The Rental Source

Despite the name, I purchased my first home in San Francisco through the wonderful staff at The Rental Source! From beginning to end, Joann Cano-​Legari and Lucila Sanchez were there for the entire process. They had answers for all of my questions and were very diligent with ensuring that all paperwork was processed on time. I was quoted a 45 closing window and we closed in 46 days (final closing funds transfer slowed us down by a single day). When or if I decide to sell or purchase again, I will certainly reach out to the wonderful staff at TRS. They know how to get things done! Thanks again to Joann and Lucila — you were my spirit animals through the purchasing process!

I feel old writing reviews about property management and real estate companies… Weird. Haha, anyway– I wanted to write this review about Joan, the wonderful person who showed us a unit (that we did not end up getting.) While we did not end up being chosen for the apartment we applied, Joan was very kind and generous to us every single step of the way. She agreed to meet us at our chosen time, and even waited for me to get back from school while my boyfriend was already at the unit. She made the rental application process very simple and easy, was very clear about the terms and conditions for the unit. She, like other property managers and realtors I know who really care about their work and finding the right place for people, required us to fill out application and even told us where to get a free credit check so we wouldn’t have to pay the application fee for them to run theirs.
When she called us to tell us we were not chosen for the unit (there are a ton of other people competing for this place, understandably– the rental market is competitive!) she also suggested a couple other places to us that she was going to show later on in the month that weren’t even listed yet. It was very sweet and she was very caring and just wanted to make sure we found a place to live. While these properties were not in our desired neighborhood, she was honest, caring and always empathetic to our situation. We ended up renting from someone else BUT, if you have a chance to rent from Joan, I definitely would. She makes the whole process easy and effortless.

This review is for Joan Cooper. My husband and I were informed we’d have to vacate a home that we really love last month in Santa Rosa, in a community that we really love because the owner wanted to take advantage of the super hot housing market to sell. We were not only devastated, but extremely anxious about even finding a place in the community where we wished to remain as the rental market here is extraordinarily tight. Every rental I found, and I found very few, were gone within a day or two.
We finally found a place we really liked that was still available, and when we showed up, there were 3 other couples there. Great. We don’t have the highest credit ratings of all time, so I figured we were out of luck
We spoke with Joan at length, in person, brought rave recommendation letters from previous landlords, showed our income and that we had never, ever been late for rent in years of renting. Ever.
Joan treated us with warmth and kindness, like we were human beings and looked at all of our paperwork, including the credit, which actually was pretty decent, after all — just not amazing.
She was funny and fun to talk to. She facilitated everything with ease and efficiency. She was thorough and helpful and made us feel at ease in a very stressful situation.
We got the place within a day and can finally breathe again. Now all we have to do is pack and move. (That’s all).
Thanks, Joan

Kent Williams is extremely professional it was a pleasure working with him! If you are looking to work with a great positive attitude ask for Kent he will not let you down!

Kent Williams and The Rental Source did a great job getting my Condo leased quickly. Thank you!!!

I have used rental source twice to lease out my apartment. Specifically, I deal with Kent Williams. Both times, Kent is on the ball and got my apartment leased out very quickly. The first time I had 3 days worth of vacancy between the old and new tenant. the second time I had 15 days.
Those are fantastic numbers —– and he’s very much a self-​starter. Highly recommended.

I like the rental source, they have really nice leasing agents but one of them is not and that would be Joan. I went to an open house recently and asked a few basic questions. She was seating down and didn’t want to be bothered I guess, so she answered with an attitude. Well, there were lots of people at the open house so I’m sure the place will be rented asap but if Joan doesn’t like questions from potential renters, maybe she should have another agent be at the open house instead.

