Has anyone used Only Choice Property Management
Rental Property Investor · Parker, CO · Member since 2017 · 80 posts · 15 votes
Im looking at working with Only Choice PM and wanted to hear from others that may have used them in the past.
Please let me know what you think of them and if you would recommend them.
Regards
Jeff
I had an awful experience with Only Choice PM. I was with them for 3 1/2 years. I left them in January 2020 and they won't give me the money left in my account. They wanted me to sign a termination agreement noting a $10,000 fee for making any negative claims against them, posting negative reviews or contacting any governmental agency or the BBB. If they need such agreement, it should tell you a lot about the internal issues with their company. This company did not act in my best interest and they did not uphold their side of the contract. Unfortunately, the individuals running this side of the business are NOT licensed and therefore may be unaware of the real estate rules and regulations regarding property management.
They charged me for things they didn't do, for utility bills they didn't pay, inflated their prices. My property was vacant for over 7 months and they didn't contact the online prospective tenant inquiries and told me they would ALLOW me a 15 minute phone call once a week. There was a citation on the property they didn't take care of although they said they did. Maintenance issues they said were completed were not done. There was a Section 8 application on the property and after a month of waiting for the inspection, they lead me to believe the Section 8 inspection was being rescheduled. When I contacted Section 8, it was cancelled over a month ago and no further activity on the property.
The owners statements were sometimes late and many times incorrect. The employee turnover was high. They were slow to return calls if they returned them at all. The Director of Compliance didn't take ownership, blamed others (on HER team) and didn't hold her team members accountable for their actions - not an effective team. There was no oversight in the departments - leasing, maintenance, make-ready, billing, etc. This was a nightmare!
They know about their negative reviews (on Google and BBB, OH BBB too) so I'm not sure why they haven't implemented anything to approve their services.
@Juliano Silva I got my first property in August with Rent To Retirement and used Stifel and Only Choice at their recommendation. RTR was great, Stifel was fine, but Only Choice has been a nightmare. I feel like I'm having to hand-hold my management company. Terrible communication, missing payments, longer than expected vacancies, and surprise bills that I am not educated on.
On that note- if anyone recommends a different PM to transfer to for KCMO, I'd love to hear it!
@Juliano Silva Good to know! Have had many talks with OC about the shortcomings and we seem to have reached an understanding + some compensation as well. We’ll see how it goes. I still remain unimpressed with the basic communication.
I had an awful experience with Only Choice PM. I was with them for 3 1/2 years. I left them in January 2020 and they won't give me the money left in my account. They wanted me to sign a termination agreement noting a $10,000 fee for making any negative claims against them, posting negative reviews or contacting any governmental agency or the BBB. If they need such agreement, it should tell you a lot about the internal issues with their company. This company did not act in my best interest and they did not uphold their side of the contract. Unfortunately, the individuals running this side of the business are NOT licensed and therefore may be unaware of the real estate rules and regulations regarding property management.
They charged me for things they didn't do, for utility bills they didn't pay, inflated their prices. My property was vacant for over 7 months and they didn't contact the online prospective tenant inquiries and told me they would ALLOW me a 15 minute phone call once a week. There was a citation on the property they didn't take care of although they said they did. Maintenance issues they said were completed were not done. There was a Section 8 application on the property and after a month of waiting for the inspection, they lead me to believe the Section 8 inspection was being rescheduled. When I contacted Section 8, it was cancelled over a month ago and no further activity on the property.
The owners statements were sometimes late and many times incorrect. The employee turnover was high. They were slow to return calls if they returned them at all. The Director of Compliance didn't take ownership, blamed others (on HER team) and didn't hold her team members accountable for their actions - not an effective team. There was no oversight in the departments - leasing, maintenance, make-ready, billing, etc. This was a nightmare!
They know about their negative reviews (on Google and BBB, OH BBB too) so I'm not sure why they haven't implemented anything to approve their services.
@Juliano Silva Good to know! Have had many talks with OC about the shortcomings and we seem to have reached an understanding + some compensation as well. We’ll see how it goes. I still remain unimpressed with the basic communication.
Anna, you are very brave! Let us know how it goes.
I had an awful experience with Only Choice PM. I was with them for 3 1/2 years. I left them in January 2020 and they won't give me the money left in my account. They wanted me to sign a termination agreement noting a $10,000 fee for making any negative claims against them, posting negative reviews or contacting any governmental agency or the BBB. If they need such agreement, it should tell you a lot about the internal issues with their company. This company did not act in my best interest and they did not uphold their side of the contract. Unfortunately, the individuals running this side of the business are NOT licensed and therefore may be unaware of the real estate rules and regulations regarding property management.
