Stessa - Awful customer service.

Managing Your Property
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Stessa - Awful customer service.

Marc S.
New to Real Estate · NY · Member since 2015 · 119 posts · 36 votes

I recently locked down my first property as I start on my real estate adventure.  I tried to research the best and most user-friendly PM site that did not charge a fee to maintain a property, being that it was my first one and I was self-managing and not using a PM.  

I signed up for Stessa because they don't charge a fee for 1 property and appeared to have a user-friendly website.  So far, they have shown to have the absolutely worse customer service response time. I had issues with linking a bank account to their "Stessa Bank account". They purposely do not have any means of speaking to someone live over a phone. They make you use their "bubble" support button. I submitted a help question on Friday, today is now Tuesday and still no response.  

Lesson learned by me and my first experience with a PM website. Avoid them if you want any type of decent response time or customer service response. 

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Devin RedmondPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Bay Area CA | Maui HI · Member since 2018 · 49 posts · 47 votes
1y

Just want to jump in here to reiterate what @Michael Smythe posted previously. I've been with Stessa/Roofstock since 2018 in a number of different roles. The Stessa platform is not a full-service PM solution, it's a suite of online tools to track income and expenses, generate financial reports, screen tenants, collect rent, track capital spend, etc. Our customers are a mix of 1) DIY owner/operators and, 2) investors who use one or many full-service PMs to handle day-to-day operations in their local markets.

@Joel Lazar We do keep an eye on the BP forums and I agree we could have provided more context and/or clearer next steps to resolving your issue via our 1:1 convos. The TL;DR here is that there are 10,000+ unique banks and mortgage lenders in the US. Their financial reporting standards, uptime, and reliability vary greatly and we have invested significantly in systems and rules that aim to ease the manual burden that has traditionally been associated with categorizing and tracking this data at scale. It's not 100% bulletproof (as you've discovered) but we do have a workaround for your specific situation, which we'll reach out and communicate to you via our normal 1:1 support channels.

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  • Brock Adams
    Chapin, SC · Member since 2013 · 73 posts · 19 votes
    2y

    Thanks for sharing your feedback on Stessa as I feel that not having a good response time from any entity is an issue for most automated systems with no strong back office support.  I recently attended a webinar, Master your Rentals: Save Money and Time with effective Self-management.  Very good webinar however the BP Pro membership was stated to be $312/annual ?? but it looks like more when you try to sign up.  Looks like decent PM software but again the support is huge for me.  Will review more before pulling the trigger.  

    0Reply
  • Thomas TalbertBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Austin, TX · Member since 2024 · 96 posts · 71 votes
    2y

    Something to look for that may result in better communication is looking for a company that has a "portfolio" structure. That just means that they will have a single property manager that is in charge of a subsect of the overall portfolio so maybe 1 property manager is in charge of 75 homes. That generally means there is one person whose sole job is to respond to you. My company has a departmental structure however all of our staff members' phone numbers and emails are on our website so people can get in touch with whoever is best suited to tackle a specific issue. Hope this helps!

    [email protected]512-342-9566
    Prime Properties4.4244 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Spencer Abeyta
    Property Manager · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2017 · 126 posts · 67 votes
    2y

    You've learned a valuable lesson in that not all PM companies communicate the same. You need to decide what you like in terms of communication and then determine what price you are willing to pay for that service. Having a person answer the phone costs the PM company substantially more than operating a support button with a delayed response. But the PM company with the live person answering phones will cost more. 

    Because this is your first rental property, I would recommend finding an amazing PM company and paying them what they are worth. You will learn so much from them that it will be worth what they charge. You have to pay for knowledge one way or another.

    0Reply
  • Noah BaconPro Member
    Property Manager · Lansdale, PA · Member since 2021 · 844 posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Brock Adams:

    Thanks for sharing your feedback on Stessa as I feel that not having a good response time from any entity is an issue for most automated systems with no strong back office support.  I recently attended a webinar, Master your Rentals: Save Money and Time with effective Self-management.  Very good webinar however the BP Pro membership was stated to be $312/annual ?? but it looks like more when you try to sign up.  Looks like decent PM software but again the support is huge for me.  Will review more before pulling the trigger.  


     Hey Brock,

    I am glad to hear you enjoyed the webinar yesterday! If you use the code PMLIVE24 at checkout you will get 20% off ($312 at checkout) your first year of Pro. I hope this helps, and let me know if there is anything else I can help with!

    0Reply
  • Michael SmytheBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    2y

    @Marc S. hope you've learned from this that you get what you pay for!

    You're complaining about bad customer service from a FREE provider. Really?

    Hope you stop and think about that for a moment:)

    If you want better service find a service you that charges.

    @Thomas Talbert, @Spencer Abeyta - appears you don't understand that Stessa is NOT a PMC!

    They are only a software provider for DIY rental property owners. See below link:

    Stessa New Customer FAQ | Stessa Help Center

    Logical Property Management4.9460 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
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    • Joel Lazar
      Investor · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2020 · 121 posts · 35 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Michael Smythe:

      @Marc S. hope you've learned from this that you get what you pay for!

      You're complaining about bad customer service from a FREE provider. Really?

      Hope you stop and think about that for a moment:)

      If you want better service find a service you that charges.

