Allenton Management

We used Allenton to manage our rental property after we moved out of state, and for eight years they have done an excellent job. The property has only had two months of vacancy in that entire eight year period, and the tenants they found have been great. I would recommend Matt or Heather very highly.

Allenton does a great job of keeping up with the properties in Dunbarton. They have AMAZING contractors, who are there at the drop of a hat if you have an issue. If something ever goes wrong they pop up and fix it. Dunbarton is also extremely well kept and a beautiful place to live. Even renting is an awesome experience. Just know the home owner association fees are totally worth every penny! They cover the roof, painting, and the landscaping, not to mention many other wonderful things. This place is great and so is the company.

I own property elsewhere so even though I rented from Allenton my mindset is as a property owner. If I owned property in Durham I would never use Allenton to manage it because Allenton convey very strongly that the properies they manage are not worth taking care of. The property we rented needed work — but Allenton assured us, it would be taken care of once we moved in. But it wasn’t. Two months passed, Allenton kept saying they would get back to us, one of the staff forgot etc. Then they changed their story — they claimed they never agreed to repairs. Don’t trust them with your property — they don’t care.

I was very happy with my property. I was very unhappy with our treatment after we moved out at the end of the year.
They did not not get back to us in a timely manner when we had questions about why certain money was taken from our security deposit. When they did get back to us it was too late to make any kind of argument, and NC laws are set-​up in a way stilted towards the owners, so they can unfairly charge your security deposit and there is very little recourse you can take. We spent hours cleaning up the house before we left but were still charged around $ 150 each for very minor things (e.g. $ 60 because the fridge wasn’t spotless… We cleaned it, so I’m not sure why we were charged at all, but either way, $ 60 for a fridge of almost any level of grime seems ridiculous).

This is a HORRIBLE management company… We rented a house that Jeff Jeanneret from Allenton managed. Days into the lease but before we moved in the house had a water pipe break which required a professional care. It held back are move in about 1 ½ weeks and we had to REASON with them on why they should not charge us for that time!!! We finally moved in and the house was not cleaned well and the water damage promoted water bugs, too. There were grease stains under and beside the stoves, mice poop in the garage, and some bulbs were dead (watch out for that… they try to charge you for them upon exit!). We had to REASON why we needed an exterminator for the next couple months (Jeff did NOT want to go beyond a one-​time extermination) and we paid out of pocket for a cleaning, carpet and power washing of the house. Forget it! They wanted nothing to do with even meeting us half way. Every time we called requesting maintenance of any sorts they were annoyed… took more than a week to get service, too. When we had a month left to our lease our toilet chain broke and the shower knob would not attach due to the built up limestone. We asked Jeff for maintenance and to no surprise he did NOT fix them. We were left without a functioning bathroom that entire month. BUT… we still coordinated and allowed them to show the house with 24 hour notice — no problem — yet they didn’t be care about our requests. Upon exiting we left the house clean… even the garage… and Jeff had the audacity to complain about 1 bulb that was out and try to charge us after ALL WE PAID TO CLEAN THAT HOUSE when we moved it!!!
We asked Jeff to meet us at the house THE DAY our lease ended for a walk out and turn in our keys. He agreed to at 5 pm. We waited there with our 4 kids, called his cell, left messages on everyone’s voice mail including the owners but no one replied. We tried calling the next day to follow up and couldn’t arrange a new day/​time with IMPOSSIBLE JEFF until 3 days later. He TRIED to charge us for those 3 additional days as IF WE WERE TO BLAME!!!
We were told our deposit would be refunded within 30 days. Jeff reassured us it NORMALLY is less than 30 days. After 2.5 weeks I called to follow up on the deposit. Jeff reassured me we would get by the 30^th day. After another week I called again, he again said we’d receive in time. BY THE 30TH DAY I called to say we did not receive it and he IMPOSSIBLE JEFF replied ’ Well, we didn’t receive the keys on time’ as if to punish us for his lack of professionalism!
If you are NOT strapped for cash… better to stay AWAY from this management company.

Terrible. Never return phone calls. Repairs take months to fix. Pictures of properties are not even close to what you are looking at. Most importantly is their lack of communication with potential renters. Miss appointments, leased the property already even though you are filling out the application and credit check. Just terrible.

