I want to start my review off by stating I have never rented from Apartment Mart. My review is more…read moreof cautionary tale to those who do rent from them. I went into Apartment Mart to look at their property on 1514 Northbrook Dr in Normal. The lady gave me the keys after I signed in and I was allowed to go check out the apartment by myself. This is a secure building so I needed a key for the outside door and the apartment door. When I walked up to the apartment door, I thought it was strange there was a welcome mat in front. I figured maybe the last tenant had left if behind. I knocked on the door to be safe. No answer. When I open the door, it is apparent that someone lives in the apartment. I could tell by some of the things near the door that he's in the military. I felt like I was violating someone's property so I left. When I arrive back to the office, I ask the lady if it's normal for them to show off apartments that are occupied. She says that it shouldn't have been occupied. Come to find out they have a very similar looking apartment complex at 905 W Wood in West Bloomington. She thought that's the key she was giving me. She just laughed it off. I did not find it very humorous. Since I was officially logged as looking at a completely different complex, I could have easily stolen things from the other apartment and there would not be documentation that I was there. No one was around when I went in the building. I decided it was best that I take my business elsewhere.

Awful experience. My parents applied for an apartment and the company required proof of four times…read morethe rent in salary. Since they are retired, they showed documentation of savings that would have easily covered rent for many years, not just a one year lease, but the management still refused their application. We then asked if my sister or I could co-sign and they would not allow it. This is not common practice for landlords and makes no sense. On top of that, they refused to refund the application fee even though they had told us before applying that supplemental proof of funds would be acceptable. The process was unprofessional, inconsistent, and handled in a rude manner. I do not recommend this company to anyone.

We had (2) leases with YA. The first lease was during 2024-2025 term at The Lodge Normal, a 4…read morebedroom suite. We had an overall good experience here except the apartment needed a good cleaning upon move-in, the TV usb port being damaged and difficult to use, and being billed for utilities before we moved in and after we moved out. The second lease was 2025-2026 term at 906 Market St Normal, 1 bedroom unit. The apartment was filthy at move in and oddly they came to inspect the unit for move in conditions after we cleaned it and moved in. We had several months of charges for water problems they were fixing in the building at the direction of the Town of Normal (per YA billing dept). I'm not sure why these repairs were charged back to tenants. There were also random charges for things which we never understood, but made sense to them. It wasn't worth my time and energy to dispute. I value both too much. They bank on that. Literally. Maintenance showed up A LOT and gained unauthorized access into the apartment without the required notice. We know this because she was home when it happened several times. The last straw was when she was in the shower and heard someone inside her apartment in her bedroom. She asked 3 times for the guy to leave, finally yelling at him to get the *&%$ out before he would comply. He cussed at her. We called several times to report the issue on different breaches before this happened and each time we were told they would make sure it didn't happen again. After this instance, we purchased security bars for the two outside doors and changed a lock on the outside door into her bedroom. The lock change was against the lease terms but drastic situations call for drastic measures. We also reported it to the Town of Normal which was our saving grace. They never bothered her again. We also found it annoying that students were still made to move out for 3 weeks in-between leases on the same apartment. My advice: With any Landlord, take video of EVERYTHING AND write down all imperfections ceiling to floor (including dust because they'll charge you for a dirty ceiling fan, blind, or vent regardless how it looked when you moved in). Know your rights as a tenant before you lease and report violations to The Town of Normal immediately. They were kind, responsive and effective.

If at all possible, try your hardest to stay away from YA unless you have money you're looking to…read moreburn for some reason. This is no disrespect to the student workers or maintenance workers at all, because in my experience, they were all just kids doing their job. My complaints lie completely with the sneaky ways they manage to upcharge their residents. My roommates and I cleaned our apartment top to bottom before moving out, and they charged us 1500$ to "clean" and repaint themselves, and that is just one example of many. They will find ANY way to charge you for the most random things, and they get away with it, because their residents are mostly young kids who don't know how to put up a fight. It's unfortunately very scammy, and I wouldn't even rent from them as a last resort.

Good company. I have been with sami for 2 and half years. I have lived at vernon stables twice…read moreand once at heartland village. My experience has been positive mostly. Sami would always come out to help me within a week or two when i put in a request. Once my Heat went out in the freezing cold this winter and i called the emergency line. That day a maintenance guy came out from a hour away to give me a few heaters until they could get a replacement. Also the manager i think his name was mark was very friendly. I actually signed a lease with another apartment at Vernon Stables but wanted to move to different location there. He was very understanding and although the staff said they cant do that, he was more than willing to change my location before movein. If you need something done and the staff dont help, try talking to the manager it sometimes helps.

The maintenance service is poor and my newly leased apartment upon arrival was not cleaned nor…read morecleared out of everything. Window was cracked the blinds were dusty as well as everything in the whole property. Loads and loads of leftover belongings from the previous tenant were left in the apartment for us to clean out.

Laurie was fabulous!!! From the first walk-through she had excellent suggestions that were both…read morecost conservative, but would bring best value for the house! We did everything she recommended (as I said she was cost conservative) and the house sold in 13 days! Laurie was always on-call available for questions and assistance. She was able to recommend painters, flooring contractors, carpet cleaners and even an electrician! These were folks she'd worked with before and knew they could provide excellent service at reasonable prices. She volunteered to meet contractors at the house and save us from taking time off work, which was very appreciated. Laurie was professional and led us through the entire negotiation, contract, inspections, and closing processes flawlessly! I truly cannot say enough about superb it was working with Laurie Heggie. I'd use her again in a heartbeat!

