DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!!! At one point we opened the living room window and it actually fell out of its tracks and almost shattered on my roommates head. When we asked Mr. Downing to send someone out to fix it and they only fixed the broken glass and not the actual issue of the window falling out of the pane. Eventually he finally got someone to fix it and then charged us $115 to fix it even though it wasn't anything we did to make the window break and almost severely injured my roommate. Once our lease was up we get our partial security deposit and the price of the window was taken out (along with a lot of other minuscule charges that were ridiculous). We tried to contact him about this and he basically told us because we couldn't prove it wasn't our faults we were responsible, then never responded to us again despite reaching out many times. This company is terrible and you definitely should lease from other people to avoid terrible management. read more

I don't even think Old World Properties deserves one star. We had to take them to small claims court to get out deposit back because they took ALL of it for cleaning fees (such as dust on the blinds and bathroom fan--not even lying). The broker, Henry Downing, lied through his teeth from everything from the photos he took to us leaving our forwarding address. Be advised--stay away from this rental agency. We have heard from numerous people that they have had issues with getting their deposit back. We got 1/3 back of our $1500 deposit through small claims. Rent somewhere else... it's not worth it and their property is shoddy anyway. read more

My apartment from them is nice enough, it's got a modern kitchen and renovated bathroom, etc. which is more than you can ask for in a lot of cheap Fan apartments. But the real issue is if you need anything fixed... The city came by to turn the gas on when we moved in, but said the heater's closet didn't meet code, so they refused to turn gas on until it was sorted out... Took from August all the way to mid-November to correct the problem, we were using a space heater for three weeks. Also, when opening one of the windows on a particularly warm day this winter the pane slid and broke. So we covered it up... it took FOUR months before we got a new window. We lived with a cardboard window for 4 months in the winter even after 3 letters to them! We like the apartment well enough, its home to us; but dealing with Old World Properties can definitely make you want to pull your hair out. read more

My husband and I rented from here for 1.5 years. The property manager was pretty responsive to maintenance and service requests even on weekends, but would be what I thought was condescending when we called, maybe he has a lot of tenants that call for dumb things though. I gave him 3 stars mainly because of what he did when we moved out. Like most landlords he deducted for things that he felt were in worse condition when we moved out than when we moved in. However, when we moved in, he asked us to complete a move in checklist which we diligently completed. He never actually fixed anything we put on there, but whatever. Then when we moved out he deducted for things we had included on this list! We called him and called him out on it and he agreed to give us back additional money for those deductions. Then he didn't actually send it until we called a second time requesting a follow up. He loves to keep your deposit so if you rent from him make sure you complete the move in checklist and keep a copy for yourself so you can get your money back. Even after we got additional money back I felt he kept a large amount of deposit without cause but we couldn't prove it. read more

I rented from Old World Properties while I was in grad school. Mr. Downing was always responsive to the few maintenance requests I had. When I looked at each apartment before renting it was staged beautifully and the color choices were lovely. It was obvious the property was well cared for. I have bought a house and will no longer be renting...(got my deposit back quickly, too!)..but I would recommend Old World Properties to anyone who wants to rent an apartment in the city. read more

See all

There needs to be a zero rating. Awful. Awful. Awful. They don't care what kind of conditions you are living in. No one cares and no one holds true to what they said in the beginning that they would do and have done. They ignore requests put on maintenance reports and do nothing to clean up/update their properties. It's a shame they don't care the way they do. They just take advantage of people. read more

The best land lord in Richmond...Mr. Downing is great. He always had repairs made, and was just great. I rented from him for two years, and he's the best. I would say to all...rent from Old World Properties, they're the best in Richmond. read more

If 0 stars was a possible rating, I would choose that. Mr. Downing is an outdated, unprofessional, inconsiderate excuse for a man. He has horrible communication skills, needing to call 4 or 5 times and still waiting hours for a response. I cleaned the apartment MYSELF before even turning in an application to rent. Mr. Downing then made several obstacles for me to obtain the place with the last one being that I needed to put down TWO security deposits, totaling 1650 dollars, for a one bedroom apartment. I have never felt more disrespected considering I was even hung up on during important conversations stating "he has said what he needs to say" DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER RENTING FROM THIS EXCUSE FOR A BUSINESS. read more

