Jmh Realty Concepts

Well, it’s not shocking that they’ve been bought out (by another atrocious company, but still). I was looking for a new place in fairmount, which they pretty much had on lockdown. Thing is, if you’re employed– which is generally a requirement of rental– they make it nearly impossible to see any places. Partially because, «SHOWINGS WILL ONLY BE SCHEDULED BY PHONE.» They will email you back, but WILL NOT schedule a time to see a place in that email. It’s absurdly Stone Age and made me miss out on some good possibilities. Now, they’ve been bought by PMG. Shocking. Thankfully, I ended up buying an amazing house and my renting days are over. The 2^nd star is for Mark, who did show me a place and was very nice… But Alan is incredibly rude.

I rented a house (not an apt) in Fairmount from JMH for 3 years (2012 – 2015). Fairmount is one of the best neighborhoods in Philly so if you want to rent there you will most likely cross paths with Alan and his staff. Here is my advice… have your sh*t together. You will need to jump through some hoops with deposits/​deadlines/​etc. There are rules to follow with his staff and you will just figure them out as you go along. It’s not rocket science. And yes, as other reviews have noted, some challenges can occur. But above all Alan is fair and he is running a business. I cannot fault him for wanting things done a certain way. He is organized and expects his tenants to be the same. Just pay your rent on time, report any problems immediately, and read the e-​mails they send you. Remember you are «renting» someone else’s property… it’s not yours. And Alan has been entrusted to keep an eye on these properties. If you can’t handle it, I suggest you start saving your pennies to buy.

I have been dealing with a lot of rental companies in the area and JMH is the WORST. Stay away from JHM office in the Art Museum area.
My roommate and I put in an application for an apartment and met with Alan in the office. He went over our application detail by detail. Going over all the fees, etc. We checked yes that we had cats. He even started a conversation about cats. Alan was well aware that we had cats.
We paid our application fee (which was a ridiculous $ 50!) and first month’s rent. We leave the office and 2 hours later get a call from a rude secretary asking when we were planning to pay our pet deposit fee. We responded that we had NO idea there was one, and it did not say anything about that on the application in the ‘Fees’ section. She said the pet fee was $ 1100. That is a whole month’s rent that we could not pay.
She put Alan and on phone and he said that we should have known, and we needed to pay the fee immediately. We refused to pay the fee and he said that since we were approved for the apartment, that we wouldn’t get our first month’s rent back.
After going to war with Alan for a good ten minutes, he said we could come pick up our first month’s rent and that he could easily find other tenants. Glad we are so indispensable.
1) They did not cover the pet deposit when reviewing the fees.
2) They handled the situation very poorly.
3) $ 1,100 for a cat is ridiculous.
The only positive thing I can say is that the guy who showed us the apartment was super friendly and helpful. But Alan and the secretaries killed it.

This will be our second year renting from JMH, and I have to say that they are way better than the previous company we rented from: HOW Properties (steer clear from them! the WORST company I have ever rented from). Alan, the manager at JMH, is responsive to repair requests and issues. He is very professional and responds very quickly to concerns even though I have never met him in person to know if he is rude as other reviewers have mentioned.
JMH was very quick to shovel snow during this past snowy winter; they send someone to terminate the unit once a month; every time we had an issue, it was taken care of the same week.
My problem is with those two women (I guess they are supposed to be secretaries there, but every time I have gone in to the office, they are either on personal phone calls loudly, or as was today, literally staring at the wall.) at the Art Museum office who are always incredibly rude. I suppose my visit to the office disrupted their wall-​staring.
When I went to turn in our lease renewal form and to request another copy of the lease, both women were ridiculously curt and rude, lecturing me on how I can’t lose the copy of the lease and talking to me like I was a child.
We have yet to move out of a JMH property to know if they are ridiculous with charges, but as for now, other than those two women who should not be allowed to deal with tenants, they are okay to rent from.

