PROMULGATORS OF NUISANCE / PARTY PROPERTES. AT THE EXPENSE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR ABOVE MARKET RENTS$$$ SEEMINGLY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT REAL PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY. If you are looking at this Yelp page to consider renting in, next to, or within a multi unit Realty World building, you have a high chance of landing next to or within a party house. This company for years has been what I would make the argument to be the root cause / operator of numerous "party houses" in primarily professional adult and property owner, non student focused residential neighborhoods. Seemingly no oversight as to the reality of the actions at NUMEROUS Realty World Properties, or providing resolution to numerous complaints over the years to remediate the problems for totally reasonable complaints pertaining to code violations and illegal activity happening at their properties. Their properties on the 4000 Block of Baltimore Avenue have been a massive quality of life impact for years on residents, and at this point the root cause and responsibility of the situation one could easily construe to be Realty World Properties. Their properties for years have been locations for a large number of occurrences of code violations and illegal activity, all facts. - Far exceeding building zoning occupancy limits & fire code stipulations pertaining to occupancy in houses for large parties and events - open container law violations - extremely high probability of under age drinking in clear public view - noise violations (before and after 9pm per the city code) - fireworks activity - large music systems on the front porches of their properties. - and more. With these points above happening routinely over a period of years, one could easily make the argument that Realty World is absolutely a "nuisance / problem Landlord". They make far above market rates in residential neighborhoods by renting to large groups of college kids, who routinely throw massive parties, multiple nights a week for years. Realty World clearly does not instruct their tenants about neighborhood disturbances, and as a large property management company to many neighbors seems to clearly only cares about making as much money as possible. Northing wrong with renting to college kids, but there are many solutions to the complaints given to Realty World Properties over the years with no resolution or seemingly care to do anything about it from this management company. At the same time many of their properties are eyesores, and they seemingly also skimp on at least exterior maintenance (and if so likely interior) to "MAXIMIZE ROI" even further. Their management operations and impact to the surrounding neighborhoods is truly sad and shameful read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM, THEY WILL STEAL YOUR SECURITY DEPOSIT. Their staff is unprofessional and don't care about you, the apartments, or your safety. No lead testing, old apartments that haven't been updated or cared for in decades, and overall bad management. I had to fight with them in small claims court to get my whole security deposit back - they know it's a huge pain to do that and will not give you any justification for deducting money from the deposit, even though they're legally required to. The office staff didn't dispatch anyone for a MOLD PROBLEM for months after I notified them, and I even followed up multiple times. Their answer was "it's busy here with the new tenants coming, you'll have to wait." UNSAFE CONDITIONS and terrible management. read more

I am not one to write reviews but my frustration with Realty World and Alex Chamberlin can't be withheld. At the end of my daughter's lease, she and her roommates hired a cleaning company to clean the house so that Realty World wouldn't charge their exorbitant cleaning fee. Ultimately, they were still charged a cleaning fee on top of multiple other fees that were never mentioned in the lease...such as a "20% Admin Fee". So their $785 security deposits were dwindled down to $536. Of course that is just on paper, they have yet to receive their checks after 3 months. They have lied and said that they were sent out, "they must have been stolen or lost in the mail". Really?! All 6 checks? Then Alex called and said he was so sorry and would make sure to cancel the checks and reissue others, "immediately". That was over a month ago. They have told all the girls conflicting stories when they have inquired about not receiving their security deposits yet, "they all went out", "we must not have your correct mailing address on file", "we will get to it next week". As if these girls don't talk to each other. I am baffled that this company is still in business. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!! They have no integrity and are dishonest in their dealings with tenants. Every time I call to speak with Alex, he is "not in the office today". I leave messages and he doesn't return my calls...what does that tell you???? read more

Realty world? More like Realty Hell on Earth. Seriously the worst management company to exist. The leases are total BS. My apartment was constantly needing repairs because they do things the cheap way rather than the right way. We constantly had people coming in and out to "fix things". Application fees are $70 per person (outrageously high) and they sneak in all sorts of weird fees whenever possible. Think twice before renting from them. read more

