RW Caldwell Rentals & Property Management

Negative experience: highly recommend renting elsewhere. after reading all these reviews it seems the rental god were on my side. after 2 days of running around the entire city of st petersburg to meet every requirement they had listed, i was still told that all the information i provided wasn't enough & needed extra documentation after printing out 8 of my paystubs, 8 of my roommates and her mothers entire credit history. all of us combined make 8x the monthly income when all put together, not to mention i had a letter of recommendation from my current landlord to further prove how responsible of tenants we are. after 48 hours of straight madness we realized at the end of the day its their loss, I'd just save yourself the migraine & take ur hard earned dollars elsewhere

Negative experience: To say that I am disappointed with this company would be a huge understatement. They are unprofessional, uneducated and very patronizing to their clients. My roommate and I were very interested in one of their properties. We had gone through their very tedious application process only to be rejected because approving us would be too “complicated”. If anything they are the ones making this process complicated. They do everything on paper and have no online application. For a business thats the oldest in the area you would alsoexpect them to also know which credit bureaus they are checking. They also expect each person to make three times the rent (not combined) even with a cosigner. Who in this economy is making 3 times the rent??? If your looking to rent in the Gulfport area i would stay as far away from this company as possible!

Fantastic experience: I've been w/ R. W Caldwell for many years. That itself says alot about them. They do all they can with tenants when an issue arises. They are quick to respond w/in reason when it comes to maintenance. We appreciate that they work w/you as best as they are able to. They have been in business for a very long time. Have variables of good rentals & Property.. My husband & I Thank them & their staff. We appreciate their services,been w/ them over 2 decades. 5 stars well deserved.

Negative experience: STAY AWAY! Currently selling the house we bought through them, and would rather sell it via one of those text-you-every-day anonymous buyers than this batch of soulless predators. Update : By NOT USING CALDWELL we just sold the property we bought from Caldwell 20 years ago. USING SOMEONE ELSE we sold at ++asking the same day we hung the sign. Because we're a family, not investors, this is only the second time we've been through the process. What an incredible difference. Closing with Caldwell was chaotic (our Caldwell realtor didn't even bother to show up) with issues arising later due to mistakes, lack of thoroughness. Closing with someone OTHER THAN Caldwell was smooth and beneficial for both parties. Not only did our NOT Caldwell realtor show up, she was supportive and made the whole affair painless. Back then, as newly married, first-time house buyers, we were naively fooled by Caldwell's longevity into believing them to be transparent, honest, and committed to our best interest as clients. What a joke - they were (and remain) the absolute antithesis of all of those things. As in polar opposites. We were clients. Our realtor received compensation for representing us, but it was never a partnership - from lack of transparency in who they represented, to the caliber of the house we purchased, the Caldwell team were just plain predatory. Don't believe any of their we-love-Gulfport hype. Srsly. How bad does a company that sells itself as 'small town committed' have to be for that same small town to score them a 3 on Google? This bunch is exactly what a small town doesn't need. They're not committed to strengthening the community. They're committed to lining their pockets and preying on the vulnerable. I'd doubt the integrity of anyone who works for /with them. So, go elsewhere. Anywhere else . (our realtor - Your Neighborhood Realty) Original : (Five year update) This is actually a follow up to a previous review as, sadly, I've exceeded the character limit on that one. Guess Google reviews wasn't designed for long term updates. I'm five years away from being treated like rubbish by the most unengaged, addled, dismissive, and arrogant business team I've ever been unfortunate enough to encounter. Five years ...and we still love the home we DID NOT rent through Caldwell. We still love our property manager and we still love our owner. Five years times twelve months. Do the math, Missus Condescending - that's how much one of your slumlords could have pocketed. More actually, as we're still paying less per sq. ft. for our up-to-date, charming, cozy nest than we would have for any of the shacks I was shown by Mr. Addled. Still light a candle to the rental gods for sending me elsewhere. Still tell everyone looking for a home in Gulfport to avoid you like plague. Update : Think we're on year 6? Might be 7. Never a missed payment. But none - zero - to any of your slumlords. Because you lack the gene for being effective, engaged, or empathetic.

