Turn-key/PM companies and tenant reviews

Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 104 votes

Since everything can be researched now a days. I have been researching a lot of tenant reviews regarding TK and their PM companies.

Would a lot of bad reviews by tenants concern you as far as choosing a TK/PM partner? Seems to me, it would have a large turnover rate, and if there is a common complaint (ie bad finish in the property, lack of response by the PM).

I know we all aren't perfect. I work in the insurance industry and try very hard to keep people happy, but it's not always the case. But, we do not have a long list of similar complaints, so it makes me worry about picking a TK company with a large number of tenant complaints.

1 Reply

11 views

Most Popular Reply

James Wise

Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes

@Alex Corral When looking at tenants reviews/complaints another thing you need to factor in is that the Property Management Company is oftentimes the only business they have interacted with that has told them "no". I don't think there are any Property Management Companies out there with mostly positive tenant reviews. They are typically negative. It's just how this business works.

A Property Management Company has to treat everyone fair but at the end of the day a Property Management Company is in the middle of two opposing sides. The owner of the property & the tenant. In almost every situation the Property Management Company needs to make a decision that will make one of these opposing sides happy & the other a little upset. As an owner of a property do you want to be the happy one or the upset one? Of course you as the owner wants to be the happy one & the Property Management Company has a fiduciary responsibility to you as the owner, not to the tenant. So that's where the "no's" start to come into play. Tenants do not like the word "no".

They go to Applebees or WalMart where the "customer is always right". They lodge a complaint about any little thing & are rewarded with a monetary item, typically a comped meal or gift card. They try to take that same concept to their Property Management Company & they are hit with a "no." They are often very confused about this and end up angry trying to go up the chain of command until someone gives them something for free. When they realize they are out of rope you then start to see negative posts.

4 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

8 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Alex Corral
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 104 votes
8y
Bump
0 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8y
Frankly Tenants would be the last place I would be looking for reviews.
if you have not owned rentals .. my experience and its pretty deep having owned hundreds of mid west cash flow rentals.... is that a majority of the tenants in those markets are life long tenants.. while cordial its rare that you get praise.. the only ones you hear from basically are those that have complaints about this or that.. and I would say 80% of the complaints are from things they did themselves.. or their kids did.
Now there are slumlords NO question about it.. and those tenants have a legit beef... but generally speaking I would not be making an investment decision on what tenants say about a management company or TK company..
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
3 Reply
Alex Corral
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 104 votes
8y
Thanks for chiming in Jay Hinrichs , I totally agree with you. There are some reviews I read on certain TK companies where the complaints were similar. Moving into a place with no water, or incomplete re-hab. Lack of response to repairs,.. I am taking these comments with a grain of salt. I know people love to post complaints, but when things are good won't bother to give praise.
1 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8y
@Alex Corral for sure there are some turnkey providers that are not putting out good product.. and the complaints are justified.. you see some of this one bP from the owners.. so if the owners are not getting good rehabs and rentals then their tenants certainly are not.. so its other owners that I would weigh their thoughts more than tenants.
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
1 Reply
James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
8y
@Alex Corral When looking at tenants reviews/complaints another thing you need to factor in is that the Property Management Company is oftentimes the only business they have interacted with that has told them "no". I don't think there are any Property Management Companies out there with mostly positive tenant reviews. They are typically negative. It's just how this business works.
A Property Management Company has to treat everyone fair but at the end of the day a Property Management Company is in the middle of two opposing sides. The owner of the property & the tenant. In almost every situation the Property Management Company needs to make a decision that will make one of these opposing sides happy & the other a little upset. As an owner of a property do you want to be the happy one or the upset one? Of course you as the owner wants to be the happy one & the Property Management Company has a fiduciary responsibility to you as the owner, not to the tenant. So that's where the "no's" start to come into play. Tenants do not like the word "no".
They go to Applebees or WalMart where the "customer is always right". They lodge a complaint about any little thing & are rewarded with a monetary item, typically a comped meal or gift card. They try to take that same concept to their Property Management Company & they are hit with a "no." They are often very confused about this and end up angry trying to go up the chain of command until someone gives them something for free. When they realize they are out of rope you then start to see negative posts.
4 Reply
Alex Corral
OP
Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 142 posts · 104 votes
8y
James Wise I totally agree with you. PM is a tough job, and I respect the work they do. Like I said, people are very quick to post a negative review, but will usually not do the same when all is well. I was merely mentioning some reviews about certain TK companies putting tenants in homes with no hot water, or incomplete rehabs (not your company). That is a bit too much, if it is even true. We are in an era, where people have lost patience and want instant gratification.
1 Reply
Brad LarsenPro Member
Property Manager · San Antonio and Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 377 posts · 380 votes
8y
@Alex Corral @James Wise Here's another example on the back side of that. For about 2 years, when we would give someone a full - 100% - security deposit refund after their stay with us, we would ask for a 5 star google or yelp review in the letter, with their full check. ZERO reviews. Some even were bad after they go all of their deposit back.
My point being, tenants are not the ones to be looking at for reviews. Our negative online reviews are almost all from tenants. And - here's the other thing - we wear those like a badge of honor! Meaning we did our job to best represent the owner's home we manage by enforcing standards.
James is completely right about the Wal-Mart mentality. Sadly, we (The Housing Provider Industry) have also trained people to run to Fair Housing as that's the real potential pay day. They can allege whatever they want, at no cost to them, and it may be cheaper to settle than fight it.
PM is a tough business. I can't for the life of me figure out why some people want to self-manage.
Good luck out there!
2 Reply
James Wise
Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
8y
Originally posted by @Brad Larsen:

@Alex Corral @James Wise Here's another example on the back side of that. For about 2 years, when we would give someone a full - 100% - security deposit refund after their stay with us, we would ask for a 5 star google or yelp review in the letter, with their full check. ZERO reviews. Some even were bad after they go all of their deposit back.
My point being, tenants are not the ones to be looking at for reviews. Our negative online reviews are almost all from tenants. And - here's the other thing - we wear those like a badge of honor! Meaning we did our job to best represent the owner's home we manage by enforcing standards.
James is completely right about the Wal-Mart mentality. Sadly, we (The Housing Provider Industry) have also trained people to run to Fair Housing as that's the real potential pay day. They can allege whatever they want, at no cost to them, and it may be cheaper to settle than fight it.
PM is a tough business. I can't for the life of me figure out why some people want to self-manage.
Good luck out there!
Security Deposits are a nice pay day for tenants as well. They get free legal aid from the court system & get to file suit for double damages. It's a win win for the tenant. No out of pocket expenses & they have a shot at a nice payday. For the Property Owner it's a loose loose as the cost to defend the case no matter how frivolous it may be is almost always more than the security deposit.
0 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.