Let me preface this condemnable review with an acknowledgement that in each of the negative reviews listed herein by other patrons of Watson, I can corroborate at least one - often many - of the exact same experiences: a punchlist of issues deceptively hidden at movein; Paying premium rent for far from premium conditions; A bevy of issues only brought to light AFTER signing; An absolute lack of property management, with a concentration on MONEY management (my property manager blew off issues with a declaration of said issues being the responsibility of the HOA, with a vapid excuse that she tried & tried, yet found no way to contact the HOA in my subdivision...Seriously); Don't expect repairs to be done in a timely fashion? Copy That: Had a cheap screen door hanging off the patio: Took months & a notice from that ever-so-elusive HOA to finally get taken care of. My Watson Property Manager's excuse? "Oh, I thought C. (I will not use the handyman's full name because the onus was Watson's, not his) fixed that months ago". Seriously; Fireplace issues mentioned by another reviewers? Copy That: My father is a retired Fire Marshall. He demanded I not use the fireplace until the multiple cracks in the firewall were repaired & the chimney was swept because upon first lighting the home filled with carbon monoxide smoke - Not just a danger to inhabitants of our place but a real danger to the adjoining homes; Foul sulfur smelling water? Copy That: Took 9 months before the sulfur smell in the master bath was tolerable. I could go on & on corroborating others' complaints - but alas, this is an already too long review - not a Masters Thesis. To yelp reviewer Mary T, I say: I'm no lawyer either hun, but my brother IS a corporate lawyer, & I assure you, your claims of misinformational tactics, & practices that are deceptive & abusive to the tenant are well-founded. Now on to my 2 cents... Watson Ponte Vedra's Property Management's Services are at best inept, at worst unethical. In the first 3 or 4 months I had 3 different property managers. Only one of those P.M.'s seemed to grasp the most basic Real Estate school premise - the role of the Property Manager - which is an obligation to both the owners AND the tenants, or both the buyer AND the seller. (And it bears mentioning, I actually went to Watson Real Estate School so i have a very definite frame of reference). Unfortunately after establishing a rapport with the 2nd capable agent, we were shuffled around to another who made it quite clear her obligations were only to serve the owner - not the tenant. Furthermore the owner resides in New York. wheras I reside in Ponte Vedra. Yet when old pipes to old rusty appliances were leaking water all over the home, my P.M. was more concerned with accommodating the owner 1000 miles away's hesitancy to pay for a plumber than their responsibility as property managers to their tenants 2 blocks away. I'd read many a negative review regarding Watson, & heard even more about their unsavory tactics, but I just recently experienced just how unscrupulous Watson's practices are. Case in point: As a stellar tenant, I was officially contacted a few months before my potential 3rd lease renewal, with an inquiry from my property manager as to whether I would like to renew my lease. The state of public health & safety at present due to Covid-19, not to mention the subsequent economic state of the country, with many children such as mine, at home, distance learning for school, is not particularly condusive to house hunting. Therefore I responded that I would indeed renew my lease until business picked up again. Again our property manager neglected to do her job - catering only to the owner, who thought in the midst of a global pandemic affecting every aspect of the economy & normal daily life, seemed like an excellent opportunity to exploit the clients with a substantial rate hike for an already overpriced property. Frankly we've done more to iimprove
Mary T.
