Review of Five Olive - Stay from August 23-30, 2025 We rented Five Olive the week before Labor Day weekend and spent over $10,000 for the stay. At that price point, we were expecting a seamless, high-end experience. The house itself is beautiful on both the inside and outside, and it does have many nice appointments. Unfortunately, it became clear very quickly that this is an investment property built for rental income only--not a home that has ever been lived in or cared for as if someone truly valued the experience of staying there. First Impressions When we arrived, the yard was un-mowed and unkept--a disappointing first impression when spending this much on a rental. It set the tone for the rest of the week. Kitchen & Interior While the interior was clean, it felt disjointed and poorly organized. Kitchen items were scattered about, making it difficult to cook meals. The property has an induction stove, yet many of the pots and pans provided weren't even compatible with it, which made cooking frustrating. Another major inconvenience was in the bedrooms. Although there were closets, none of the bedrooms had dressers or any drawers to put away folded clothing like socks, shirts, or other items you'd normally unpack for the week. For a property marketed as a luxury vacation home, this was both surprising and impractical. Outdoor Space The backyard and pool area had great potential but was neglected. The pool itself was dirty when we arrived, and though we requested service right away, a pool cleaner didn't come until two days later. The grills were also filthy--so bad that we had to clean them ourselves before use. We contacted the rental agent, and it took three days for someone to come out, and even then only the Blackstone grill was cleaned, not the main grill. The pool area had overgrown weeds, astro-turf that was dirty and filled with mulch, and generally felt messy. Despite asking for lawn service, no one ever came, and I ended up mowing the yard myself--something I've never had to do at a rental property before. Pool Heating Issue The rental agreement states the pool can be heated for an additional $350, which we were more than willing to pay. However, the owner refused to allow us to heat the pool. As a result, the water was too cold for most of the week, and our kids and guests did not enjoy swimming. This was one of the most disappointing aspects of the stay, as the pool was a major factor in choosing the property. Customer Service Perhaps just as frustrating as the property issues was the lack of accountability from RE/MAX, the rental agency. When we called to explain the disappointing circumstances, not once did anyone apologize or acknowledge that things should have been handled better. Instead, we were met with excuses and vague promises of fixes--many of which never happened. For the price point and expectations, that lack of professionalism made a bad situation worse. Overall This home could be wonderful with proper attention, care, and management. However, the lack of upkeep, disorganization, refusal to honor basic contract terms (like pool heating), and poor response from the rental agency made the stay disappointing. I could have been a repeat renter--especially as I have family who recently purchased a home nearby--but I will not be returning to Five Olive. read more

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As a property owner, ReMax's accounting practices have been unprofessional. Midway through the year I received a refund check for another person sent to my address. I also received a $200 bill for a leaky toilet that was never correctly fixed, another guest broke a lamp. It was replaced by ReMax without a lightbulb causing another service fee from the building management for a bulb. I ended up firing ReMax for several other issues. I would highly recommend using another rental agency. read more

Rented a home through this group for a week which was fine, but they neglected to return the $1000 security deposit for three months, after several phone calls. Reasons given included 'we mailed the check but we didn't have your address' and 'check's in the mail' it was not. read more

Honestly don't know where to begin, parts of Remax have been decent to deal with but the rental manager Sharon Palmer has been one of the rudest professionals I have ever encountered. She speaks as if she is the "rental nazi" and talks down to tenants. I frankly have had to tell her numerous times not to speak down to me or my wife. It didn't stop the abusive behaviors we had to endure over our lease period. My opinion how she keeps any license in this industry is beyond me. Over our lease period she was out of the office more than she was ever there. If you called and had a question you might get an answer in 2 or 3 weeks if at all. In June our AC was not operating properly, for 16 days we lived in temperatures near 90 degrees because "she forget to call in a service call again cause she was out for like 5 days. No offer to bring window units, no offer to assist in any way. Same month our dryer was hit with a power surge. Another 16 days to have it repaired even making me purchase the dryer cord. Out of our lease we have over 60 days where the home was inhabitable neither the landlord or rental company did anything to assist us. On our final walk through we were told we were due our full amount of our deposit by the owners brother, which is who speaks for the owner now as we have been told the owner is sick. Then we were told he doesn't even own the property anymore and then we were told he does. Nothing has made any sense and if your looking for any type of rental I would run far away for this location as long as they have Sharon Palmer running the show. Point blank if zero stars was an option that is what they would receive #awfulservice #worstaround read more

We rented a 2 bedroom condo for the 2023 season using Heather at Remax. I was blown away when a few days after checkout she sent me an email with pictures that we had left the place a mess and she was charging us from the damage deposit. The craziest part was the examples she gave: We left the blankets and pillows on the floor after stripping the bed, couch pillows were a mess; we left a measuring cup in the sink because we had already started the dishwasher; hair in the floor of the shower and we set the thermostat to 76 degrees, which I guess it was supposed to be off. The pictures below are her example of damage. She then told me she was deducting two months of electric bills from the damage deposit. I pointed out that the one bill had days before we were there and she said I was being charged the full bill. It was clear that she was 100% focused on getting the owner of the condo to sign with Remax again for 2024, so she wasn't going to explain to them that when you rent for 2 months that hair is going to collect in the shower and pillows do get thrown around. She even brought up a towel and toothbrush we forgot as if they had to call in hazmat to remove them. I would never use them again and I am definitely going with Jack Lingo for 2024. read more