Negative experience: NOPE Mebbe this place has *too* long a history in Gulfport... I bought my home from these people nearly 20 years ago, and that experience was - though I didn't realise it then - a good indicator that this time around I should have STAYED AWAY. But because I had a history with them (or thought I did, anyway), I overlooked the crazy and went to Caldwell first when looking for a rental property. The office is tiny and chaotic - kids, dogs, people (staff?) coming in and out of doors - and everyone too busy ( or preoccupied with admiring/controlling said kids & dogs) to acknowledge your presence - until it comes to taking that $40 application fee. No one seemed to know who was responsible for a property, or when they would be available to show it. No one seemed the least bit concerned with keeping the copy of your license - which you are required to provide in order to see a home - secure. Mine was just left out on the desk until I said something. When no one could be located to show me two possible properties, I received the 'special privilege' of being shown the homes by one of the firm's owners. I don't know why he bothered - he was clearly more interested in talking about himself and his l-o-n-g history in Gulfport, his political career and his family's history, to do much more than unlock the front door. Once in the house he had no information to offer. Seriously - he couldn't answer the simplest questions about the property, and in one showing, never even moved off one of the lawn chairs in the backyard. As I was newly divorced, my credit check didn't produce stellar results. When I tried to offer several months rent in advance, the other owner was arrogant and condescending - as if once I didn't pass their credit check, I should have slunk back into obscurity. The entire experience with the firm was upsetting and depressing, and nearly convinced me I'd never find a nice rental. But I moved on to another larger (and not stuck-in-the-stone-age) company and was treated like gold from day one. Within a month of being dismissed like yesterday's rubbish by Caldwell - and with the exact same credit - I was moved into a pristine home with an attentive property manger and a friendly and engaged property owner. Update : After year in a property rented from a competitor, I can only say Caldwell did me a favor by being ineffective, arrogant, and dismissive. I rented elsewhere and I've been blissfully happy in my non-Caldwell - and less expensive for more square feet - home. I'm local, so have on occasion driven by the homes I previewed with Caldwell. Just by comparing the exterior condition of those properties to mine, I can see I made the best choice. Thank you, Caldwell, for sending me away! Two Year Update: Still in the same home I DID NOT rent from Caldwell. Unlike the poor souls stuck in contracts from Caldwell, *my* property owner has made several improvements to a home that was already charming and comfy. I've never - like some of the reviewers in this thread - been without heat, hot water, A/C. No mold, either, or any of the other scary things I've seen mentioned. Four Year Update: Me and my rubbishy credit are still in the same lovely home I did NOT rent from Caldwell. Not a missed payment . Mebbe Caldwell should have taken a moment to dig a little deeper. But, after reading Caldwell reviews here and elsewhere, it's pretty clear that the rental gods were smiling on me when I walked out of that office without a lease. I'm so grateful to the disengaged receptionist, the addled Mister Owner and the dismissive and insulting Missus Owner for ignoring the fact that I'd bought a house from them. (They liked me well enough when we were buying one of their properties.) I see now they've posted some sort of response (perhaps Mr Addled has found out about that new-fangled thing called the internet) - a transparent and soul-less non-apology/advert. Seriously? The community they continue to support? With friends like that, my advice to Gulfportonians is to run. In the other direction.

Fantastic experience: Best people and service!!!

Negative experience: Would give 0/10 if possible. Not only was the office staff was rude. (Rose) They denied my application due to “lack of payment history” and then refused to send me copies of the reports I paid for. I asked if I could provide 2 yrs of payment history from my car loan servicer- no reply via email. Didn’t return my first 2 calls. Eventually got ahold of Rose in the office who bluntly replied. “No. They already denied it and aren’t going to go back and look at it for a car payment.” Clearly she never even asked the property manager..because why would they refuse if payment history was the issue. You’d think they would like to get it rented (it’s still on the market) Anyways, I was able to reach out to Appfolio and get the copies of the reports, thankfully, and the reports contained payment history back to 2023 for 17 accounts. So not only was I lied to before applying - telling me the only thing they cared about was credit score and income requirements-both which I met, but then lied to again for reason for denial. Super unprofessional. Glad I didn’t end up renting from them as they clearly would be terrible to deal with.