Feb 2018
Do NOT rent from these people. I rented a home in Ponte Vedra Beach from Watson Property Management and agreed to pay premium rent. I expected a premium home for what I agreed to pay for a 12month lease. They don't disclose at lease signing there is no way out of your lease -No early termination clause exists in the contract. Hey, I'm not a lawyer, but there was no way to make an informed decision at lease signing. Their contracts are unfair, deceptive and abusive to the tenant. I'm on the hook for the entire term. The contract is written for the company and the owner. Renter beware! Watson does not manage the property. They manage the money and the costs to repair or maintain the property. There is no move in inspection where tenant and property Mgr walk thru together and identify damages. Instead, They leave it for the tenant to walk through and identify what is damaged or what needs maintenance AFTER lease signing. So me, the tenant, is screwed. I admit to trusting these people, and believed property manager, Jody Georgius, with her empty promises. -although the lease states "As is" I failed by trusting they would do the right thing. I regret doing business with these people. I regret ever meeting them and I'm still stuck for another 6 months.... Recently, I've read other complaints online where Jody failed to follow through. The idea of working with her for the next six months of my lease sickens me. RENTERS BEWARE! don't expect repairs be done timely- unless it's to protect the property. They'll repair plumbing concerns and smoke detectors and anything relating to safety concerns. It's the law. They NEVER did a walkthru with me at movein. I prepared a punchlist with over 35 items since movein. They have repaired maybe half the items. I have been waiting for over 5 months for a functioning dishwasher. ...still waiting! Windows wouldn't open in spare bedroom, still waiting on this repair too. I was promised at lease signing they would top off the water softener with salt and that all lightbulbs would be working. That the fireplace /chimney would be swept and if it didn't work, they'd get a company in to fix it. What a joke. Jody Georgius talks out both sides of her mouth. I took possession of house on a Sunday, and soon discovered foul sulfur smelling water where I had to run City water for over 3 hrs to clear the pipes. -on my dime! I had no hot water. Kitchen and bathrooms were filthy as owner had no way to clean since the water heater was broken and the kitchen sink had only cold water hooked up. I waited over a week to finally unpack and move into kitchen due to their poor property management. The Water softer was empty and malfunctioning and is still inoperative. The fireplace is in disrepair and can not be used (I was told 2mos into the lease not to use it because house is old). I had to replace broken lightbulbs throughout the house as they never got to them on my punch list since according to Jody, my list was too long! These next long six months in this property are feeling like a prison sentence. It will be interesting to see how these people treat my deposit and after posting this complaint, if they will repair anything else during my time left. Think twice before renting with this management company. They pray on responsible people. Once you sign, you are stuck!
Adam R.
Mar 2017
The service here started very good (Susan M) in getting a short term rental. Although the rental had issues during our month (leaky pipe which I had to meet plumber for), they were at least handled very promptly and Susan took my calls. The issue came when I tried to get my $1k deposit back. I was told to expect it within 4 days. I had to call/email multiple times to get a response which I finally did 3 weeks later. I was told there was a $50 claim for a stain on a couch which I didn't contest and returned the signed form same day. I never received a confirmation email so I followed up by email, text, phone calls over the next 10 days and no response. I was very professional each time and simply asked for the courtesy of an update. Finally I asked my Watson real estate agent (who's fantastic!!!! (Carol Veal)) help me get a response which she did right away. I came to pick up the check and they misspelled my name on the check and said 'the bank probably wouldn't even notice'. I spoke with Connie (manager) to see if I could get this corrected as this has been a very frustrating process and she said 'yes if you want to wait another week'. I hate leaving bad reviews but feel it's necessary in this situation.
Gwen T.
Mar 2010
Great Real Estate Office! Knowledgeable and professional!
Lisa Benazouz
Super nice people and great properties available!
S W.
Let me preface this condemnable review with an acknowledgement that in each of the negative reviews listed herein by other patrons of Watson, I can corroborate at least one - often many - of the exact same experiences: a punchlist of issues deceptively hidden at movein; Paying premium rent for far from premium conditions; A bevy of issues only brought to light AFTER signing; An absolute lack of property management, with a concentration on MONEY management (my property manager blew off issues with a declaration of said issues being the responsibility of the HOA, with a vapid excuse that she tried & tried, yet found no way to contact the HOA in my subdivision...Seriously); Don't expect repairs to be done in a timely fashion? Copy That: Had a cheap screen door hanging off the patio: Took months & a notice from that ever-so-elusive HOA to finally get taken care of. My Watson Property Manager's excuse? "Oh, I thought C. (I will not use the handyman's full name because the onus was Watson's, not his) fixed that months ago". Seriously; Fireplace issues mentioned by another reviewers? Copy That: My father is a retired Fire Marshall. He demanded I not use the fireplace until the multiple cracks in the firewall were repaired & the chimney was swept because upon first lighting the home filled with carbon monoxide smoke - Not just a danger to inhabitants of our place but a real danger to the adjoining homes; Foul sulfur smelling water? Copy That: Took 9 months before the sulfur smell in the master bath was tolerable. I could go on & on corroborating others' complaints - but alas, this is an already too long review - not a Masters Thesis. To yelp reviewer Mary T, I say: I'm no lawyer either hun, but my brother IS a corporate lawyer, & I assure you, your claims of misinformational tactics, & practices that are deceptive & abusive to the tenant are well-founded. Now on to my 2 cents... Watson Ponte Vedra's Property Management's Services are at best inept, at worst unethical. In the first 3 or 4 months I had 3 different property managers. Only one of those P.M.'s seemed to grasp the most basic Real Estate school premise - the role of the Property Manager - which is an obligation to both the owners AND the tenants, or both the buyer AND the seller. (And it bears mentioning, I actually went to Watson Real Estate School so i have a very definite frame of reference). Unfortunately after establishing a rapport with the 2nd capable agent, we were shuffled around to another who made it quite clear her obligations were only to serve the owner - not the tenant. Furthermore the owner resides in New York. wheras I reside in Ponte Vedra. Yet when old pipes to old rusty appliances were leaking water all over the home, my P.M. was more concerned with accommodating the owner 1000 miles away's hesitancy to pay for a plumber than their responsibility as property managers to their tenants 2 blocks away. I'd read many a negative review regarding Watson, & heard even more about their unsavory tactics, but I just recently experienced just how unscrupulous Watson's practices are. Case in point: As a stellar tenant, I was officially contacted a few months before my potential 3rd lease renewal, with an inquiry from my property manager as to whether I would like to renew my lease. The state of public health & safety at present due to Covid-19, not to mention the subsequent economic state of the country, with many children such as mine, at home, distance learning for school, is not particularly condusive to house hunting. Therefore I responded that I would indeed renew my lease until business picked up again. Again our property manager neglected to do her job - catering only to the owner, who thought in the midst of a global pandemic affecting every aspect of the economy & normal daily life, seemed like an excellent opportunity to exploit the clients with a substantial rate hike for an already overpriced property. Frankly we've done more to iimprove
Mary T.
