Summer of 2010 I moved into an apartment in Ithaca newly managed by James Orcutt Real Estate. I…read morewas living in New Mexico and needed trees and water, research on the internet showed me a building that just "popped" for me, so I emailed James. We set up an interview a few days later and I arranged to be in Ithaca for a look at the apartment he was kind enough to hold for me. I am still in this apartment! I consider myself an expert as I have lived in apartments all my adult life and my father owned some rentals when I was a child, Orcutt Real Estate provides the best treatment this renter has ever experienced. Plus, he always knows my name and takes time to speak and smile if he passes me in the parking lot. Rare indeed. J. D.

I needed to rent an apartment in Ithaca while living in California, relying entirely on the…read moremanager's information because I wouldn't be able to visit before moving. James was extremely helpful, and provided great photos of the place. I am super happy with my apartment for the price I'm paying, and with James' management. My only gripe is that he can be tough to get in contact with unless it's an urgent matter. But he's a busy man and he'll get back to you quickly when you need it.

As a local Realtor, I have had many clients take advantage of the great services and support at…read moreINHS. This is a very challenging time to buy a house and though the financial parameters for the IHNS program can be limiting, they are changing the lives of some people who would otherwise not be able to purchase a home without their help. In addition, the education department at INHS provides a fantastic program open to ANYONE. The class offers a solid foundation of knowledge about purchasing a first home. I've had so many buyers come to me from the INHS Homebuyer program and they are better prepared, more confident, and less intimidated by the process. I recommend it to everyone. Within the parameters of what is allowed by their funders and donors, I believe INHS does the best they can with what they have and they are an important part of increasing housing equity in our community.

As an affiliate of INHS since 1996, I have witnessed their commitment to providing quality housing…read moresolutions for decades. Despite the challenges that typically face any nonprofit, INHS consistently upholds its mission of offering safe, stable, and secure housing. Plus, its staff are some of the best people I've had the privilege to work with. Thanks for all that you do!

Broken dishwasher for over a month, unable to replace or fix- This is the management company. When…read morewe called after a month, told us to not call them back and hung up the phone rudely. Wifi is for the namesake only doesn't work. When we came in, it was super dusty and dirty. Basically, they are everything that you don't want in a management company. So stay away from them. Note to landlord: please find a better service management company for your housing needs. Thank you,

Please stay away from this company. Some of their business practices are not legal. They do not…read morecare about their tenants, they only care about being paid. They have displayed a total lack of concern for the health, safety, and well being of myself and a number of their other tenants on multiple occasions. The staff treat you not as a respected customer, but as an unwanted burden. They get away with their behavior because so many students in Ithaca do not know their rights as tenants. If you are already a tenant and you are reading this, please find a copy of the NY tenants rights guide NOW!

Mismanaged. Avoid this property management company, they are terrible, and have a bad reputation…read more The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing in this poorly run agency - they lack integrity and decency. Management companies work for the owner of the building, not the tenants, who treat tenants like second class citizens. Its the second rental I have lived in that they managed and in both cases their performance is poor and with numerous bad experiences. As a responsible, conscientious tenant, I will not tolerate being bullied, disrespected, and intimidated. Or routinely ignored with a lack of communication. Double check that they receive rent payments, insist upon a receipt, and regularly request a tenant ledger record from them to made sure that your rent payment are being recorded.

Certified Properties is the most unprofessional, scummy company I have ever witnessed. I got bit by…read morea rat in my bed while I was sleeping, and the Landlord did not reply to my emails or calls. I got bit by the rat because when we moved in the house was not even attempted to be cleaned. There was food from past tenants still in the kitchen. We lived with rats for 3 months til it was killed. We cleaned the house thoroughly before we left and the landlord took half our security deposit. When I fought with him for months, showing pictures and threatening legal action, he never contacted me when he said he would and it took me 6 months of fighting to get a refund. It is not worth living here.

