Wanted to stay at one of their listings. Applied but someone else ended up getting it. I was refunded my app fee and emailed about the inconvenience. Even though I didn't get to live there I was pleased with their service. read more

First, I thought living here was going to be the best decision ever. I live in the apartments on Meads Road, and after living here for a few months, it's honestly been one of the most frustrating places I've lived. The first issue is the heating. The baseboard heat and insulation are terrible. During the colder months, I had to keep the baseboard heaters running almost 24/7 just to stay warm, and I even had to buy additional space heaters. As a result, my electric bill was around $300-$400. We absolutely love that, right? The second issue is the air conditioning. The AC units are terrible, and they constantly smell. I've submitted multiple maintenance requests, and it takes forever for someone to come out. They replaced two of my units, and they're already starting to smell again. At this point, I don't even bother putting in maintenance requests because the same issues keep coming back. The units they provide just aren't adequate. There are only two wall units for the apartment, and they are nowhere near powerful enough to cool the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. I ended up buying my own AC unit for another room because it got so hot that my hairstyling products literally started melting. Communication with the office can also be frustrating. Not everyone is this way, but there have been times when I felt like I was bothering or annoying staff just by asking about maintenance requests. The property itself isn't well maintained either. Some neighbors leave trash in the hallways for weeks without it being cleaned up, and the exterior of the building looks neglected. There are vines growing all over my window and up the building walls, making it look run-down. Yes, the rent is affordable, but for me, the negatives outweighed the lower price. I personally wouldn't choose to live here again. read more

If I could give less than one star, I would. Let me tell you our experience with Doud Realty Services. My husband used Doud for a rental he had in Suffolk for years and everything seemed to be fine...in the beginning. As years went on, we rented another property with them in Virginia Beach as my husband had a relationship with them and trusted them. Fast forward to 2017/2018, our property in Virginia Beach was rented by Doud to a single mother and her children. This was a very large beautiful home that we trusted for Doud to find a good, reliable, responsible tenant. We were told this lady had impeccable financials and was over-qualified and there were no problems at all with her background check. She moved in summer of 2017. Within four months, she claimed to have lost her job and started to file bankruptcy. Rent was not being paid but t was getting close to Christmas so we were willing to work with her. We didn't want to evict a single mom, especially at Christmas time. Two weeks before Christmas we get a phone call saying that there has been a fire in the house. Thank goodness no one was hurt but the tenant has to move out due to the damages. The Virginia Beach Fire Department came to inspect the cause of the fire as is standard and we were informed the fire was "suspicious." So now we are getting suspicious. We just got a weird feeling and decided to do some investigating ourselves into the tenant. Turns out this tenant had an extensive criminal background. We confronted Doud with this information and they claimed they found nothing of that sort on her background check. We were in communication with our insurance company and the fire department and they suspected the tenant started the fire. Fast forward again another couple fo weeks and we get another call that there had been some vandalism in the property and a frozen water pipe had burst and ceiling had collapsed into the downstairs bathroom. Doud was supposed to have been handling the property while it was empty (mind you the tenant's belongings were still on the property as she officially had not moved out yet). They claimed that they had made sure that the heat was still on in the house and the water pipes were inspected, yet the pipes still burst. Okay, we know stuff happens. However, the vandalism was another story. The house was graffiti with foul language all over the inside. Cabinets were smashed and windows broken. However, none of the tenant's personal belongings were touched, including large TVs, jewelry, etc. We confronted Doud with our findings about the tenant and they became defensive about their "background check" process. We remained willing to give them the benefit of the doubt however. So now we have two claims with our homeowner's insurance. One for fire, one for vandalism. Our claims adjuster was very helpful and in fact was the one who cued us into the fact that we had a serious problem on our hands, not just the house problem. That our property manager was not doing their job properly. Story is not over. Hold onto your seats! Fast forward another two weeks and we get another call from Doud. Lisa Doud called herself and said, "Are you sitting down?" Well, that's how you want to be greeted on a phone call. Her words to me were, "She finished the job." The house had been burned to the ground over night. Three alarm fire. On the news and everything. And lo and behold, SUSPICIOUS FIRE! The tenant set the house on fire completely. Turns out she was trying to commit insurance fraud with her renter's insurance company and collect a payout. Luckily her insurance company was also suspicious and she never got paid, which was why she kept upping her game and doing more serious damage each time. It was unprecedented with our insurance company. They had no idea how to handle this type of situation. Their advice to us was to fire Doud Realty and start a lawsuit immediately. Unfortunately, on advice from our lawyer, he said it was would be a waste of time because they would just close their doors, file bankruptcy and then open up under another name in six months. He said that is how these smaller shady companies do things. We would get nothing but legal fees and recompense. Luckily insurance covered our loss. The entire time this was going on, Doud Realty was on the defensive anytime we would confront them on their policies and procedures. They are the most unprofessional company I have ever worked with. Okay the story does not end because my husband kept using them for his Suffolk rental property. Now we are having issues with the Suffolk property and the unprofessional, rude employees at Doud just slap paint over things and ignore serious issues and we feel like we are out of the loop with what goes on with our property. I would type more but running out of room. Moral of the story...DON'T USE DOUD REALTY...EVER. read more

