After managing several properties successfully over a few years and thinking we had a great relationship, J (the owner of Real Property Management) ended up turning into a real unprofessional jerk. About 6 months ago, I ran a potential purchase property investment by him and he said, looks good, that they'd be happy to manage it. Then 4 months later, we ended up having multiple properties go unrented for 3+ months, bringing our annual income down significantly based on what it was projected to be. When I questioned him on why and pressured his team to get them rented asap, he sent an email saying our properties were no longer in his covered area. Needless to say, that was very surprising since EVERY single property had been ran by him for approval, and he had been managing most of them for years.
We also had a major Gnat issue in one of our rentals with my niece living there. The problem was largely ignored for months and was super embarrassing. We ended up spending $1,000's on his team researching the Gnat issue and finally fixed it ONLY after my niece graduated from college and moved out. At least he said it was finally fixed, now that I don't know my tenant as well, I'll have to take his word for it. He also gave attitude about it every time I would mention the gnats were still there, instead of following up to ensure our place was clean and in good rental condition.
What I have learned the hard way, is that J does not like accountability whatsoever. If his team lets your properties go unleased throughout the entire busy season, not only will they not "proactively" give you advice on lowering the price or marketing more aggressively, but if you ask them about it or pressure them to find renters quickly (after 3-4 months vacancies), they will simply throw a tantrum and fire you.
That was all ridiculous enough but then, just today I received an email from J threatening legal action to get money he believes is owed to him. It was JUST 5 days ago that he finally sent his final ledger for accounting, and so after 3 business days, he is threatening legal recourse to get the funds he believes are due. He is the one who forced us to move to a new manager, he is the one who let our properties sit vacant for 3-4 months and he is the one who delayed the final ledger.
He literally wrote an email 5 days ago (a weekend in betwen) saying he took time to get the ledger out because he wanted to make sure it was accurate, and then today sent an email claiming he had emailed us 5 times asking for money. What?? 5 Times in 5 days, I dont think so J!!!
That's what prompted me to take time to leave this review, the vacancies, lack of professionalism, lack of follow up and proactiveness was one thing, but then threats are a whole different story. Keep in mind, he just sent the ledger showing what is due 5 days ago (3 business days), yet he is already threatening legal action. I let him know that I obviously need invoices and receipts, not just a ledger saying "you owe this", as well as that since we hadn't seen much in deposits for the last 4 months (on 5 properties), I thought they had paid for the improvements from our rents since that's how we worked in the past.
At this point overall, on 5 properties (mostly owned outright), we'll pretty much be negative for the year due to J's team at the Real Property Management group letting our properties sit vacant for months at a time, and then having to turn them over to new management because J the owner didn't like that we expected him to keep our properties clean and rented. When we asked him to be more proactive with sitting properties, he literally threw a tantrum and said he can no longer manage those properties (the same ones he had previously approved and managed for years).
We work with many different property managers throughout the US and I can honestly say, DO NOT hire these guys if you want a professional who is proactive and able to communicate when you have issues. If you want someone who throws tantrums and is not proactive, go right ahead. read more