The best management company in Richmond...I rented from them for years. Mr. Downing was always on top of things whenever a repair was needed. It was just a great experience for me...I'll rent from OWP if I ever need to rent again. In reference to the person who wrote his/her rent was marked late even though it was post marked before the 5th. I always paid my rent online, and it got there in plenty of time. I would pay it through my bank-account bill paying system. read more

I lived in a house in Carytown rented by Old World Properties for 3 years. The house was a streal ($795 for 2 bd/1 bath in Carytown with a big fenced yard). Not much went wrong in the 3 years I was there, but when it did, the landlord was always very fast to get it fixed. My only complaint would be that I think they took a bit much of my deposit when I moved out. I painted the house (I was there for 3 years and sick of matte white walls). I used neutral colors and they would have needed to paint when I left after 3 years, anyway, but they still charged me. I also planted a dogwood tree, tore up an ugly, overgrown bush in front of the house, and planted a banana tree, elephant ears, and a bunch of other pretty plants in front to spruce the place up. I think I actually added to the value of the house. I knew they would take some money out, but I think keeping $1300 of my deposit was excessive. Regardless, I was very happy with them while I was there, and I would definitely check them out again if I moved back to Richmond. read more

Manager kept part of my deposit for not sweeping leaves off the back porch, which was also accessed by the apartment upstairs! Enough said.

I love renting from OWP -- Old World Properties it's been four years for me. However, I do admit the first property I rented the workman was very slow to repairs. In a hurry to get a repair done more quickly I just asked Mr. Downing why the workman was so slow at times. He said some of the properties he managed were out of his hands when it came to repairs, and he had to depend on the owner's repair people. I immediately understood ( being a leasing agent myself in college). The bad part is with a small company managing other people's property the company sometimes has to depend on the owner's word ( in other words the repairs on the original property were done by the owner's own work crew). Once my lease was up at the original property I moved into a building Mr. Downing actually owned, and there's never been a time I've called and repairs were slow. On my refrigerator I broke a glass shelf, and it took several days for a new to come. However, the shelf was installed by Mr.Downing personally, and he just asked me to try and be more careful. I did pay for the shelf, but he didn't charge me for his own time doing the repair. And it was my own fault, my opinion he's a great landlord. If you have a question about something taking longer than you think it should ask him why it might be taking so long. He's very good at explaining things and goes much further than any landlord I've ever had to repair things. Once he did have to send a repair man for a leaky faucet, and it was repaired the next day. read more

Very terrible experience. Mr Downing does not care about his tenants and has an extremely inefficient system set up so that everything takes FOREVER and he can pass the blame off to the property owner or the contractors. Our AC was broken for over three weeks in the middle of July and he not only didn't do anything but seemed to forget who I was every time I called him, so I'd have to re-explain why I was so annoyed. When it finally was fixed myself and the other tennant kept asking for some sort of compensation for the weeks without AC but he would either "forget" or just straight up ignore us. There's lots of bad property managers in Richmond but he is in my opinion one of the worst. read more

NEVER RENT FROM THEM!!!!!! They yanked us around on the application fee and then the deposit. Met with their "agent" Henry to discuss the lease only to find out that they wouldn't let us sign the lease until move in day, but would take our deposit. Sketchy, I know. But we really wanted the place,so we forged ahead with the process only to find out that they were allegedly selling the entire building. Funny, considering the "agent" didn't know either.... Either way, stay away from this company. Save yourself the trouble and aggravation. read more

OWP is one of the best in Richmond, i got excellent service. Mr. Downing was great at helping me with my roommates. He is the best ...