Stay away! Had a horrible experience with this company as my property manager. The repairman, which is the owner's relative, was extremely disrespectful and the owner (Lisa Doud) said nothing about it. We had multiple issues with the company, which cost me a lot of money. Take advice from the reviews and disregard this company. read more

Review still stands, regardless of receiving my deposit back or even having to pay the rest of what is owed on the contract.

We used them for a year for 2 properties, and we were completely disappointed with them. We felt that they had been grossly negligent, made excuses for the tenants, and did not follow the terms of our contract. We decided to take them to court, which I have never done in my life. Before we took them to court, we tried in several ways to resolve the situation directly with them, but felt that they were very unprofessional and unwilling to listen to us and provide us with information about our own property situation. The general district court awarded us almost $10,000 due to the court's decision on how Doud had performed. Of course they are doing everything they can to avoid paying and/or delay payment. In my opinion the positive reviews you see are made up. BTW, I fully expect some sort of denial or manufactured explanation not based in fact to try to explain away the inadequacies, as I believe Doud does with each negative review. But please consider both the number of negative reviews (could all of these people be wrong?) and also please feel free to look up "Doud" in Portsmouth General District Court (civil) where you can see the case results. read more

As investors, my husband and I have often heard horror stories about working with property managers. Until our encounter with Doud Realty Services, we had been fortunate to have only positive experiences. If it is your deepest desire to pay someone to be rude, non-responsive, unprofessional and disrespectful Doud Realty Services is the team for you. They are not interested in working with an investor who has questions regarding the management of his/her property. Instead their ideal client is someone who has no concern for the investment itself and simply wants to collect a check. When I suggested that having access to the information online might eliminate my email inquiries, they refused to upload requested documentation to the owner portal. Apparently, the limitations to the portal are only what they want you to see. If you have no experience with other property managers you might believe this to be true. As an investor with long term property manager relationships in two other geographies, I know what the software is capable of. We are out of state investors. The marketing on the Doud Realty services web site is far superior to any actual service they provide. Upon being asked to address any issues multiple follow up communication is required. Should you follow up to inquire as to the completion of a task 7 days later the office staff (Priscilla Horner) and owner (Lisa Doud) both become very defensive. When a problem arises the staff is quick to respond with a no or we'll get around to it in a week or two. There is absolutely no desire to deliver a positive customer experience for you as the owner. This may be because their contract has a clause which states that there is a $250 fee payable to their office if the relationship is terminated by either party within 6 months. In an effort to automate their systems as much as possible, Doud Realty property managers do not show vacant apartment units. Instead they have a system that allows prospective tenants to view the apartment independently and leave feedback. One would think that a unit listed below area comps with activity but no interest would get the property manager's attention. He or she might be prompted to go see the unit for themselves to ensure things are in order. This was not the case at Doud Realty. It was only after the property was under new management that I was made aware of several issues within the unit. Not the least of which were mold and the fact that the units were dirty. How this went unnoticed when photos were taken to market the units is beyond me. In any case, I am fortunate to have discovered their less than stellar management style within the first 30 days of our relationship. Yes, this review is the summary of approximately 75 days from the time of closing to transferring to new management. This is a first for me as I have two property managers whom I have worked with for 5 years and 3 years respectively. I am writing this review in an effort to save others future frustration. read more

Disgusting and cover up messes in homes. Then turn around and tell folks its now how it was when they took their pics. A dog blatantly lived in the home I moved into, was told none was here. Lies!!! Walking through you dont see everything. As i moved and pulled out stuff this is what the hosue they say they cleaned look like. As soon as my lease is up.I am OUT!! Its day 3 in my lease!! Any lawyers can help?!?!? This place is TOTALLY nasty. Toilet seats had pee (they refused to replace), dog pee on walls in room, garage door broken. read more