Fantastic experience: This company has top notch staff, actual caring people that go above and beyond to look out for their clients.

Fantastic experience: Jody and her Associate Amanda are not 5 star worthy but rather 10 stars ! As a property owner and residential property investor in the Tampa Bay area and Gulfport, Fl region, this review is long overdue. I have sold and purchased over a dozen properties throughout my lifetime and I have never had better attention to detail and service provided to me than this real estate agency. Being new to the area, Jody and Amanda took painstaking steps to keep me informed of the area I wanted to invest in, including but not limited to: rental trends, school information, latest comps, crime stats, return on investment potential in an ever changing market and the best ways to attract the most qualified renters in this region. I have purchased 2 investment properties from Jody , I have referred her to my dearest friend who also purchased a property, my next door neighbor ( whom listed the family property with Jody) and a few others who asked me if I knew a "good" realtor. I responded by stating do you want "good" or do you want exceptional ? All of my referrals have been thrilled with her performance, professionalism and positive attitude to work with them either on the seller or buyers end! Would highly recommend. Real estate can be stressful, Jody made it seamless.

Fantastic experience: Have all my insurance w/Mr Rob for 10 years!!! He is knowledgeable and polite and friendly!!!

Fantastic experience: Very helpful and friendly staff

Fantastic experience: RW Caldwell managed our rental properties for 12 years, doing an excellent job handling the day to day management. When it was time to sell these properties, Jody the realtor was very efficient and provided excellent recommendations on sale prep. She helped us set listing prices that met our goal of selling each property very quickly at or above listing price. It's a real nice group of people in this office, responsive, friendly and easy to deal with. A key over the years is that when we would contact them, they always seemed happy to hear from us and made us feel like we were an important part of their business family. You don't get that level of personal attention at many places anymore.

Fantastic experience: Hands down the best reality company in the St. Petersburg/ Gulfport area with awesome realtors! Every other company we went to were very “apathetic “ and didn’t give much hope. Dawna on the other hand got the ball rolling immediately and got us approved for a house in just three days!!

Negative experience: Very rude and unhelpful. This place just seems like they want your money. I called to ask questions about a property listed and after asking 2 questions I was saying thank you and was hung up on.

Negative experience: Had me running all over town to get paperwork To prove my income. Just to deny me because I'm a father that has to pay child support even though I have a very high credit score and clearly make 3 times the rent And clearly pay all my bills on time. They only want your application fee don't waste your time Or money on this company. I recommend Tampa Bay's best reality.

Fantastic experience: Caldwell Realty is the best! Always attentive and quickly responsive. Renting is fun with Caldwell!

Negative experience: Worst of the Worst. If there were a no star I would have picked that

Negative experience: Just a all around lousy experience. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Fantastic experience: I Love what I Do Let Me HelpYou!

Negative experience: Never returned the phone call

Negative experience: The most unprofessional, unethical backwards bunch of snake oil sales persons I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Do Not Rent or Buy from these charlatans.

Negative experience: they never answer calls. they never fix anything if somethings wrong. i've had an oven that's been electrocuting us since we moved in and it's still not fixed and that was 8 months ago !!

Negative experience: They played a horrible game with me and I was close to being homeless

Negative experience: I reached out to this company due to a rental listing they had online, as my lease is coming to a close. I communicated with Dawna through email, and promptly let her know of our serious interest in the property. The very next day, we fill out the applications and pay the associated fees, and we were told that the approval process can take anywhere from 3-7 days. Four days pass, no response- they hadn’t reached out to my previous landlords yet, or verified employment - so I decided to email Lori, as I was told she handles these things. In my email to Lori, I expressed how ready we were to move forward with this property (with cashier’s check in hand), and that if there was anything she needed from us to speed the process along (I mentioned in several emails that our lease was expiring) to please reach out to us immediately. She couldn’t even be bothered to respond. I know things get busy, as my fiancé and I both deal with customer service for a living, but that’s not an acceptable way to do business with people, especially after we paid all associated fees and couldn’t even get the decency of a call or email back. Now, seven days have passed - and we found a wonderful apartment and are starting to move in today - but it wasn’t through this company. So disappointed with how this company handles business - but should have known when I saw that the “oldest business in Gulfport” wasn’t even accredited by the BBB. Save your time & money and check out other realtors in the area, or even spend some time driving around looking - you’re better off helping yourself than waiting around for these people.

