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How many of you would take the time to publish something on social media/Yelp/Apartments.com, etc about an apartment or rental that you lived in that didn't go well?
Do you look at this as mere bitching, or do you feel like it's your civic duty to warn someone else against making the same mistake?
How many of you would take the time to publish something on social media/Yelp/Apartments.com, etc about an apartment or rental that you lived in that didn't go well?
Do you look at this as mere bitching, or do you feel like it's your civic duty to warn someone else against making the same mistake?
Ha. I wish I read reviews on yelp and google about my current landlord/property management company before moving in. I've dug up quite a bit of information I wish I knew about beforehand. I found out that my landlord/PM has taken deposits from nearly every tenant and thus the tenants go to court to sue, and win! I did a bit more digging and found that my LL/PM is labeled a slumlord and loses just about every time in court due to them taking, illegally, tenants security deposits. I know what to expect. I took pictures of the property and have back-and-forth emails from the LL of promises to repair blinds, leaks and other stuff that the LL later refuses to repair. So many promises before signing the lease turned empty afterwards.
I haven't lived in a rental for a long time but if online reviews had existed when I did, I would have written one. However, I only ever lived in one large complex where there would have been reviews. All my other rentals were from individual landlords. In my case, it would have been a very positive review as I found the landlord/management company very helpful and responsive whenever I had a problem and they took good care of the property. But it's irrelevant now, as it's gone through a condo conversion.
I haven't lived in a rental for a long time but if online reviews had existed when I did, I would have written one. However, I only ever lived in one large complex where there would have been reviews. All my other rentals were from individual landlords. In my case, it would have been a very positive review as I found the landlord/management company very helpful and responsive whenever I had a problem and they took good care of the property. But it's irrelevant now, as it's gone through a condo conversion.
I had a similar situation. The first house I rented was from a landlord using a PM. Things kept breaking and the PM ignored the issues. I decided to look up who owned the house and made contact with him. After explaining to him that the PM was neglecting the property, we started bypassing them and I delt with the landlord. He was a very fair person. I had lived there nearly 4 years. He installed a brand new a/c unit to replace the swamp cooler that regularly broke down and even lowered our rent once. He was a fantastic landlord and I would have left him with a very positive review if I could.
I had a similar situation. The first house I rented was from a landlord using a PM. Things kept breaking and the PM ignored the issues. I decided to look up who owned the house and made contact with him. After explaining to him that the PM was neglecting the property, we started bypassing them and I delt with the landlord. He was a very fair person. I had lived there nearly 4 years. He installed a brand new a/c unit to replace the swamp cooler that regularly broke down and even lowered our rent once. He was a fantastic landlord and I would have left him with a very positive review if I could.
Nice!
In my case, these were mostly triple deckers in the Boston area (3 stories, with one apartment on each floor) and the landlord usually lived in one of the units. No management company needed! lol!
I did that on yelp when on moving out I was given a $$$ carpet replacement bill on an already worn out apt. I was furious but had not option but to pay. I requested move out inspection. They didn't do it in my presence but once I left they handed me the bill. There didn't take any deposit from me so there was nothing to deduct.
You will always find more negative comments than positive for anything on the internet because people will be much more vocal when they feel they have been wronged than if they were happy. You must read between the lines with some complaints. I would seriously be influenced by a review about the condition of the apartment vs "They didn't let me waive 10 late fees" type of grumblings.
I have seen that atleast in the city I live in finding an apartment complex without negative reviews is virtually impossible. Good places have a wait time and there are so many people trying to find a place to stay, it doesn't really matter what the internet says
I suppose that if something really was terrible, then go ahead and post.
So many of the complaints are about deposit deductions for actual damage, or evictions for non payment, where the "victim" insisted it wasn't their fault, that most of it sounds like whining.
But if it was something really bad, like air conditioning out all summer (it can take a couple of weeks to fix, but 3 months is too long) or pedophiles living in several of the units, or drug dealing that wasn't stopped, then go ahead and complain and warn others.
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