Does anyone use Exit Realty as your property management company in Grande Prairie? The owner told me that he has REIN members as clients. We`re still looking for a good company up there.
Thanks,
Dianne
Thanks,
Dianne
Exit Realty Grande Prairie
- Thread starter DianneDachyshyn
- Start date
Hi Dianne,
I would ask the company for at least 3 names of who they believe to be REIN Members and call those people to see what their experiences are. A lot of companies like to `say` they work with REIN Members... but do they provide REIN Member level service.
If they don`t, then the good news is you have done your due diligence.
I would ask the company for at least 3 names of who they believe to be REIN Members and call those people to see what their experiences are. A lot of companies like to `say` they work with REIN Members... but do they provide REIN Member level service.
If they don`t, then the good news is you have done your due diligence.
Yes, I did that and the responses have been very positive. Not every person was a REIN member, but a few were. We are still investigating, and we won`t be too quick to sign another contract with a management company. Two bad ones are enough for a long time.
QUOTE (Rascal @ Nov 9 2007, 03:37 PM) Yes, I did that and the responses have been very positive. Not every person was a REIN member, but a few were. We are still investigating, and we won`t be too quick to sign another contract with a management company. Two bad ones are enough for a long time.
Can you tell me which management companies you had a bad experience with in GP?
Thanks, Rich
Can you tell me which management companies you had a bad experience with in GP?
Thanks, Rich
By all means. We started with Prime Property Management and then moved to Carver. We just cancelled our contract with Carver.
I would not recommend either one of these companies based on my experience. I could tell you more if you email me.
I would not recommend either one of these companies based on my experience. I could tell you more if you email me.
QUOTE (rnieb @ Nov 10 2007, 12:46 PM) Can you tell me which management companies you had a bad experience with in GP?
Thanks, Rich
I was thinking of using Prime because I had heard nothing but good things but now I am starting to wonder if they are the best option. Tell me about your experience with them.
Thanks,
Rich
Thanks, Rich
I was thinking of using Prime because I had heard nothing but good things but now I am starting to wonder if they are the best option. Tell me about your experience with them.
Thanks,
Rich
QUOTE (rnieb @ Nov 14 2007, 10:55 PM) I was thinking of using Prime because I had heard nothing but good things but now I am starting to wonder if they are the best option. Tell me about your experience with them.Thanks,Rich
One thing that I have learned through this is to NOT choose a PM company based on someone`s recommendation of them. That`s how we chose Prime in the first place. Interview them and ask the right questions. I have to say that we thought we had done that. We did an interview of sorts, but what they said they would do and what they actually did were two different things, and we took them at their word and relied heavily on others` recommendations (but that was based on heresay--people saying things like, "I`ve heard Prime is one of the better companies." Ask them what they are basing that on).
Both companies that we have tried so far promised to rent our place, but they did next to nothing to make that happen. They placed ads in the paper and we are now paying for them, but the ads were unimpressive. Look at their classified ads and see what you think. Look at their online ads (Prime has some on www.rentboard.ca) and see if they put much effort into them. Do they bother to insert a picture? Call the company as if you are a renter and see how easy or difficult it is to get someone to help you. Another is to drive by some of their properties or, if possible, speak to some of their tenants. Tenants put a whole different spin on things. I had a chance to talk to the neighbours in our cul-de-sac when we stayed at our house and none of them were positive about PM companies. They all had stories to tell about neglect and frustration. One woman that I showed our house to recently had tried weeks ago to contact the company to ask about our place and gave up in frustration because she couldn`t get a person on the phone and no one returned her calls.
Besides advertising in the paper and, in Prime`s case, putting your listing on their voice mail and on the front door of their office, there isn`t much else they do. Neither company contacted us to keep us updated unless I hounded them. Even at that, it was hard to get information and generally took a day or more to get through or to get a call answered, and the classic response from both companies was to lower my rent. I must say that Carver was better at communication (she really seemed to care when I spoke to her) but the results were nil and we lost renters by sending them to their office. Another classic line to explain why I had to wait days for a return call or email is, "We`ve been crazy busy around here. I`m run off my feet. It`s the _______ of the month (didn`t matter what time of the month, it was always the busiest time).