I've been renting from Old World Properties since January 2011. Initially, I was very impressed with the service I got from the manager, Mr. Downing, but my impression has since changed. I was charged a $75 late fee because my July rent payment got stuck at the post office over the Independence Day holiday and OLP didn't get it until the 7th...and even though the envelope was postmarked in time, I was still charged. 4 days later, the old plaster wall in my dining room began to sag and crumble because of excessive moisture that week (plus being very old)...and when I called to report the issue and request a repair, I was told to put the issue in writing, submit photos and MAIL the request to them. A week later, I was contacted to arrange a meeting with a contract repairman. The repairman seemed like a stand up guy at the meeting, but when he came back with a helper a few days later, they left a mess outside...moved all my plants around, left grout blobs on my patio furniture, etc... I immediately called Mr. Downing to complain. A week later, after cleaning up the mess myself and not hearing from OLP, nor having seen any more work done...I called back to see what was up. (This is now about 3 weeks after the wall began to crumble). Two days later, I got a call from a new repairman...a replacement. He set up a meeting with me that Friday...but never showed up. :( ....but the following Friday, he did...unannounced. Thankfully I was home at the time to catch him. I asked him if maybe I had gotten the date wrong, but no, he admitted to forgetting/blowing off our planned meeting and just now getting to me. I should have taken that as a red flag. By now, it's August 1...since I was unhappy with how the wall repair was being handled AND being charged a late fee for rent...I sent in my regular payment along with a letter detailing my discontent and arguing why I was not paying the fee. Old World Properties responded by charging me yet another $75 fee for "not keeping my account balance at zero". So...I got charged a fee for not paying a fee?? Back to wall repair... The new guy finally begins work, but the job ends up taking the entire month to complete because he would schedule days to come, but then call 10 mins before to cancel...or sometimes, I got no call at all, and after waiting an hour, I would end up calling him to see what was up that day. This became a nuisance to me and I called OLP yet again to complain about this entire ordeal. 2 months to replace drywall?!? Mr. Downing contacted the repairman and forced him to get the job done within days of my call...and insisted it be done at a time that was terribly INCONVEINIENT for me. I protested that ...at this rate, what's a few more days wait? (I did not feel comfortable leaving contract workmen in my home unsupervised)....but NO, it had to be done ASAP. I gave in and let it happen because I wanted my wall fixed and for this all to be over. The workmen left my floors a mess and I had to vacuum and mop twice after they finally finished the job. As for those late fees?...even after a written appeal, which, surprise, surprise, I lost...I still had to pay $150 to end the squabble. I now drive my rent payment to Mr. Downing's house each month to ensure it gets there on time. Lastly, the shower faucet went bad last week, but instead of contacting OLP for another lengthy repair, my father drove down from Charlottesville to replace it, at my expense...just to avoid the hassle of dealing with OLP. I love my house and would like to buy it, if ever the owner would consider the offer....but until then, I will keep my interactions with OLP to a minimum. read more

Mr. Downing was the property manager for my apartment for a year until the building owner sold the property, and he responded promptly to issues that arose. One time the radiator started shooting water out onto the floor, and he came right over to fix it. Any delays in issues were due to the property owner, since a property manager can only fix what the landlord who hires them gives approval for. read more

The worst property management company I have ever encountered. We dealt with rodents, bugs, and were outright lied to on multiple occasions.

4 stars for Mr. Downing!! I lived in a house near Carytown for a steal. $795 for a 2bd/1 bath with a small fenced in back yard. The only problem with the house was the paper thin walls. Its an old house with wood floors and my neighbor sounded like an elephant when he was home. When things went wrong in the beginning they were quick to fix them but after 2 years it took several phone calls and messages to get someone out to the house. The 4 stars are for Mr. Downing, he was the only person who really cared about the house functioning and would come over and fix everything himself! He was the absolute greatest. I only met the owner maybe once in the 2 years I lived there, so it felt like he really didn't care, especially when I had to call and leave multiple messages for a month to get my kitchen light replaced. But I will say this again, the only reason I didn't file a suit or withhold my rent check for repairs was because of the efforts and loyalty from Mr. downing. He is the absolute greatest! Ive heard he has his own company now so I wish him nothing but the best! Without him, Old World Properties is nothing to me. read more