🚀 go-pugleaf

On 6 May 1996, Paul Mangiafico wrote:
> I may be signing a lease to rent a house managed by Apple Realty in Durham
> in the next few days, and wanted to poll the net to see if anyone has
> anything they can tell me (either good or bad) about their experience with
> Apple Realty. 
> 
> Are they responsive when something needs repairing? Did you have any
> problems with them or they way they managed your house? Were they
> particularly good about certain aspects of your rental? 
> 
> Any anecdotes you can provide would be useful. Thanks!
> 
My housemates and I have rented from Apple/RAN Properties for 2 years 
now, and we're intending to sign on for at least another year in our 
current house. Apple has tended to be very nice, and responsive to repqir 
requests. They employ a fix-it guy who is at times not so swift, but very 
nice. They replaced our washer within a few days of it breaking (as I 
remember, once the repair guy told them that it was gone forever). Our 
rent has gone up quite a bit, which is not so good, but we like our 
house, and have had pleasant experiences with Apple.

good luck,
m

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                             ______
Michael James Tino           \    /  "Love bears all things, believes all
Duke University               \  /   things, hopes all things, endures all
Department of Cell Biology     \/          things. Love never ends."
mjtino@acpub.duke.edu                        1 Corinthians 13:7-8
http://www.duke.edu/~mjtino

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In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.960507124645.7582A-100000@bio2.acpub.duke.edu>,
   Michael James Tino <mjtino@acpub.duke.edu> wrote:
>My housemates and I have rented from Apple/RAN Properties for 2 years 
 ... snip ...

Our experience with Apple was quite similar.  Deal with Richard; he is the 
best one there.  They do repairs quickly, if sometimes cheaply.  They cut 
their expenses to the bone which can be frustrating (we were never able to get 
a screen door out of them, for example, in a small house where we were dying 
for the circulation.  What kind of house doesn't ahve a screen door??)  And, 
as Michael noted, they tend to jack up rents.  I know a homeowner who deals 
with Apple and says they always give the best quotes, but I tend to think they 
make their money by seeing just how high they can raise the rent on you and 
employing el cheapo cleaners and repairmen (they manage over 800 units with 
only a staff of 2 or 3).  

Make sure you are careful with your move in list; they will dink you there 
(e.g. they charged the lady that moved out before us for dirty baseboards and 
doors, but these same items were dirty when we moved in). If you are late with 
rent even one day, get ready for the max fine allowed by the lease.  I guess 
since they rent to lots of folks in lots of income categories and lots of 
students and undergrads, they can be hard asses at times.  But I've dealt with 
far, far worse landlords.

The house I moved into has turned over 5 times in 5 years because they are 
charging $700 for a 1000 sq ft house; i suppose this is what the market will 
bear, but they have to be wasting some money on prep, cleanup, paperwork since 
they get new tenants every year at that price.  You may find the same thing.
--
gronke@acpub.duke.edu

Thanks to all who provided their insight. I thought I'd post a followup to
summarize some of the responses that came to me privately and weren't
posted to the group. 

Though both of the followups to the group generally had good things to say
about Apple, out of the four that came to me privately, three were horror
stories that encouraged me not to deal with Apple and the fourth was
ambivalent. The negative comments had to do with security deposits not
returned, serious and necessary repairs refused, and simple requests
(install a decent lock on the door, a screen on a window, etc.) denied. I
called the Better Business Bureau as well, and they had similar complaints
on file for Apple.

My own personal experience with Apple was only through Margaret, and I
found her to be completely unhelpful and in fact quite patronizing. She
didn't show up for one appointment we had, then had no answers to most of
the questions we asked her (because "she had forgotten the paperwork in
the office" - three meetings in a row). For some of our questions (like,
who owns this house) she laughed at us and asked why we would need to know
that. It turns out (and she only told us this as we were ready to sign the
application and hand over a deposit) that the house we were interested in
is currently in trust with a bank, since the owner recently died - ie, its
immediate future is uncertain and no repairs were likely because she
didn't think the bank would pay for them. Who knows what other secrets
were yet to be revealed.

We decided to pass on this house, and not to do business with Apple in the
future. It's disappointing to have to pass up the house, because it was a
good fit for us and a decent price, but the impression I got from dealing
with Apple was that it would be more trouble than it was worth. 

Caveat emptor. 

-- Paul

===========================================================================
  Paul Mangiafico                          paulm@scriptorium.lib.duke.edu
  This message is personal and does not in any way represent my employer. 
===========================================================================

On 8 May 1996, Paul Mangiafico wrote:
> Though both of the followups to the group generally had good things to say
> about Apple, out of the four that came to me privately, three were horror
> stories that encouraged me not to deal with Apple and the fourth was
> ambivalent. The negative comments had to do with security deposits not
> returned, serious and necessary repairs refused, and simple requests
> (install a decent lock on the door, a screen on a window, etc.) denied. I
> called the Better Business Bureau as well, and they had similar complaints
> on file for Apple.
> 
> My own personal experience with Apple was only through Margaret, and I
> found her to be completely unhelpful and in fact quite patronizing. She
> didn't show up for one appointment we had, then had no answers to most of
> the questions we asked her (because "she had forgotten the paperwork in
> the office" - three meetings in a row). For some of our questions (like,
> who owns this house) she laughed at us and asked why we would need to know
> that. It turns out (and she only told us this as we were ready to sign the
> application and hand over a deposit) that the house we were interested in
> is currently in trust with a bank, since the owner recently died - ie, its
> immediate future is uncertain and no repairs were likely because she
> didn't think the bank would pay for them. Who knows what other secrets
> were yet to be revealed.
> 
> We decided to pass on this house, and not to do business with Apple in the
> future. It's disappointing to have to pass up the house, because it was a
> good fit for us and a decent price, but the impression I got from dealing
> with Apple was that it would be more trouble than it was worth. 
> 
> Caveat emptor. 
> 
Well, I can't say as I would have done differently in your shoes. I think 
that Richard and Elizabeth (the two people I dealt with, who were both 
completely capable, intelligent, and nice) have both left Apple recently. 
I spoke to my housemates, who have been unimpressed with Margaret as well....

argh,
m

*******************************************************************************
                             ______
Michael James Tino           \    /  "Love bears all things, believes all
Duke University               \  /   things, hopes all things, endures all
Department of Cell Biology     \/          things. Love never ends."
mjtino@acpub.duke.edu                        1 Corinthians 13:7-8
http://www.duke.edu/~mjtino

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