The Athens Real Estate Company

Fantastic experience: This is the best management I've experienced. Their service is top-notch. They respond to emails within hours, and their maintenance team is well-mannered and responsible. When I had heating issues, they made sure it was fixed as soon as possible, even though it took them many hours of workI received my security deposit refund without even needing to ask. I will definitely recommend them to anyone I encounter.

Negative experience: Might be good for selling homes but vacant land with acreage they are really far off with price. They seem to look at only building on it and care greatly about having a 1500$ soil test done for septic and well that has 0 access to it. They ignore any recreational activity that can be done on the property maybe because of the type of people that are there? Looks like you'd have a nice time selling a house but I suggest elsewhere for land because 20k price difference between other realtors is way to high to even consider using this place as a realtor. EDIT: Apparently they do have an idea on prices of land not really sure why they thought 20k under market value for mine was smart. Guy heard what I paid for it YEARS ago and added 10k. Out of the 10 realtors talked to before this company this is the only one majorly concerned with a soil test....they must be friends with that person to get them work. I do not suggest this company for any land especially if your not from there.

Fantastic experience: This is for Miss Amy that works there she's absolutely sweet and she's wonderful so far

Fantastic experience: Having collaborated with Ally Rapp Lee for some years now, I report a completely positive experience. Very friendly, easy to communicate , eager to help , knowledgeable , thorough and most importantly trustworthy . That is the most important point and anyone working with Ally, can be sure that they will get excellent and worry free service.

Fantastic experience: Worked with Ally and she was great! Easy to communicate with, got back to me fast, and got it done in a competitive situation.

Negative experience: Terrible experience and definitely not trustworthy. I was going to file a complaint with the licensing board but realized it’s just not worth the aggravation. No one is accountable anymore. Sad times in which we live. Just now reading the reviews. I only wish I had read them first. If this is how they treat their renters, then I’m not surprised at how they treat potential home buyers.

Negative experience: None helpful..suck at getting back intouch...with ya only care about the money an them self...tried get a hold of them several time even stop by ..an the people that were their wouldn't help wasn't their job....THEY SUCK...

Fantastic experience: Whether you're looking to buy or rent your next home I recommend The Athens Real Estate Company. Their helpful and courteous staff take the time to listen to your wants and needs whole heartedly. They recommend and lead...they don't push! They make you #1 in the journey-from beginning to end. The realtors and property management are friendly and caring! Don't believe me? Call and talk to Blake or Amy today. I'm a believer and you will be too.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely love Athens Real Estate n Amanda is a sweetheart. She's been my agent twice. Now she is part of the family. Love ya Amanda...

Negative experience: Meh rental experience. Every time it rained hard my ceiling would leak in my bedroom. This went on for 9 months before they fixed it. I'll give them the benefit of doubt that they had some staffing changes in that time frame, and issues with the roofer, but it still rained into my house onto my belongs every time it rained outside for 9 months. Beyond that, and the fact they didn't bother to clean it between tenants (at all, we found various forgotten belongings), it has been an adequate Athens rentals experience. Actually, the bar is so low in Athens we resigned.

Fantastic experience: Professional staff that knows their stuff

Negative experience: Renting from the Athens real estate company has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. My current rental is hardly inhabitable. We’re being overcharged for a “renovated” garage with nothing but plumbing issues. My shower has not drained properly since we moved in to the property in April. The toilet doesn’t flush properly. We were told the iron pipes under the concrete were closing up on themselves. This was never fixed. Black sludge constantly comes up through my shower and all of the pipes have an odor akin to sewage or sulfur coming up through them. This place has also flooded multiple times and nothing was done except a few sandbags have been thrown into the garage attached to the “apartment”. I’m writing this as my rental is currently flooding from a different spot. I’ve never seen such a lack of regard for renters. No issues are addressed properly. Maintenance also had a habit of coming in unannounced and with no 24 hour notice, and we’ve even been told they’ve entered the property without our knowledge or a notice while we’ve been away. Renters, Please be cautious when considering a property to rent through the Athens real estate company.

Negative experience: Didn’t have the decency to repaint after the previous tenant, despite multiple areas being ripped off by tape or something. Bathroom door falling off hinges, horrible smell from sink constantly, random ac unit with no hook up blocking the window?? Returned a paper with the list of issues when I moved in, nothing was done. Main water line busted, Lydia never responded at all. After two days of begging the front desk lady someone finally sent a maintenance man. I was without water for 5 days. Basically paying for an overpriced smelly shack with no washer and dryer. Lydia/Athens real estate is just another prime example of the slum lords of Athens.

