These people cannot be trusted. They lie and they don't care. They have no imagination, no flexibility, and questionable ethics. We rented a home from Joel Ward for 4 months while we looked for a home to buy. This company was very friendly and even took care of maintenance issues in a timely fashion. When it came to leaving, we thought we had gone over and above to clean and polish the house, including pulling out the stove and the fridge and cleaning dirty messes (including a rat trap, a pile of kibble, and residue of an unknown spill under the stove; under the fridge, as well as dirt, etc., there was even a kid's refrigerator magnet). Those messes weren't just from the tenant before us who had been the owner and his son. We cleaned that up and polished the hardwood floors in the master and the front/dining room. There was one thing they didn't like. Neither did we. When we first moved in in March, there was an incredible amount of rain. During that time, the basement flooded twice, had to be drained and have the dehumidifier run for a couple weeks total - on OUR electric bill of course. This was all cheap indoor/outdoor carpet squares and why they didn't just pull them up, I don't know. Why we were naïve enough to think that it would bring us any good will to use our own electricity, I don't know. I swept and vacuumed the "carpeted" area to keep it clean of any mess we brought doing laundry. After the work the landlord did, to drain the basement, he also had a sump pump put in. That too, the hours of jackhammering, etc. were on OUR electricity. After the water was cleared and the pump installed was when the "carpet" needed cleaning. When we moved out, Joel Ward Realty (junior agent Darrin specifically) had the nerve to charge us for cleaning the carpet because, he said, that is what our contract with the owner required. I asked if he could discuss that with the owner, given all the surrounding circumstances (Darrin said they would take into account the short duration of our lease!). He said he would talk to the owner, but he never got back to me with an answer, only to repeat his version of legalese in subsequent emails. He also said he would speak to the current tenant to find out if a couple boxes we couldn't find might have been left in our portion of the garage. He never got back to us regarding that matter either. There are better agents out there. Keep looking! read more

Their staff goes above and beyond - John B is great, and I trust him to take care of any issues that crop up! Plus, I love their support for Habitat for Humanity. I'm a habitat volunteer myself, and having local businesses teaming up to provide assistance to families through habitat is great to see. Can't say enough good things! read more

I closed my condo this week from being out of country and out of town, Nick ward acted as dual agent and had very handsome commission but extremely poor job. I was shocked to see that my home was not cleaned well as promised, there were tenants before. Bedroom ceiling had dust, stairs, under stair storage were not cleaned and garage is a trash. I trusted Nick Ward to do a good job especially from not being in the area and choosing him as my agent also, he utterly failed to ensure that the house was cleaned appropriately, More than this he told me to reach out to my attorney and that there is nothing seller would do. My attorney stated that the house is now closed and terms do not support any thing done, as I closed on house ''as is''. But I also had terms prior that I would be given a clean house which was not met. Isn't that a minimum you would expect from spending around150K and buying an used condo? I texted him to get this fixed, he is not responding to my texts or phones any more. We rely on agents to ensure all is done well especially if you are moving in OOT. He did not advise that I do a walk through before closing and obviously he did not or chose not to get cleaning done as he promised, all he wants looks like is his commission which he got around 8K and now is not responding. Very unprofessional to not respond rather than face the facts and come to a resolution. All he needed to do was get a handy man and get it cleaned for the amount of commission and his incompetency to ensure the house was cleaned well. Don't get fooled with people's calm face. This is a big lesson that I should have my own agent not a dual agent. Also I felt he was more supportive of the seller as he was not supportive of getting repairs I requested done from inspection nor got some of them done as we talked. I would have given a Zero if I was given an option. Lessons learnt- Don't go with Nick Ward. Have your own agent Walk through the house before closing Negotiate all terms and make sure its in your contract. read more

I have really enjoyed working with Nick on a couple different projects. As a fellow broker I know the importance of communication and he's spot on. I look forward to more opportunities to work together. read more

Anyone that decides to rent from this company should be aware that you more than likely will not receive a full refund of your security deposit. Don't count on them to be benevolent, they will charge you for everything they possibly can. Make sure you document every known defect or it will come back to you, and it will be your fault. And also don't bother cleaning before you leave because they even say they charge pretty much everyone for cleaning after moving out...large, out-of-proportion amounts of cleaning fees, and will not provide details such as hours worked and hourly rate when asked several times. Seems like a nice set up for the cleaning person. We had a good experience with them up until the final charges, so it's unfortunate. Have rented many places previously and never had any issues with getting my full security deposit back. read more