Fantastic experience: Good realtor knowledgeable in the area.

Fantastic experience: One of the best Realty Firms we've worked with... A one stop shop. Professional from top to bottom! It's a family owned & operated business where you can clearly see family is important. The office & staff is welcoming and our experience from start to finish was top notch. We've now completed 5 real estate deals with this firm and look forward to more in the future. The girls in the property management office are all amazing & easy to work with. They were able to secure quality tenants just after our closing. Rob in the insurance office was able to save us almost 30% on our policy and was also able to save us around 20% on our business insurance. Definitely would recommend if your looking for property and/or insurance in Gulfport, South Pasadena, Beaches & surrounding areas. JT

Fantastic experience: Great company. Professional employees. They work for thier policy holders.

Fantastic experience: Nice group of people, helpful and made feel welcomed.

Fantastic experience: Lori is amazing! She is so friendly and kind. Any questions you have, she does not have any problems answering them. She takes the time out of her day to give you updates on the application process, even if it's after R.W. Caldwell hours. After weeks of searching for our first home, R.W. Caldwell helped us get into our favorite place. Highly recommend their services!

Fantastic experience: Very polite staff, thoughtful, fast and efficient. No endless amounts of voicemails or emails, they respond immediately. Very professional company.

Fantastic experience: My new diswasher was installed on Tues!! And they gave me a call and assured me they will be taking care of insulation/ac issues! They did replace w/new ac too! Really appreciate the phone call and appreciate them trying to get these things resolved! I would also like to add, everyone in that office is aways very pleasant, and Lori went out of her way to get me in a decent rental! I had issues and had to leave a month short of my lease! They were very compassionate and understanding! They did not charge me extra and returned my deposit in a very timely manner! Can't say enough good about these people! I highly recommend them! They have a true gem in Miss Lori! God bless you all!

Fantastic experience: Honest old time service..

Fantastic experience: The service and care here is spectacular. Unbelievably good people!

Negative experience: Called them about a problem with one of their rentals. Their tenant is spraying and throwing pestisides ..so much the rest of us cant enjoy our yards! I am the 4th caller from our street..Nobody called back as I was told. We finally went to the City of Gulfport to try to help us.

Negative experience: What a horrible experience. Went in to get some information on some property and never in my life have I ever felt so uncomfortable and Un welcomed Donna at the desk was peering at me thru her glasses with the most nastiest look with no hello or nothing. The most rudest and un professional person I have ever met. How people would actually want to live there after meeting her is beyond me. No thank you. To many other places out there that actually care about their tenants and their jobs. Thanks but no thanks

Fantastic experience: Great family to rent from

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience ,a wonderful family business

Negative experience: I don’t normally write reviews but my experience with Caldwell was pretty bad and I thought I would share to help others. I cant speak for buying a house but as to looking for a rental I would not rent from them. I wanted to get a rental in Gulfport, which I know can’t be easy. The office is very inefficient and you are definitely not their priority. I won’t go thru my whole experience but just one example of how they treated me is they said I could look at a house. I waited over 30 minutes for them to show up, no one did so I called them. They forgot about me and said someone will be right there. The agent that showed up was terrible. She could barely get us into the house and when she did I started asking questions about the property and she said I know nothing about this property. So you make me wait and then send someone who knows nothing about the house. Like I said inefficient! I ended up using someone else and I am so glad I did!!

Fantastic experience: Great insurance services! Very friendly and efficient, helped us to find the best policy and the best price. We contacted several companies in the area and they were anything but helpful. Rob was the only one who listened and we have used his services to arrange insurance on three properties now. Anytime I call with questions the staff is always helpful! Amazing service from start to finish.

Fantastic experience: Family environment

Negative experience: They are the definition of slumlords ! It's well known amongst Gulfport locals . Don't fall for the smoke and mirrors .