Drive by some of their properties and see if there are signs in the windows and how large they are. Prime didn`t bother to put any signs up at our place. Carver used the smallest For Rent sign that you can buy. It cost $1.00 (tag was still on it), and it was little bigger than a large index card. Neither company put up directional signs, which in our case was critical because our house is tucked away in a corner and it is easily missed. Overall, neither company was proactive in any sense. Several times the person at Carver sighed on the phone and said something like, "I don`t know what`s wrong out there. We haven`t had one call all week. The market is bad." At the same time, investors that I know were renting their properties and at much higher rents. Makes you wonder.
Those are some tips based on our experience. In no way are we experts and we still have much to learn, but we know a lot more now than we did three months ago.
Good luck!
One thing that I have learned through this is to NOT choose a PM company based on someone`s recommendation of them. That`s how we chose Prime in the first place. Interview them and ask the right questions. I have to say that we thought we had done that. We did an interview of sorts, but what they said they would do and what they actually did were two different things, and we took them at their word and relied heavily on others` recommendations (but that was based on heresay--people saying things like, "I`ve heard Prime is one of the better companies." Ask them what they are basing that on).
Both companies that we have tried so far promised to rent our place, but they did next to nothing to make that happen. They placed ads in the paper and we are now paying for them, but the ads were unimpressive. Look at their classified ads and see what you think. Look at their online ads (Prime has some on www.rentboard.ca) and see if they put much effort into them. Do they bother to insert a picture? Call the company as if you are a renter and see how easy or difficult it is to get someone to help you. Another is to drive by some of their properties or, if possible, speak to some of their tenants. Tenants put a whole different spin on things. I had a chance to talk to the neighbours in our cul-de-sac when we stayed at our house and none of them were positive about PM companies. They all had stories to tell about neglect and frustration. One woman that I showed our house to recently had tried weeks ago to contact the company to ask about our place and gave up in frustration because she couldn`t get a person on the phone and no one returned her calls.
Besides advertising in the paper and, in Prime`s case, putting your listing on their voice mail and on the front door of their office, there isn`t much else they do. Neither company contacted us to keep us updated unless I hounded them. Even at that, it was hard to get information and generally took a day or more to get through or to get a call answered, and the classic response from both companies was to lower my rent. I must say that Carver was better at communication (she really seemed to care when I spoke to her) but the results were nil and we lost renters by sending them to their office. Another classic line to explain why I had to wait days for a return call or email is, "We`ve been crazy busy around here. I`m run off my feet. It`s the _______ of the month (didn`t matter what time of the month, it was always the busiest time).
Drive by some of their properties and see if there are signs in the windows and how large they are. Prime didn`t bother to put any signs up at our place. Carver used the smallest For Rent sign that you can buy. It cost $1.00 (tag was still on it), and it was little bigger than a large index card. Neither company put up directional signs, which in our case was critical because our house is tucked away in a corner and it is easily missed. Overall, neither company was proactive in any sense. Several times the person at Carver sighed on the phone and said something like, "I don`t know what`s wrong out there. We haven`t had one call all week. The market is bad." At the same time, investors that I know were renting their properties and at much higher rents. Makes you wonder.
Those are some tips based on our experience. In no way are we experts and we still have much to learn, but we know a lot more now than we did three months ago.
Good luck!
I am also in Grande Prairie and have been unimpressed by Property Management (Richer Realty). Much of the same stuff as it sounds like with Carver they sound like they sound like they care when on the phone and meetimng with them. But results renting out places now that things are slower is not there a I have a redone 2 bed basement suite decent part of town $1300 inc Util that has been sitting for 2 months and they have recomended lowering rent. No signs in yard etc. They dont do good maintence painting ect. In their defence they do find good tenants that always pay. I can`t say the same about some of the ones i`ve found on my own. All in all from what ive heard about other management in town they might be better than most and I don`t want to do it myself.