They charged me for things they didn't do, for utility bills they didn't pay, inflated their prices. My property was vacant for over 7 months and they didn't contact the online prospective tenant inquiries and told me they would ALLOW me a 15 minute phone call once a week. There was a citation on the property they didn't take care of although they said they did. Maintenance issues they said were completed were not done. There was a Section 8 application on the property and after a month of waiting for the inspection, they lead me to believe the Section 8 inspection was being rescheduled. When I contacted Section 8, it was cancelled over a month ago and no further activity on the property.
The owners statements were sometimes late and many times incorrect. The employee turnover was high. They were slow to return calls if they returned them at all. The Director of Compliance didn't take ownership, blamed others (on HER team) and didn't hold her team members accountable for their actions - not an effective team. There was no oversight in the departments - leasing, maintenance, make-ready, billing, etc. This was a nightmare!
They know about their negative reviews (on Google and BBB, OH BBB too) so I'm not sure why they haven't implemented anything to approve their services.
I'm sorry to hear Julie! This was similar to my experience as well.
@Juliano Silva
The nightmare continues. Currently Kansas City Housing Authority is 3 months behind on assisted rent payment. This is not directly Only Choice’s fault, but I do not feel that they have been an advocate for me in this period and they certainly are not providing updates without me having to ask for them.
They’ve now been financially settled with KCHA for several weeks and still have not distributed the funds to owners (even though I was specifically assured on a phone call that they would push them out immediately), meanwhile we have been personally floating mortgage payments.
The most recently cited justification is that they are having to play admin catch-up due to “shelter in place” orders requiring them to work from home. Personally I believe they should have better systems in place to deal with administrative curve balls, and I’ve expressed this to them many times. They seem to be operating in the dark ages.
Now, once I do finally receive the funds, I face the dreaded task of reviewing their very poorly designed owner statements to see if their accounting is correct, as it has been so very wrong (in their favor) more often than right in the past. Maybe I should be getting the management commission? Ha... :/
Nightmare.
@Juliano Silva this is what I call the nickel/dime affect. Next time ask for referrals from their owners and look at actual t12 statements from other properties. Call around and ask agents like myself to get input. Hope this helps for the next time!
@Juliano Silva
The nightmare continues. Currently Kansas City Housing Authority is 3 months behind on assisted rent payment. This is not directly Only Choice’s fault, but I do not feel that they have been an advocate for me in this period and they certainly are not providing updates without me having to ask for them.
They’ve now been financially settled with KCHA for several weeks and still have not distributed the funds to owners (even though I was specifically assured on a phone call that they would push them out immediately), meanwhile we have been personally floating mortgage payments.
The most recently cited justification is that they are having to play admin catch-up due to “shelter in place” orders requiring them to work from home. Personally I believe they should have better systems in place to deal with administrative curve balls, and I’ve expressed this to them many times. They seem to be operating in the dark ages.
Now, once I do finally receive the funds, I face the dreaded task of reviewing their very poorly designed owner statements to see if their accounting is correct, as it has been so very wrong (in their favor) more often than right in the past. Maybe I should be getting the management commission? Ha... :/
Nightmare.
Wow! You are brave, indeed. This environment is tough for everyone, I'm sure, but the lack of communication can make things worse in my opinion. Let me know if I can be of help.
@Juliano Silva this is what I call the nickel/dime affect. Next time ask for referrals from their owners and look at actual t12 statements from other properties. Call around and ask agents like myself to get input. Hope this helps for the next time!
I'm not sure I'd call nickel/dime effect. I would call newbie-to-out-of-state-investing-specially-in-KC effect almost five years ago. I've got friends who got burned in KC as well. It happens. It's a learning experience. It comes with the job.
@Kevin Kite @Anna L. @Juliano Silva
You all can contact the Missouri Real Estate Commission to file a complaint. They are required to be licensed in MO and therefore have to uphold the real estate commission rules and regulations. If more people filed a complaint, they would not be able to get away with these issues. Unfortunately, most people don't know about this requirement and therefore just walk away. Here is the information:
Missouri Real Estate Commission (MREC)
Division of Professional Registration
Missouri Department of Commerce & Insurance
Contact: Pam Mason
Office: 573/751/2628 #4
Please pm for the website link.
This thread should be a must read for any out of state investor. Nothing matters to your investment more than your PM. You can overpay and still make money. You can get the deal of the century and lose your shirt. There are good PMs out there one day I will write a thread on how to find one..
Its very disheartening to see these kinds of trouble surrounding real estate investing and property management in the Kansas City area. It makes it very challenging for companies that work extremely hard for their clients to provide good service while facing adversarial experiences in other management companies. Certainly COVID-19 created some challenges for the industry, but we worked diligently to avoid disruption for our residents and owners. We hope that there is continued positive progress in the KC market in the future. If anyone needs advice, we will do our best to assist. As KC natives, we strive for knowledge of good resources and market area knowledge and approach.
