Landlord Interview: Harkins Properties
Ms. Harkins placed her rental properties under our care slightly over a year ago. We decided to talk to her about her experience. This is what she shared with us…
I never wanted to be a landlord. The rental properties were my husband’s thing. He loved being a landlord, and he was good at it. When he passed away, I got stuck with everything. For the first year or so, I tried to handle everything myself. I hired a guy to do maintenance, and my kids helped me out tremendously. However, I was losing money left and right and the whole experience was extremely stressful. I tried to sell them, but I could only sell some of them, and the ones I did sell, I sold for basically what I owed on them. My kids finally convinced me that a management company may be a better option.
Back then, I approached Steve about management, but he was just starting out and declined because he wasn’t ready to take on such a large lot of properties. I very much appreciated his honesty. Over the next few years, I went through three different management “companies.” Although I do not want to go into details, it was overall a negative experience. The first two scammed me out of a great deal of money and the third was just unsuccessful in helping me. During this time, Reality Trust Services grew an impressive amount.
I approached them again about managing my properties, and they were happy to work with me. Since then, they have brought the rental properties back to the condition my husband maintained…the previous managers let many units fall into decay. They have been able to keep almost all the rental units consistently full. They have also been easy to work with. They maintain consistent communication, which I appreciate, and they provide statements with each monthly check.
They have relieved nearly all the stress I have been under for the previous six years. I don’t have to deal with anything. If they need to talk to me about a decision, they call or email. Other than that, I just get my rent check each month. I haven’t even been to one of my rentals since they took over management. Prior to them taking over, I was constantly driving back and forth to the rentals to deal with issues.
I strongly recommend them. Matter of fact, I have recommended them to friends of mine that own properties and just don’t want to deal with them anymore.
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With more than 60 years of investment property management experience, and a current portfolio approaching 500 units, our expert team can relieve you of the burden of managing your rental property while saving you some serious money! Call us today at (440) 220-7300 to see how we can help you!
