HomeWorks Investments Inc

There are 2 parts of this company, the real estate side and the property management side.  I was told the 2 are separate but both use HomeWorks in their signature.  I own a home in South Bend and wanted to know if the real estate market had bounced back enough that it would be worth putting the house on the market or if I should rent it and if renting was the way to go, then I needed a property manager.  I was looking for a professional opinion.

Dusti Gardner is the broker who viewed my home.  She literally blew me off after visiting the home.  After I emailed her several tiems, she finally said "We should list at $..................".  Well I had several questions that she never answered, like my #1 - What type of offers can I expect?  I needed to know if it was reasonable to expect enough to pay of the mortgage.  Dusti never answered my questions and I should note here, she communicates only by email, no phone calls despite my asking her to call.  Once I told the agent from the management side, Christy Lewis, that Dusti wasn't responding and I was communicating with another broker, Dusti then emailed with excuses for not contacting me and saying "this is not how I do business". 

Now for the property management part:  Christy Lewis was always very responsive.  My only complaint about Christy is that she is also an emailer and never called even when asked to do so.  I spoke with her on the phone two times when I called her. 

Anyway, after having several brokers evaluate my house/property, I decided to rent for a while and try to sell again at a later date.  I asked to see copies of HomeWorks property management contract and a lease.  What I concluded from the contracts is they are not concerned about maintaining the property.  Just a couple examples:  They weren't going to maintain the A/C, considered it a convenience item, and there was no place in the lease to specify whether or not smoking was allowed.  There were many other things in the contracts that concerned me, but you should have the idea by now. 

I marked up the agreement with areas of concern and emailed it to Christy with some questions.  I was informed there would be no negotiating and if I didn't like it, I should go elsewhere.

I went elsewhere.  Due to a previous similar statement, I was already in contact with another company.  Also, I had found some really bad reviews from tenants and I was concerned how that would affect my ability to find a tenant through them.