Fantastic experience: Two years ago I was looking for a place to rent. Two years later, I am moving out of the area and grateful for the amazing experience I have had with this company. I came across AREC and they were extremely helpful in the process! Once the place was signed and I was moved in, they were easy to reach with any questions or concerns I had. Also, maintenance was INCREDIBLE! They were quick to respond to my requests and respectful and considerate of my space. I highly recommend AREC to anyone looking to rent in Athens!

Negative experience: Update: The owner and Lydia requested a sit down meeting to go over these complaints. They were apologetic at the comedy of errors and difficulty with our move in process. They did provide us with some compensation for our damaged goods. Overall, I was appreciative that they took responsibility for the issues and apologized. I have had trouble with this company from the beginning. I scheduled an appt a week prior to see rental properties. When I arrived, they told me they had another person searching for a rental in our same price range, and he would be accompanying us and walking through all of the properties with us. The rental process went pretty smoothly after we found a property. On move in day, we arrived to a property that had not been cleaned and noticed loud beeping from the fire alarm due to dead batteries. Upon reaching out to the company, the property manager informed me that she had walked through the property and noticed it was not cleaned but did not alert us ahead of time or schedule any cleaning. She did agree to schedule a cleaning service after we had unpacked after multiple emails. The cleaning lady arrived and she cleaned only the windows and baseboards and told us that this was all the company had paid for. I was so frustrated as we are paying over $1500 for this property. During the 1st week, we had a bad storm and the basement flooded. When the maintenance man for the rental company arrived he was surprised to see renters in this property and informed us that he had not performed an inspection or a walk through of the property as he was not notified of our move in. As a result, the subpump in the basement was never plugged in which resulted in standing water. He also noticed water lines from previous flooding. When I contacted the rental company to ask why this was never completed or why we weren't informed of pumps or flooding history, Lydia said that they did not have time to complete inspection or cleaning prior to our arrival, and that it is expected as the house is in the flood plane, also the first time we learned of this. We signed this lease over 1 month before we arrived. It makes me sick to my stomach to think how little this company has done. I don't bother to complain any more as it is clear nothing is going to be done to make this right. Workers have come out to replace the dry wall to prevent mold and decided to instead place fans for 5 days while we paid for the additional electric usage. There is water damage to our belongings as well as the carpeting that had to be ripped up. The bathroom vanity in the basement is now waterlogged and warped. I am half expecting them to charge me for these damages when we move out. If you are expecting a college town rental company, they are slightly below that. Renters beware!

Fantastic experience: Russell was very patient and helpful in selling my home, helped me get a fair market price. Felt Athens Real Estate Company did all they could to help sell my home in a timely efficient manner.

Fantastic experience: Our experience with Brooke as first time buyers was completely flawless. She was endlessly patient and helpful, and several times went above-and-beyond to help us. More than that, she's just an all round great person. We cannot say enough good things. Recommended +++.

Negative experience: I remember that that company gave me a hard time in 2017. They made me pay the rent for July when I contacted them the first time even though I was going to start living only on 08/08. When I reached the apartment on 08/09/2017, the apartment was still being renovated. I had to find a place to live at my own expenses. Whenever I called anyone for maintenance, it would take them literally 15 days for someone to show up. A clogged tub had me shower at my friends place for 15 days.

Negative experience: Very Bad rental management: 1- before I moved in- we agreed to stay in house for 3 years starting from 2019 - 2023. 2- The house has been sold in 2022, they told to the new owner, my lease ending in 2022. ( they need the profits and benefits more than the renter). 3- I asked them to consider my security deposit as rent of the last month, since they broke up the agreement, they didn’t want to do that until I talked personally with the new owner. 4- Finally, and most importantly, when I applied for the next homes, they informed the new properties that, I didn’t pay my rent. Literally, 3 applications were rejected based on their response. Hence, Be careful my dear renter

Fantastic experience: Gloria is a LIFE SAVER!! My family of 6 is renting from a leading competitor, our experience with them has been a NIGHTMARE. We are having to move in an emergency situation due to black mold poisoning. I called around to handfuls of people with no luck, but Gloria jumped in right away to help our family find a new, safe, and well taken care of rental! She is the calm to our chaos!

