zen and the art of renting a home
There has not been anything I have liked so far about the management company the owners of our house chose to handle it for them.
A litany of specifics would just raise my blood pressure. Suffice to say almost every interaction - from getting a copy of the fully-executed lease to getting a copy of the key to the back door - has taken at least three times as long as it should, and there is not a single thing we have not had to ask about more than once. These guys take non-responsiveness to an art form.
I know they don't work for us. They work for the homeowners. And their contractors obviously don't work for us (of course not; they work for them). So maybe they are more communicative with people who aren't us. Maybe. But jfc. I don't need everything done asap. I know that's not reasonable and wouldn't be even if I were the owner. But I'd be a lot less frustrated if I knew more than I normally do (which is nothing) about when to expect something to be done. Or when to expect more information to be forthcoming. Right now, the time when I can expect more information to be forthcoming seems to be within a day or so of asking for it again, which I find maddening. As Ask A Manager says: "if people have to follow up with you to get a response, you're not being responsive enough." I don't mind a thing taking three weeks. I mind being told on day one that it will be "soon" and then two and a half weeks going by before I ask again what's up and hearing that it took x or y amount of time to accomplish some preliminary step. Just keep me posted and it will be way longer before I get annoyed. Right?
Sigh. So I am trying to manage my expectations. I think a fair amount of it is their southern management style colliding with my east-coast preferences. Because they don't work for us, I'm the one who's going to have to adjust.
A litany of specifics would just raise my blood pressure. Suffice to say almost every interaction - from getting a copy of the fully-executed lease to getting a copy of the key to the back door - has taken at least three times as long as it should, and there is not a single thing we have not had to ask about more than once. These guys take non-responsiveness to an art form.
I know they don't work for us. They work for the homeowners. And their contractors obviously don't work for us (of course not; they work for them). So maybe they are more communicative with people who aren't us. Maybe. But jfc. I don't need everything done asap. I know that's not reasonable and wouldn't be even if I were the owner. But I'd be a lot less frustrated if I knew more than I normally do (which is nothing) about when to expect something to be done. Or when to expect more information to be forthcoming. Right now, the time when I can expect more information to be forthcoming seems to be within a day or so of asking for it again, which I find maddening. As Ask A Manager says: "if people have to follow up with you to get a response, you're not being responsive enough." I don't mind a thing taking three weeks. I mind being told on day one that it will be "soon" and then two and a half weeks going by before I ask again what's up and hearing that it took x or y amount of time to accomplish some preliminary step. Just keep me posted and it will be way longer before I get annoyed. Right?
Sigh. So I am trying to manage my expectations. I think a fair amount of it is their southern management style colliding with my east-coast preferences. Because they don't work for us, I'm the one who's going to have to adjust.