I hate you so much Your apartment had mold all over the place The walls were crumbling A giant rock fell off the wall and almost killed someone Creepy neighbors (this is not your fault, but still) I had to call you a so many times to get my security deposit back DO NOT WANT read more

Had the most awful conversation with Mary U from the office. Called inquiring about an apartment listed online (it had no pictures). She was incredibly rude, interrupted me, kept me on hold while she spoke to her co-workers about office gossip (I could hear) and was very patronizing about simple and valid questions. Hung up on me at the end. Wanted to write this review so the office knows that we won't be renting any of their properties given the phone call. Being semi-pleasant and professionalism goes a long way and it is clearly indicative of how they would be as landlords. read more

I think Realty World may have fixed some of the problems mentioned by other reviewers. I just moved in, so I admittedly don't know everything, but I do know this much: they made my move easy, they let me bring my dog, and they sent an exterminator immediately when I saw centipedes. Mary and Brynn (the people I have met that work in the office) have been very kind to me. I'll update this if I have problems, but so far, so good. THANK YOU!!! read more

I've been counting down the days where I would be free to write this review for Realty World Properties. I hadn't done any research prior to signing my lease on RWP and I greatly regretted it. I spent an entire year living in literally the worst conditions I have ever had while living in Philly and under great emotional distress. I literally just moved out so I can attest to the fact that the have, in fact, not improved. The problems started almost immediately. I was shown the apartment with another person so the competition was turned up. I decided to take the place because it had lots of light and I knew people who had previously (and currently) lived in the building. Upon signing the lease, I was rushed by the broker (I'll leave her nameless) to just sign without reading. Red flag! That seems to be standard practice. I also overheard a phone conversation with someone who was selling a house through Realty World where this same broker hung up on them. They overcharged me for deposits and the application was $70 per person. They told me they would waive the fee for my partner but when we went to pick up the keys they told us we had an outstanding balance. I fought them on it and they didn't push too hard but this is one example of the ways in which they try to milk tenants for every last cent they can. We were given our keys 2 weeks before we were supposed to move in. We were excited but a little surprised. The previous tenants had BOOKED IT out of there and left quite a bit of junk and trash. The bathroom vent didn't work, several windows were broken, the mailbox was broken, there were boot marks in the bathtub. I wrote several emails trying to resolve all of the issues prior to us officially move in and the work was done.. but so poorly that I would have to ask them to send someone to do it again. It was actually baffling. We had a sliding light switch that broke and the electrician actually called me and told me that its unsafe to have a slider hooked up to an outlet. Even though they "fixed" the vent in the bathroom (after I reminded them that according to L&I there needs to be either a functioning vent or window in a bathroom), it makes scary noises and they never came to fix that. I asked for a formal walk through with a representative and was dodged for a week before they said that I could just do it. I made sure to keep a google drive folder (time stamped) with photos and the walkthrough checklist. We didn't have a single month without someone from Realty World in our apartment. When they sold the building, the potential new owner and his real estate agent were given keys to the building with no Realty World Broker in sight. This really wigged me out. I had one time walked in to the maintenance man standing in my living room even though I hadn't put in a request and was not given notice. Turns out he was supposed to be in the apartment across the hall. Our apartment was infested with black cockroaches. They did send someone over to spray but because there are so many holes and cracks in the bathroom walls/fixtures, it didn't do a whole lot. We had a broken stove, broken hot water tank, broken locks, poorly flushing toilets, and a ceiling leak all within one year. They left an illegal kerosene heater running (locked) in our basement to "prevent the pipes from freezing" which left all of us in danger of having the building burn down. We had to have PGW break the basement locks. No one was answering the emergency line. Above all, the poor attitudes and lack of respect for my personal space was too much. Thankfully, a new landlord has taken over the building and has decided to not have Realty World manage the property, so I no longer have to fear not getting my deposits back. They are not in the business of making your life easier under any circumstance and, in fact, seem to go above and beyond to make it harder. If you rent from them, you are gambling with your possessions and money. Make sure to get everything in writing and document EVERYTHING. OH, and to make matters worse.. your lease will end several days before you are actually legally supposed to be out!! They say its to clean and prep the apartment but they had 2 weeks for mine and nothing was done... seems like another way to treat their tenants with disrespect and inflict inconvenience on the people they drain money from. read more