Fantastic experience: I lived in an apartment on Franklin Avenue for a year and had a great experience. The apartment wasn’t perfect (minor things like scuffs/ scratches) but the rent was more than fair for the location, utilities were cheap, and management was always responsive. Our emails were answered within 48 hours, if not sooner, and anyone we spoke to on the phone was always professional and helpful. Lydia was always kind, helpful, and professional, which made renting much more enjoyable. Maintenance was also great! Any requests we had were completed very quickly (sometimes within the hour) and maintenance was always kind and respectful when entering the apartment (always wearing masks during COVID, taking their shoes off, etc). The only downside was street parking, which was free and not management’s fault, it was just difficult to find a parking space in front of the apartment sometimes. However, it’s much better than paying for parking. I always recommend Athens Real Estate Company to anyone looking for affordable housing!

Fantastic experience: Very professional & caring people. Took care of all of my needs & stayed on top of everything.

Negative experience: Horrible experience. Rented us a house uninhabitable (paint peeling off walls, holes in floors, no smoke alarms installed) Lydia Patterson ignored my calls and emails for 2 days. Had to speak to the owner, Russell, to get out of the lease and get refund. I was denied a walk through before moving in because of Covid and the video they sent did not show any of the damages. Would give 0 stars if possible.

Fantastic experience: Liz was absolutely the best to work with especially considering I was making a purchase during a pandemic. She was in constant contact and I could not have made a better choice

Negative experience: I lived in 32 E state street apt 1 and my experience there was awful. The apartment had a field mice problem because one of the doors was cut off at the very bottom and left a large gap to the middle of the door. The window A/C unit provided didn’t work initially and I had to repair it for it to work and it still was making a very loud noise I couldn’t get to stop. The heating and A/C barely even worked for the entire house. The bathroom door came cracked and looked like it was about to break at any moment. The paint on the ceilings will be sure to fall off too if you take too many showers. The maintenance people also were coming in without my permission or a notice at first and did for a while until I finally complained and started getting email notifications before people would just walk in while I was in bed and such. You won’t get any trash service at all while living here as well. I didn’t have a trash can or anything for 6 months and was forced to take it somewhere else and when we did have a trash can it was always full even when I didn’t contribute any trash myself. The landlords barely care about this property and overcharge for a terrible Apartment and service. I highly recommend not living here.

Negative experience: Literally, they listed my home and forgot about it. I had to call in to check after showings. Secretary calls to schedule showings. I met my realtor 2 x. Once to list it and again when he picked up his signs after unlisting. He called once to ask me to pay for advertising! In our situation, they were not aggressive to work to sell my property.

Fantastic experience: Our experience with The Athens Real Estate Company was essentially flawless. Our agent, Amanda Sharrai, was very informed, hard-working and professional. The support staff, internet outreach, advertising and advice we received made the sale of our home far less stressful and the process was actually enjoyable. They made the positive aspects more apparent to us and had great information that helped maximize our sale. Thank you AREC. We would gladly use you in the future.

Fantastic experience: Russell was amazing. He helped us find a great house, tremendous knowledge of houses, Rural properties and Athens!

Fantastic experience: I bought my first house last year through Becky Mount at The Athens Real Estate Company and she was awesome! She worked with me to understand what I was really looking for, my price range, and things that I would like to have but was willing to compromise on. She always answered or responded to my phone calls quickly and never hesitated to visit homes with me on short notice, even when we knew they maybe weren't going to be a good fit. There was never any pressure to make an offer and she was committed to continuing to look for a place until we found what I wanted. I was on a very low budget but my realtor always treated me like I was buying a million-dollar home, focused on ensuring that I would be happy with my purchase. I could not have asked for an easier or more pleasant experience in buying my first home!

Fantastic experience: Russell was very patient and did his research for us when we were looking to buy. Very knowledgeable about the area and the pros and cons of living in most neighborhoods. A true professional. As a whole, the team at AREC made buying our first house very easy.

Fantastic experience: Recently relocated to Athens and had the pleasure to work with Carole Schloss and Amanda Sharrai at Athens Real Estate Company. They helped find a unique property that fit our needs and suited our lifestyle. I would recommend them to anyone looking to buy or sell in the Athens area.

Fantastic experience: Made the buying process a lot less stressful.

Fantastic experience: Very professional in helping us to buy and sell our home.

Fantastic experience: Had a very good experience buying a house with them. Realtors are very patient and helpful and they are easy to work with.