I attempted to rest a house from these guys. It took them three days to return any of my phone calls. The woman who finally called be back was completely miserable and clueless. It took them a week past that to get me a rental application which I promptly filled out and mailed back. I never heard back from them. They didn’t return any of my calls the second time around. I found out from the current tenant that they rented the house to someone else because my paperwork was «never received» even though they cashed my check for the credit check. Thieves and liars.

I used JMH for five years total between two apartments in Spring Garden/​Fairmount.
First let me say that these guys put up with a lot of BS from high main tenge tenants that are usually in and out renters (1yr). People don’t realize how busy this office gets. They manage a good number of the properties in the Fairmount section…
Alan, specifically is one of the best property managers I’ve ever used. He’s tough, but precise and takes any/​every issue seriously. Any problem we may have encountered over 5 years was fixed almost immediately! From my perspective, his staff mirrors his work ethic — this group runs a tight ship and are very well organized because of it. At the end of our tenure with JMH (⁷⁄₂₀₀₈ — ⁷⁄₂₀₁₃) we received 90% of our security deposit although we put a lot of effort in to cleaning the apt and fixing as many minor issues as we could.
In closing, I’d use JMH (Alan and his group) again in a heartbeat. They’re the best property managers I’ve ever dealt with, and they make renting as easy as it should be. I’d highly recommend JMH (again, specifically the Fairmount office if you are looking in this area.

I worked with JMH realties while apartment hunting on two occasions, and the second time ended up renting a property from one of the landlords they work with. I asked if there were ever any issues with that landlord and they told me no, although Alan later admitted that they receive several complaints a year about her. I signed my lease 6 weeks before moving into the apartment and called several times to confirm the details (each time being told that they would get back to me). Still, two days before I was set to move in I received a call from them saying that the current tenant was refusing to move out so I couldn’t move in, effectively leaving me homeless. Their solution was to make it clear that it wasn’t their problem and show me another apartment nearby that was in bad shape and wasn’t even big enough to fit my furniture.
Luckily, the problem resolved itself, but when I had major problems with the landlord at the end of my lease, they again made it clear that it wasn’t their problem and weren’t going to help me. I called Alan to try to work out a solution, and although all I needed was for him to let me know what time the new tenants were moving in, he refused to listen to me or help me in the slightest. Instead, he kept cutting me off when I tried to speak and yelled at me, to the point where I told him I needed to end the conversation. It was completely unnecessary, and I was shocked and upset at how unprofessionally he treated me.
All of JMH’s properties I’ve seen are in very bad condition and haven’t been properly maintained. Even the one I moved into seemed nice at first, but I later found a lot of things wrong with it that weren’t noticeable from the one quick visit they allow. Based on my experience, it seems like they will tell you anything to get you to sign the contract, and as soon as you do, they no longer care much what happens. It’s very stressful when you’re counting on them for the place you live.

I rented with JMH for two years and it was absolutely horrific. They were unbelievably rude and were unwilling to listen to our concerns. They were difficult to deal with in the office, often making us jump through hoops for simple needs. They made promises about our apartment that they never followed through with. If you work a normal job with normal hours, it doesn’t matter, they’re still never open to help you anyway. They also give out the keys to your apartment for all service related things and don’t care if you want to be home to monitor your place.

I’m giving them one star because they do send out repair staff when needed.
But that’s where my appreciation ends. The staff at JMH are beyond rude. The secretary even hung up in me once. I don’t know how/​why they feel comfortable treating tenants this way, but it really doesn’t seem to be an issue anyone at JMH cares to address.