Fantastic experience: Friendly people

Fantastic experience: Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Will definitely return.

Positive experience: Since we just met them on Fri, they seemed very eager to help us in our search for a new place to live. Hopefully we'll be hearing from them in the near future.

Negative experience: I have rented from them in the past and had no issues. This time around has been different. I haven't had working heat since I moved in. Which they have to provide. I told them from day one it didn't work. 11 months later I am still without heat. I have called left letters. And finally I should have it by Monday. Mylease is up soon and I will never rent from them again.

Negative experience: Don't waste your time, this place has a really bad smell when you get inside. People there don't try to help. Appointments are set with a lot of other people so your stuck waiting on others to show. If you get kyle good luck, he doesn't describe the place at all and doesn't even bring apps for people who are interested. POOR SERVICE!!!!

Negative experience: well first off don't do business with this so call reality group. they have given us the run around for over a week and now someone else is moving in to the house we were supposed to get. before we applied we told them we have a dog they said that was fine and wouldn't be an issue... when they called me back they stated the dog weighed to much but had no problem taking our money for the application fee! this place is a total ripoff.

Fantastic experience: I've been with RW Caldwell for our Home and Auto Insurance for several years. Rob Sepulveda has been extremely helpful in navigating the ever-changing property insurance laws and getting us discounts. On the auto side, we recently had claims and I can honestly say I don't know how people handle insurance claims without an agent to advise them. Don't just your insurance company until you've tried to make a claim - you need an agent. In an era when customer service is a lost art, Rob and the rest of the team take care of their customers and they support the community.

Negative experience: I rented from caldwell when i was 19, my first day living in the house i realized there were rats, I also found large amounts of trash in my cabinets. I asked repeatedly to have the sink fixed because it leaked . It was done eventually, but the leak in the fridge and the fact that the back door would not lock were not fixed until I moved out. Those are just a couple other things I asked to be fixed. Everyone knows that 9 times out of 10 you don't get your deposit back, but in this case you actually owe them money because they had to change the locks. Lesson learned, I was young.

Negative experience: As a current renter through R.W Caldwell, I would urge any and all house or apartment hunters to run the other direction as fast as you can. Having to deal with such an abhorrent and unreliable company, I am counting the moments until my lease is up. When we moved in, the former renters were given a week to have this place cleaned out. Caldwell was supposed to check in after this took place to assure that it was move-in ready for us. Low and behold, they had not checked in once, and the place looked awful. From hair in the sink and shower, to food encrusting both the fridge and oven, the place was gross. We even found finger nails in the carpet and floor vents, and the fridge had been placed on top of this bizarre gelatinous orange stuff that looked like an oil slick all over our kitchen floor. It looked like the former renters had just packed up and left. As politely as we could, we explained to the leasers working in the office that the place was gross and we weren't comfortable moving in until it had been thoroughly cleaned. Since then, it has been like pulling teeth from God to be able to live with any semblance of normalcy. We live in a tiny bungalow apartment, so I can assure you that we're far from requiring the Taj Mahal, but you can expect to wait at least two weeks for any problem to be solved. Be it a clogged drain, or broken washers. They only have one handyman on the job, and as nice as he is, you can expect to find cigarette butts in your toilet when he's through with his maintenance. A week ago, we called to let them know that the ancient dryer had stopped working. I was shocked to see that they had someone out the very next day! Well, we go down today to do some laundry... only to find that they hadn't even been hooked up, and were sitting down there for a week. As opposed to taking an extra ten minutes to finish the job, they left it sitting there. We share the washer and dryer with at least 20 other people in our building. It's an ongoing joke with all of our neighbors that we rent from a bunch of monkeys. They have failed to send me a copy of my lease, the women in the office are rude, they have around a 30% vacancy rating from what I understand, and they will flood you with every excuse imaginable as opposed to taking responsibility. The more people in Gulfport I talk to about Caldwell, the more horror stories I'm hearing. I have yet to hear someone say something positive about their rental or home through them. I will not be renewing my lease, and I'd urge everyone I know to stay away from these incompetent morons.