We used TRS — specifically Kent Williams — for their relocation services. My girlfriend and I were moving from Boston, on a very, very limited budget, without the option to fly out here in advance. Knowing how insane the market is here, we knew we’d need to bite the bullet, pay for an agent, and cross our fingers we didn’t get scammed or screwed over by getting a place «sight unseen.»
We COULD NOT BE HAPPIER with the apartment Kent found us, and his close support throughout the process. He took us through a thought-​out process, asking us questions about many different ads to see what kind of general things we liked/​could live without. (We, in our turn, were very good about answering these in detail, and that does matter I’m sure). He visited positive leads, took videos, let us know when we shouldn’t bother with some because we wouldn’t like them (i.e. gave himself more work by being honest). All this for probably the lowest commission he earned last month — we were looking for a one bedroom rental, and we both work for nonprofits. I’m SURE his other clients were paying him far more, but he really dedicated himself to finding us a great place to call home.
Kent eventually found us a place within the budget we gave him — and well under the maximum (he never tried to convince us to pay more), in a great location in the Richmond, with parking and a dishwasher (almost unheard of in this city). In fact, he got us approved for another place with the same positives — having a serious agent really helps show landlords you’re serious about everything. When we arrived to pick up our keys from Kent, he supplied us with a folder that had a litany of recommendations for basic services, offered me a coupon to his personal barber, and told us about things going on in the city that weekend. He later emailed to see how we were liking the city to date and if the apartment was meeting our needs… weeks after we’d paid and moved in, and well past when most real estate agents would care.
I’ve already recommended Kent to two friends, and sincerely wish that every real estate agent and landlord was like him. Five stars is not enough.

This review is of The Rental Source, or more specifically one of their realtors, Joan Cooper, from the perspective of a tenant.
My roommates and I came to an open house in which a kitchen was currently being remodeled. I haven’t looked for apartments before this particular trip, but I’m guessing this isn’t very common as Joan mentioned that it should have been done by now had the permitting process not been so slow. We really liked the layout and location so we asked her for some applications and filled them out on the floor really quickly before she had to go to another open house. Even though we had come pretty late to this one and she let us know she had to go, Joan waited for us to finish our paperwork and talked to us a bit more.
It turned out Joan was from Upland, right by where my friends and I go to school. We talked about the city and the college, and when we asked what time line we could expect on hearing back, she was like, «I’m ready to decide now! Four people with good credit? I’ll call the owner and see if we need any other info!» This was very reassuring, as we’d been fretting a bit as two of us are not yet employed (still in college) and none of us have rental references. We also have pet rats, which we thought would be an issue, but Joan assured us: «They don’t really count if they’re in a cage! I mean, they count…» and proceeded to tell us how her friends had rats for years that they were very fond of.
BOTTOM LINE: I appreciated a friendly realtor that felt like a real human being with a history and friendships that she shared and not a robot trying to sell a place at all costs or discounting my friends and I because of our young age. Joan called us back within half an hour saying we got the place. Yay!

To clarify: I have never actually been a client of Damon’s office.
But I am having problems with a tenant who is 4+ months behind on rent (that’s $ 2,600), so I called this number I got off of TRS’ website on a Saturday night (around 10pm), preparing to leave a message requesting a callback come Monday. To my surprise, Damon picked up the phone. He explained that this number is actually his personal cell phone, and that he is currently AT HOME.
Ooooops.
But he was nice enough to give me some of his precious weekend time. He listened, asked follow up questions, explained possible options, and offered a lawyer who may be better suited for my situation. And he was very patient and polite throughout. I really appreciated being able to speak with him, especially on a weekend night when the last thing you’d want to do is hear from work. The comments he made helped me realize that, as landlords in SF, we *do* have solutions we can pursue. For this assurance, I will sleep a little better tonight.

UPDATE:
Damon contacted me about seeing what could be done to make things right. I told him that I thought it wasn’t terribly fair for them to put all the costs of moving out on me since there was no assessment of the apartment once TRS took over the building. He understood where I was coming from and told me he could talk with the owner to see what could be done.
Things went well for the most part, I didn’t get everything back that I had asked for (still had to pay for the broken toilet and cabinet in front of the sink). I was fine with paying for the carpet cleaning. I was really upset with the painting bill and Damon was able to get back ½ of it for me.
Mailed me a check for $ 390 by the beginning of August 2012.
Again, if you have a unit operated by TRS and something breaks or is about to break or may need a look, tell them. They have a Maintenance Request form online and they are always available. Don’t think, «oh they’ll kick me out if I complain about stuff.»
They want to maintain the units in good condition and I’m sure you want to live in a unit that’s in good condition. Heck, they even worked on common areas of the building to get things in a better condition.
I’ve heard horror stories about landlords keeping deposits and making up fake reasons to keep deposits. I was glad that Damon took the time to address my concerns and actually do something about it. I had moved out and was not living in a TRS unit and he still wanted to make things right. I was pleasantly surprised that he went the extra mile :-)
I would recommend TRS units to my friends :-)