If somebody has had some good experiences let`s hear them..
If somebody has had some good experiences let`s hear them..
QUOTE (TIMWEMBLEY @ Nov 15 2007, 11:59 AM) I am also in Grande Prairie and have been unimpressed by Property Management (Richer Realty). Much of the same stuff as it sounds like with Carver they sound like they sound like they care when on the phone and meetimng with them. But results renting out places now that things are slower is not there a I have a redone 2 bed basement suite decent part of town $1300 inc Util that has been sitting for 2 months and they have recomended lowering rent. No signs in yard etc. They dont do good maintence painting ect. In their defence they do find good tenants that always pay. I can`t say the same about some of the ones i`ve found on my own. All in all from what ive heard about other management in town they might be better than most and I don`t want to do it myself.
If somebody has had some good experiences let`s hear them..
Well, here is my good experience:
We have decided to sign with Exit. They gave me four names of out-of-town investors (at least two of them are REIN members) and three of them wrote me to praise the company. One person (another REIN member) could only speak to their service as realtors, but he was impressed with that part.
We put them on the job last Tuesday, and they have been hard at it all week, taking applications, screening people, putting our ad on their website, showing our properties and keeping us informed of each step. They also tailor their service to our specifications re: leases, etc. Jackie showed our place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and even went back to the office after closing and faxed me the applications!
It`s been terrific, and we`re confident that both sides will be rented by the end of the month, if not sooner. Their website (www.exitrealtydiscovery.com or www.exitgp.ca) includes a virtual tour of each property, and they no sooner took over our properties than they had a call about our place from a family from New Brunswick who is planning a move.
In the future, I believe that we will continue to do much of the marketing, but we will work alongside Jackie at Exit to get good tenants into our properties. It feels great to have someone in town that we can trust and that we know is taking care of our business.
They charge a flat 10% with no additional fees for moving in or out, etc., and they don`t charge anything when the property is vacant. We decided to give them a shot for a year because we`re almost certain that they will do a better job than the other companies that we had considered, and we know that we do not want to manage it ourselves from this distance.
We will keep a close eye on the management (twice burned, third time shy). We included one of our business cards in the gift basket to encourage our new tenants to call us with any concerns or frustrations (provided they have already addressed their concerns to the PM). We will tactfully let them know that we are available if they need to talk about anything. We don`t want to slam the PM company, but if our tenants find that the company isn`t servicing them the way we would expect, we want to know how to reach us about it.
If somebody has had some good experiences let`s hear them..
Well, here is my good experience:
We have decided to sign with Exit. They gave me four names of out-of-town investors (at least two of them are REIN members) and three of them wrote me to praise the company. One person (another REIN member) could only speak to their service as realtors, but he was impressed with that part.
We put them on the job last Tuesday, and they have been hard at it all week, taking applications, screening people, putting our ad on their website, showing our properties and keeping us informed of each step. They also tailor their service to our specifications re: leases, etc. Jackie showed our place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and even went back to the office after closing and faxed me the applications!
It`s been terrific, and we`re confident that both sides will be rented by the end of the month, if not sooner. Their website (www.exitrealtydiscovery.com or www.exitgp.ca) includes a virtual tour of each property, and they no sooner took over our properties than they had a call about our place from a family from New Brunswick who is planning a move.
In the future, I believe that we will continue to do much of the marketing, but we will work alongside Jackie at Exit to get good tenants into our properties. It feels great to have someone in town that we can trust and that we know is taking care of our business.
They charge a flat 10% with no additional fees for moving in or out, etc., and they don`t charge anything when the property is vacant. We decided to give them a shot for a year because we`re almost certain that they will do a better job than the other companies that we had considered, and we know that we do not want to manage it ourselves from this distance.