Horrible Company. Home Owners Beware! Would NOT recommend. Horrible customer service, unprofessional, does not abide by contract, over charges on maintenance. I hired Doud Realty to manage my rental property because I live in another state. I decided after a while to put my house up for sale to see what I could get for it. I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to continue to rent it out because if I couldn't sell it and break even I was going to continue to rent it out. They gave me less than 30 day notice (the contract I signed stated they had to give at least 30 day notice) they would not be renewing their management lease with me. Their reasoning why was because I wanted to sell. I was just getting ready to unlist my house because my tenant wanted to stay for another year. I called the management company and stated I was upset over the short notice, they stated they can continue to manage my property for 30 days because they didn't give me enough notice, who would want to continue doing business with them after that though? They also stated that it would be easier for me to manage the home since I was potentially selling (didn't they think that was a decision the homeowner should have decided?). I am very unhappy with their un-professionalism, and poor customer service. If you want to use any contractor besides the one they recommend, it seems to be an issue with them. They over price all of their maintenance (her husband is the contactor). They charged me $60 a year just to check the batteries on smoke detectors. I would not recommend! You are better off elsewhere! read more

I have had the same experience as several others. Everything seemed great in the beginning and then fell apart. I had to pain over 30,000 to bring the hhome tO standards. No walk through or inspections ever! read more

I've been with DOUD Realty Services for 4 years, I'm really satisfied with the services. They never let me down. Great professionals, always acting fast. A+++++ services. I truly recommend. read more

I came in from out of town to look at apartments. I had 5 lined up to see, using their "let yourself in" system. (You get a code to a lockbox on the front door and tour the place yourself). Of the five I was originally interested in, two I couldn't even get in to. One had no key in the lock box. The other had a lock box that I was given a faulty code to. I couldn't get a hold of anyone to fix it. The three apartments I did see did not seem well taken care of. They were dirty, had interesting smells, and generally did not look ready for new tenants. I was very disappointed and felt like my time and money had been wasted. read more

We are relocating to Norfolk, VA and were very excited about renting a home that was listed by Doud Realty on behalf of the owner. It seemed to be the ideal home for our family. Our application was accepted and we were sent the lease. We had a few questions about the lease and emailed the owner of Doud Realty, who had been on the initial correspondence about the property. She replied "You may call our office, and speak to one of our staff members, I don't see any reason why I need be calling you." If that is how the owner of the property management company replies to a potential tenant, how will they reply when something needs to be repaired or there are any other issues with the home. We were disappointed, but decided the owners unprofessional response warranted us renting a different property that was not represented by Doud Realty. read more

My family and I have lived in a property that is managed by Doud Realty for almost six months now. From day one they have taken excellent care of us. Ms. Doud and her staff have been wonderful to work with. They are very technologically advanced, which makes it easy to set up automatic payments for rent, submit work orders online, and contact the staff....a huge plus for busy families and military personnel. Like any house, ours has needed a few minor repairs but the staff at Doud have really gone above and beyond to have quality technicians out to make repairs, as soon as possible and they make it convenient. I can't sing their praises enough! read more

This is the most efficient property management company I have ever worked with. My husband and I are tenants, we have never worked with a company that is so well organized, kind, and prompt. We were approved for the rental unit within days of getting them all the paperwork. We love that we have the option to pay our rent at ANY 7/11, so we can just pay at a convenient location instead of having to go out of our way, especially if we are traveling. The ladies are so quick to reply to any questions I have via email, they are so professional and sweet! We have had a handful of maintenance calls since renting with them, and they sent a technician over immediately! Our previous property management company would wait nearly 2 weeks (sometimes) before even acknowledging our phone call for maintenance, and it would take even longer for them to schedule someone to come address our issue. Doud Realty has just been such a dream to work with, and I really do recommend anyone to rent with them! read more

Owners beware!!!!! I have been back in Virginia six months and have out almost $30k worth of fixes into my house. They are truly the worst property management company ever. read more

Doud Realty Services has been the most unprofessional rental agency I've ever had. The people are extremely rude. One lady, Amanda, even started an email with "I hate to be so brash" indicating she was aware of her tone but didn't care. They don't allow month to month after fulfilling a year lease nor do they allow you to break lease for a penalty. The property was also in poor condition. I was told they would need a week to get it ready so I paid the deposit and signed the lease only to show up to a filthy, ant-infested property. Having brought all our belongings from NC we had to just clean it ourselves and pay for professional pest control. There was an issue with the drain for the washing machine that took several weeks to resolve and cost us a new washing machine when we thought the problem was fixed but it wasn't. The refrigerator still doesn't close properly after being "fixed" and I've cut myself several times on the inefficient metal piece installed to keep the screen door closed. I do not recommend them and would never rent a property managed by them again. read more