John Barkley Real Estate

I didn't even get a chance to hand over the first rent check and deposit before I was rudely lectured by Medora after I asked a question about the utilities needing to stay on in my name 5 days after I move out and wouldn't get reimbursed. She may be the rudest person I have met in this city so far. more

Below is a posting of one of the testimonials on their website. I don't believe any of what the bad reviews say and would expect that all of the readers consider, there is always going to be someone out there who has to complain about just about every experience they encounter. Simply stated, ""the victim mentality"". Most property managers are more concerned about the bottom line and this is clearly not the case with John Barkley. There is such a thing as ""bad tenants too"" and it is unfortunate that they are at liberty to post dishonesty :( ""Penesh When we arrived in Austin, the house was exactly what was represented on the website, and the Barkleys were even nicer and more professional than indicated in the testimonials. The Barkleys may have been the best landlords I have ever had. They and their staff are professional and personable, with a personal touch suited to East Austin. Medora even gave us some blankets for our 4 month old baby when she heard that we needed something lighter for the Austin heat. In our 3 years living in Austin, we found them to be reasonable, responsive, and very accommodating. Repairs were prompt, and they never nickel-and-dimed us. I would recommend them to anyone."" more

I lived at 1903 Nueces for a year. When they asked me if I wanted to renew my lease, I couldn't say no fast enough. Between the rats and the things falling apart in the house it was an easy answer. I have had multiple encounters with rats/mice. They ate all my food, left poo everywhere to the point where I had to throw out silver wear, and you could hear them crawling around at night. Besides the disgustingness that was that...there was also the AC/heater. ---In the winter it was so cold in the house you could see your breath, and the little heater that they give you did NOTHING. when I say nothing I'm not saying that out of spite..I'm saying that it did nothing because it looks like it was about fifty years old and needed to be replaced. -----and as for the summer...talk about a sweat box. you would be dripping sweat. no fan could help you with this..trust me. Over all I spent about 60$ on a new heater and probably the same amount on the THREE FANS i had to buy for the summer. NOT FUN OR CHEAP. also, my bathroom wall had been falling apart SINCE BEFORE I MOVED IN and they did nothing to fix it until the day before I moved out. THANKS GUYS! :0) oh..and here's the best part. my neighbor who I became very good friends with..yeah.. HER ROOF FELL IN ON HER BED. yes, THE WHOLE ROOF. thank jesus she wasn't home taking a nap or something because from what I saw, we both agreed she would have been seriously injured/possibly killed. i guess that's what happens when A ROOF FALLS ON YOU. they put her up in a hotel, but were VERY VERY difficult and unresponsive to her. they ruined her furniture and didn't bother cleaning or trying to replace it. also, the landlord is seriously so rude. not only do they lie (as they did with two other tenants i've talked too), they also are not timely when repairing. anyways, do what you must. the location was awesome, but in that same breath there are 1000 different apartments in the same location and houses where you DONT have to worry about rats, DONT have to worry about YOUR ROOF FALLING ON YOU, and don't have to worry about sketchy landlords. on a different note: the repair guys were always really nice and John, the two times i've talked to him, was always really friendly and helpful. everyone else who works there/you talk to are very unprofessional and should look into a different line of work. more

...the property were maintained a little better. Pros: great location Cons: high rent for condition of place more

We moved into a Barkley property in the middle of July. On the second day we were here, our AC broke in the evening. Naturally, I called our new landlords to inform them that our AC was out and that something had to be done. His response? ""I don't know what you want me to do about it."" Two days into our lease. It is nearly 100 degrees in the apartment. I'm seriously worried about the health of my pets, and John Barkley can only say ""I don't know what you want me to do about it."" I don't know. Maybe you should fix it, considering that it is your job to provide a livable space for my girlfriend and me. I should have run away. I should have contacted Better Business Bureau. I should have tried to haggle my way out of the lease and lived in a cave. But I didn't. I told myself that maybe it was a fluke and moved on. Obviously, it wasn't a fluke. The entire place is in a state of cheap, superficial repair. The oven, which is probably from the 50's, doesn't fully close. Several of the burners don't work. The dishwasher is a joke. It barely cleans. There are gaping holes in the wall just out of sight - under counters, behind mirrors, etc, covered in nothing but a wire mesh. I guess that's why our energy bills are so high. The toilet has been broken (both the seat and the back) since we moved in. I would expect some disrepair in an old house, but John and Medora respond very rudely and unprofessionally when these problems arise. For example, when my girlfriend reported the oven door problem, the response was ""No one else has ever complained about it."" I reported the toilet within the first month and never heard back. When the pipe under our sink broke, on account of being amazingly rusty and rotted, it took three calls to get anything at all done about it. The first response was ""The Barkleys are on vacation, so they can't do anything until Monday."" Big surprise. The Barkleys are always on vacation. Finally, after the third call, John called me back and gave me instructions on how to rig it to be usable until Monday. It should not be a struggle to have running water in a place we're paying over a thousand dollars for. Speaking of water, the water main for the house is so crappy that if two people are using the faucet at the same time, they both suffer. Frequently, the stream will suddenly turn to a trickle. This is especially bad for hot water, which will abruptly turn freezing cold or scalding hot. Considering that this is a four-unit house with two people living in each unit, I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is to get a decent shower around here. Everything is cheaply maintained, too. When they had the house repainted, they hired cheap labor who couldn't be bothered to reattach our mailboxes to the wall, to put our screens back in our windows, or to hook our porch light back up. Considering that they raise rent constantly, you have to wonder where that extra money is going, since it's obviously not to maintenance. At least their secretary, Steffany, is nice and has good phone etiquette. The Barkleys themselves are terrible landlords, and I regret ever renting from them. I wanted to wait and post this after my lease was up and settled, as I don't want to suffer petty ramifications, but I just couldn't wait any longer. Stay away - Far, far away. Pros: Close to campus. That's it. Cons: High rent, rude landlords, properties falling apart more

water heater is not up to code, repair requests ignored, high rent. Medora is very rude and short with her tenants. Pros: appears well maintained Cons: everything else more