I rented with JMH Realty for 7 years (2 different apartments), and both my experiences were great. Alan Folkman and his team are extremely well-​organized, efficient and reliable. The entire team is very responsive to any issues or concerns I needed addressed – I usually received a response within a few hours to questions or concerns (even outside of business hours). I only had a couple of minor issues in the apartment, both of which were fixed within 1 – 2 business days.
In addition, if I had any special requests, Alan would not only inform me upfront of any costs for using their services, but also made sure to give me ideas for cheaper options that I could do myself.
My only complaint is that the women in the front office can be pretty curt, but you really only have to deal with them in the initial few days while signing the lease. Plus it’s the nature of the realty business in a busy city like Philly, and in my opinion, efficiency counts for a lot more. I must also say that they got a lot friendlier after the lease was signed and you became a tenant.
All of the paperwork was done on time and the whole process of lease signing etc. was very organized. You also receive regular updates by email about trash-​pickup (in case of holidays and changed dates), ways to conserve electricity/​heat, and other helpful tips like controlling for bed bugs etc.
Alan himself is great. He genuinely cares and tries to make your stay as comfortable as possible. For the second apartment I rented, the owner (who was using JMH for property management services) turned out to be an abrasive and rude man, but I was very glad to not have to deal with him, and only deal with Alan and the JMH team – that made things a lot more convenient and my life a lot simpler, which speaks to the importance of having a good realty company who know what they’re doing and do it well.
Even after I moved out of the apartment, everything was done promptly. My questions and concerns were answered as quickly as they were while I was a tenant, Alan offered to provide a reference for my future landlords, and I received almost my entire security deposit back (whatever little was not returned was reasonable).
I’ve now moved to the suburbs, but if I ever move back into Philadelphia, I’m sure I’ll be going back to JMH.

I am amazed that JMH has anything above 2 stars. They are the most ridiculous company to deal with. I’d prefer not to develop a brain tumor going over everything they do to annoy me, so I will pick some things out.
When you move in, any landlord is required to paint the apartment, and they specialize in slopping on a thick layer over absolutely everything. Because of this, your windows won’t open correctly, any door hinge is slathered over and seized up, and there are white paint drips over every surface. We have had leaks which is understandable, but instead of actually fixing the problem and removing any mold, they bring a man over to paint over everything. Our apartment has exposed brick and because the building is so old, some of the bricks tend to crumble. Instead of maybe attempting to replace a brick here and there, they decide to swiftly paint over the whole thing. I like to joke that they will use paint to fix any problem; clogged drain, lockouts, or late rent is no match for a fresh coat of white glop! We had problems where maintenance people needed to fix something and instead of letting us know in advance when they were coming, one of us would happen to catch a random stranger in our house snooping around. They did that a few times saying it is too difficult for them to let us know when someone would come, but I would remind them that what they were dong was illegal. Now, the threat of calling 911 on their men is the only thing keeping them away.
I really don’t want to get into the Fairmount office staff. The two women are very unorganized at what they are responsible for; I would constantly get phone calls to my cell asking to speak to my roommate or to remind my roommate of something. When it is only those two in there, you have to wait until they are finished talking to a friend on their cell phone or until they are done reading something on their facebook wall. If they need to write a note about your apartment or lease (like my roommate’s phone number) they will pull out your lease file and scribble it into the margins of your lease which is something my cat would think is logical. The office manager is bipolar at best. He will want to kiss your feet one day and the next he is tearing up papers and throwing them in your face. I don’t really have much interaction with the assistant dude. He sends you a monthly newsletter to inform you about things like clogs or frozen pipes, but they use it as an opportunity to TELL YOU IN ALL CAPS HOW THEY WILL FINANCIALLY MOLEST YOU IF YOU DO ANYTHING THAT THEY JUST SAID NOT TO DO IN THE NEWSLETTER.
You really can’t avoid them if you are looking for an apartment in the Art Museum area. If you’re looking for a cheap place, you definitely get what you pay for. Just hope and pray you don’t need to coordinate with them about a problem.
When I moved out, the deposit check they sent me bounced which is just hilarious.

