HA Gill managed and then sold a property I owned in the district. While they were managing the property they were polite, efficient effective. The tenant lived in the property for a long time and somewhere along the way forgot that she was not the owner. The staff at HA Gill dealt with her patiently and effectively. When I went to sell the property HA Gill helped us navigate the process and was unfailingly helpful in the face of multiple challenges. Based on my experience I can recommend HA Gill and Son unreservedly. read more

Read the "12 other reviews that are not currently recommended" at the bottom of the posted reviews. They give much better insight to H. A. Gill & Son!! This company, quite laughably, wrote a post pretending to be an outside reviewer starting the post by referring to H. A. Gill & Son as "this firm" and "their clients." It is obvious that this post (and likely all of the favorable posts that mention the firm's "over 188 year in business" were written by John Gill. He ends the fake review by saying, "THIS firm currently has over 800 tenants in the properties IT manages. WE have pleasant relationships with 99% of them." And the very last sentence is a classic John Gill quote...other reviewers have mentioned this in their posts about the condescending emails he sends tenants. He likes to refer to any person that requires him to fix a problem or do any work as bas apples. John says "Unfortunately, there are always a few bad apples with whom we do the best we can." The truth is, no John and company, you do not do the best you can. You are extremely unpleasant to work with, you are arrogant, condescending and outright combative and rude to your tenants. If I had more time I would be filing any and all official complaints I could against you. My partner and I rented from you for 2.5 years and every interaction I ever had to have with you was shocking. I am perplexed why anyone choses to continue working with you. The home we rented was lovely and well priced, but putting up with John's disparaging emails was more than I was willing to put up with. Good luck to any current and future tenants... I would not recommend. read more

I have been living in an apartment managed by HA Gill&Son for two years and I have had a very positive experience. The apartment is spacious, rent is reasonably priced, and the building management is friendly, quick and helpful with any issues. I highly recommend it to anyone. read more

There is no way I'd be a homeowner right now if it wasn't for the patient, diligent support I got from John Gill at H.A. Gill & Son, who is probably one of the most seasoned realtors in the DC/MD/VA area. I guess it doesn't hurt that the firm has been in business for over a century. John's integrity and fidelity to his profession and clients are indisputable. He worked with me all through last summer and fall to find a starter home in NW, as I hemmed and hawed about places we looked at. He waited patiently as I took a break over the winter to assess whether I wanted to stay in the area and was even satisfied with the available housing supply in my range. And he energetically jumped back into the game with me in the spring until we found my dream home. His knowledge of architectural styles, building materials/techniques, historical and current practices, and just the area's history and idiosyncrasies mean much more nuanced feedback than you'd get from a buyer agent who is nowhere near as informed. Their office location on Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown made it really convenient to drop paperwork off or convene to work on an offer after a day of househunting. And there is no question that he's the person I would turn to first if I ever decide to rent my place out and rent/buy a new one, or sell it outright. read more

My roommates and I just received the most condescending email from John Gill. Working as a property manager myself, I would think that a certain level of customer service would be provided, but this is clearly not the case. Unfortunately, John Gill seems to think he is above providing a certain level of courtesy. He brought up an issue with our yard that we needed to address, but did not simply and politely ask us to resolve the issue. You can tell from the email that we are not the ones who are paying his company to manage a property, but rather the tenants of a property his company manages. In my own career, I have received complaints about other residents and dealt with them in a professional, courteous manner, but it sounds like John could use some lessons. I will say that Nell in the office has been a wonderful person of contact when something is wrong in our home. read more

I am a neighbor to a property managed by H.A. Gill, and unfortunately have nothing pleasant to report. As a property manager, H.A. Gill does a huge disservice to their clients who own the property they have entrusted them to manage. They frequently rent to groups of tenants who treat the homes as sorority/fraternity houses, who stay 1-2 years and abuse the properties. I have had to contact them several times about unkempt landscaping, clogged gutters, trash, rodent issues, etc. at the properties they are supposed to be managing. I contact them because these issues affect surrounding neighbors. If I was a property owner who pays them to manage my property, I'd be very disappointed in the lack of pro-activeness HA Gill exhibits in maintaining their properties. Anytime concern was expressed to HA Gill regarding the tenants they chose to rent to, they were quick to defensively note that they cannot "discriminate." We never asked them to discriminate, just asked them to be discerning property managers and act in the best interest of their clients and the neighborhood. Instead, they believe in nepotism and rent to people who they have business relationships with. They seem to only care about collecting fees from clients, managing properties as little as possible, and renting properties as quickly as possible to tenants who have no interest in respecting the property or neighborhood. ** update: the house that was managed by John Gill and company was recently sold. The family who owned it and had John manage it for them chose to not use them as their selling agent, which I found interesting. I asked the owners why they chose to not use HA Gill to sell the home, and they relayed their frustrations as their client and dissatisfaction with how their property was managed. read more