The bug ridden moldy townhome actually showed well as it was empty and clean. But the huge roaches were an unknown to me at renting problem from the beginning and the mold just got worse when the toilet fell apart and leaked into the master bedroom and their solution was fans. They did not inform me where the security deposit was kept and now they want to keep $ 400 of it because of what the attorney general considers normal wear and tear. Watch out for these folks.

The only reason I’m even giving 2 stars is because I can’t assume that all the staff working at Allenton are as unreliable as the one I was dealing with for 2 years. clearly other people have had really positive experiences from the reviews. But I am unsure how anyone can be as bad at communicating as Jeff Jeanneret… Initially things were getting repaired in a timely manner but over time responses to phone calls and emails pretty much stopped. I was stuck out of my bedroom when the doorknob broke, and no one would help me during that whole business day though the receptionist said it would be taken care of. I had to finally bust the door down to get in bed that night. I’m past 30 days from having my deposit mailed back to me because they had an extra rent check of mine that finally reappeared in the mail after being lost for months, then they cashed though they knew it didn’t make sense. They have all my contact information yet no one tries to call and ask me why an extra rent check appeared, nor to just mail me my deposit without me sending an email invitation. These are just the most recent examples. Not a very good way to run a business. I loved the place I lived though, so I know they have great listings. If you don’t care if you get a response to questions or repair needs, then take the gamble with Allenton.

We have been living in a property managed by Allenton for just over a year now, and the folks at Allenton have just been such a pleasure every step of the way that I need to share this information.
So when we were looking for a place to rent here in Durham, we had to fly in from California and only had 3 days to look, and we came in the middle of the weekend. Even though Allenton isn’t usually open on the weekend, Jeff spent some time driving around to several different properties with us (a couple other comparable management companies completely blew us off). Unfortunately, none of the properties Allenton had in their portfolio at the time matched what we were looking for in our price range.
Well, Jeff did not let that stop him. Apparently, the morning of the day we were to fly back to California, Allenton had gotten a call about a potential new property. The people buying the home wanted a representative of Allenton there during the final inspection, and once Jeff got the details about the property, he called us and asked us to meet him there, as he was sure that it was exactly what we were looking for. He couldn’t have been more right. The new owners of the property were very happy with having rented it out before they even actually owned it as well. And even with all this, Allenton stepped it up even more by helping us negotiate a few terms of the lease.
But wait!, the excellent service doesn’t stop there. Apparently there were a few minor, but important, repairs the house needed which came up during the inspection. As soon as we moved in they set up a time for their handymen to come out and take care of the problems. Not only that, but while they were here they fixed up a couple of fittings for the gate and the doors that were giving us trouble.
And it is not just documented necessary repairs that they handle promptly. Every time we have put in a maintenance request, the matter has usually been handled within 48hrs. For example, yesterday I had someone from Time Warner come to wire another cable outlet, but he refused to do the work without written permission from the owner or manager. Well, within no more than 10mins of me calling to ask if someone could fax a signed letter over, BAM! there it was. It was because to this that I decided to write these guys a good review (Time Warner, however, bletch, though the cable guy did show up at the right time)
Oh, and did I mention how understanding they are, and how promptly they respond, when you lock yourself out, even after hours? (I can be a bit absentminded)
The only problem we had was due to us renting the property before anyone at Allenton really had a chance to get to know the property intimately. No one knew exactly which utilities we needed and which ones needed to be turned on versus just changed into our name, but we should have asked about that prior to the day before we moved.
Still, they did make sure the electricity was on and the keys were available to us when we flew in with our cats and a few very large bags in tow at around midnight.
It has been a very long time since I have had such a pleasant experience with the people managing the property we were renting. If you are looking to rent in the Durham area, I recommend making sure you check out whatever properties Allenton has available. Oh, and sorry about the novel.

We’ve had such a great experience with Allenton. Seriously… the apartment we are in is a bit old, but when it has problems they always fix them the next day (literally). They are super nice and helpful too. When any of my friends say they want to move, I tell them to check out Allenton. I know I am sounding like a giant commercial right now, but they really are that good. Definitely check them out if you are looking to rent.