When had a problem with my washing machine, they responded quickly and professionally. The maintenance guy was nice and my washing machine was fixed in no time with no charge! I have had no other problems renting with them so far and just renewed my lease.
I really had a great experience with these guys. My maintence requests were always completed efficiently and quickly. The staff was always nice to me and my family. As far as deposits go, I got all mine back. There's always more to clean. Why? Because nobody wants to move into another house or apartment that looks dirty, so they will charge you cleaning fees to prevent this. Those of you who don't get one back, well, try cleaning better and don't break stuff then you would get more back. The pet deposit is a little outrageous, but that would be the only complaint if I had one. But with that said, they helped me out with that too. I had a great experience with them and wished I could have stayed longer.
Another thing they forget to mention is that they only deal with Century Link as an ISP (internet service provider) meaning that they've worked around the FCC's law on exclusive broadband deals. In summation, this means they have a deal with Century Link where they only let them sell to their renters and pocket extra money for doing so.
Houser had one nice maintinece guy. That is the only nice thing I can say about them. We lived in their house for over a year and they were consistently difficult to work with. There was raw sewage water in the yard that they refused to deal with. Any time they did fix something they charged us for it. They will nickel and dime you. When we moved out they took almost $2,000 from our deposit. We sued them for wrongful retention of our deposit and won. We shouldn't have had to go to court to get our deposit back. Do not rent from Houser. They took over half our deposit without a justification and looking at these reviews we are not the first. You will be nothing but money to them. Do Not Rent From Houser!!
Houser has been the worst place I have ever rented from. When I moved in the place reeked of old food. Houser said that they would take care of the smell. They never did. The refrigerator broke and after waiting for two weeks they replaced it with a used model. Naturally they didn't apologise for the inconvenience or try to help with the cost of lost food. When I moved out I cleaned the apartment so well I had a West point student say it would pass even a military inspection, but I was still charged for cleaning fees totaling over 200 dollars. This place will try to act like they are selling luxury service and appartments, however my experience with houser has been difficult, frustrating, and overall an inconvience. If I wanted to be treated this way I would of hired a low standard escort service.
We had very good experience during our 3 years stay. They were very professional and quickly responded to any maintenance requests.
I haven't even moved out yet but I'll go ahead and thank you guys for the warnings about security deposits. However, I wanted to leave this note for everyone who decides to look into renting in the Iowa City/Coralville area. They don't give a CRAP about YOU. They're heartless, greedy, money grubbers. All they care about is your wallet, I know availability is hard around a college town, but steer clear of these guys. If I could give a lower rating then zero, I would. Not only do they only care about your money, if you're a pet owner don't live here! They charge out the ass for pet deposits and fees. Everyone in their office either doesn't want to work in a timely manner, or they let their emotions get in the way and act unprofessionally.
Tl;dr
STAY AWAY
Why "houser enterprises" has so many apartments and houses still available around university area? There must be a reason. BECAUSE it is the WORST agency!! Never rent their house unless you want to lose all you money!
They charged us $2848 in total after we moved out!! We live there for 2 years. When we moved out, they replace the microwave and charged us $399 and repaint the house for $1000. Why should we pay this money??? The microwave's handle has a little crack but is totally good for using. They can replace the handle but we replace the whole microwave and charged us $399!!!!
They don't care about you at all when you live there but only about your money. Especially the manager Tracy! For example, They will charge you $45 if you forget to close the window. And $80 for changing the water tap which only cost $15 on Amazon!
If you don't want to lose all your deposit and money! Never rent with houser!!
如果你不想失去你所有的押金,千万不要租这个中介的房子!
Houser Enterprises is the worst company I've ever rented from. I do not recommend renting through them at all. They bought low quality buildings, gutted them and tried to make them pretty. Don't let them fool you! There is black mold in the drywall of the ceilings and ant infestations in the walls that crawl out through the floor boards. They are extremely overpriced for the size of the units. But wait, it doesn't stop there! When you move out, they charge you $200 dollars to have your apartment cleaned by their contracted cleaner whether you cleaned you apartment or not. They also covered my car with mud, leaves, and sticks when they cleaned out the gutters leaving the cost of the car wash to me. They have no heart when it comes to seeing things through the eyes of the tenant. They also left me out of a usable unit for 10 days while they were fixing the ceiling that was caving in and they refused to reimburse me for the 10 days of being unable to live there. Between the owners and cleaners they are almost entirely impossible to get a hold of. They will also show your apartment without giving notice. You are almost guaranteed to lose your entire $750 deposit regardless of how spotless your apartment is. Don't go through them and don't go through Dan from Cleanstreak.
WORST tenent ever. endless ridiculous charges everyday. Had a very bad experience with them.
I wouldn't say I had a bad experience with Houser while I lived at River Ridge-the staff is helpful with questions aside from the fact they don't have enough employees to answer phones (looks like they're actively trying to fix this though), the apartments are nice and well-kept, there's a pool, plenty of parking, etc.
They even allow pets, but I wouldn't recommend living here if you have one. The down deposit for an animal is an extra months worth of rent - $840+ if you're at River Ridge - plus an increase in monthly rent. I got approximately zero dollars back from that deposit. I know it's common practice to have a down deposit for a pet, but those are usually around $200 anywhere else in the city in my experience - cats at least . So, if you're willing to take the gamble, go for it I guess. Maybe I just had bad luck.
Clean up really, really well after you move out too because you're gonna be charged heftily for it. I'm talking a full-blown sterilization, don't leave a mite of dust and don't even think about fingerprints on door handles. Lick the toilet rim clean if you have to. I thought my apartment was in good condition when I left but I was still charged over $250 to have a professional brought in.
This is probably honestly the last time I'll rent somewhere that's this newly renovated.I felt like I was careful when I lived there but every nick in the wall and splatter on the vinyl window coverings was noticeable, and trust me they noticed it and documented it thoroughly - 350 hi-def pictures of strands of cat hair and dust after I protested the amount I was charged. Credit to them for doing their job and keeping the places nice, but it'll definitely cost you.