This review is for TRS’ Relocation Services.
I received a job offer in the City, while living almost 3,000 miles away. I had to be living in the City in about two weeks. I had two options on my plate — fly out and find a place on my own, or hire a Relocation Specialist. I sent an email to a few different companies, and Kent W. responded at TRS. The response was in a timely manner (versus many other companies who never even responded), and very informative.
I decided to move forward with Kent. Here I was living 3,000 miles away, and we are extremely picky about apartments we want to live in. After payment, Kent immediately sent over a questionnaire that we completed. Kent started work immediately.
He kept us updated every step of the way. He sent over many different places, and we responded with what we liked and didn’t like. This continued until we narrowed it down to a few locations. This is where Kent worked his magic. While we’re 3,000 miles away, Kent was hard at work going to these Open Houses, and taking video of everything. He would then send that back over, recommend how I would commute to work, the advantages and disadvantages of each of the locations.
In the end, we have a terrific apartment that we never saw except for in the video. It’s been a month now, and literally everything is great. I had full trust and confidence in Kent and the staff at TRS, and everything turned out great!
I whole heatedly recommend Kent to anyone who is trying to find an apartment in the City!

Finding an affordable apartment in San Francisco is daunting experience, but the broker at the Rental Source, Damon, has made finding the perfect home as good as it gets. He is super knowledgeable, patient and always available to answer questions and concerns every step of the way. I’m very grateful to Damon for helping me find my quiet paradise in the city.

This site seems to be a scam. I looked at 3 properties they had listed and they weren’t even available.

I just called today looking to move to san francisco. I was pushed to the website by the person who answered the phone, and all I saw were 10 properties listed. I was told that they have agents that have their own client lists for whom they are trying to rent out for. If you want to move property the best way is to stay in contact with people are looking to rent and to qualify them to see what their needs are. They boast properties on their site that are even available… pretty miserable. I worked with a similar agency in Chicago that got my condo rented out in less than a week and were very thorough and professional. This agency is the exact opposite of that.
***I typically use Unilocal for reading reviews and not posting, but this place is SO bad I felt I needed to share my disgust.

The Rental Source has been a great help for me. They helped me manage and rent my house for about a year until I decided to sell and did not need any services.
I needed full service, and they were able to deliver. They took care of everything.
They found tenant very fast.
They took care of repairs at a reasonable cost.
They offered good advice and pricing.
They are easy to work with and look out for both tenant and landlord interests.
This is my first experience in this area so I don’t have anyoone to compare to, but I would gladly go back to the Rental Source again.

I rented a property for five years in San Francisco through the Rental Source. In all that time Damon and his team were extremely courteous and professional in all our dealings. When ever an issue arose with the house it was dealt with quickly and to the highest standard of workmanship.
When the homeowner decided to move back into the property l contacted Damon and within a month he had found me the perfect place that had everything l wanted in a new home.
If l could give these guys six stars l would.

They rented to me what may have been the best value in SF for a 1 bedroom. A couple prospective tenants even asked me what was wrong with the unit b/​c they couldn’t believe the low rent. The only reason I moved was b/​c I needed a bigger place.
On top of scoring on a great rental, the property management was superb. They were super responsive to all issues that came up including a broken faucet, microwave replacement and a stove issue (the unit was an older one). Kudos all around!

San Francisco sucks if you’re a landlord and San Francisco sucks if you’re a tenant. Its impossible to find a decent place to rent and its impossible to find decent tenants.
Having been on both sides of the fence, I understand the challenges property managers must have to handle and The Rental Source handles them well.
I’m a busy man and the only reason I have time to mess around here on Unilocal is because The Rental Source is taking care of business.

I love using The Rental Source. They manage my properties, and I don’t have to worry about one single thing. There’s a great team that works here… they even have a person to notarize documents. Without the rental source, I’ll probably be selling all my units because sometimes dealing with tenants is just a headache. W00h00 for TRC.