I lived in an apartment maintained by JMH for five years. Alan, the overall manager, was always professional and very responsive to my needs, even when I did something as silly as locking myself out of my apartment.
When I first moved in, the maintenance was okay. Many times it was clearly done in a rush. As time progressed, the maintenance became much stronger and therefore the workmanship improved significantly.

This place is a scam. First of all, you are only allowed to view the unit once and you never meet your own landlord face-​to-​face. The secretaries in the office are a bunch of clowns– rude, incompetent, highly unprofessional. Leasing agents are equally unimpressive; they are young, inexperienced and DISHONEST. They are extremely unreliable when it comes to repairs and don’t ever expect them to return a call or email, ever. Once you sign the lease they avoid you like the plague.
Bottom line: Avoid JMH at all costs. You’ve been warned.

note — i am just reviewing the rental process, as i did not end up renting from them and have no experience with their property management. I gave 2 stars because they seem to have a lot of apartments with reasonable rents. And also because they are easy to get in touch with and called me back promptly. However I ended up cancelling my appointment with them after I thought about how the process of making the appointment went… I had several properties I was interested in but as soon as I told them my income i was told i «didnt want to see» the cheaper ones. I dont care what i make, its my own business if I want a cheap place. Also, the attitude was that they were doing me a favor by taking the time to show me these apartments. You are only allowed one appointment to see 2 apartments, and cant go back and see them again, so I had to ‘pick’ which two to see. I understand that they dont want to be running around showing people ten apartments, but geesh, let me come back for a second appointment on another day at least… its like going to a car dealer and being told you can only test drive two cars, and cant come back to test drive more, and if you decide to buy one of those cars, you cant test drive it again. Also, the pet fee is a little over the top. I took my business elsewhere.

There is one simple problem with this review system. «Methinks not» is not strong enough to deal with a company as odious as JMH Realty Concepts.
I rented from JMH for three years, because I loved the apartment, but every dealing with the company (every time I had to deal with them no matter how minor an issue) left me feeling like I would be better to throw my money into the storm drain than to give it to these people whose utter lack of respect and competence makes me wonder what is wrong with the world that they were able to obtain a business license. Are these licenses given out by some sort of satanic power?
Let me stress that the apartment I rented was wonderful because of the space, not because of its condition, which was well below average. The work on the apartment looked as if it had been completed by a cadre of buffoons or a remedial technical school class in jury rigging.
As mentioned in virtually all of the reviews, their support staff are rude and make you want to scream at them each time you call. In many reviews people tend to say that Alan and the other managers are fairly respectful, but I did not find that to be the case. Certainly he could be, but not if there is anything wrong with the apartment, in that case his reaction is to take a defensive, accusatory tone with you until you prove that you didn’t do anything wrong and that the apartment broke of its own accord.
I have rented from a number of companies over the last decade and I believe myself to be a fairly good tenant. My only fault with JMH was that I was two days late with rent, one month during my third year of renting from them. When I realized the mistake (a result of a misplaced letter) I delivered the rent to the office and contacted them by email to apologize for the mistake and explain. They charged me $ 100, which (granted) was in the contract, but is still a cold way to treat a three year tenant.
Be assured if you decide to rent from JMH, they do not respect you, they will not work with you and they will try to charge you for anything you can. If you absolutely cannot find another rental agency, make sure you protect yourself, because if they can help it there will be no security deposit.
JMH is one of those rare companies that makes you fantasize about having the money and power to purchase their company and fire all of the employees and you would sleep well that night, knowing that you’ve made the world a better place.

