Over the course of a little over 2 years, we rented 2 apartments from Dunmore Exclusives. Overall,…read morethey'd be the first place I'd call if I was ever in need of a NEPA apartment again
The Good:
-We never really had to wait long for repairs, there's only one I can think of and that was new custom built garage doors I suckered Dave into providing. They even waived a month of rent to make up for it
-I had a 450 credit score, sketchy proof of income, no rental history and they didn't even blink. (I work in underwriting, I would have declined my application so quickly)
-They accept PayPal.
-We got let out of our lease early, only forfeiting our security deposit ($3,540 savings)
-They waived damages, even with us leaving early
-Did I mention they accept PayPal? This is a huge benefit.
-Dave seems to be a nice guy. Would love to grab dinner because I'm sure he has tons of great stories. (Dave, shoot me a text, I'll buy)
-They're hands off, without being negligent. They don't really seem to care what you're doing, as long as you pay the rent and don't piss off neighbors too bad. This can be a con in a bigger building like W River, but a pro in a smaller building like the duplexes in Scranton.
-They really prefer texting communication.
-They have a ton of properties and you can move between them at any time for $200. We toured 2 places when we got tired of the parking at W. River, decided on one, moved in, and never had to see anyone. Everything was handled electronically, which was fantastic.
-Their Compliance Officer is hilarious, such a nice guy
The Bad:
-Older properties, older property issues. Par for the course in NEPA.
-Builder grade materials, repairs, staffing. Par for the course in NEPA.
-Massive confusion between the office and the contractor team. We requested a new stove, they asked if we had gas or electric, we told them electric, they showed up to verify it was broken, confirmed it was electric, then Lowes showed up with a gas stove. They realized the mistake after dragging it up 3 flights of stairs. To their credit though, it was a couple of days later we got a new fantastic mid-grade electric stove. We also moved in without a fridge but got one the next day and a brand new one a few weeks later.
Yeah, the ceiling in our bathroom fell in. But, they were there early the next morning to fix it and there would have been no way for them to know the roof was leaking because we had the entirety of the top floor. It's like buying an old house, you can't blame the sellers for an old house having old house issues. Just be glad you're not the one footing the bill for the repairs.
We have a saying of "As long as it's better than Dunmore" when dealing with projects now. They get things done, but it is done in the "most efficient" way possible. Is there anything technically wrong with how they do things? No, but it's extremely clear they use the lowest bid and lowest materials out there.
Look, you're renting a cheap apartment from a company that doesn't care about anything but getting paid. Expect that, and you'll be satisfied. Expect a huge management company managed brand new home with no problems, and you're going to have issues.
Alex is a smart man. He knows how to manage investments, and I wish him the best in his fight against Scranton City and business in general. (The dinner offer extends to you too)