We had to do a long distance sale of our old family home. Luckily, we chose Hallie to be our…read morerealtor. Anytime we had a question or needed help resolving an issue, Hallie was ready with clear explanations of our options. We especially appreciated her background in construction as we figured out how to prepare an older home for sale. Although the house was listed "as is," Hallie made sure that a professional photographer captured the natural Finger Lakes beauty of the property, so buyers could see the potential of the land and outbuildings. I highly recommend Hallie as a realtor!

When working remotely became an option for us, we decided to move to Ithaca, NY to live closer to…read morefamily. We contacted Hallie based on positive reviews and we're so glad that she was the one to help us find and purchase our first home. Her knowledge and availability was essential as we were unable to fly back and forth to tour homes. She was flexible and creative in showing us properties that fit our budget and had the space and amenities we were looking for. She never pressured us and worked with us to submit offers that we felt comfortable with. We were unfamiliar with the home buying process in New York but she helped guide us through it. We would definitely recommend Hallie and work with her again in the future!

Because of Elvina Amati, our move was as easy and good as it gets. Elivna helped us with every…read moreproblem we faced along the way, was always available, and was always on our side. Thanks, Elvina!

Buyer beware! I signed a contract to purchase property last week (full price cash offer) the seller…read moreaccepted my offer and my earnest money was already deposited. Yesterday I got a phone call and was told if I didn't come up with an extra $6000 the seller's attorney was just going to simply "disapprove" my contract at the last minute so the seller could get out of the deal. This sequence of events raises serious concerns about the integrity of the transaction process and the conduct of the real estate agent (Amanda) and this brokerage. Specifically, the acceptance of my offer, followed by the solicitation or encouragement over the weekend of someone else to hurry up and make a higher offer at the 11th hour, and then the intimidation / "shake down" of an ultimatum. My attorney was flabbergasted and said she had never seen someone do this before. While Amanda's actions may have technically fallen within "legal bounds", they were completely underhanded and contrary to the standards of good faith and fair dealings expected in real estate transactions. This agent was highly unethical and I cannot believe this is how they are conducting business. I would never use this company again or recommend them to anyone. These tactics are very cut throat and the reason why real estate agents have a bad reputation of being shady. I have contacted the broker / owner of this company with my concerns and have yet to receive a response. I guess this is just normal practices business for this company.

Was mislead into thinking I would be able to sign a lease by the leasing manager, Rob. I was…read moregullible and relied on this commitment until Rob deleted the lease, deactivated my profile, and refused to engage with me further. Rob is not good for his word, don't trust him.

This is a long review, but I feel it's important for other future tenants who rent from PPM. It…read moreconcerns not only a rat infestation that persisted in the home throughout a large portion of our lease, but also PPM's response. I'll start by saying that PPMs maintenance staff was always very quick to respond when we entered an issue on the online portal. We had a great relationship with PPM homes leading up to this issue, however their lack of response and way they treated us throughout the process led us to make the decision to report this. We started having rodent issues in December. We were aware that this can happen during the cold months, and made efforts to keep our kitchen clean and floors swept. The problem persisted as we routinely found droppings throughout the kitchen and containers of food bitten and clawed at. We had an issue with our sink leaking and reported it to PPM who sent out a maintenance worker. The worker fixed the sink and let us know that one of the lines was chewed through, most likely from a rodent. Not long after, we out in another maintenance request for our dishwasher which was not receiving water. The PPM worker who came by once again fixed the issue and let us know it was most likely due to rodent activity. Finally, this spring we were woken up in the night to our dogs barking at a rat that was caught in one of our glue traps we set in our kitchen. I called PPM the next day to report this and the woman I spoke with told me it must have been the same rat they had been trying to catch for weeks. After some time had passed, we reached back out to PPM to see what was being done about this. The same woman who told me that the rat we captured was probably the same one they had been chasing, then told us that they did not have any record of a rodent issue, and that if we didn't put in a maintenance request for it, that it wouldn't be documented. We had figured since the maintenance requests we had put in were then found to be caused by rodents, that the maintenance staff would document this. The owner of PPM (Rob) responded the same way, saying that they had no record of this. They then sent out a crew to set up traps around the apartment. Our upstairs neighbor spoke with us about her rodent issues, also mentioning that PPM had failed to properly address the issue. We felt gaslit by PPM, first when they told us that the issue was likely because we weren't keeping the apartment clean enough, and even more so when they claimed to have no knowledge of the persisting issue even after their own staff pointed out to us that it was the cause of our dishwasher and sink problems. We are hoping that by reporting this issue, that we will save other tenants from the stress it caused us. We also hope that PPM will address these issues in a more professional manor.

