Filed
No Accountability, no office, no way
Property Owners — Proceed With Caution: Zero stars We hired this company to manage our luxury two-home short-term rental compound in Culver City (LA), California. Based on our experience over several years, I would strongly encourage property owners to conduct extensive due diligence before entrusting this shell company with an income-producing property. At the outset, we were provided projections indicating monthly owner revenue of approximately three times what the property ultimately produced for us. We stayed with the company for several years, repeatedly giving them the opportunity to improve performance. It never came close to the expectations established at the beginning of the relationship. For context, our property consisted of two homes accommodating up to 12 guests, which could be rented separately or together as a compound. One of our biggest concerns was the disconnect between what we could see on the owner platform and what we actually received. There were months when the owner platform appeared to show the property approximately 95% booked, along with substantially higher projected/published owner revenue. Yet when the month closed, we would receive only a fraction of what we expected. Naturally, we would ask what happened. On more than one occasion, the explanation we received from ownership was essentially, “Sorry, there were several last-minute cancellations.” Getting that explanation could itself be difficult, as calls and questions were not always answered promptly. We understand cancellations happen. What concerned us was the recurring disparity between what the owner portal appeared to show and the amount ultimately paid to us, combined with the difficulty obtaining timely, detailed explanations reconciling the difference. We are experienced property owners who have owned and operated real estate in multiple states. We understand seasonality, vacancies, cancellations and fluctuations in short-term rental revenue. Poor performance alone is not the reason for this review. Our larger concern was transparency and accountability. Questions regarding bookings, cancellations, accounting, financial statements and owner proceeds were routinely difficult to get answered. We were frequently redirected with responses along the lines of “that's an accounting issue” or “that's not what I do.” At times, basic financial questions concerning our own property went unanswered for months. There was also no physical office available to us where we could simply go and meet with management when calls or questions went unanswered. We found that particularly frustrating when we were trying to obtain answers concerning a significant income-producing asset. We also had a conversation with one of the company's owners concerning its online reviews. During that conversation, the owner told us that some of the reviews were not genuine. We cannot independently verify how individual reviews were generated, but hearing that directly caused us to question how much reliance prospective owners should place on online ratings when conducting their due diligence. For a property owner, these issues matter. A management company isn't simply responsible for generating bookings. Owners are entrusting it with their property, revenue, financial reporting and ultimately a significant investment. After several years, we concluded that this wasn't about a bad month or even a bad season. The financial results never justified continuing the relationship, and the repeated difficulty obtaining clear answers about those results ultimately destroyed our confidence in the management of the property. If you are considering this company, I strongly recommend going a different route. Ask for actual historical owner statements from comparable properties—not projections. Ask to speak and visit a current client. Ask how cancellations are documented and reflected in owner statements. Understand exactly how gross bookings become net owner proceeds. Determine who is responsible for accounting questions and how quickly they are expected to respond. Most importantly, reconcile what you're seeing on the owner portal with what actually reaches your bank account. After several years of firsthand experience, we would not hire this company again and cannot recommend its property-management services. Run, dont walk away.
Filed by Todd W.