1836 Property Management

We’ve been very pleased with Matt and his crew at 1836. We decided to go the professional route and have a company watch our rental property for us, rather than go it alone. So far so good. We rarely have an issue that comes up that requires a member of Matt’s team to reach out to us for approval, and we’ve had the same long-​term tenants in our house now for 4 years.

We have been renting from 1836 for about two years and have been overall happy with them.

Definitely recommend you choose another management company. My family has rented for years and never had the issues we did with this company.
We had a broken faucet on the kitchen sink at one point and it took more than a week to fix. I got the «we have to talk to the owner» speech that even included «some of our owners live out of the country.» What I was really looking for in my conversation with their office was a bit of empathy and some hope they were staying on top of the issue. Instead I got, «We’re waiting to hear back from the owner.» Not having a kitchen sink for a week with kids isn’t the most convenient thing. I felt like I was taking to a robot with no emotion or understanding. Yes, it was a $ 400 repair. But I would have hoped the company would be my advocate with the owner to get the repair as soon as they could. The owner is not the only customer they serve.
When moving out I left the yard in a better condition than when we’d moved in, yet we got charged for yard work. It wouldn’t surprise me if they charged me but didn’t actually do anything to the yard since the yard was in bad shape when we moved in. I would guess they charged the previous renters in the same way and left me with overgrown bushes.
I understand this company is in business to make money but they seem to be on the nickel and dime side of things. A toilet seat was in awful shape when we moved in. They charged us for it when we moved out. Three of four lightbulbs were out on two ceiling fans when we moved in. They charged us for light bulbs when we moved out.
And someone at this place has a fixation with air filters. They threaten if you don’t change it monthly you’ll get charged. They do an inspection every six months which seems a little odd to me.
Maybe this is the way most management companies do business. I’ve just never experienced that.

I’ve leased a property that 1836 manages for a little over a year now. They’re a fine go between between my roommate and I and the property owners, but I’m not terribly impressed with their responsiveness. I don’t think I’ve ever called and had the phone picked up. All voicemail all the time. I also find their maintenance to be questionable and not terribly helpful. But what can I say, it’s a property management company. I’ve had about one good one in seven years of renting and that was just because they answered their phone and explained policies clearly-​VERY low bar.

Ridiculous! Horrible maintenance, terrible attitude. DO NOT use this company if you are looking to lease property. They are greedy & unbelievably snotty. They will not lift a finger to help you. Downright rude.

If I could give them no stars I would. Terrible customer service. Taking over 2 months to repair maintenance requests; even those that are safety hazards! And your reward for being good tenants and paying your rent on time? A fine for having some bush branches sticking out into the walkway. Seriously!!! Stay away from this company! you will regret it and end up unhappy in the end.

Do not use this company, whether you are looking for a place or are a owner looking to find a property management company. This company has nothing but their own snobby interest at heart, and as noted by another reviewer. I was the first person to send in my application for a place, and they also wanted me to send in a cashiers cheque for the deposit and the application fee overnight, that costed be $ 65 to do. Once they processed my application, they told me to wait while they look at the other applications — like what? You already took it off the market, you already took my couple thousand dollar deposit, and now I’m just going to be on hold?
Then it gets worse when they ask me if I want to «increase» my bid. like WHAT? You listed the place for a set amount of money, and now you are turning this into the «tenant wars» whereas at first you state that you will choose «the most qualified tenant» and now it’s «the most qualified tenant who is going to pay the most money».
The way these people operate is immoral, they have no code of business ethics and will do whatever possible to make sure they are getting as much money as possible out of you, all the while willing to screw you if you’re not willing to play «bidding wars».
Now I am trying to fight to get my 2 cashiers cheque’s back as well as being out $ 65 for sending everything overnight. I ended up getting screwed even though I was the most qualified tenant, and the first tenant to submit my application. Not because I wasn’t willing to go against my better judgement and give them more rent, but because the other guy worked out a deal with the landlord directly before I was able to get ahold of him. I’ve spoken with the landlord of the property and he was just as appalled as I was to hear this, and wasn’t the one who authorized them to conduct the «bidding wars». He even told me himself that he intends to end his relationship with 1836 property management after learning how unethical they really are.
9÷10÷2013
In response to the owners reply to my initial review, I have posted a further rebuttal below:
The BBB case was dismissed because that is how the BBB works. If the consumer rejects the business response, they automatically close the case, don’t think that is because they thought you were in the right. I applied with the security deposit, which from an ethical standpoint should hold the property. If I had just sent you the application with no security deposit, things would of been much different and I never would of posted this review. By accepting my security deposit, it is common ethics to hold the property for that individual who is trusting you with thousands of dollars of his or her own money.
You work honestly to serve your clients well, by lying on the listings you post, and scamming more money out of people after they have already applied for a property at a set price.
Furthermore, you guys told me that I met the criteria, and you were just waiting for the other tenant. If I had met the criteria, I should of been accepted and that should of been the end of the case. You state multiple times I was not the best applicant, making over $ 140k/​year, so while I have no way to disprove what you are stating, the odds of the other applicant not making as much as I do is very slim. As I stated in the first review, the landlord chose the tenant, not your company. He chose that tenant because he met your minimum criteria and made a deal with the landlord before I had the opportunity to make a higher offer, which I was planning to do, despite the way you fraudulently handled the situation.
I am not posting this review and going through this trouble because I am hurt, no — not over a month after this incident occurred. I am posting this to let everybody else here know about the way you run your company. In doing so I am sharing the level of ethics you showed in the transaction.
In regards to my previous statements with the owner. I have evidence to support these claims. Everything I have said in my initial review was lawyer reviewed, and evidence backed.
Investors
If you want a property management company that is willing to go the distance in screwing the best applicants, scamming tenants into paying you more money, and have the same level of ethics as 1836 property management, then give them a call.

My landlord used 1836 Property Management to manage a house I rented last year. The landlord had made a number of invasive actions (entering my house unannounced) and made complaints (blaming me for damage I did not do, etc.) that verged on illegal activity. 1836 backed out of their agreement to manage the property mid-​way through the lease sensing this landlord was going to cause a lot of headache. The landlord did, indeed, cause much headache and personal expense and I was left to defend myself in the matter. I spoke with 1836 on the phone and they verbally agreed with me that I was in the right on the issues at hand but when I asked if they would help give testimony, or even advice, they said they didn’t want to get involved. They covered their asses and left me to deal with the it even though they could’ve helped me.
I understand that they had every right to look out for themselves but it speaks poorly of their character that had only their own best interest in mind.

Thousands of miles away, I had little time or option to manage my property. So I looked up property management companies on my trusty Unilocal.Before I found 1836 reality, I very little luck finding a company that had it together. Most were unreliable prior to negotiating a contract (big red flag of future dealings). When I contacted this company, I spoke with Matt. He was a ray of light in the dark cloud of property management companies of Austin. Matt has it together, professional and articulate without being uptight. perfect!