We will keep a close eye on the management (twice burned, third time shy). We included one of our business cards in the gift basket to encourage our new tenants to call us with any concerns or frustrations (provided they have already addressed their concerns to the PM). We will tactfully let them know that we are available if they need to talk about anything. We don`t want to slam the PM company, but if our tenants find that the company isn`t servicing them the way we would expect, we want to know how to reach us about it.
I have had a horrible experience with Prime PM. They were good for a few months, but then the problems started. The list of issues is almost unbelieveable.
I had 2 properties sit vacant for over 2.5 months. They did not advertise them online, until I pushed them to do so. Then they didn`t put pictures up.
One of the properties had a tenant in the basement that informed sellers & my realtor that he wanted to stay. I arranged for Prime to sign him up. They simply did not get around to it, and so I lost him. The suite was vacant for 1 month, and when it finally got rented, the rent was $100/mth less! It would have been a gift (for me and them).
They did not follow through on putting the utilities in my name on 2 properties, as they said they would. Three months later, one month into a new rental, the gas company turned off the gas. I spend 50min on a 3 way call (PM, me, gas company) straightening things out, and getting the heat turned on (the temp was -17 out), and it cost me $125 of fines from the gas company.
I asked for maintenance to be done on 2 properties, and it took them 2 months to get back to me to tell me they couldn`t find anyone.
I flew to town once, and arranged to meet a rep at Prime with 3 days advance notice. When I got to the meeting location, the rep was no where to be found. I finally got her on the phone, and she said she couldn`t meet me.
One time, I was visiting one of the homes, and the tenants in the basement waiting for the PM to drop off the keys. I started a conversation with the tenants (they seemed to be nice) and found out that they had been waiting for 3 hours! I happen to have a key and so let them in, etc., etc.
I have done a lot of PM work myself, and have never ever had more than 15 days of vacancy in any given year, and in much worse markets (both by time and location) than AB is today.
They always seem to charge a (fairly high) fee for cleaning, even though on the last occasion, my realtor has assured me that the house was cleaned by the sellers.
I need to re-familiarize myself with how to terminate the contract with them. I am very interested in speaking to Exit.
I think there is and will continue to be a big difference between successful and awful PMs. This is mainly because a good one (efficient) will be able to handle more business and make more money. A bad one (inefficient) will have to work harder to manage the same number of properties, make less money, get more churn, frustrate more clients (investors/owners, and renters), and therefore perform even worse. The sad part of this is that the opportunity for PMs in GP are huge!
What do you (folks) think of the idea of grouping together in terms of facing a PM. That way, as a larger group, we can get higher on the company`s priority list. We, as REIN members, are pretty good clients (we cut to the chase, focus on the good, and can really scale the PMs business). I don`t think the group needs a delegated representative or anything that formal. Just band together, communicate that we are a group to the chosen PM, send a list of `members` to the PM every quarter, and most importantly continue to share feedback amoungst ourselves, that can be directed towards the PM to keep them in the loop as to how we are viewing them. What say you, fellow investors in GP?
I had 2 properties sit vacant for over 2.5 months. They did not advertise them online, until I pushed them to do so. Then they didn`t put pictures up.
One of the properties had a tenant in the basement that informed sellers & my realtor that he wanted to stay. I arranged for Prime to sign him up. They simply did not get around to it, and so I lost him. The suite was vacant for 1 month, and when it finally got rented, the rent was $100/mth less! It would have been a gift (for me and them).
They did not follow through on putting the utilities in my name on 2 properties, as they said they would. Three months later, one month into a new rental, the gas company turned off the gas. I spend 50min on a 3 way call (PM, me, gas company) straightening things out, and getting the heat turned on (the temp was -17 out), and it cost me $125 of fines from the gas company.
I asked for maintenance to be done on 2 properties, and it took them 2 months to get back to me to tell me they couldn`t find anyone.