Re: Mary Beth Ward of Joel Ward Homes It has been a little over a year since my husband and I moved in to our first home together. This is an exciting anniversary for us that we might not be so fortunate to celebrate had we not met Mary Beth Ward in the fall of 2011. Mary Beth had a home for sale in Urbana that we were smitten with, but when we called she informed us that its sale was pending. Unlike other realtors we had encountered up to this point, Mary Beth was direct without being pushy or overzealous. She invited us to come in to her office to discuss finding another home that would suit our needs. In doing so, we discovered that the search for a home could be hassle-free and even enjoyable with the right people to help. Within a month of searching using a combination of her expertise and an MLS search engine to narrow down our interests, we found our home. Aside from not being pushy or overzealous (two traits that are specifically important to us), Mary Beth conducts her business with the utmost professionalism, ethical behavior, and directness that is essential not only for finding a home but also in the start-to-end process of purchasing a home. Not only was she our realtor; Mary Beth was, in many ways, our advocate when it was needed. My husband and I are delighted to recommend Mary Beth Ward to anyone who is interested in a professional, ethical, and hassle-free house-buying experience. Should we ever require a realtor's services again, we will most certainly choose Mary Beth. read more

Impressively incompetent. Don't even give them a chance. I have rented in various states and in various campus towns and have never experienced anything quite this awful. Joel Ward mislead us regarding the pet policy of the condo we were looking at. We only found out about this as we were putting pen to paper to sign the lease. This was a huge red flag, but we were running out of time and had to find a place for the next year. He never even apologized for giving us a completely wrong answer. I just feel bad for the actual owner of the condo who contracts through Joel Ward, as he probably doesn't know that his representatives are dropping the ball. When it came time to move in, Nick Ward blew off my roommate and didn't show to let her into the condo. When he eventually showed the next day (she drove from across the country, by the way), he didn't even have the keys to let her in! It also took months for Nick to 'find' the keys to one of the doors of the condo we rented, only for them to suddenly appear once we were the victim of a crime. This is after him telling me for months that he couldn't find a key for this door. If he was able to find them within 24 hours of my car being broken into, I'm not sure why he told me he couldn't find them for several months. Fast forward to the end of the year, when I was letting them know that some of the outlets in the unit weren't working. First of all, the maintenance guy didn't actually check all of the outlets as evident on his receipt, yet told Joel he did. I eventually had Joel quite literally *screaming* at me on the phone, accusing me of lying about a problem existing (what? How is that even a logical accusation?). Turns out, Nick didn't fully read the email I sent him regarding the problem, so no one knew what was actually going on. When Joel realized this, he quickly calmed down. I assume these incidents have happened before. We agreed to pay the maintenance charge just to move on since there was no reason to believe either Joel or Nick would make this right. Nick was so in over his head that he actually stopped replying to my emails, which is why I ended up speaking to Joel. I also had issues with other staff members regarding incorrect statements we received on numerous occasions. Last but not least, we vacated the condo a few days early for the new tenant and we were promised to be refunded the days remaining on our lease. Over a month later, and still no refund. When I got a hold of Nick, it was obvious he forgot, despite having just refunded us our move in deposit a few weeks earlier. Unprofessional, unreliable, and irresponsible. If you do choose to rent with this company, keep ALL communications, statements, etc. Be prepared to be your own advocate. We had heard terrible things about this company from other students, and now we have experienced it first hand. I suspect they treat students differently than other renters. This was just a brief summary of our year, as we had many more headaches than what I described here. I am beyond glad to be done with this company. read more

An absolutely horrible experience. The property was actually very nice, but the customer service was terrible. I was threatened with eviction for complaining despite never having been late on a rent payment. They nickled and dimed me out of more than half of the security deposit. I would tell all of my family and friends to stay clear of this company. They may have nice properties but they are not good people. read more

I've rented from Joel Ward Homes for three years now, after getting a recommendation to contact Joel from a colleague when I moved to town. Joel, Mary Beth, and the rest of the their staff are always kind, responsive, and fair. One thing I really appreciate is that Joel and his team take a preventive approach to maintenance...they will send out people on a regular basis to make sure that your heating, cooling, gutters, etc. are in working order, before anything goes wrong. If you do have a problem, they send people out to fix it right away. Joel and his team take pride in their properties, which makes them great places to live in. A bonus if you are new to the area, or open to both renting and buying, is that Joel and his team can show you both rental properties and properties for sale. As another review noted, they will not be pushy or pressure you into buying if it isn't the right home for you...but they will do their best to help you find a home you love, whether renting or buying. read more