Professional Property Management

Be careful, they will try to keep your deposit. Make sure you are there for the walk through when you move out and make certain that everything is 100% good FOR SURE WITHOUT ANY DOUBT before you leave. I was at Cross Creek in Urbandale. I wasn’t there for my walk through. When I turned in the key, I asked the girl I’d been working with if everything was good and she told me yes. It wasn’t until I got back to my hometown that I found out another girl did my walk through and she found it to be «dirty.» I cleaned swept and mopped so I’m not sure what their idea of dirty is. They kept my deposit, and when I disputed it with the main office, she responded by saying she didn’t believe that I «not once asked» about my walk through. I hope they choke on that deposit money.

I’m not sure where all of the bad reviews are coming from. I lived with these guys for about 4 years, and out of all of the rental companies, I’ve ever had PPM, has been, by-​far, the best. If I ever had complaints, they were there to fix them.
Twice during my four years, the water went wonky and started backing up from my sink. It was almost always in the middle of the night, though, but I called their emergency line, and they had someone there within a half-​hour both times. Both times, the problem was resolved that evening. The repair guys were always friendly, and I ended up with a pretty good rapport with many of them. It’s not that things were always breaking — it’s that PPM was great about doing regular maintenance and replacing older appliances.
The dishwasher detergent «door» stopped latching one day. I submitted an online maintenance request to see if they could fix it. The repair guy came by, looked at it, said my dishwasher a couple years older than some of the other ones in the building, and brought in a new dishwasher and replaced the entire thing that day. While I was living there, we also got a new oven, new toilet, new water heater, new air conditioning unit, and new light fixtures.
They keep their apartments current and pretty. Common areas were vacuumed and cleaned on a regular basis. When it snowed or iced, it was shoveled and plowed before noon the next day. The garbage can for the mailboxes was regularly emptied. Despite the laundry being «Free», the laundry machines were always working great, and they even work way better than the «paid» ones I have to now pay for at my new property manager.
Turns out I had been overpaying my rent for a couple months. Instead of just pocketing the money, they let me know and told me I could underpay the next upcoming month. Great service.
Move-​out inspection was pretty uneventful. Keep your own cleaning supplies around. The inspector let me know what things needed a «bit more», and she let me clean it then and there to avoid any fees. I didn’t clean the oven, so I was charged three hours for that, but I consider that reasonable for the interior of it.
They offer a utility guarantee for some of their apartments too. They have a number what you «should» be paying. If you pay more than that for utilities, they refund you half of the difference. Every year, I submitted for this (you need to submit for it, so keep your paperwork!), and every year they submitted my refund with no problems. It’s good to know that they have incentive to make sure heating/​electricity/​insulation is as perfect as possible.
The only downside is that they DID raise the rent every year on lease renewal. As this was happening to my friends renting with other companies, I think it was happening (and is) happening throughout Ames and PPM was just trying to stay competitive. From when I first signed the lease to when I moved out, I was paying about $ 75 more per month than when I first signed.
All that said, if I would have known earlier that I would be staying in the area (silly job search), I would have re-​rented with them in a heartbeat. They are, by far, the best landlords I’ve ever had.

Property managers are always hit or miss. PPM looked like a big hit for me: free laundry, a picnic area, an affordable apartment in a college town, and a repair guy second to none. However, they seem unwilling to allow people to get too comfortable.
The one apartment of theirs I have experience with was clean and somewhat spacious, with an older fridge and stove that are functional, but no frills (the clock on the stove probably hasn’t functioned for a decade), and a couple drywall issues gone unfixed from the last tenant. The building itself is in pretty good shape, though the garage seems a tiny bit worse for wear. It’s also nowhere near CyRide. But I was wiling to overlook those things for their original asking price. Maybe that’s how they rope you in.
My first clue was this: the day after I first signed with them, I noticed that their web advertisement for my apartment said it came with a free garage space. I asked about it – too late, they said, I’d already signed the lease and would have to pay more per month for a covered space.
They state – in letters to their tenants no less – that their real customers are their property owners (sorry renters: you’re just there for the money). They’ve raised my rent every renewal period, and the fraction has increased each time (2.2%, 6.5%). While most companies reward loyalty, PPM seems to punish it. It’s almost like they want people to stay for only one lease period and then leave.
Overall, I think PPM just has too much on their plate. Too many properties means they’ve lost touch with their renters. So, if you’re looking for personal service from the company itself, I’d look elsewhere. If you’re a fan of being treated like a dollar sign, maybe they’re right for you.

This is the worst property manager in Ames, and I would give them negative stars if Unilocal would let me. They are extremely difficult to work with and they find every way to keep your deposit. For example, before moving out, we cleaned for two days straight and the place was spotless. However, during the checkout they found a crumb in the refrigerator seal and we forgot to clean the drip pan on the back of the refrigerator! I didn’t even know there was a drip pan! When we received our deposit they charged us for 3 hours of cleaning and for the carpet cleaning which totaled about half our deposit. I was furious and wanted to take them to small claims court, but we were moving out of the state, and it wasn’t feasible. My advice is to stay away from this property manager even if they are offering to pay your utilities and provide you with free laundry.