Don't do it. When it is time for you to move out they will make up arbitrary fees and late payment fees to take your security deposit. Then like all of the faulty philly landlords, you will have to go chase them in court to no avail. read more

While realty world has reasonably priced apartments, the building is in utter disrepair. My apartment has black mold in the shower, a hole in the ceiling that emerged from water damage that the company has never bothered to repair, and a hole in the floor that was covered with a board and duct tape when we moved in. There are HUGE cockroaches everywhere and mice. The management is unresponsive to requests for repair. If you see an advertising for a property owned by reality world, I suggest you click the x on the corner of your browser. read more

I rented a place from them. The gas for the whole building got shut off for a week because the building owner didn't pay the gas bill, and Realty World refused all attempts at compensation for us, the suffering tenants. No heat or hot water, a week of calling up friends and asking, "Can I take a shower at your place? I stink and I have to go to work.". When I withheld a small part of my rent payment as compensation, they actually had the gall to try to charge me a late fee! In the end, when I moved out, they took the amount that I had withheld from the refund of my deposit. Unbelievable. read more

Realty World will never receive 5 stars, but for what they are, they get 4 stars from me. Here is why: I began renting with them in 2006. Each year, even though rents on their other properties have gone up, my rent has remained stable. In 2006 I rented a property in the middle range of what was available in the western fringe of University City; now my rent is the same as what friends who live on the fringe of the fringe are paying. Further, I have changed roommates three times over the years. I was allowed to handle all the details, choose my own roommate, etc etc. As far as maintenance goes, the trash guy we had for years has left, and the barrels are sometimes left by the curb. No biggie. Sometimes the owner's mother cleans the building, sometimes not. I've seen maybe five cockroaches in the past four years there. Three mice. No biggie. If I call for any reason, someone usually comes very soon. Where that last star is: the heat sucks (poorly installed, and the building is poorly insulated), there is this mold spot on the ceiling in the kitchen that I routinely ask about (nothing changes), and we STILL don't have a piece to our refrigerator. Finally, the kitchen has like three cabinets total...but that seems to be a West Philly thing more than a Realty World thing. I will update if and when I move. =) read more

It's been about 5 years since I left my roommates and moved out of my Realty World home, but I'm writing this review now because I'm still so frustrated about my poor experience. At this point, all I can do is inform others about what they're getting themselves into. I truly do not understand how Realty World is still in business. It baffles my mind that they are still out there stealing peoples money. All of the negative reviews on this page could not be more accurate. Alex Chamberlain and all of his employees are jokes. You will never receive your security deposit back. They will charge you exorbitant fees upon move out that are completely made up. For example, I was charged a carpet cleaning fee (zero carpet in the whole house), a refrigerator clean out fee (while my roommates were still using the fridge because they didn't move out), and a repainting fee even though they never repainted any rooms, nor needed to. I tried bringing this to court and got nowhere. We had no heat for 2 entire winters. ZERO heat. They gave us space heaters instead of fixing the problem. Needless to say, our electric bill was out of control. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars each month. We even had another tenant living in the separate basement unit who was the "property manager", but was actually just a useless creep whose electrical wires were rigged into our meter, so we paid his bills. It is impossible to get in touch with anyone for repairs or questions, yet they would frequently enter the house whenever they wanted with no warning to "check" on whatever they allegedly needed to check on. Just walked right in. Sometimes we were home, sometimes we weren't. Completely unaccommodating, incompetent, unresponsive, rude crooks who will lie to your face and continue doing whatever they want to screw you over. Trust these negative reviews. Don't give them business. They truly do not deserve any of it. read more

