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?