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We used Remax for a rental property (11 Bellevue St Dewey Beach) at the beach and could not have been happier with ReMax and the property. Very professional and organized. Everything went smoothly. read more

Poor excuse for a vacation rental company. Rented a waterfront house for 1 week. Notified them that we would not be coming because of COVID. At that time Delaware was a hot spot for COVID. They told me that I would lose my deposit of $3200 but they would refund me less a 15% handling charge if they rented it. Well, they rented it and now they have every excuse in the book why they don't owe me a refund! I have rented the same house for 10 years! Go with Coldwell Banker. They are outstanding. read more

I had a very professional, very positive experience renting a beach house through ReMax Rentals for a week in July, 2020. Our agent was Heather Knowles, and she managed a somewhat dicey change of plans (on our part) due to Covid-19. She managed to re-rent a second week we no longer wanted, thereby saving the one week vacation we did want with our extended clan. Throughout the negotiations with the owner, Heather's communications to us were calm and professional. I was very glad to have her managing the situation. The house was fantastic, but my main comment is that Heather and ReMax cemented our inclination to continue to rent through them for our annual gathering. Jennifer, July 2020 read more

We're from NY and my family booked a nice week-rental property through Remax. Shortly after we paid for it, Delaware was added to NY's quarantine list of states and made it difficult for us to keep our vacation. Even though we were subject to cancellation fees, Remax (Heather) was incredibly kind and did not charge us. They were very friendly and pleasant to deal with. We truly appreciate their understanding. Having rented through other realtors we can say that Remax Rehobeth is truly top-tier. I look forward to renting through them again once the restrictions are lifted! read more

Horrible group would not recommend we where up front with a Vrbo app on a property. We ask age requirement and they said we could rent the property if we pay a 1500 security deposit so we agree get a contract then 24 hours later get a revised contract with a 800 dollar increase and then said they will not rent to a 24 year old I attend the naval academy and my only break is Memorial Day weekend. They are horrible people that just increase my rent and then czld contract. Not American at all I have communications with them that they would rent to me. Wow. Thanks for the kick ! read more

Poor excuse of a Realty Group. Booked a week rental through Remax for the end of August. We arrived and noticed the A/C was blowing warm air and the house was warm as well. We read the owner's instructions to give it time to allow the A/C to cool the house. However, after 4-5 hours there was no difference to the temperature and it appeared that only one vent was blowing warm air. I called Remax and they were surprised that we had an A/C problem, even though the owner had 6 box fans and 2 circular fans in the house. The Remax contact told me that the A/C repair company would be there ASAP while understanding it was Labor Day weekend. Ok, fair enough. No repairman showed up to the house and by Thursday morning I had to call Remax again and explain the issue again. Then the repairman came out and added refrigerant both Thursday and Friday. Our sweaty week ended with me asking Remax to contact the owner for a partial refund since they advertised A/C but they did not provide it. (Also renting out a property knowing the A/C did not work is a lousy move). Remax agreed and said they would contact the owner and get back to me. After two weeks later I had not heard back from Remax I had to call them again and left a message. They returned my call and I had to explain the ordeal again and ask for the refund. Another two weeks passed and they did not call. I called them again, explained what I wanted again, and then they called the owner who graciously offered a $100 refund for a $2000 rental. It took Remax seven weeks before they called the owner for my refund. Bottom line is my Remax contacts were very pleasant but sadly they just gave us just lip service, awful customer service and did nothing without multiple calls. We will stay at the Delaware beaches many more times but we will never use Remax for rentals or sales. read more

Horrible company is right. BEWARE- Renters beware- the rental agreement has a provision that requires you to report damages within 24 hours. What the provision clearly does NOT say is that they will try to hold you responsible for a previous renter's damage if you don't inspect the property upon arrival ( including lifting mattress pads to identify old stains) even in bedrooms you don't plan to use and report the damage within 24 hours. They submitted an insurance claim without my permission, but ostensibly on my behalf, for the travel protection insurance I purchased for damages that occurred prior to my arrival, even though I refused to sign the claim because the insurance is for damages I caused, not a previous renter. The house we rented was very dirty and completely not as described. Once you pay for the property, they don't respond to texts anymore. I had to ask for information regarding how to access the property a few days before our arrival. The agent responded to my text by saying "what is it you want?" When I texted to say the linen package I requested had not arrived, there was no response. I had to go in search of sheets when we arrived. Unorganized, mismanaged company. Worse rental experience I have ever had read more

Pathetic excuse for a rental company. Avoid them at all costs. We rented a beach house for the week. The house looked good, but ended up having more problems than met the eye. The electrical in the house was suspect. We used the washing machine three times and then it blew a fuse with little else on in the house. The dryer sparked and then never worked again. We called for three days for repairs and eventually got a repairman to the house. His assessment was the dryer had been rigged at least twice before by an unqualified person. To properly repair it, without the concern for a fire which we apparently lived through for most of the week, would require a new terminal block and power cord. The rental company seemed oblivious to the concern when contacted. Of course we had to end the week without a dryer for 14 people who could have used one. Safety shouldn't be a concern for beach week with the family. Sadly this rental company doesn't think the same way. At least there is a fire extinguisher in the kitchen for when the next repair is done to the dryer. Good luck to the next poor soul who stays here. read more

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