I flew to town once, and arranged to meet a rep at Prime with 3 days advance notice. When I got to the meeting location, the rep was no where to be found. I finally got her on the phone, and she said she couldn`t meet me.
One time, I was visiting one of the homes, and the tenants in the basement waiting for the PM to drop off the keys. I started a conversation with the tenants (they seemed to be nice) and found out that they had been waiting for 3 hours! I happen to have a key and so let them in, etc., etc.
I have done a lot of PM work myself, and have never ever had more than 15 days of vacancy in any given year, and in much worse markets (both by time and location) than AB is today.
They always seem to charge a (fairly high) fee for cleaning, even though on the last occasion, my realtor has assured me that the house was cleaned by the sellers.
I need to re-familiarize myself with how to terminate the contract with them. I am very interested in speaking to Exit.
I think there is and will continue to be a big difference between successful and awful PMs. This is mainly because a good one (efficient) will be able to handle more business and make more money. A bad one (inefficient) will have to work harder to manage the same number of properties, make less money, get more churn, frustrate more clients (investors/owners, and renters), and therefore perform even worse. The sad part of this is that the opportunity for PMs in GP are huge!
What do you (folks) think of the idea of grouping together in terms of facing a PM. That way, as a larger group, we can get higher on the company`s priority list. We, as REIN members, are pretty good clients (we cut to the chase, focus on the good, and can really scale the PMs business). I don`t think the group needs a delegated representative or anything that formal. Just band together, communicate that we are a group to the chosen PM, send a list of `members` to the PM every quarter, and most importantly continue to share feedback amoungst ourselves, that can be directed towards the PM to keep them in the loop as to how we are viewing them. What say you, fellow investors in GP?
I`d support the grouping together in efforts to find a good PM. I`ve been holding off with investing there because I haven`t heard of any good PM`s there and haven`t had any luck finding one either.
I like the idea of presenting ourselves as a group. Exit has a lot to offer. I like the fact that they are small and personable. Jackie is the person who handles PM and she is amazingly thorough with her communication. Maybe it was just that I made a point of telling her how much poor communication bothered me, but whatever the case, she emailed me several times a day and told me every time she showed our place or even spoke to people on the phone about it. She was completely open to us doing our own advertising, to being part of the screening, to using our own lease, etc. She sent me copies of the applications as soon as she received them and even drove around town to remove my directional signs. Whenever I asked her for anything her response was, "No problem," and it was done. Just that fast.
I don`t know what they will be like with the rest of the management, but as for showing the properties and working with us, they have been great. Both sides of our duplex were successfully rented to good tenants within just over a week of switching from Carver to Exit. That was after three months of bungling by both Prime and Carver.
Exit seems to be new at this and are just developing their procedures, so I think that this is excellent timing for a group of us to approach them. I know of one other REIN member who has switched from Quality to Exit since our experience, and I have told Brian that I am speading the word.
I`m not sure how to get this thing moving, so if anyone has an idea, let us know. We are open.
I don`t know what they will be like with the rest of the management, but as for showing the properties and working with us, they have been great. Both sides of our duplex were successfully rented to good tenants within just over a week of switching from Carver to Exit. That was after three months of bungling by both Prime and Carver.
Exit seems to be new at this and are just developing their procedures, so I think that this is excellent timing for a group of us to approach them. I know of one other REIN member who has switched from Quality to Exit since our experience, and I have told Brian that I am speading the word.
I`m not sure how to get this thing moving, so if anyone has an idea, let us know. We are open.
The one word of caution I have on this is to be careful not to overwhelm the management company.
I have seen great companies fall apart because of too dramatic growth. So as you work with Exit, make sure that you all help them build with quality staff. Staffing in the Property Management arena is critical and if a company gows too quickly without adding the appropriate staff IN ADVANCE then there will be issues that include decreased quality of service, increased vacancy and higher stress levels for all involved.
