We worked with Kelvin Glover and his assistant Teresa Stampler, to get into a rental property that our own realtor found, b/c it was Kelvin's office that listed the location on MLS.
From the start, the process was rocky and very unorganized. Fortunately for us, our realtor was the one that dealt with Kelvin & Teresa the most. But even with the limited contact we had with Kelvin & Teresa, it has been anything but satisfactory grading.
It started with the paperwork to get approved for the rental home. B/c Kelvin's office stated that our handwriting on the rental forms was not readable, they sent us more paperwork to fill out which asked the same questions. Our realtor was able to read our handwriting so I'm not sure why they couldn't. And for being a part of a big realty firm as Realty Austin, why don't you have an online process for these things?
We paid an admin fee to have our background & credit check, the fee should be inclusive of the leg work for getting the employment check & renter's history. The forms (employment check & renter's history) were 1st emailed to us. This confused us b/c we were trying to be the renters and didn't understand why those papers were sent to us. After questioning this, our realtor went back to Teresa to ask her to send them to the proper individuals instead. When it was resent, we realized that each form was sent to the wrong person b/c our managers reached out to us personally about them. How unprofessional! Not only should they limit any business disruptions to get their confirmation but sending incorrect forms to the wrong person just doesn't sit well. Why couldn't they pick up the phone to get those questions answered immediately? After going round and round w/ Kelvin's office on the approvals, we ended up getting those forms filled our ourselves by our managers. The only thing that Kelvin's office did was ask us when there were going to receive the forms.
Then there's the mess of moving into the rental. On MLS, the rental was listed ready for move in on 12/1 (Thurs). We turned the paperwork in earlier that week. We wanted to move in on that weekend (12/3 Saturday), but told our realtor that if it wasn't going to give the landlord the proper amount of time to turn the property around (deep cleaning, maintenance, etc) then we would move in the following weekend. Kelvin's office confirmed our move in for 12/3, the day before (Friday afternoon). We were hesitant to move in b/c it was unclear of what was already done to the home. We agreed anyway.
On 12/3, I met with Kelvin himself and the landlord. I assumed I was only there to get the keys and to sign the final paperwork. One, the paperwork did not have our correct info. It looked like the forms were copied and pasted w/ other (previous) info and wasn't being cleared off the forms. Then we walked through the place for a little b/c Kelvin wanted to point out some things that did not get fixed before the move in. Patches of mended holes on the wall left by the last resident was not painted over. This threw red flags b/c it told me the house was not maintenanced before our move in. But it was already too late, we had movers coming in a couple of hours! As we walked through parts of the house, I noticed that the home was not cleaned. There was dust all over the air vents and I asked Kelvin if the house was deep cleaned. His response was that maids do not clean that kind of stuff, that made me even more upset. I signed the paperwork, took the keys, and left. The whole situation has left me uneasy. I don't think I will every use Realty Austin for any housing solutions.
During move in, we did our own walk through and came up w/ a list of items that needed to be remedied in the home. We were even doing our own deep cleaning b/c it was apparent the house was not dealt with before move in. We were so upset b/c we felt like we had one pulled over on us. I tried calling the landlord that same day but did not get a response. I finally reached out to our realtor and she began to mitigate the situation. Turns out that the landlord's info on the original paperwork wasn't correct! It was the only copy we had b/c the signed final copy was not emailed to us until the following Monday.
My realtor was able to give us the landlord's info and we started working w/ the landlord directly to correct the situation. Turns out, the landlord wasn't clear on our move in date either. He thought the move in was for the following weekend after 12/3, so he felt like it was short notice to move in earlier. Poor communication to key players.
Kelvin was rude to my realtor during the mitigation process and even tried calling us, but given the tension I left it w/ my realtor to work things out. I know that this is only a rental, but these kind of things may lead to bigger purchases in the future. Business & Individuals should be professional and honest at all times. Things should be agreed upon that benefits both sides. This is one for the books! read more