Help!!! Need a Good Property Management Company in Cleveland, OH

Help!!! Need a Good Property Management Company in Cleveland, OH

Investor · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2014 · 123 posts · 329 votes

Would anyone be able to recommend a good property management company that operates in Cleveland, OH (Cleveland Heights to be specific)? I am an out of state investor and I have a SFH and a Triplex. In February I switched to a property management company recommended by the realtor who helped me with the purchases of my two properties. The current PM manages around 150 properties, has 5 members on staff, and yet remains completely overwhelmed. They have never physically visited my properties in the 4 months they have managed them, cannot answer emails or calls in a timely (less than 1 week) manner, make recurring costly mistakes on my income/expense report requiring me to double check their work, fail to pay my utility bills on my behalf on time causing late fees, and make no attempt to leverage their purchasing power with 150 properties to help their clients get even a decent rate for lawn and snow removal, handyman services, etc.

They charge 10% plus 1 month's rent fee to find a new tenant or $79 fee for renewals. I know no one cares about a property as much as the person who owns it and some of the things above are just a cost of doing business, but I thought I would at least be able to get someone who could collect money, balance the books, and get back to me in a timely manner in exchange for the money I pay.

@Ali Boone wrote a great article on the "The Not-So-Obvious Reason Your Property Management Company is Failing You" and I couldn't agree more. My PM has gotten too big and simply can't keep up. His office seems to be a revolving door with employees coming and going so that at no point is there really anyone who is fully trained. I'd happily trade the fancy website and property management software for competent staff focused on customer service.

Thanks so much in advance for any recommendations.

0Reply
61 views

6 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Investor · Eastlake, OH · Member since 2015 · 174 posts · 85 votes
    11y

    @Trevor Fleck

     I am vetting a few different property managers for properties in the same area. I was recommended Shoreway Realty, and I have interviewed Realty Trust Services.  

  • Vendor · Hudson, OH · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 11 votes
    11y

    This may be a little late, but if you are still considering property management companies in the Cleveland area, please feel free to contact me.  

    Regards,

    Roy Guy

  • Rental Property Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 538 posts · 298 votes
    11y

    I have been very satisfied with Midwest Realty just outside of Cleveland proper in Willoughby; ask for Jack and tell him I said hello (440 946 7023).

    Not sure if they do management of SFH and if they do, what rate they charge. They certainly do not charge 10% + 1 month for MF.

    Good luck,

    Oren

  • Moreno valley, CA · Member since 2014 · 8 posts · 0 votes
    10y

    So glad Trevor detailed this. I have had similar experiences. Would love to get CURRENT recommendations/experiences.

    Thanks!

  • Fremont, CA · Member since 2017 · 14 posts · 1 vote
    8y

    Can anyone give me current recommendations for property management for a SFH? Thank you very much.

  • Member since 2020 · 21 posts · 7 votes
    1y

    Don't use Shoreway Realty. Where do I start with the headache they are?

    Cleveland passed stricter rental registration requirements over the last year, and Shoreway did not order the needed lead testing or HVAC testing to meet the required deadline, and when I asked if they had ordered such since the city sent me a letter, they have no timeline to! They filed incorrect and invalid registrations with the city. Huge red flag to not have your management company up to date on the local regulations, that leaves me as the owner in a very bad position. Then their professional advise was to not do the required lead testing and to register myself as the in-area contact even though I live 2,000mi away, which clearly goes against the rules of the law. Now they also won't let the property transfer to the new manager for 30-days even though I found a management company willing and able to correct the issues immediately, and offered to let Shoreway keep the following month management commission for the 1 week that would be under their management anyway.

    Unit turnovers have been way too slow, usually taking 3 months just to get rent-ready (all cosmetic, no mechanical replacements). One they took 6 months to do! On the last one the contractor said they would be finished by December, deadline passed so I asked for progress photos from the management company since the contractor from their vendor list kept delaying in sending them. When I responded to the photos with some questions I got a lecture from the owner, Kathleen Bassett, how the person who had taken them was her highly paid bookkeeper who was doing a favor. They take 10% for all managed construction, so this is not a favor to ask for progress inspection on a project that was behind schedule several weeks, and was a vendor from their list. It is their job! Also, I didn't ask the bookkeeper to be sent out, send someone with construction knowledge. Overall just find she is very arrogant, don't let the fake schmooze fool you.

    I also go out once a year to check properties. Their landscaping personnel constantly let the ivy grow up the side of the house, which costs money to pull and damages siding, versus being at all preventative in pulling the ivy when it is small which is what every gardener I hire in the area I live does. I raised this issue several times and it never changes. They don't follow basic instructions. I asked for concrete expansion joints to be sealed, very specific, and then they emailed me back and asked it the cracks should be sealed AS WELL! I said yes. When I got the repair photos they only did the cracks, not the expansion joints, and then wanted to charge me more to quote the expansion joints. This type of so-called "miscommunication" has happened on several occasions with other repairs even though instructions are in-writing.

    I regret not firing Kathleen Bassett and her team at Shoreway Realty sooner, but finally done! Save yourself the headache!

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