Fantastic experience: I worked with the Liz Maule/Ally Rapp team to sell my previous home and purchase a new home about a year ago. Liz, Alex and Ally worked as a team to make sure the experience was a positive one. Liz paid attention to my specific needs and was proactive in suggesring I look at the house I eventually bought. Alex went out of his way to make the selling process go smoothly and Ally filled in as needed. I highly recommend them!

Fantastic experience: Russ & his team managed my Unit at University Commons. We purchased it while our kids went to OU & kept it for 6+ years after our kids had finished with OU because it was a great investment where we averaged over 7% return on our money (AFTER all expenses paid!!) Real estate is a great way to keep your investments diversified. The Athens real estate management team allowed this all to go well for us since we lived too far away to participate. Lydia always acquired great OU students as tenants and managed any concerns that occurred quickly, effectively & kept us in the know. When we finally decided to sell because prices were where we wanted them to be, Russ completely helped the sale to go smoothly without issue. Thank you so much. Eric & Terri Becker

Fantastic experience: Russell really knows the territory. He found us an ideal home and when the time came, he got it sold for us. I highly recommend him.

Fantastic experience: A wonderful company, lead by a true expert who cares about his clients and his team

Fantastic experience: We have worked with Russell for over a decade. He is dedicated, creative, and an outstanding human. I highly recommend him and his agency, the Athens Real Estate Company.

Fantastic experience: Good rental company! Do their job responsibly, fix any issues with the apartment quickly. The online payment system is also very convenient, not a lot of companies have that. Recommend!

Negative experience: What I'd like to know is why Lydia Patterson is still employed here. She is incredibly unprofessional as so many other reviewers have stated. I'm trying to reach her to query our recent cleaning charge, my roommates and I cleaned our apartment from top to bottom. I even ensured that we took photos when we were done, so I have proof. I just don't understand why we were each charged. It was ten times cleaner than we got it. I moved in and had to report things broken in the bathroom. The mesh on my window was never fixed at all. I would NEVER rent from this company again, especially if Lydia is the leasing manager. I can't in good conscience recommend them to anyone either. Update: I followed up with Lydia, submitted photos of our apartment and I am happy to report that we were issued a refund for the charges. I appreciated the timely manner in which this was resolved.

Negative experience: I've been trying to find a place to rent and since Athens Real Estate owns most of Athens it's hard to look other places. Lydia Patterson is not at all a kind individual nor is she "inviting" to talk to. For the past two years of looking for places to stay in Athens, Lydia is one I like to stay away from. I have never rented from them because she's always too rude for me to even work with her. I have been trying to find a two bedroom for 3 people and she has told me that the state will not allow that. Apparently the state wont allow that with any of their houses which i find really odd considering every other landlord in the world decides the occupancy level by square feet and not by rooms. But whatever, i was willing to accept that information and move on. Not once was she ever clear about that until my last conversation with her. I kept asking her for help in finding a place through their company and not only was she taking forever to answer my emails, reluctant to help me and my roommates, she was also incredibly rude. Lydia is the bane of my existence and probably the rudest agent i've contacted.

Negative experience: DO NOT RENT FROM HERE FOR ANY REASON. Same as most people. Lydia Patterson is incredibly unprofessional, never answers communication in a timely or professional manner, and is generally bad at her job it's surprising they haven't fired her. So many problems. This is one of the worst run companies in Athens. DO NOT RENT FROM HERE

Negative experience: Lydia is not a professional. She doesn't communicate professionally and we were unnecessarily charged for "cleaning and carpet cleaning" when the apartment was much much cleaner when we left than when we moved in. When we moved in the carpets had not been cleaned and there was still macaroni all over the floor and dirt filling the cupboards. When we moved out WE cleaned the carpets and cleaned the entire apartment from top to bottom. We had meticulously documented this but that apparently didn't matter. Lydia never responded to emails to the point that I threatened to contact my attorney. Bottom line, lydia is fake. Renter beware. I would suggest going with a more professional rental company who will actually meet your needs instead of the bare minimum.

Positive experience: Renting from Athens Real Estate Company was okay. What I disliked was how unprofessional and sometimes rude the assistant manager was. Lydia does not speak to you in a professional manner and makes renting from here a disappointment. She needs to work on her people-skills, and should be more friendly to the people renting from her. If you don't mind renting from people who come off rude, then you will be okay renting from here.