Anyone have experience with Home365?
Hi All,
Looking to see if anyone has used Home365 property management. They are expanding nationwide. I'm curious to hear just from people who have actually used them or interviewed them. Thanks!
I had a very poor experience with Home365.
* They have a vendor bidding system for all maintenance. It sounds like a tech capitalist dream, but in practice you get screwed. I would only ever get 1 bid from some vendor I never heard of, two towns over. Having a handyman is essential. Example bids: $400 to snake a drain, $250 to lay an insect trap.
* No proactive maintenance, and even the turnovers were inconsistent. If I'm not onsite, I really rely on hearing "hey, consider replacing this carpet". I never got that, ever. Just a really random list of items. In fact, it was even worse because they overlooked a ton of code violations (missing smoke detectors, etc.)
* Accounting system is f-ed. I rejected a hare-brained project proposal, and a -$14k charge stayed on my account forever. No one was able to clear it, even after multiple attempts, and it caused Home365 to stopped paying my bills (pending owner contribution). And no one was empowered to get out a checkbook and just deal with it. They were all trapped in their glorious tech and couldn't manage the basic functions of property management.
Anyway, avoid.
Sorry for the late response - only saw your guys posts now. Thanks a bunch for weighing in - I actually did sign on with them, with the OneRate plan. I'll be on top of things with them and post updates here so hopefully other people can benefit from my review. I hope I have better luck than you guys.
Hi Stefan- any update? I know it has only been a few weeks but I am considering them for a small investment with the one rate plan, as well. Any info would be greatly appreciated :)
Not really any update to give, my current PM collected rent last week, Homes365 takes over next month. I've got a contact at Homes who picks up the phone and seems on top of things. Make sure you understand the monthly deductible, and that the rent and maintenance guarantees don't kick in right away. Please feel free to check back in with me for an update.
will do- thanks!
Do you have any updates you can share?
@Todd Bednarz @Scott Michael Gross
Updates:
Books were a total mess, it took A LOT of phone calls to get everything straightened out, but ultimately I got paid 100% with no fees for the first 2 months. I guess I was expecting this but it was still a pain in the a**. They've been slow about getting issues taken care of, like setting up lawn mowing for my two duplexes.
So in summary, financially it is what they are promising, but it's a mess.
@Stefan D. thank you so much for sharing! I, actually, purchased a property from them in PA a couple of weeks ago and it has been quite difficult dealing with them. I am hoping that it is just a "we are just getting started thing," but I am not hopeful. Seems like it will be a lot of effort on my end, which was not what they marketed and I was hoping for.
How did you get them to give you the first two months for free?
Originally I was just going to move one unit over to them, but they offered me a deal if I moved my whole portfolio over to them.
I hope it saves time later on when I don't have to nitpick over maintenance costs since I'll just be paying the $200 deductible - but I do worry that they'll let my properties fall apart since it seems to take them really long to address any issues. Right now the borough of Avalon is complaining about my lawn not being mowed, it's been 3 weeks since the complaint and they still haven't set up lawn service.
How was buying a home from them? I have been watching the deals they are emailing out.
So the buying process was quite smooth because the agent that we used with them was amazing. The local bank that we used for financing was a bit annoying at the end but it all got done, more headaches that you should have been but not the worst.
But I agree with what you are saying- it moves slowly. We are still waiting on rent checks to be shown on the dashboard, there has been a rent dispute with the current tenant and the prior owner (not 365's fault but still has not been settled), and one other issue for something that needed to be patched up. I am really hoping that it's just onboarding and then smoother sailing from here...
let's stay updated as we might be able to help each other out.
Quote from @Scott Michael Gross:
So the buying process was quite smooth because the agent that we used with them was amazing. The local bank that we used for financing was a bit annoying at the end but it all got done, more headaches that you should have been but not the worst.
