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Old 06-17-2010, 09:33 AM
 
271 posts, read 782,257 times
Reputation: 170

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I am looking for a home to rent and it seems in my area that there are very few companies with good reviews. Most reviews (like on Yahoo local) start off by saying, "stay away!" or "don't rent from them" or something to that affect. Should I consider these reviews when picking a company and avoid them or should I just assume the writers are disgruntled?
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Old 06-17-2010, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Boise, ID
8,046 posts, read 28,365,004 times
Reputation: 9470
You should look for recurring themes. If multiple people complain about the same thing with the same management company, there is likely something to it and you should pay attention.

HOWEVER, keep in mind that very few people will take the time to write if they had a good experience. So you have to take other variables into account. If a big company with lots of rentals has been open for 20 years and they only have 2 complaints, that is a great history. If it is a company with only 5 rentals and they've only been around for 3 years and they have 15 complaints, that is obviously not a good history.
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Old 06-17-2010, 11:02 AM
 
Location: Terra
188 posts, read 936,146 times
Reputation: 134
Yes some of them are disgruntled that why I look at the overall percentages, I disregard the ones that only complain about not getting their deposit back and look closer at the ones with valid complaints, noise, maintenance issues, etc.

You can also ask for past tenants references from the manager or landlord, if they laugh at you that’s a good sign to stay away. Also if noise or parking is a problem in the comments you can check that out yourself just by driving around the parking lot or neighborhood I usually do that on a Friday/Saturday night(that’s when the most idiots are wild) LoL or early mornings.
Bigyellow.com, yahoo.com and apartmentreviews.com are some of the ones that I read prior to moving or even prior to going to the unit. If you rent from an individual I would ask for references that tends to scare away the slumlords, also check with the local BBB online and search online if you can look up local lawsuits for free at the local courthouse, most of them are online now usually on the county court website.

Thank the high ones for the freedom of information act.
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Old 06-17-2010, 12:07 PM
 
Location: NJ
17,574 posts, read 45,986,338 times
Reputation: 16271
I always took those with a grain of salt. I imagined employees of one complex posting bad reviews of other complexes in the area.
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Old 06-17-2010, 12:38 PM
 
Location: Terra
188 posts, read 936,146 times
Reputation: 134
Quote:
Originally Posted by manderly6 View Post
I always took those with a grain of salt. I imagined employees of one complex posting bad reviews of other complexes in the area.
It also works the other way around with the Managers and Employees giving themselves high marks and great reviews. That's why I use the percentages.
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Old 06-19-2010, 03:23 PM
 
27,206 posts, read 46,544,323 times
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I once spoke with a tenant who was bashing one company...later I checked the public records and noticed this tenant had a judgment against her for trashing the entire place....

Of course there are bad and good management companies...and it might be better when you can afford more to rent.

Sometimes the owners don't let the management companies do repairs the way it should be done, just to save some bucks.

The newer the home the less troubles you can aspect and the better tenant you are the less issues you will have.

I would stay away from any one and any company that isn't charging any sec. deposit, because there is always a catch.

Be sure you get a good lease and READ the lease upfront. Don't whine later if you don't like something that is in the lease. No lease means mostly trouble in the end. If you don't agree with the lease move on and rent some place else...JMO!
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Old 06-19-2010, 04:03 PM
 
4,921 posts, read 7,657,883 times
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What is your alternative? Ask the management...sure the're all a wonderful group of people just waiting to serve you. Understandably there will always be extremes therefore the best way to look at multiple reviews is eliminated the highs and lows and low at the average. Remember, where there is smoke there is usually fire. Beware the super good reviews because very few people will write a review when there is no problem. Super good reviews are probably the manager or a friend/relative doing the creative writing. Check it out whenever possible. Visit the rental at different times, especially Saturday night and week day mornings and evenings. During the day most will be quiet so you want to check it out when most people are home.

You must read the lease and clarify anything you don't understand. If need be consult a lawyer because this will be your home for the next year. Keep in mind that apartment complexes retain legal firms who write their leases and they are not writing for your benefit.

Bottom line; never trust a landlord!
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Old 08-04-2016, 02:31 PM
 
1 posts, read 3,916 times
Reputation: 10
Thumbs up Best Comment on this Topic EVER

Thank you for this comment. In this industry, far too much time is given to people who try to damage the company's reputation after they have also damaged the property as well as, most often, broken the terms of the lease!

Perfect answer to the question.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bentlebee View Post
I once spoke with a tenant who was bashing one company...later I checked the public records and noticed this tenant had a judgment against her for trashing the entire place....

Of course there are bad and good management companies...and it might be better when you can afford more to rent.

Sometimes the owners don't let the management companies do repairs the way it should be done, just to save some bucks.

The newer the home the less troubles you can aspect and the better tenant you are the less issues you will have.

I would stay away from any one and any company that isn't charging any sec. deposit, because there is always a catch.

Be sure you get a good lease and READ the lease upfront. Don't whine later if you don't like something that is in the lease. No lease means mostly trouble in the end. If you don't agree with the lease move on and rent some place else...JMO!
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Old 08-04-2016, 03:29 PM
 
17,104 posts, read 11,957,308 times
Reputation: 17048
Just like with amazon reviews the average 3 star reviews are the ones you should pay the most attention to. Our property management company has horrible reviews all over the net but we have no complaints whatsoever on our rental house. They've been pleasant to deal with and quick to address maintenance.

Though there was a neighbor across the street running a day care business out of their house managed by the same company and the place was destroyed. They were evicted and are likely out there writing one of those 1 star reviews right now.
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Old 08-04-2016, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Boise, ID
8,046 posts, read 28,365,004 times
Reputation: 9470
For example:


My company has several negative posts about us on Yelp, Citysearch, etc. Mostly from the same 2 people under a variety of names, both of whom were asked to vacate, so were pissed off. Almost everything in them was made up, or flat out wrong. Another person claims that we failed to provide a service that we DON'T offer, and therefore caused her extreme hardship.


So in 25 years in business, with over 250 rentals total over the years, we've had 3 unique complaints. Two were from some of the worst tenants we've ever had and the other was from someone we never even did business with.


But if John Doe looks up our company, all they see is a couple of negative reviews, because the literally thousands of happy tenants we've had never bothered to post anything.
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