Real Property Management Sterling - Burlington, Vermont

expat80

I can't recommend RPMS. I agree with some of the reviewers that John and the team can be friendly and courteous. When things are running smoothly and there're only routine tasks that need to be taken care of, they're easy to deal with, and you get the impression they're doing a good job. That is until you have a project that is a little more involved, high-priority, and requires monitoring. My experience of dealing with this company can be described as frustrating and stressful. I felt that they were over-challenged with the number of rentals under their management and at times out of their depth and lacking experience, behind on their duties including billing, and unable to see through a project to completion. I often found myself reminding them to follow up on time-sensitive tasks, reaching out to and scheduling with contractors, and communicating with the tenants, all while living out of state. All in all, I would describe their culture as reactive rather than proactive.

I brought up my concerns to John multiple times, so it wasn't for lack of awareness that things never changed for the better. John acknowledged that his less experienced employee was struggling but he never once offered to jump in and see to it that things got done as he absolutely should have as the business owner. His focus appeared to be on the management of his business' social media accounts rather than an urgent project in one of the units under his management.

The final straw was when I got an invoice from John for several thousand dollars for the services provided over the previous 12 months. Some of those charges dated back to the previous calendar year. I was absolutely blindsided because I'd had no idea there'd been any issues and based some important decisions (including setting the rents) on my belief that I wasn't incurring any costs besides the fixed ones. When I got the enormous invoice, I also discovered that I was being upcharged and nickel-and-dimed for every service they had ever provided. The hours I was billed for were incommensurate with the actual tasks. John's response was that his handyman may be less experienced but for that I was being charged a lower hourly rate. Except that I was paying for 4 hours of work when it would have taken an experienced worker 2-2.5 hours to complete the task. They also added a pretty steep surcharge every time they arranged for repairs with contractors, which normally falls under the ordinary responsibilities of a property manager and is covered by the monthly management fee. Once I was invoiced for the time spent on the phone trying to track down a delivery team. The problem was I was billed at a qualified handyman's rate of $55/hr for someone in the office to make those phone calls! They basically treat the monthly management fee as a retainer and invoice you separately for almost every action they take. This practice of nickel-and-diming doesn't appear to be limited to property owners. I got complaints from several applicants about the $45 rental application fee they were charging. Charging a rental application fee is illegal in VT and my understanding is that they've finally done away with it.

Finally, I'd paid RPMS to have the insides of two toilets completely replaced. I was recently notified that one of the affected toilets was running. I had a maintenance person take a look and was shocked to find out that the insides of the toilet tank were as old as the toilet itself. The maintenance person told me that there was no way they'd been replaced less than 5 months ago. A picture he had taken showed grimy and discolored parts. I wrote to John asking for an explanation. He never responded. Speaks to his professionalism, or lack thereof, in my opinion. Now less than 5 months since I paid John for the job I have to hire a plumber and pay again to have the job done right.

If you want a property management company that is competent, proactive, and able to see through projects to completion and doesn't need to be micromanaged every step of the way, RPMS is not it.

Linnea W.

Thanks to Myah, the property manager who found us our perfect fit apartment, we have been RPM tenants for a few months now and the experience has been entirely positive.

From the very start, Myah's communication has been fabulous—she is always prompt, clear, and incredibly professional. She consistently goes above and beyond. After being ghosted by a number of other property management companies in the area, meeting Myah and finding this apartment was a joy!

We’ve had multiple maintenance requests handled by the RPM maintenance staff promptly and politely, which we are very grateful for.

Emmett P.

Dan was great to work with. He was prompt, communicative, transparent, and available to answer any and all questions. He was very thorough in the details of the move-in process and property policies. In person he was great for the apartment viewing and the final inspection. Thank you!

Michael A.

As a new landlord there was lots I needed to know, but did not. Real Property Managment Sterling has been great in teaching me, and taking care if my property and tenants. A great team that emphasizes customer service.

CJ

Extremely poor communication, unhelpful, and disorganized. Maintenance work was poorly communicated - items marked as repaired continued to have issues, who was paying for the work wasn't mentioned, etc. Received e-mails periodically about weather warnings and general info addressed to all of their tenants - which was good - but received no communication whatsoever from the housing group during my lease. RPM Sterling had initially said they would be the liaison for this, but they sent nothing and at the end said they never said that.

Their "no hassle" utility service initially missed the water bill, which wasn't mentioned or communicated until I proactively called the town after seeing a sign while driving. This service also had people from multiple different agencies calling me when I first started the lease. "Whoops, we switched agencies recently and I guess we forgot to notify them", they said - a portend of things to come.

Avoid if possible.

Alexa M.

My experience for the past two years has been positive! Their maintenance team is very quick to respond to calls and management is quick to respond to emails and text. I recommend them!

Kolin S.

Love the apartment! Myah has been a total star helping us get things in order, and she responds quickly, kindly, and with obvious care to every message. Stellar!

Shane A.

So far our experience has been positive. Our agent, Myah, is kind, helpful, and responsive. She is the only reason we found a place that suited our needs in Chittenden County, for which we are very grateful.
Our maintenance requests have been fulfilled in a timely manner by polite people.