But I agree with what you are saying- it moves slowly. We are still waiting on rent checks to be shown on the dashboard, there has been a rent dispute with the current tenant and the prior owner (not 365's fault but still has not been settled), and one other issue for something that needed to be patched up. I am really hoping that it's just onboarding and then smoother sailing from here...
let's stay updated as we might be able to help each other out.
Stefan, Scott - just got off the phone with someone who was telling me about their OneRate plan, sounded interesting for an out of state investor but more than a bit hesitant to consider this as a serious option after hearing about your experiences. Def following what happens with u guys closely! Doesn’t sound great but let’s see if things get better, please keep sharing updates 🙏
Quote from @Denis Lin:
Quote from @Scott Michael Gross:
So the buying process was quite smooth because the agent that we used with them was amazing. The local bank that we used for financing was a bit annoying at the end but it all got done, more headaches that you should have been but not the worst.
But I agree with what you are saying- it moves slowly. We are still waiting on rent checks to be shown on the dashboard, there has been a rent dispute with the current tenant and the prior owner (not 365's fault but still has not been settled), and one other issue for something that needed to be patched up. I am really hoping that it's just onboarding and then smoother sailing from here...
let's stay updated as we might be able to help each other out.
Stefan, Scott - just got off the phone with someone who was telling me about their OneRate plan, sounded interesting for an out of state investor but more than a bit hesitant to consider this as a serious option after hearing about your experiences. Def following what happens with u guys closely! Doesn’t sound great but let’s see if things get better, please keep sharing updates 🙏
@Denis Lin and @Stefan D.wanted to update you (and the rest of the BP world) that we have properties in both York and Harrisburgh with 365. One is going really well and the other has been extremely frustrating. I guess it really depends on who you get as property managers. We are getting another property in Pittsburgh (closing next week, hopefully) and part of the reason we wanted to do different cities is because we expected that this would be the case. For the frustrating city, we just went higher up in the company to try and change things up.
Will continue to update. Hope you guys are doing well!
Thanks for the update @Scott Michael Gross
I'm getting a bit more traction with them and I think I see the light at the end of tunnel for getting the accounting issues fixed. It took setting up regular meetings with the PM (most people at the company, including the CEO have the option to book something on their calendar from a link in their email signature).
Some other updates: I'm on the OneRate plan. They have been covering maintenance as promised with a $199 deduction, although be aware that sewer line issues are not covered.
They have not yet reimbursed me for the rent guarantee I'm owed on my 1 delinquent property, I hope we get that squared away soon.
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Quote from @Stefan D.:
Thanks for the update @Scott Michael Gross
I'm getting a bit more traction with them and I think I see the light at the end of tunnel for getting the accounting issues fixed. It took setting up regular meetings with the PM (most people at the company, including the CEO have the option to book something on their calendar from a link in their email signature).
Some other updates: I'm on the OneRate plan. They have been covering maintenance as promised with a $199 deduction, although be aware that sewer line issues are not covered.
They have not yet reimbursed me for the rent guarantee I'm owed on my 1 delinquent property, I hope we get that squared away soon.
in my mind any company that provides a rent guarantee will soon be out of bizzness full stop..
@Jay Hinrichs They are charging a higher monthly management fee. You own a lot of properties, you don't think delinquent rent payments are something you can forecast? Or do you mean specifically right now with a looming recession?
Appreciate the replies!
I would say run from Home365 and stay far away! I had them managing my duplex for a little over a year I am so frustrated that I told them they won't be collecting another dollar of rent! It was costing me a lot more money and time than if I would be managing myself. The list of problems I had with them in a yeas time is so long I could fill a page!
Hello Stefan D sorry to hear you already did a contract with Home365. Welcome to your worse nightmare. Just like the last comment, the list of problems we have is just too long to add here, but from the bad screening of the tenant to the work order that you pay and NEVER get done, you will need to inspect your property every time "they complete a work order." Expense that they charge you, and you will never know why until you schedule a call. just getting in touch with them is a problem. Now in your case, you doing Onerate, which will be even worse. These people will let your property fall apart, repair they will go cheap and Capex you dont want to know. After a couple of years, you will be out of money to replace what they didn't do right.