From the owner: Laurie Heggie, a REALTOR with the expertise to guide and inform you and the patience and…read moreunderstanding to know home buying and selling are huge life events for her clients. Laurie is there to make sure that big sale or purchase is a smooth and worry free one. No pressure, all customer service.

Love Redbird, the main office is very helpful. If you have any problems I would ask for anyone,…read moreeveryone is very helpful and had the answer to every question. Very easy to communicate with and the properties are ideal for college students, not too nice/expensive, but not too gross and cheap

It's horrible that I'm hearing about roaches and more. It's really bad that people or those who…read morework there ...cannot bother to take things like issues seriously! It should be taken seriously no matter rodents, roaches, maintenance, etc! I can't believe how many people have mentioned 1/5! Those people seem truthful. I don't think I'd ever be a part of this aka students or..

My husband and I moved across the country for Rivian and used excel to rent. After living there…read morehappily for 2 years they suddenly decided that our rent needed to go up by $600. They wanted to charge us $2200 for a year lease. They provided no warning, in fact on a phone call I was assured they'd raise it only $200. They lied. No matter, they didn't care. This was in addition to the fact that on repeated occasions throughout our lease term with them, they'd call and warn us that so many other people wanted to rent our unit and they wanted to "check" if we wanted to stay through another lease. They also suggested that we simply raise our rent mid lease because there was so much interest. This is illegal and manipulative. It felt almost like the $600 increase was retaliatory because I didn't want to raise our rent in the middle of a lease term. The same home they wanted us to rent for $2200 for a one year lease is now barely $1970 market value on Zillow. This rent increase impacted our lives severely at a time when I was expecting a child very shortly, gave birth, and was then postpartum. We tried to negotiate with them explaining that we didnt want to move at such a vulnerable time but also couldn't afford their increase, to no avail. This was incredibly stressful. We signed the lease and we're then forced to break it, at which point we paid a ridiculous termination fee and we're still charged $700 for a microwave handle after leaving our home in absolutely impeccable condition. Be warned.

Love renting with Excel. Always friendly and extremely responsive when I need anything. Highly…read morerecommend!

I had good communication with Gary. The place looks nice nice nice nice nice nice nice !read more

From the owner: Before you settle on your next home or investment in Bloomington-Normal, make sure you work with a…read moreproperty management company that has your best interests at heart. We look for innovative solutions, so we can improve lives for tenants and property owners. As a tenant you can expect properties that are affordable and well-maintained. Many properties are close to Illinois State University, and all are in safe, clean neighborhoods where you can settle in and really feel at home. We handle most of our tenants' needs online, making it convenient for you to schedule a showing, put in an application, sign a lease, pay your rent, or request maintenance.

Zero stars is not an option. If you're thinking of hiring this company for property management save…read moreyourself the hassle and get someone else. Can't ever get anyone on the phone and when you can get a request put in to get something fixed it takes forever. They always give the excuse of "I have other properties too" so they apparently already have too much to handle.

My sister lives in an apt at 313 S Church St in Decatur, IL. She has been there for quite a few…read moreyears, recently Roadrunner Prop took over from Swartz prop in Decatur. The building hasn't been maintained in years and it is not safe, we cannot get a hold of anyone that will call us back on the phone. My sister's front has been kicked in and is needing repair, windows are broken out, etc. No one answers the phone ever! This is terrible and I am visiting from Texas looking for an agency to report this issue.

Had to spend a weekend with no AC in 90 degree weather with indoors fluctuating between 86-90 but…read morewhen I'd call they'd say they can't do anything or most recent that the temperature needs to be above 80 outside but it was 86 when called first and 77the most recent but they can't do anything now that they can say it's below 80. Need to pet sit as well for the weekend and even they haven't been able to manage well in the heat we had to get a hotel for the night so if you like a cold house with ac look elsewhere.

I have lived at ironwood gardens since 10/2022 and absolutely love it here. The staff is so sweet,…read moremaintenance is so helpful, and also so fast to help when a request is put in. When a pipe froze last winter emergency maintenance showed up in less than five minutes on Christmas eve. To say the staff here is dedicated to their job is an understatement. It has so many amenities that it feels like a getaway (but you never have to leave!) I plan on renewing my lease again and potentially staying until I decide to buy a home.

After listing our home with another company and having it listed 3 times because it didn't sell, we…read moredecided to switch to Bryan as our Realtor. Bryan was very helpful in getting the home listed. He took a lot of time and effort in making sure our listing looked great with pictures that were taken professionally and not from a flip phone. Our price was competitive and Bryan was there to "hold our hands" through the entire process of not only selling our home, but purchasing our new home! I have since referred Bryan to a family member who wanted to sell a property and that transaction went great as well!

From the owner: Residential buying and selling · Relocation · First-time homebuyers · Move-up buyers · Investment…read moreproperties · Multi-family · Commercial real estate · Seller marketing strategy · Pricing analysis · Negotiation Visit: BryanDillow.com or bnrealty.com