Absolute worst renting experience ever! The initial property manager was arrested for stealing…read moremoney from tenants, and the new manager then told me I wouldn't have a parking spot after being guaranteed one in writing. It took two months just to get my parking pass. I was lied to about the apartment being vacant and less than 24 hours before move-in I was emailed (not even called) to advise that the previous tenant hadn't moved out! I had movers hired and everything. It was almost a week before repairs were complete. The "cleaning" staff left the apartment with black grime and mouse poop all over and I had to hire a separate cleaning team to make it habitable. There was one problem after another, including a maintenance tech breaking my stone bathmat and leaving it there in pieces, heaters not working, bathroom leaks, etc. The last straw was when they rented to a very mentally ill drug addict, and I had to arm myself to go downstairs or do laundry. I was unable to sleep as this person screamed at all hours of the night and smoked marijuana inside, also against the lease rules, and harassed myself and other tenants. They won't return my security deposit (I moved out early with 90 days notice due to uninhabitable conditions) and I have had to resort to legal action. None of my written concerns were EVER addressed or replied to. Do not rent from this company!

You'd better hope nothing bad happens to you while you're renting with them. During my two-year…read morestay at Ravenwood, I had problems with the thin walls and the leaking roof (from the toilet upstairs) multiple times. In addition, they took away over $700 of my $1000 security deposit by the end and nothing was wrong with the apartment. I would recommend you renting with someone else ethical :)

I lived at Cayuga Place throughout the pandemic in 2020 and was very happy with my decision to move…read morethere. Things that I loved about my 1 bedroom apartment included the very large windows, bathroom and kitchen and its proximity to The Commons. The property manager and leasing consultant, Kelsey and Carolyn, went out of their way to make me feel welcome and answered any questions I had very promptly. I'd still be there if I hadn't moved in with my boyfriend and highly recommend the building to anyone looking in the area.

Lived here for a year and a half while doing a Master's at Cornell. Amazing location right in…read moreDowntown next to the Commons by all the restaurants and shops (which is only a two-block stretch!)! There's a nice little park and a creek right behind the building so you still get to enjoy some nature even though you're in Downtown. The buses to campus/the airport and some of the charter buses (to and from NYC, Philly, etc.) all stop right in front of the building, which is amazing all year-round, but especially during the crazy cold winters of Ithaca. The building itself is really nice and well-maintained, spacious apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows, washer/dryers in every unit I believe, Central AC, and the walls are not too bad in terms of noise from neighbors. They're converting the out-of-business pharmacy on the first floor into a lounge and gym for the building this spring -- bummed I won't get to enjoy it as I'm leaving Ithaca in December! The management company itself has also been super helpful and responsive whenever I need something. They even have an online platform for maintenance/repair issues that the staff attends to pretty swiftly. If only they had buildings/companies like this in the city...

Staff is very responsive and helpful -- always responds within the day! Very quick with maintenance…read moreand other requests. Great pricing for rentals in the area!

I rented an apartment from them for all of this year and I was so pleased! They were quick to make…read moremaintenance requests and were always very professional. Would recommend!