      @Thomas Talbert, @Spencer Abeyta - appears you don't understand that Stessa is NOT a PMC!

      They are only a software provider for DIY rental property owners. See below link:

      Stessa New Customer FAQ | Stessa Help Center

       @Michael Smythe its not free. I pay for the upgraded service.

      0Reply
  • Kevin Zeng
    Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    2y

    I just paid their $300 a year (cheapest PM paid software). A PM company easily charges 3-5% of your monthly revenue. So far a shoutout to Christopher @ customer service who is doing an amazing job. I got response within 1 hour since I am a paid customer. If you want something free, expect less and be happy it is free honestly. I also used Baselane and their UI is great but customer service is zero. I was willing to pay but there isn't an option. Stessa is the way to go especially it's back by a bigger company. 

    I don't like their cash mgt thou but I think they are doing some improvement. Paying this annual amount is way to support their goal and I am on board.  

    0Reply
  • Mark S.
    Real Estate Investor · Saint Paul, MN · Member since 2017 · 543 posts · 475 votes
    2y

    @Marc S. I switched from Stessa to REI Hub and found it to be a great decision. Among other things, you can actually talk with someone if you need to!

    1Reply
  • Joel Lazar
    Investor · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2020 · 121 posts · 35 votes
    1y

    I have been using Stessa for 3 years and the service was great in the beginning but became progressively worse in the last year. Now they added a new feature that is entering my mortgage payments as income. Contacted them on Feb 11th. 4 days later still no response.

    They don't even respond to post on BP.  Its a bad sign.  Does anyone know if Stessa is going out of business?

    0Reply
  • Joel Lazar
    Investor · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2020 · 121 posts · 35 votes
    1y

    STESSA HAS GONE DOWNHILL IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS

    I've used them for about 3 years and was very happy. Service was same day.  Now it takes weeks for them to respond and when they do its not a very warm engagement.  They had a upgrade that synched your mortgage lenders with your ledger. OBVIOUSLY you pay the lender. However this new feature shows my payments as income to me. I checked the lender web site and they show my payments correctly. Here is STESSA's response after waiting 2 weeks for it:

    Courtney • 16h ago Unfortunately, this isn't a bug. Our system only knows how to pull the data that is received from the Connected Accounts. This is how the mortgage records a payment towards the loan. We pull the raw data from the mortgage.

    Courtney
    Senior Customer Success Associate
    ​Stessa | Roofstock

    0Reply
  • Devin RedmondPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Bay Area CA | Maui HI · Member since 2018 · 49 posts · 47 votes
    1y

    Just want to jump in here to reiterate what @Michael Smythe posted previously. I've been with Stessa/Roofstock since 2018 in a number of different roles. The Stessa platform is not a full-service PM solution, it's a suite of online tools to track income and expenses, generate financial reports, screen tenants, collect rent, track capital spend, etc. Our customers are a mix of 1) DIY owner/operators and, 2) investors who use one or many full-service PMs to handle day-to-day operations in their local markets.

    @Joel Lazar We do keep an eye on the BP forums and I agree we could have provided more context and/or clearer next steps to resolving your issue via our 1:1 convos. The TL;DR here is that there are 10,000+ unique banks and mortgage lenders in the US. Their financial reporting standards, uptime, and reliability vary greatly and we have invested significantly in systems and rules that aim to ease the manual burden that has traditionally been associated with categorizing and tracking this data at scale. It's not 100% bulletproof (as you've discovered) but we do have a workaround for your specific situation, which we'll reach out and communicate to you via our normal 1:1 support channels.

    2Reply
    • Joel Lazar
      Investor · Kissimmee, FL · Member since 2020 · 121 posts · 35 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Devin Redmond:

      Just want to jump in here to reiterate what @Michael Smythe posted previously. I've been with Stessa/Roofstock since 2018 in a number of different roles. The Stessa platform is not a full-service PM solution, it's a suite of online tools to track income and expenses, generate financial reports, screen tenants, collect rent, track capital spend, etc. Our customers are a mix of 1) DIY owner/operators and, 2) investors who use one or many full-service PMs to handle day-to-day operations in their local markets.

      @Joel Lazar We do keep an eye on the BP forums and I agree we could have provided more context and/or clearer next steps to resolving your issue via our 1:1 convos. The TL;DR here is that there are 10,000+ unique banks and mortgage lenders in the US. Their financial reporting standards, uptime, and reliability vary greatly and we have invested significantly in systems and rules that aim to ease the manual burden that has traditionally been associated with categorizing and tracking this data at scale. It's not 100% bulletproof (as you've discovered) but we do have a workaround for your specific situation, whng=ich we'll reach out and communicate to you via our normal 1:1 support channels.

      @Devin Redmond, I believe it was you who was servicing me a couple of years ago when the service was good. I have posted on the forums and never got a response. I am still using Stessa and would hate to switch. But service is imperative.

      0Reply
  • Melanie ThomasBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · San Antonio · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 490 votes
    1y
    I had a similar experience a few years ago! I agree with another comment here – you get what you pay for. In my opinion, RentVine is the new gold standard. Set yourself up for growth and success from the beginning and give RentVine a call. Good luck & happy investing!
    [email protected]
    RentWerx Property Management4.73310 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
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