I rented from HA Gill & Son and my experience was quite mixed. The staff are easy to reach if there is a problem with the property and they promptly send someone over if something is wrong with the house. However, I lived in a house with other tenants, and it appears the previous tenants were so bad that it left the staff with a sour attitude towards anyone who stepped foot in the house. Many of the emails were curt and often implied that it was my fault, which I found somewhat puzzling since I hadn't lived there for even a month when I first reached out. Despite several of the original tenants moving out of the group house, it felt like the staff dismissed the notion that previous tenants were responsible for the poor upkeep of the house, despite my efforts to make modest repairs while asking for assistance when I was unable to do it myself. I will say in fairness to HA Gill & Son, some of the other tenants were not responsible and it was reasonable for the staff to distrust them. But like I stated before, the staff seemed to direct their grievances at everyone, not the specific tenants who failed to prevent the house from deteriorating. As a side note, sometimes email exchanges were lost and we were required to do a follow-up. While that certainly will happen every now and then, each reminder would be received with an agitated response. Overall, you could do better and you could do worse. The house wasn't in the worst of shape, and they always fixed what they could promptly. My mistake apparently was moving into a house where some of the other tenants were already disliked, leading to the staff presuming I too must be a bad tenant, all while being left in the dark. read more

I moved in to an HA Gill & Son property 10 months ago and I must admit, when I read these reviews I was a bit nervous about what my experience might be like. I'm happy to report that I have had a great experience. The staff has been very responsive & quick with repairs. And if I've ever needed to discuss any issues at all both John and his staff have been more than willing to listen and help troubleshoot. I'm very happy with my apt. and love calling it home. read more

We have had a very pleasant experience renting a row house in Glover Park from HA Gill for the past several years. We recently decided to move out only because we purchased a house of our own. Prior to deciding to sign a lease, Matthew Gill was flexible in being able to show us a couple of properties of interest on rather short notice, and John Gill was quick to respond to our questions regarding the lease for the property we ended up renting. The house was well-maintained, and the rent seemed pretty typical for the market. The office staff are polite and, especially considering that it's a smaller firm, very responsive. While we had a handful of maintenance issues throughout the time we rented our house, as is typical with any home (particularly older homes in DC), HA Gill was prompt in correcting these, and they generally did not reoccur. In fact, I would say that the best part of our experience, and the factor that most set HA Gill apart from the large corporate landlord we had rented from previously, was the competence and quality of the contractors they hired for repairs. (In particular, the plumber they hired for us on several occasions, Joe Hardesty.) I recommend HA Gill, and I would choose them again if I was looking to rent a house in NW DC again. read more

As a tenant in the property for two years, I've had a lot of experience with HA Gill and staff. They are bizarrely difficult about minor interactions-- making sure to act accusatory toward a tenant when something basic goes wrong, combative in tone. Quick to respond with reasons why someone other than they should be held responsible, and never pro-active about updating the (often outdated) facilities in their aging properties. They rely on the fact that properties are located in great locations, and DC is a renter's market. We loved the house we were in, but lamented the difficulty in maintaining it. In particular, we hated our interactions especially with John Gill, who feels the need to be right about everything at the expense of relationships with clients. Sometimes it's worth it to suck it up and deal with a bad management company so you can live in a good place-- that was the case with us-- but be warned that every step of the interaction will be a fight to the tooth, and every dollar will be haggled. (Update: John's response below this actually encapsulates the tone by which he treats tenants-- everyone is a potential "bad apple" and the company itself is never seeking to improve the experience. It's just not a customer service-oriented company.) read more

I currently live in one of their apartments and in the grand scheme of things, they do a great job of keeping the apartments up to date. Every time I've called them Nell takes care of all my apartment's problems quickly. The apartment I live in has to be one of the best deals in DC, so its tough to complain. read more

John and his firm were our property managers for several years while we were overseas. They did a superb job and were thorough, responsive, and easy to work with. Since then he has also given sound advice whenever I've had a general real estate question. Plus John himself is so experienced and friendly. I highly recommend him and the company. read more