I and four other people share a property managed by JMH Realty Concepts. I don’t know about the organization as a whole but what I do know is that Alan Folkman, the man who runs the Art Museum office, is one of the most deplorable people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting.
We renewed our lease back in August. Beginning in October we started getting regular phone calls and emails saying we were behind on our rent. So we tried to figure our who wasn’t paying rent. To the best of our knowledge everyone was paying their rent and we came to the conclusion that it had to be an error in their book keeping. We tell them to double check their books and that’s that. For a little while at least…
The office kept calling us and they alerted us that we had incurred a $ 425 fee. So we stop by the office and pick up the ledger to figure out exactly what is wrong. After analyzing it we discovered that in the beginning of October they raised our rent by $ 125 — without telling us. On top of that they charged us $ 250 for the two months they had forgotten to raise the rent — without telling us. What they were quick to tell us was, we were short on rent and were charged late fees accordingly. We double checked our lease and sure enough, the rent was not raised.
So the next morning we go to the office to talk to Alan and try and clear up this problem. We go in and alert him of the error and he just brushes it off like, «Yeah, that’s for your rent increase. It was supposed to go up in August. We sent you a letter in May alerting you of the increase.»
Then we proceeded to tell Alan that, that was all well and good but the lease clearly shows that our rent was not raised. That’s what we all signed off on and we distinctly remember asking Alan about the lack of an increase when we signed it. At the time he didn’t say that anything was wrong with the lease.
Well, this threw Alan into a fit and he starts raising his voice explaining how it was our responsibility to alert him that we weren’t paying the right amount of rent because we «knew» it was supposed to be increased. He goes on to insult our intelligence and morals as people, which is laughable because it was he who raised our rent and threw in a back-​charge without telling us at all and then proceeded to harass us for two months, threatening eviction.
So finally, Alan realizes that he is clearly in the wrong and says «You know guys you can really screw us here. It’s your choice if you want to screw us.»
By this point we had run out of patience for Alan because of how unprofessional and disrespectful he treated us and we told him, «Yeah, I think we are going to screw you.»
Alan, being the class act that he is, told us that he was now going to charge us $ 500 for a maintenance repair that happened back in July. It was our air conditioner, but it just so happens that our air conditioner was under warranty and Alan paid absolutely nothing for that repair.
Basically, after we caught him trying to swindle us, he goes right ahead and tries to swindle us again. Unbelievable.
There are few words to describe my disbelief concerning the manner in which we were treated by Alan. All I can say is, don’t rent JMH.

The apartments JMH shows can be hit or miss. I do love my apartment, but they do not fix things on a timely manner –if at all. The people who work at JMH are super rude and need social skills training. They are also unorganized, I’ve had to go back to their office several time with different money orders when signing my lease b/​c they «forgot» to mention how I have to pay for water which increases my rent (that was not mentioned in the ad) and pay for an alarm (which does not work). I’ve also been contacted about not paying my rent in full when in fact, according to my bank statements paid two days early and accidentally overpaid by $ 10! They take forever to get back to tenants, but are quick to respond to prospective renters. I gave it 2 stars b/​c I love the art museum area and some properties they rent can be nice. The people who run it, on the other hand, are not.

The guy who showed the apartment and the guy in charge at this office treat you with respect. It’s their secretaries who I found to be very rude and I actually wrote them a letter and spoke to the guy in charge about this. They didn’t fire them, of course, but I try to avoid going into this office at all costs (only went in about 3 times in the past 2 years) because I don’t want to deal with them. I can’t believe how curt they are.
I’ve always paid my rent on time and they raised it every year for the past 2 years, despite the economy and ppl not receiving raises (me included) which is a bummer. They do a good job of maintaining the place though (they better for the money i’m spending!) and they keep the hallways clean, replaced my leaky dishwasher without any fuss, and replaced my small porch which was about to fall off the 3^rd floor.
when i first moved in, i had a cat that I put down a month’s deposit for. i gave my cat to someone else within the first few months and asked if I could get the deposit back but the secretary practically laughed in my face (srsly) and said i’ll get it back when i move out.
i would’ve given 4 stars otherwise.

Stay away from JHM in the Art Museum area. They handle a large number of properties, but dealing with them is like being at war about every little thing. They go out of their way to make things difficult for their renters.
You will be MUCH better off renting from a private owner instead of dealing with the rude, incompetent people at JMH.