If you are going to all start working together I suggest a well thought out plan be set in place so that everyone wins in the end.
Trust this helps.
I have seen great companies fall apart because of too dramatic growth. So as you work with Exit, make sure that you all help them build with quality staff. Staffing in the Property Management arena is critical and if a company gows too quickly without adding the appropriate staff IN ADVANCE then there will be issues that include decreased quality of service, increased vacancy and higher stress levels for all involved.
If you are going to all start working together I suggest a well thought out plan be set in place so that everyone wins in the end.
Trust this helps.
Just thought I would add my 2 cents as well. We currently own 4 units in GP and use Quality Prop Mgt based on a referral from a fellow REIN member. Last year when things were hot and places basically rented out with no effort and for top dollar, things were good. Now that the market has slowed down the there are more vacancies, I have been unimpressed by the effort and results with QPM.
When filling vacancies they tend to just slash rents instead of trying other more creative tactics to fill the empty homes. One example is a side by side duplex that we own. The one side is rented out for $1750/month and the other side just became vacant. QPM advertised the vacant unit for $1800 (based on my recommendation), but then after 15 days of no action, they slashed the rent to $1300 in order to fill the vacany. This is devastating to the cash flow to say the least and now the tenant on the other side is phoning me (who is paying $1750) to see if I am going to lower her rent...very frustrating!!
One other example is I had a tenant lined up from my own online advertising that I ended up losing after they couldn`t get a hold of anyone at the QPM office. They ended up renting a place down the street.
I like GP as a place to invest because of the cashflow and market fundamentals, but this whole property mgt thing has got me frustrated. So, I may give Exit a call based on some of your recommendations.
Regards,
Monte Dobson
C2 Ventures Inc.
"Providing high-yielding real estate investment solutions, one property at a time"
When filling vacancies they tend to just slash rents instead of trying other more creative tactics to fill the empty homes. One example is a side by side duplex that we own. The one side is rented out for $1750/month and the other side just became vacant. QPM advertised the vacant unit for $1800 (based on my recommendation), but then after 15 days of no action, they slashed the rent to $1300 in order to fill the vacany. This is devastating to the cash flow to say the least and now the tenant on the other side is phoning me (who is paying $1750) to see if I am going to lower her rent...very frustrating!!
One other example is I had a tenant lined up from my own online advertising that I ended up losing after they couldn`t get a hold of anyone at the QPM office. They ended up renting a place down the street.
I like GP as a place to invest because of the cashflow and market fundamentals, but this whole property mgt thing has got me frustrated. So, I may give Exit a call based on some of your recommendations.
Regards,
Monte Dobson
C2 Ventures Inc.
"Providing high-yielding real estate investment solutions, one property at a time"
QUOTE (C2Ventures @ Dec 11 2007, 02:07 AM) Just thought I would add my 2 cents as well. We currently own 4 units in GP and use Quality Prop Mgt based on a referral from a fellow REIN member. Last year when things were hot and places basically rented out with no effort and for top dollar, things were good. Now that the market has slowed down the there are more vacancies, I have been unimpressed by the effort and results with QPM.
When filling vacancies they tend to just slash rents instead of trying other more creative tactics to fill the empty homes. One example is a side by side duplex that we own. The one side is rented out for $1750/month and the other side just became vacant. QPM advertised the vacant unit for $1800 (based on my recommendation), but then after 15 days of no action, they slashed the rent to $1300 in order to fill the vacany. This is devastating to the cash flow to say the least and now the tenant on the other side is phoning me (who is paying $1750) to see if I am going to lower her rent...very frustrating!!
One other example is I had a tenant lined up from my own online advertising that I ended up losing after they couldn`t get a hold of anyone at the QPM office. They ended up renting a place down the street.
I like GP as a place to invest because of the cashflow and market fundamentals, but this whole property mgt thing has got me frustrated. So, I may give Exit a call based on some of your recommendations.
Regards,
Monte Dobson
C2 Ventures Inc.
