Complaint Review: Metropolitan Real Estate

Metropolitan Real Estate "manages" severval properties owned by Metro Pension Fund they are one and the same so when they refer to the "property owner" they are referring to themselves they just don't tell you that.

My husband and I have been using Metroplitan Real Estate for the last couple years. While they aren't the best management company, they at least do their job. Some of their employees can be a little incomptent especially if you catch them on an odd day, but they are slowly weeding them out. They are a still fledgling management group is seems, but they are making great strides to improve their company.

As far as Metropolitan is concerned, they may be picking bad, terrible, worse tenants, but ultimately it is the landlord who chose to use them. I think Metropolitan can improve on picking the right tenants, but at the end, it is the landlord's reponsibility

For repairs, I'm with the landlord on this one. The repairs are excessive. I had 2 separate quotes on some cleaning and a door frame repair job, each only 1/2-2/3 of the cost Metroplitan was charging me. Needless to say I used them instead. Let me emphasize that you don't have to use their services; you can use your own, but just let them know.

Bottom line:

Landlord: It is your job to do to your due diligence in choosing the right property manager. A good approach is to interview 5-10 management companies and then narrow it down to 1-2 after you get solid references. Let me emphasize that that 75% of PM's are bad ones; so don't just stop after finding 1. Interview a lot more than that!

Metropolitan: Do not put the blame on the landlord for being a "bad investor" or "not having enough reserves" I know several good investors who just happened to be stuck with bad PM's. Bad property management is just that plain and simple: bad property management (which is what the writer above seems to be complaining about).

Per Az Real Estate Commissioner rules and regulations, any offer or application for real property to be leased or purchased MUST be presented to every property owner; whether good or bad. Your statement saying that Metropolitan "purposely finds a bad tenant" in order to plan on having them vacate within 1 - 2 months is completely unfounded and in all reality, a blatant lie. Every tenant has a credit report and background check completed. Current residency and employment is all verified. All of which is provided to EVERY property owner to make the decision as to who is awarded the opportunity to rent their property. Metropolitan makes no decision as to who is approved; you and ONLY you do. If you're in the position that you cannot afford to be vacant and wait for a stellar applicant, how is that our fault? It sounds as though you most likely should have never even purchased investment property if you cannot afford any vacancy or maintenance/repairs. Did/do you have reserves for this type of situation? I think you most likely don't because most savvy investors do.

How are we at fault for doing our job in locating a tenant that is interested in renting your property, taking them through the application process, forwarding all information to YOU the property owner for review, and then you have the full power to say yes or no? How do we, as you say "corner you into accepting"? We provide the facts; that's it! It's your property; not ours; and you have the right to not accept anyone until you feel comfortable with an applicant. If you can't afford to be vacant or do repairs to your own investment, then why are you in the game?

You say that a rekey of a property costs $50-$75; I challenge you to pick up the yellow pages and call ANY locksmith and ask how much multiple deadbolts and keyed locks would cost to rekey. Aside from their $50-$75 TRIP CHARGE, they'll add on from there for materials and time. As well, per the property management agreement, any emergency repairs/maintenance needing to be performed on any one instance that's less than $400; is completed. Anything more than that requires an investors approval; not $200 as you say. BTW, most PM companies out there charge the 15% on top of parts and labor for coordinating and handling of your maintenance/repair issues.

There is not one person in our company that would tell you that "Metropolitan makes our money by charging 15% of all expenses...so we actually hope that they're going to tear up your place." Think about what you just conjured up in that statement. Do you see how ridiculous of a statement that is?

The unfortunate reality is that there are quite alot of people that thought they were "investors" by having good credit and some extra cash laying around so they thought they could get into the investment real estate game and never should have. Another unfortunate reality is that we tend to care more about people's property than they do.

I've been with this company for over 5 years and have seen alot of property management companies come and go in that time. I've also seen some investors go and end up coming back to us because we are one of the most honest property management companies out there and they know it. They also know that for particular properties, our company is the ONLY one that will make their investment work for them. We're still standing because of it. Because of hard work and dedication to provide the best service we can to our investors.

Have a nice day. The next time you feel like trying to smudge a very reputable company's good name; hopefully you'll have your facts straight.