I would recommend @William Robison and his team at Plaid Management. I am a local Kansas City investor who has eight doors under management with Plaid. They are very experienced, responsive and professional. They’ve done great during this pandemic communicating with their owners and helping understand how we can best navigate the situation. I always feel like they are handling issues with my best interests in mind.
I would like to clarify for anyone researching this firm or reading the grievances of current OCPM clients (myself included):
At the time of my property purchase and contract entry with OCPM (August 2019), they had great reviews and feedback, according to my research and conversations with peers. Due diligence was done to the best of my ability, however I am new to RE, and must attribute some of this pain to the learning curve + inevitable mistakes made based in simple inexperience. However, coincidentally, at the time of my purchase, OCPM seemed to have significant internal disruptions (turn-over, etc), that not only created issues, but also revealed major foundational cracks in their admin and internal systems, for which they no longer had the manpower to slap bandaids on as they arose. A slippery slope that picked up speed and is now spinning 100% out of control with the MO shelter orders, which are crippling their ability to handle anything remotely, including owner payments. That fact is wildly unacceptable to me.
I suppose all of that is to say- thanks for the advice, feedback, and suggestions. While we may be learning a hard lesson in PM vetting, I do believe that many suffering at OCPM's hands are also victims of timing and deceptive business practices designed to mislead us newbies- starting with the lack of communication. So hopefully offering some solidarity here for those also in this nightmare.
Another point of clarification: these frustrations do not trickle down to Rent To Retirement, where I purchased the property. No issues there. Zach is very helpful.
@Anna L. Totally understand. OCPM is still required to act in your best interest - newbie or not. They don't abide by their contract. You can end the nightmare and change to another PM. I'm SO glad I did. Feel free to message me if you need help.
This thread should be a must read for any out of state investor. Nothing matters to your investment more than your PM. You can overpay and still make money. You can get the deal of the century and lose your shirt. There are good PMs out there one day I will write a thread on how to find one..
Looking forward to reading that thread! Update us here when you've posted. :)
@Jeff Betschart, I just closed on a home this month and am in the process of using Only Choice as my PM. I can let you know how it goes but for now I am just starting off with them.
Very interested in an update here! We closed around the same time last year and went on to use OC PM.
@Anna Lee Well it hasn't been great. Communication is really bad but has gotten slightly better. I haven't run into as many problems as other but am now a little nervous continuing on with them. I know I just got charged $150 for spring cleanup fee and I never signed up for that in my contract. Also a $300 resurface on a tub. I asked for pictures of work completed.....that was 5 months ago and never received a response. Would be interested in switching to Plaid property management but not sure how to proceed. Still waiting for April's rent to be deposited. Also I had asked to talk about increasing rent before the new lease was signed. They never responded and resigned the tenant to the same amount. This is my only property currently so I am definitely learning the hard way.
@Anna Lee Well it hasn't been great. Communication is really bad but has gotten slightly better. I haven't run into as many problems as other but am now a little nervous continuing on with them. I know I just got charged $150 for spring cleanup fee and I never signed up for that in my contract. Also a $300 resurface on a tub. I asked for pictures of work completed.....that was 5 months ago and never received a response. Would be interested in switching to Plaid property management but not sure how to proceed. Still waiting for April's rent to be deposited. Also I had asked to talk about increasing rent before the new lease was signed. They never responded and resigned the tenant to the same amount. This is my only property currently so I am definitely learning the hard way.
Most PMs have an early termination fee listed on the PMA but (unverified) those can be negotiated or waived if things get really bad to save either party from dealing with potential mitigation. Personally, I would reach out to Plaid and let them know that you're interested in switching and see what they recommend. Please let me know if you proceed with any of this. I'm currently content with my PM but can always use the insight.
@Jason Medema It doesn't get better. OCPM renewed a lease when I asked them not to. They tried to charged me for utility bills they didn't pay and for mowing they didn't do. They didn't contact prospective tenants to rent my property - 17 in January alone. I got a city citation to clean up front yard they ignored for 5 months although assured me it was done. My property was vacant for 7 months. It was time to leave. They said they wouldn't charge me the $1,000 cancellation fee in contract because of the difficulties then changed their mind saying I had to sign their "hush" termination agreement. They wouldn't need this agreement if they had customers best interest which is required by MO law.
If you want to change, contact the new property management company and they will set you up. Good luck!
