John Martin Estates

We cannot recommend John Martin Estates for any prospective tenants unfortunately. We're not quite sure how they got so many awards and accolades, but their services were quite poor, especially when it came to communication. This is a shame as they are otherwise very nice and friendly people. We came to them after our previous landlord hiked up our rental costs. They showed us a couple of properties and we loved one of them. Unfortunately, they took so long getting back to us and I believe they didn't make our case to the landlords clear and our offer was rejected. We were days away from being homeless and had to settle for an inferior property. The condition of the house was less than ideal; it was dusty, dirty, very old fashioned and in desperate need of modernisation. There was broken glass and rubbish in the garden and the shed had broken windows and was packed full of the previous occupant's trash, among other issues. JME claimed they had the place cleaned but it wasn't good enough and we ended up doing it ourselves. After a month or so of settling in, we sent them an email list of the various issues we had. We didn't receive any action or even a reply for months. This was typical of them and one of the recurring problems others have mentioned. They are simply too slow to respond and do not get things done. At first we thought it was because our landlords lived abroad, but there was no urgency in JME's responses. When it came time to leave the property, they withheld our deposit without reasonable explanation and claimed they were waiting for a response from the landlord. After a month and a half of waiting, they responded that the inventory clerk was not satisfied with the state of the house and that they would deduct some money from our deposit. This had become such a headache and we were desperate for our money back, so we just accepted to be done with it. I believe that they have a sort of monopoly on the area and as such, they are far too comfortable and complacent. They do not action enquiries or respond in a timely manner and this was very frustrating. As I mentioned, on the phone and in person, the staff there are very polite and friendly but they have serious managerial and communication issues that need to be addressed. I strongly suggest they are avoided.