We really wanted to like this home, and I wanted to be able to focus this review on the positive aspects of our experience. Unfortunately, the water issue described below and the way Long & Foster and the owner handled our concerns left us with no choice but to be candid about the experience, to assist potential future renters in making a fully informed choice as to whether to rent this properrty. For a $20,000 rental before fees, we expected a much more transparent and professional experience.
We stayed during the first week of August and had essentially no cold water. When I raised the water issue with the leasing agent during our stay, I was told: “The warm water is a by-product of the way the home was designed. Some pipes outside get warmer than others especially on hot summer days. They’ve had plumbers out before but there is nothing that can be done. Sorry about that.”
We were a group of 12, and had to purchase enough bottled water to have cold drinking water and then using the refrigerator space to keep it cold, which made the refrigerator-capacity issue we experienced even more pronounced. The lack of cold water also made controlling temperature when taking a shower particularly challenging.
We subsequently raised the issue again after our stay. The response we received was: “On the cold water issue: this did not affect other guests this summer, so it was not something we anticipated during your stay.” The blatant inconsistency (particularly since we were told that this was a new rental and we were the first or second family to rent the home) left us extremely disapointed about the transparency and accountability of the property management and/or the property owner. If the home can have no cold water during hot weather because of the way it was designed, that is something prospective renters should be told. Had we known, we certainly would have thought twice about spending over $20,000 before renting the property under those circumstances.
There were also a number of other issues during our stay, which overall reflected a misalignment between price and value: the downstairs washing machine stopped working during our stay; there were very limited towel racks and hooks; the kitchen was missing a majority of basic items; household supplies were limited; the kids bunk bed room has no closet or other clothing storage and other downstairs bedrooms only have clothing storage under the beds; refrigerator space was challenging for a group of our size; and the stairs are slippery.
We understood that a new rental might have some things that needed attention, and we tried to provide our feedback constructively and in the spirit of helping make the house the best it could be. We were not expecting perfection.
There were, in fact, many things we enjoyed about the home. The porches, large dining table, comfortable furniture, spacious bedrooms, private bathrooms, and location were all wonderful, and the house worked very well for our large family group.
Notwithstanding the issues, my family did have a wonderful time together.
But at $20,000 before fees, we expected a substantially more finished property and, when a significant problem arose, a more transparent and professional response. The water issue itself was serious; the conflicting explanations and lack of meaningful accountability afterward were what ultimately left us so disappointed.