I'm talking because I'm an out-of-state investor too, I have a couple of properties In PA, and it had not been fun, because I have expense more time trying to manage them, than the tenant lol...
good luck hope you can get out with all those fees they change you after you finish the contract.
@Dre N. Check this out
Thanks @Carlos Medina.
As previously mentioned, stay away.. I’m now battling a civil lawsuit (that I wasn’t informed about) thanks to Home 365 dropping the ball on a tenant issue and they’re not helping. Communication is terrible, I’ve gone upwards of 2 weeks before getting a response
Out of the dozen or so I’ve dealt with at Home 365 there’s only 3 people that have been great to work with. One of them is my RE agent. His team has been amazing.
Hi All- updating my experience. It's not good. My partner and I are quite frustrated... the onerate is barely covering anything (it has covered one bigger expense, so that is good). The problems listed in the last few posts have been my experience. Sometimes I think things are about to turn around with them and then something else that doesn't make sense pops up. Hopefully I come back in a few weeks and update for the better but I am not hopeful.
@Dre N. who is your agent?
Quote from @Scott Michael Gross:
Hi All- updating my experience. It's not good. My partner and I are quite frustrated... the onerate is barely covering anything (it has covered one bigger expense, so that is good). The problems listed in the last few posts have been my experience. Sometimes I think things are about to turn around with them and then something else that doesn't make sense pops up. Hopefully I come back in a few weeks and update for the better but I am not hopeful.
@Dre N. who is your agent?
I'll PM you. While I only have good things to say about him, I don't want his name showing up in a negative light being associated with this post.
Sold my business to them and they've lost nearly all of my clients in less than a year. The information I've received from not just my old employees, but employees on their own staff, is that the issues I see (and that are being relayed to me by previous clients) are systemic and nationwide. It has been absolutely heart-wrenching to watch what has happened to the business I built over 15+ years. Their software was built in-house and is full of bugs and issues they're constantly trying to fix. Their customer service supervisor (who was not one of my old employees) once told me they receive over 1000 tickets a day, had over 2000 in the queue, and there were 10-15 people to handle them all. My experience has been that they're trying to centralize management and decision making, but its just as difficult for local internal employees to get answers from those centralized locations, as it is for those of us outside of the company. Their "local metro managers" have no authority, no access, and no way to actually help - they basically act as a buffer between the client and the home office. The metros can't answer questions about accounting because they don't enter the rents, the bills, or pay them. They can't answer questions about leasing, because they don't handle leasing - its all done outside. They can't answer most questions about maintenance because coordinators in outside offices handle everything. The metro manager in my area told me he was discouraged from proactively going to properties (who's actually managing them then?!). Some of the PMs we had were converted to "field managers" who ended up just being leasing agents with no direction to actually manage the property.
Their maintenance software is even worse than their management software - with even more bugs. They won't assign tasks to vendors unless owners have money - and expect owners to proactively view their portals to see requests - and depend on automation to get their attention. Work being falsely approved is an issue as is getting people on the maintenance side to fix anything found to be wrong. They know they have problems - they've told me as much - but their maintenance manager just grins and bears it as they wait for change because IT controls it all.
As a manager of 15+ years, and of at one time nearly 4,000 doors, it appears to me that their current structure is not conducive to the hands-on, seasoned, fast-paced, and decision-driven style you need to be a successful manager. To the contrary, it appears they're trying to build a system that makes management as hands-off as possible for themselves - not the owner.
Ended up moving my portfolio away from them and its like a breath of fresh air. Responsive, knowledgeable, ownership, urgency, competency - things I haven't experienced with Home365 at any level. The word "stark" doesn't even begin to describe the contrast.
Also, be careful of OneRate - they've increased the pricing, started removing coverage, and have had their CEO warn them of overselling its features, all within the last year.