I lived in a property they managed for 5 years - always got a fast response if something was wrong, very available if we had questions or needed to switch roommates in the lease, and they were proactive about weather warnings or seasonal changes. They hire great repair people, too! read more

ran into many problems/issues during the time i rented a house from them

So my previous post was removed by HA Gill; therefore, it is my duty as a former tenant to provide an honest opinion of their rental process to prospective renters. HA Gill overall is a well established business and try to manage rental properties in a effective manner. They are prompt with any tenant related issues; however, be warned that sometimes they will try to make the tenant pay for issues if they feel like it was a tenants fault, but you need to push back so the actual owner of property pays for repairs. We rented a unit for two years and only had minor issues; however, the issues lies with their overall lack of transparency and communication when it comes to exiting their rental properties. They need to communicate more clearly to ensure all parties are on the same page; otherwise, you will need to fight tooth and nail for the return of your deposit. Eventually my deposit was returned in full; however, it left a bitter taste in my mouth and I was not even offered an apology for their lack of communication or acknowledgement of their miscommunication of the exit process. One thing I wish from this small business is to show compassion to your tenants and even a simple thank you card or Christmas card or even an email acknowledging that you care about us tenants that have a flawless account and maybe us tenants would consider HA Gill as our realtor to help us buy our first home in the District! Appreciation and compassion for good tenants goes along way in my books in order to receive repeat business or referrals-something they may have forgotten over time. Overall you should rest comfortably using them for your rental needs. Blessings. read more

We used H.A. Gill & sons to sell my father's home in close-in Bethesda this fall and they were fantastic! John Gill advised us on how to stage the furniture (and even helped us carry some of it to the garage!), recommended that wallpaper be stripped and paint touched up, got us qualified contractors to do all of the work at prices that were as good or better than what I found independently, and created a great marketing piece about the house. He recommended we list the house for a bit more that the appraised value and we had two full-price offers on the first weekend! John stayed on top of everything all the way through settlement and was responsive through the whole process. We highly recommend! read more

This Georgetown-based realtor is excellent. Staff are professional and any repairs are done on the spot. I have nothing to say but "good" about them. Have been with them, (Nell Sanders, "Barbara," etc.) for over 8 years. read more

John Gill was my realtor when I bought my house 9 years ago and again when I sold it this week. In both instances, he was attentive and patient and really went above and beyond. When I bought in 2007, it was a hot market and took almost 8 months to find something I liked - John was with me the whole way, never pushing. I have since moved cross-country, and was so grateful to John for going above and beyond to make the sale an easy one. He managed contractors doing improvements and repairs prior to listing and even personally went over the day of the buyer's final walk-through to cut weeds so that it would look nice. I couldn't have been happier. read more

As also stated by a previous reviewer, if I could give this company zero stars, I would. They are unprofessional and do not document or notify important matters regarding their properties. The place that I moved into had CLEARLY been ignored for years - it was hoarded, infested, things were not working right/not working at all, there was water damage all throughout, the electric wiring was as if someone born yesterday came in and ran it, and the one screen remaining out of the 11 windows was falling out and broken. They do not upkeep a thing in the property, then when matters are brought to their attention for general maintenance/normal living conditions, the bill is pinned on the tenant. They are money hungry and rude. Basically, they're slumlords. Do not let their seemingly lowered rent prices draw you in - they are a hot mess of an operation and you will definitely pay for it in the long run. read more

I rented a house in Georgetown from them for 1 year and I would give them 0 stars if I could. Mr Gill is as pompous, sleazy, and unpleasant as a human being can get, and the rest of the staff are not much better. They are extremely unprofessional, they will treat you like a sub-human and will make you feel like they have all the power and you don't. They make the rental process as difficult as possible for you. At one point they even openly told me they were reluctant to rent to me because of my age, which is A) illegal, B) extremely insulting. They are extremely strict with you sending all payments and notices on time (as they should), but unfortunately they're not as on top of their work as they expect you to be on top of yours. One time during a storm a tree from across the street fell into my back yard, barely missing the house, and remained there in front of my back door for 2 weeks, preventing me from going out into my back yard. Since I was having trouble getting the city to remove it, I asked for their help, and sent them pictures of the tree. No answer whatsoever. I was eventually able to get the city to remove it, after ton of endless calls to the 311 number. Oh and the next time I stop by HA Gill to drop off my payment check all they said was "oh we had a really good laugh with those pictures you sent". Also, they will find every little excuse to keep as much of your security deposit as possible, so beware. read more