WJD Management

I've given C ratings to WJD overall, because while some things they do quite well, in other areas they performed not so well or terribly. The Good: they give spot on advice about rental prices and trends in the rental market. My property was never vacant, and the renters were all responsible people who took reasonable care of my house. WJD was usually pretty good about requests to repair relatively minor problems. When appliances needed to be replaced, they provided solid advice about brands and found them at very good prices. The Bad: the inspections that were regularly carried out on my property -- including the final one before I moved in -- were not very thorough. For instance, my neighbors several times contacted me to let me know of issues related to the roof, and WJD was simply not very responsive to my inquiries. When I moved back in, the landscaping was a mess; the hardware to the back gate was missing, and about half of the window screens were so badly deteriorated that there were holes in them. It would have been helpful for WJD to have noted these at some point so they could have taken care of them immediately. Their accounting leaves a lot to be desired: expenses were never categorized in a consistent manner, which made tax preparation more difficult. On a number of issues when I emailed the top management of the company, they never responded (the exception being Maryann Welsh). The Ugly: Requests for services or improvements to be made between renters were never tracked, and follow-up and follow-through was problematic. For example, I had several times requested for an unfinished laundry room to be drywalled -- it only happened after many emails, and was an inconvenience to the tenants when it didn't have to be. When it was finally accomplished, no one ever seems to have inspected it. After I moved in, almost two years later, I discovered that the drywall at the door opening had been left unfinished. I contacted WJD leadership and the contractor (whose information I had only because of a long series of emails at the time of the work); WJD never responded, not even to apologize. The contractor, to his credit, did, and quickly took care of the problem at no cost. What I would have done differently: I never expected to be overseas so long. In retrospect, I should have insisted on touring the property he few times I was in the Washington DC area. I am not sure WJD would have handled my requests any differently, but it would have been less of a shock moving back in. The management fee you pay to them doesn't really guarantee adequate service. Bottom line: if you need a company to market your property, find tenants, collect tents, and do the minimum to oversee your property for a few years, WJD would do a competent job. However, if your property is to be rented for the long term, and will need work -- either repairs or updating/maintenance, you need to be prepared to be more hands on with your management company, whichever one you choose.