I don't even know where to begin. Alex Chamberlin, the owner of this franchise, does not know how to run a business, and it obviously follows that none of his extremely incompetent staff do either. The apartment we rented was mold ridden, had holes in the walls, doors that didn't lock, a wasps nest on the roof, broken banisters, broken outlets, dead light fixtures, floors that needed to be changed 30 years ago, and a backyard that looked like a landfill. Knowing this, we as tenants signed an agreement that the company would repair the building prior to our occupying it. Needless to say they did nothing of the sort, putting 1% effort into half of what we asked for. Upon trying to reach out to the owners and staff, we were met with a combination of disgustingly rude remarks and complete ignorance. Alex himself literally ran out the back door to avoid meeting with all 6 tenants when we came to his office. He refuses to answer emails or phone calls, and sends his associate Mary Umbrell to rebuff any communication attempts. Furthermore, we have been robbed 3 times. Realty World has refused to change the locks. 3 times. I know that 39th and Pine is not a safe area per se, but 3 times of asking to have the locks changed with no response is unheard of and inexcusable. Thank god for renters' insurance. I don't know who in their right mind would give 4 starts to this poor excuse for a business. Do not trust it. Look at the others to find the truth. Though the apartments are extremely cheap, you get conservatively 10% of what you pay for. Please heed my advice and avoid them at all costs. Best of luck to you in finding another place to lease from. read more

I lived in one of their apartments for 3 years. It was my first apartment ever, and as such I'm sure there were things I could have done better, but the experience was not good. Let's begin at the beginning. I loved the apartment as soon as I saw it, so I agreed to a credit check, and as soon as I was cleared I went to pick up the keys and sign the lease. The first thing anyone in the office said to me was, "Oh, good, you're bringing money." (Sounds like a joke, written down. At the time it felt unsettling. And in retrospect I'm thinking it wasn't a joke at all. They're only nice to you--and not genuinely--when you have money in your hand. Otherwise they're caustic and dismissive.) I was given the keys. Then they had me sign the lease. Every time I started to read, they said, "Oh, don't bother reading, just sign." Of course, in retrospect... a RED FLAG. Every time I turned the page and began to read again, she tapped the dotted line at the bottom and said, "Just sign here, sweetie." I'm sorry to say that's exactly what I did. I'm three years older and lightyears wiser now. Then when it was time to give me a copy of the lease... the copy machine was broken. I'm non-confrontational by nature--not to mention I was just excited to have my own place--so I didn't think twice of it. They said they'd mail it. Guess what? Three years later, I STILL don't have a copy of the thing, despite calling many times in the first year and having them promise they were sending it right away. I eventually gave up and forgot. My mistake as well as theirs, I acknowledge this. When I moved in, I was told that there was a spot in the ceiling that had been damaged by a water leak. I was glad they told me up front. But they also said it was fixed. About three months in, however, it began to leak again. Profusely. I called, and called, and called, and called. Always a "Oh, yes, we will send someone out," without anyone actually coming. Then one night, I realized the leak had spread all along the outer wall. I called again. The emergency number this time. "Oh, yes, we'll send someone tomorrow!" They sent the maintenance guy (a very, very nice man), but all he did was slap plaster on it. My dad's a carpenter, my mother an architect. I know that's not how to take care of a leak. Sure enough, three days later, it was leaking again. And I had wet plaster all over my floor. Rinse and repeat. For another year. Then a leak sprung on the opposite side of the apartment. A big one. Right over the fridge outlet. Yikes! I called, and called, and called, and this time they sent people every time, but always to ASSESS THE DAMAGE, never to actually take care of it. I recognize the difficulty in patching roofs. I really do. But they were never proactive. Never. Always reactionary, and barely at that. Needless to say, I'm sure the guy who lives there now is calling them regularly. For a time it appeared to be fixed. Unfortunately, I realized it wasn't AFTER he'd already signed the lease. There was a stretch of about six months where they kept locking me out of my own apartment. My key did not work in the top lock, and everytime I called to tell them they'd say "Oh, you're not turning hard enough, it's supposed to match the doorknob lock." I started leaving signs on the door to NOT LOCK THE TOP LOCK when they left, and they always would, and I'd find out at about 7PM, and I'd call the emergency number, and they'd be annoyed and someone would show up and tell me to stop forgetting my keys (they never listened to me.) Finally they realized I was telling the truth and changed the doorknob lock to match the deadbolt lock. But no apology. No nothing. Every time someone came to do maintenance, I'd find paint and plaster and packaging from the new smoke detector they'd just installed or what have you all over the place. All. Over. Total lack of respect for my space. I moved out a few months early. I will admit, they were good about this. They told me if I found someone, they'd waive any early cancellation fees or whatever. So I found someone in a day, and he signed the lease (sorry man) and I moved without a hitch. There was a moment where they tried to get me for the fee they charge if THEY find someone (half a month's rent) but when I told them I'd "found" him, they didn't press. I was promised my security deposit within two weeks. It came in four, and less three hundred dollars--for cleaning. (Admittedly, I left the stove greasy and the fridge was gross because I ran out of time, and I knew I would incur charges, but THREE HUNDRED? If they'd given me the lease, and if I'd demanded it harder, maybe I'd have known I'd be in for that. I'm letting it go.) Perhaps I should just be glad they sent a check at all. That said, the apartment was beautiful, and I do have fond memories from my three years living in it, even if I did have to move all of my furniture away from the walls when it rained. read more