@Anna Lee Well it hasn't been great. Communication is really bad but has gotten slightly better. I haven't run into as many problems as other but am now a little nervous continuing on with them. I know I just got charged $150 for spring cleanup fee and I never signed up for that in my contract. Also a $300 resurface on a tub. I asked for pictures of work completed.....that was 5 months ago and never received a response. Would be interested in switching to Plaid property management but not sure how to proceed. Still waiting for April's rent to be deposited. Also I had asked to talk about increasing rent before the new lease was signed. They never responded and resigned the tenant to the same amount. This is my only property currently so I am definitely learning the hard way.
I can relate on all of the above! Happy to discuss more over DM, if you need someone to compare notes with. I think we're in parallel positions. Their management and practices have gotten shady AF over the last year-ish.
Please do not choose Only Choice PM. They won't pay rent to owners. They collected 3 months of rent from my tenant and only paid me 1.5 months. They never answer the phone, charge you so much money beside 8% property management fee. They did not do their job when the tenant moved out, the property had so much trash and was destroyed. You will end up spending more money to fix the property than the rent you collect.
I would like to clarify for anyone researching this firm or reading the grievances of current OCPM clients (myself included):
At the time of my property purchase and contract entry with OCPM (August 2019), they had great reviews and feedback, according to my research and conversations with peers. Due diligence was done to the best of my ability, however I am new to RE, and must attribute some of this pain to the learning curve + inevitable mistakes made based in simple inexperience. However, coincidentally, at the time of my purchase, OCPM seemed to have significant internal disruptions (turn-over, etc), that not only created issues, but also revealed major foundational cracks in their admin and internal systems, for which they no longer had the manpower to slap bandaids on as they arose. A slippery slope that picked up speed and is now spinning 100% out of control with the MO shelter orders, which are crippling their ability to handle anything remotely, including owner payments. That fact is wildly unacceptable to me.
I suppose all of that is to say- thanks for the advice, feedback, and suggestions. While we may be learning a hard lesson in PM vetting, I do believe that many suffering at OCPM's hands are also victims of timing and deceptive business practices designed to mislead us newbies- starting with the lack of communication. So hopefully offering some solidarity here for those also in this nightmare.
Another point of clarification: these frustrations do not trickle down to Rent To Retirement, where I purchased the property. No issues there. Zach is very helpful.
Don't beat yourself up for it. These mistakes are inevitable and it's part of our growth as investors. One of the things that help me is to separate my self-worth from the mistakes I make. Yea... I've made mistakes but that has nothing to do with my self-worth or who I am. I'm a great RE investor in training. Also, the assumption -- on one of the comments above -- that I was nick-and-diming wasn't really appropriate in my opinion. It doesn't help any of us in this situation. Being cheap is certainly one thing I'm not; I will go for value over cost anytime, but when starting out I had no idea and didn't really understand the KC market, so it's a learning experience.
Anyways, good luck and let us know if you need help. I'm here to help in any way I can.
Best regards!
I am a renter using OCPM and I wish I read the reviews when I started renting from them back in 2018. The first year was decent, I had my fair share of late responses to emails, late responses to phone calls. Things they promised to fix since I was a rush to move in due to me losing everything in a house fire and my first PM was unable to get me anything. The second year though, a complete nightmare. No return calls, I had to hold on to rent to get them to call me. Because of course, they're looking for me for non rental payment. Their maintenance turnover is huge. The biggest issue had been the utility bills in this home. My gas bill in the winter is over $300/month. I've called them and complained that the ONLY thing using gas is the furnace. I keep it 75-77 a small three bedroom. They came in and used material that has fiberglass and left it all in the floor of the basement. I have kids and pets. I ended up having it removed myself. My electric is so messed up here. Because of my gas bill, I decided to use heaters in two bedrooms. Well lucky me, I can't use two heaters at one time. Their response, turn on the furnace. I had an electrician come out, they advised the wiring in the house is so messed up that the only option is to have the house rewired. He said the electrical system is still using "knob and tube" wiring. Oh I forgot to mention, I now have to plug my refrigerator up using an extension cord because the outlet behind the fridge is not working. I don't even know if the owner knows any of this. I love this house but they won't fix anything and is now charging me maintenance fees. Now, these fees started popping up after I paid my rent which means, I started incurring late fees on fees I never knew I had. I wish I knew who the owner of this house was...
Thanks for listening
Hello Uyen, I checked into your account and see that you have been paid all rents owed to you. I am not seeing any outstanding payments due to you. I also note that you were only charged the 8% management fee along with any repairs or registration fees that we paid for your property. Unfortunately, some tenants are just bad when it comes to moving out and leaving the property free of debris and in good condition. I do show that a security deposit disposition was completed and money returned to you for damages in accordance with the state requirements. I do understand your frustration, but would ask that you update your post to reflect the facts. Thank you and best of luck to you.