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I've been searching for rentals--some are quite far from where I live so I'll check for online reviews of the building as well as the property management company.
I don't find many positive reviews of buildings so I wondered how much legitimacy and weight to give the reviews?
If the majority are negative I'd not be inclined to live there. However if you see just a couple of disgruntled tenants, and the majority are positive, then you'd probably be okay.
However, you'll never know the true story until you actually live there.
One test is to drive through the complex several times and if you see a lot of junk cars and trash it's a red flag. Or if you drive through at night and there's loud music and racket, another red flag.
However, since the units are not close by, those options won't work for you.
Even property owners will falsify the facts about apartments; some will claim they are 'energy efficient' and yet there is little to no insulation and have severe air leaks around the windows and doors.
It's best to visit the area at different times of day/night and talk to residents who live there. Tell them you're looking to move in, but were concerned about the reviews.
If you see a lot of complaints of 'I can hear my neighbor walk, talk, pee and shower', know that you too might hear these things and if that bothers you, don't live there.
Unless they are a two day drive, you need to visit them for yourself. You shouldn't be renting based off of internet reviews....you need to see the place for yourself.
How valuable? Not much. Disgruntled tenants will complain, happy tenants won't post. Very often disgruntled tenants are ticked off because of something they did themselves, like leave the apartment filthy and not get all their deposit back.
The best way to tell is to pay close attention to the condition of the building and grounds. How does the maintenance look in the unit you will be renting? Good landlords keep things repaired. If everything looks good, pay your rent on time and don't break the rules and you shouldn't have any problems-- at least not problems that the landlord has any control over. You still might have a nasty inconsiderate person living above you who does selfish things like walk around in his apartment and open and close the refrigerator door.
Personally, I would not rent in a building where the landlord is not demanding and strict about the screening process. I want my neighbors to be carefully vetted and felons, drug dealers, and trouble makers kept out.
Very little. Especially as some of the review sites will hide positive reviews and promote older negative posts. Tenants who don't pay rent, get charged for cleaning they didn't do or damages they did, or who receive violation notices, are the ones who do the complaining. Happy tenants with real lives typically don't think to review.
I take em seriously if the bad outweighs the good. I always want to know the worst of an area. You can tell someone who's lazy vs. an apartment that has a legit issue.
When my son and I were searching for an apartment for him 1700 miles away we did not put a lot of weight on reviews. We did use them to weed a few places out when an issue, such as bugs or noisy neighbors, was mentioned consistently.
Like others have said, we also looked at the dates of the review. Older reviews, more than 6 months old, were ignored. In a few instances we used reviews to ask questions about issues such as parking.
I'll speak a a former manager of a 26 unit apt building in the SF Bay Area. I actually wanted to get my tenants to review the building on Yelp. The building I managed wasn't even listed on Yelp, as it was privately owned, and although there was a name added on the building by the owners, the building was never referred to as the such and such apartments, and the tenants' checks were made out to the owner's name.
But, I wanted a Yelp presence because many desirable tenants want to check the place out for reviews. It makes it easier to rent apartments. And as I was often renting to techies or students who were relocating and were looking for an apartment they could rent sight-unseen before they relocated, it was important for them to be able to check me out, too.
Even though I asked tenants to review, both current and tenants who were leaving, there are only a few reviews on Yelp. The good news is that they are all positive.
I know some companies can "scrub" their internet presence. But, I guess my point is that there were very few unhappy tenants in my building, and the new manager is "also" great with happy tenants. I put the Yelp info online in about 2006. So, there have been 10 years that tenants could have been leaving negative reviews, but they haven't.
So, I think reviews do tell a story. You have to look to see if it's the same unhappy tenant posting over and over. You can usually tell by their writing style and the time frame of the posts. But, if there are a lot of negative reviews, in my experience, there were probably a lot more unhappy people who didn't post a review.
Somebody has to be really upset to take the time to post a bad review. Granted, some evicted tenants will post angry posts. But, I actually "invited" several tenants to leave while I was the manager, and none of them posted bad reviews. I never had to take anyone to eviction court. We simply worked out a deal for them to move. So, even my tenants who were asked to leave, didn't leave a bad review.
And just so you can keep in mind the type of tenants I rented to - they were mostly law students and techies - so all very familiar with Yelp and online review sites, etc., and very internet savvy.
Some cultures may be more vocal than others, I suppose, so you could keep that in mind. But, I'd definitely pay attention to what people were saying in the reviews. Then, use your better judgment in determining if it's the same person spamming the reviews, or if their complaints might not be valid for some reason.
Most tenants who are satisfied with a place, have little motivation to want to go and fill out the ratings, so I expect mostly to see negative reviews, as someone who is unhappy tends to be more motivated to say something about it. However, for all of those same reasons, if i do see a good number of positive reviews in the mix I take that as a very good sign that it is a decent place to live.
I wrote a Fantastic report when the Old Property owners sold this place. I had 7+ years here. Neighbors that had 6 months to a year wrote Nasty reviews. Things I KNOW were mostly their fault! These same Tenants with their Dumb complaints to the New Owners have Chased off 2 PM Co & Several MGR in Less than a YEAR! I don't know if the new owners are that Dumb or what.
1 Neighbor was told to sign a New Lease! They been here less than a Year BUT their lease was for 9 Months! Per their Request! I was in the Office when they Applied & requested a 9 month lease. Mgr Had to get Owners permission in writing for them! Now they Claim they were Cheated out of 3 months rent at the Lower Rent! All they do is Complain how they were Forced to sign the lease Early for $21 more! BTW I Saw their lease! They were Not cheated!
2 Neighbor Complains she cant get the Lower rate cause of her Investments! Claims its Not income BUT yet she buys a Brand New Car Every year from the Income Off those investments! She also says She NEEDS a New Carpet! NOT Brand New carpet installed 2 days Before she moved in ...been here 2.5 years!
There are more but wont go into it.
PEOPLE LIE on those Reviews! Don't Believe them!
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