Extremely unreliable and erratic behavior by the owner. Started our job, and then when we contacted…read morehim back to finish- he knew we were under time constrains as we had a building on the calendar scheduled to be built on top of the pad, his demeanor was very rash and annoyed. He did not like being asked questions about our job. When we called again after not contacting us, he says to us, "yeah, we will come tomorrow and finish the entire job"- he couldnt even remember what size our pad was as he asked us on the phone in that conversation. We weren't by any means asking for next day service! We didnt trust him. Hired another company to finish our job, but lost out on a bunch of money because of him. Terrible!!!!

From the owner: property managementread more

"What could improve?" - Everything. I've rented from them for almost 3 years and there is always a…read moreproblem with the building or my apartment. I've come home from work and been locked out of the whole building because my key fob suddenly doesn't work (at least 6 times this has happened). In the middle of summer the AC stops working for weeks with no communication about it getting fixed. Now in the winter the heat stops working in the middle of the night and I have no hot water past 8 pm. The parking lot is supposed to be gated and closed off from traffic downtown; never happened (and my car got wrecked because of it) and people park in my spot that I pay for with my rent all the time. They want me to call when that happens but their hours are 8-4 pm and I work at a hospital so I get home late and no one answers. There's no elevator access for tenants so move in was a mess (i'm honestly terrified about moving out); when I broke my ankle I had to go up and down 3-4 flights of stairs every day with a boot and crutches. It was never stated that would be the case and in fact the tour I had explicitly mentioned the elevator. I was told they never included it in the "amenities" for tenant use so that shouldn't have been something I expected even though my apartment was on the third floor. No one is here in the building during the day if there's ever issues. Heck, the one manager left and we got a new one without any memo - I was texting and calling for weeks with no response until they finally told me. I would submit work orders on the app, call, text, and email and rarely get responses back. Or any resolution. For the rent I pay, I should be comfortable and not worry about getting into the building and having heat that night, and I should be getting updates from someone on the issues I contact them about. When I initially moved in, it was advertised to have a coffee lounge built and a rooftop access within the year - nothing. I frequently can't get my mail because delivery persons don't have access. My floors and doors are crooked; there was food in the fridge and cabinets when I moved in even though I'm the first and only one to live here. There's no window in my bedroom and my bedroom door doesn't stay closed. I could honestly go on and on. I have reached out multiple times and asked to meet with Josh the owner only to be ignored or blown off and I still have the emails for that. So this review is mostly for my own sanity at this point. I've made them aware of the issues and nothing has ever gotten fixed or improved.

I have yet to receive my security deposit and it is well past the 60 day wait I was told. When I…read morecall to ask what's going on (because they stopped responding to my emails), I was told to contact the owner. The owner of the property who I have never met or spoken to before because everything has always been dealt with through them. Stay away from them at all cost and they are very rude on top of that.

Such a great and easy company to work with! I have been a student renting with them for two years…read morenow and I can not speak highly enough. They are easy to work with and have made the process of finding housing (which can normally be so stressful) pain free! They also have beautiful houses and when we were looking for places, allowed for us to tour so many options. Great company !

Summer of 2010 I moved into an apartment in Ithaca newly managed by James Orcutt Real Estate. I…read morewas living in New Mexico and needed trees and water, research on the internet showed me a building that just "popped" for me, so I emailed James. We set up an interview a few days later and I arranged to be in Ithaca for a look at the apartment he was kind enough to hold for me. I am still in this apartment! I consider myself an expert as I have lived in apartments all my adult life and my father owned some rentals when I was a child, Orcutt Real Estate provides the best treatment this renter has ever experienced. Plus, he always knows my name and takes time to speak and smile if he passes me in the parking lot. Rare indeed. J. D.

I needed to rent an apartment in Ithaca while living in California, relying entirely on the…read moremanager's information because I wouldn't be able to visit before moving. James was extremely helpful, and provided great photos of the place. I am super happy with my apartment for the price I'm paying, and with James' management. My only gripe is that he can be tough to get in contact with unless it's an urgent matter. But he's a busy man and he'll get back to you quickly when you need it.

Gave us one price for rent did tell us about the pet fees of 250 non refundable deposit and the…read moreextra 25 a month on top of rent each month for the pets but don't explain properly about the water and garbage being separate from rent but added to the rent each month as a additional 50 on top of listed rent. It should automatically be included in listed rental price! The trailer has no insulation the walls inside and the walls to the outside are completely hollow! You hear your neighbors outside clear as day as if they were inside conversating with you. Our hot water our heat and stove are all on propane that we pay separately and we can barely get 10 minutes of hot water for a shower not to mention you turn the cold water on and it comes out warm or hot then you turn the hot on and it comes out cold! They have been told about it and have done nothing. They claim they rent out clean affordable housing but yet we found so much garbage and dirt in our home on lease signing day pointed it out before signing it and we were assured someone would come clean it and never did we ended up just cleaning the whole place before fully moving in. We paid security to hold this place got suburban propane over to set us up and they basically made us wait a month after suburban cleared the property and filled our tanks to sign our lease and actually let us move in. Meanwhile we finally move in and realize they had the heat turned up to 70 when no one was actually living there currently burning our propane and money where we had to have it refilled not even another full month of being at the property.

Overly added chemicals in water to cover up contamination. Give you a water report "which they own…read moretesting company," and doesn't show all the chemicals they put in water. Creek Side mobile home park. Septic's back up all the time and they just come in, put lime down and leave it. Major ground contamination. Most in park have some form of cancer. Snow and Ice build ups which are never taken care of. They trap you into renting by acting really nice then they turn their backs on you. Long line of dead trees putting people in danger. Homes have been damaged and they tell you it's your responsibility. Trees laying on power lines shorting out transformers. Rentals charging over $1000 and they increase every year. Water and sewage separate charge which they don't tell you before you move in.