Can You Afford a Property Manager With a Good Yelp Review?

Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash

Yelp reviews are a good marketing channel for property managers. However, how they get good Yelp reviews can be detrimental to the property owner. I will explain.

To provide what Yelp considers honest reviews, Yelp filters out people who it has decided have an interest in the business's success as opposed to the "patrons" of the business. With rental properties, Yelp filters out reviews by the property owners and publishes tenant reviews. Tenants are not the property manager's clients; property owners are the clients.

Below are some example Yelp reviews by tenants that would make me very unhappy if I were the owner. (Note, I changed some of the text to avoid legal issues.)

• "The property manager agreed to replace all the faucets with better-looking ones!" Basic faucets cost about $135/ea installed, so in my mind, the property manager took several hundred dollars from the owner.
• "They let us stay an extra two weeks at no charge." If the property is rented for $1,200/Mo., the property manager took ($1200/2) $600 from the owner.
• "They gave us back our entire security deposit despite the damage our dog did to the rug." This is another example where the property manager took money from the owner. If the tenant damages the rug, the tenant should pay for the repairs or replacement, not the owner.

All the above said, you can learn a lot about a property manager from their Yelp reviews, but you need to view them through the eyes of the owner, not the tenant. Below is a bad review if you are a tenant but a great review if you are an owner.

• "I lost my job and I asked the property manager for a couple of free months to find another job. They said no! XXX is a terrible property management company." Refusing to give away free months was the right decision. This is a business. Either the tenant pays all the rent on schedule, or they need to be replaced by a performing tenant.

On balance, below are reviews that would also make me unhappy as an owner, but for different reasons.

• "I've turned in multiple requests to have the leak under my sink repaired. Either I get no callback from the property manager, or they tell me to put a bucket under the leak." This is a clear example of the property manager not taking care of the proeprty and the result will likely be a large future water damage repair bill for the owner.
• "The lights in the ceiling fixture keep blinking on and off. I have the same problem with two outlets as well. I've turned in repair requests, and they do not respond. I can't wait for my lease to end so I can move out." This is bad for both the tenant and the owner. First, this is a serious liability risk for the owner. If a fire occurs, the owner is likely to be sued because the electrical issue was not corrected. Second, by not taking care of the problem, the tenant is likely to move out, causing the owner significant lost income until a new tenant is in place, requiring the electrical issue to be repaired.

So, read Yelp reviews but look beyond the rating. A property manager with a great Yelp review could be ripping off owners.