"Providing high-yielding real estate investment solutions, one property at a time"
Your story sounds so familiar!
When filling vacancies they tend to just slash rents instead of trying other more creative tactics to fill the empty homes. One example is a side by side duplex that we own. The one side is rented out for $1750/month and the other side just became vacant. QPM advertised the vacant unit for $1800 (based on my recommendation), but then after 15 days of no action, they slashed the rent to $1300 in order to fill the vacany. This is devastating to the cash flow to say the least and now the tenant on the other side is phoning me (who is paying $1750) to see if I am going to lower her rent...very frustrating!!
One other example is I had a tenant lined up from my own online advertising that I ended up losing after they couldn`t get a hold of anyone at the QPM office. They ended up renting a place down the street.
I like GP as a place to invest because of the cashflow and market fundamentals, but this whole property mgt thing has got me frustrated. So, I may give Exit a call based on some of your recommendations.
Regards,
Monte Dobson
C2 Ventures Inc.
"Providing high-yielding real estate investment solutions, one property at a time"
Your story sounds so familiar!
I am ready to write up a proposal for how we may band together (Grande Prairie Investor Community) to consolidate our interests with one property management company. However, I can not seem to find a way to `upload` the doc onto this forum. I could propose a sharing of the doc on google, but I think we would all need google emails...
Feeback for Forum: an uploading docs capability, at the very least, would be useful. Ideally a shared doc editor would be great
.
Feeback for Forum: an uploading docs capability, at the very least, would be useful. Ideally a shared doc editor would be great
Hello everyone,
Thought I would join the discussion. I started investing in GP last year (2007) and have been using Prime from the beginning. I know that they can be hard to get a hold of, etc. but I have found that staying on top of things with them, but continuing to be friendly on the phone and in emails, that they have done a good job. I bought 4 places last year that are all rented with the 4th property closing mid January - Prime already has been advertising for this property even though it doesn`t close until the 15th. The fact that they are proactive in advertising without asking, I think, is great!! Squeaky wheel might get the oil, but I find that being patient, friendly, and thankful/grateful has been working really well so far. However, I have had to push a bit to get to this point and hearing about other people`s problems, I think I will be using Prime for one year and then assessing their performance at that time to see if I should continue with them.
Having said all that, it sounds like everyone is having problems with PM`s in GP, probably because it is growing so fast that no one there (in any industry), can keep up - major growing pains!! I would be interested in joining the rest of you to make sure that GP is a great place to rent and live.
Kim
PS - Don Campbell had some good advice that we should not form a mob and overwhelm anyone, they are already stressed at their jobs as it is. No one likes to hear complaints about their work.
Thought I would join the discussion. I started investing in GP last year (2007) and have been using Prime from the beginning. I know that they can be hard to get a hold of, etc. but I have found that staying on top of things with them, but continuing to be friendly on the phone and in emails, that they have done a good job. I bought 4 places last year that are all rented with the 4th property closing mid January - Prime already has been advertising for this property even though it doesn`t close until the 15th. The fact that they are proactive in advertising without asking, I think, is great!! Squeaky wheel might get the oil, but I find that being patient, friendly, and thankful/grateful has been working really well so far. However, I have had to push a bit to get to this point and hearing about other people`s problems, I think I will be using Prime for one year and then assessing their performance at that time to see if I should continue with them.
Having said all that, it sounds like everyone is having problems with PM`s in GP, probably because it is growing so fast that no one there (in any industry), can keep up - major growing pains!! I would be interested in joining the rest of you to make sure that GP is a great place to rent and live.
Kim
PS - Don Campbell had some good advice that we should not form a mob and overwhelm anyone, they are already stressed at their jobs as it is. No one likes to hear complaints about their work.
I just moved to GP and i`m going to join REIN next week. I plan on investing right here while i work with Haliburton.
Maybe i should learn about property management too.
Maybe i should learn about property management too.