with. Two thumbs up! read more

We are a real estate sales team and have many clients that turn to rental specialists when it comes time to rent their homes. Recently, we had clients (located overseas) that had used other rental companies in the past 20 years to help them manage their NW DC rowhouse rental that needed to switch rental managers. They shared with us that the response times and communication with past rental agencies were lacking. When they switched to Gordon James to help them manage their rental, they remarked how the service and communication level was far superior to what they had experienced in the past. And once our clients decided to sell, we worked with Gordon James to transition the rental. They were thorough with the tenant move-out and communicated effectively with the tenants, the owners, and the sales agents. Our experience on the agent side with them exceeded the service level we typically see with other rental agencies. read more

If I could give this company a zero, I would. Worst company ever! I signed a property management agreement based on their online reviews, and first conversations I had with them. They sounded like a great company. We required property management services while we lived abroad for 3 years. Everything seemed alright​ until we actually needed the property manager to manage an issue our tenants had (They lost keys to our condo, took 5-6 days to fix AC unit during heat wave, sent contractors to clean our carpet with a mop (yes a mop!!!), and provided inaccurate dimensions for new refrigerator​). Everything single request we put in, there was an issue. Every issue cost us countless of hours of sleep, since like I mentioned we were abroad so the time difference​ was +18 hours. Lucky for us, and unluck for Gordon James Realty is that we personally knew our tenants. We have written emails where the property managers flat out would lie to us, and then we would get the true story from our tenants. After a while, I was so confused why did everyone else have an ​amazing experience with this company and not us? Well, you see the people on the ground managing our condo was not under the same company name. When we look closer to the forwarded emails from our tenant, we saw that the company managing our condo was actually Rental Solutions, not Gordon James Realty. Is this even legal? I'll be finding out. Check out the yelp reviews for Rental Solutions - they have a solid 1 star on yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/rental-solutions-arlington. How is Gordon James Realty still in business with having this business model? read more

If communication is important to you, hire Gordon James. From the initial on-boarding process preparing our property for advertising to handling maintenance requests in real time, I can always count on reaching someone at Gordon James. We had our HVAC go down in the peak of summer but they were able to provide us with a couple of quotes- both from our preferred HVAC company and their own. We ended up going with the company they recommended as the price and timeline was significantly better. The entire process took 4 days from diagnosing the issue to ordering the new unit and having this installed. They even provided my tenant with a portable air conditioner to use while the A/C was not functioning. read more

I rented a property in Arlington VA from Gordon James with a few of my girlfriends and have worked with them for 3 years. They were extremely responsive and easy to work with and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a property manager. The whole team was professional and dealt with any issues or concerns in a timely manner. read more

Where are the other less-than-five star reviews that used to be posted on Yelp about this company? Do not recommend. Poor pricing model if you are renting out your place. Had I listened to them, I would have lost over $4k per year - which was two months rent. I live in a highly desirable neighborhood. They lowball rents if you're in an Old World building. Also, poor service providers (photographer & cleaning people). Assistants were not knowledgeable about the real estate market in the least. Do not recommend & glad I chose another company. read more