Realty World are the worst. I don't want to call them criminals, but they are dishonest, money-grubbing and do not care about tenants at all. When we had a problem they kept punting the ball down the field for someone else to clean up the mess. I would stay FAR away from this company. They just want your money and care nothing about customer service. read more

Alex Chamberlin (realtor of record) will lie to your face. His employees won't fix what you need but will illegally enter without notice to service things you don't. This may occasionally result in your property appearing on the curb. You will not get your deposit back. read more

Realty World is quite possibly the worst company I have ever worked with and had to deal with. Yea, they have reasonably priced apartments, but that's all they have to offer. I moved in in June 2012 and within 2 weeks, the elevator in the building (total 5 floors) broke...and remained broken for 6 MONTHS. I called Realty World about once every other day, and just got vague answers about it. It was finally fixed. After that episode, it would break about once a month, and be out of service for about a week. Most recently, it has now been down for 3 months, and was actually condemned by a city building inspector. I have called Realty World on a daily basis, and again been only told vague answers, that the elevator needs to be replaced but there is no date, they're waiting for parts...blah blah blah. 3 MONTHS. I asked if my rent can be reduced to reflect the loss of the elevator and that I live on the 4th floor, and they said if I have a problem I can exit my lease OR be moved down to the 1st floor if a vacancy opens up. I asked the company if someone in the building breaks a leg what would happen and their response was "Yea, that's a really good point, I'm not sure..." THATS IT. In addition to the elevator issues... when I first lived there maintenance was just atrocious. I am a medical resident and work night shift occasionally. I was woken up at 2pm one day by Tom, the maintenance guy in my living room with his tools. He looked at me in bed and asked "What are you doing?" I was never given a heads up about maintanence. I called them and asked them to call ahead next time, which they did, BUT after Tom came to clean my AC filter and do some work to the moldy walls in the shower, he left caulk footprints in my living room and left my shower curtain and rod on the floor in my living room. I would have moved out by now, but I'm applying for fellowship and may possibly be moving out of Philadelphia and will just live it out until the end of residency this year. Moving my bed and dresser down 4 flights of stairs is gonna be so fun... Don't be fooled by the cheap rent, it's really not worth it. Pure incompetence and neglect. read more

I just moved to Philadelphia and the employees that represent this company are amazing. They have gone out of their way to accommodate any need that I have had. From signing lease payments on a Sunday night to upgrades of utilities and appliances. The employees are very warm and welcoming from the staff in the office to the maintenance. I have had no issues and am looking to renew my lease for another year. read more

As a parent I am giving fair warning to any other parent whose child is seeking to rent any property through Realty World. They do not maintain premises in safe condition, are not responsive to calls or e-mails and have blatantly lied about their commitments to making repairs. While the properties may be "well priced" you must consider the safety of the premises -- whether it is mold, broken bannisters, broken floorboards, wasp nests, broken locks, failure to change locks which have resulted in break-ins. Alex Chamberlain is not a reputable business partner that I want my son to be associated with. read more