Do NOT rent from these people. I rented a home in Ponte Vedra Beach from Watson Property Management and agreed to pay premium rent. I expected a premium home for what I agreed to pay for a 12month lease. They don't disclose at lease signing there is no way out of your lease -No early termination clause exists in the contract. Hey, I'm not a lawyer, but there was no way to make an informed decision at lease signing. Their contracts are unfair, deceptive and abusive to the tenant. I'm on the hook for the entire term. The contract is written for the company and the owner. Renter beware! Watson does not manage the property. They manage the money and the costs to repair or maintain the property. There is no move in inspection where tenant and property Mgr walk thru together and identify damages. Instead, They leave it for the tenant to walk through and identify what is damaged or what needs maintenance AFTER lease signing. So me, the tenant, is screwed. I admit to trusting these people, and believed property manager, Jody Georgius, with her empty promises. -although the lease states "As is" I failed by trusting they would do the right thing. I regret doing business with these people. I regret ever meeting them and I'm still stuck for another 6 months.... Recently, I've read other complaints online where Jody failed to follow through. The idea of working with her for the next six months of my lease sickens me. RENTERS BEWARE! don't expect repairs be done timely- unless it's to protect the property. They'll repair plumbing concerns and smoke detectors and anything relating to safety concerns. It's the law. They NEVER did a walkthru with me at movein. I prepared a punchlist with over 35 items since movein. They have repaired maybe half the items. I have been waiting for over 5 months for a functioning dishwasher. ...still waiting! Windows wouldn't open in spare bedroom, still waiting on this repair too. I was promised at lease signing they would top off the water softener with salt and that all lightbulbs would be working. That the fireplace /chimney would be swept and if it didn't work, they'd get a company in to fix it. What a joke. Jody Georgius talks out both sides of her mouth. I took possession of house on a Sunday, and soon discovered foul sulfur smelling water where I had to run City water for over 3 hrs to clear the pipes. -on my dime! I had no hot water. Kitchen and bathrooms were filthy as owner had no way to clean since the water heater was broken and the kitchen sink had only cold water hooked up. I waited over a week to finally unpack and move into kitchen due to their poor property management. The Water softer was empty and malfunctioning and is still inoperative. The fireplace is in disrepair and can not be used (I was told 2mos into the lease not to use it because house is old). I had to replace broken lightbulbs throughout the house as they never got to them on my punch list since according to Jody, my list was too long! These next long six months in this property are feeling like a prison sentence. It will be interesting to see how these people treat my deposit and after posting this complaint, if they will repair anything else during my time left. Think twice before renting with this management company. They pray on responsible people. Once you sign, you are stuck!
Adam R.
The service here started very good (Susan M) in getting a short term rental. Although the rental had issues during our month (leaky pipe which I had to meet plumber for), they were at least handled very promptly and Susan took my calls. The issue came when I tried to get my $1k deposit back. I was told to expect it within 4 days. I had to call/email multiple times to get a response which I finally did 3 weeks later. I was told there was a $50 claim for a stain on a couch which I didn't contest and returned the signed form same day. I never received a confirmation email so I followed up by email, text, phone calls over the next 10 days and no response. I was very professional each time and simply asked for the courtesy of an update. Finally I asked my Watson real estate agent (who's fantastic!!!! (Carol Veal)) help me get a response which she did right away. I came to pick up the check and they misspelled my name on the check and said 'the bank probably wouldn't even notice'. I spoke with Connie (manager) to see if I could get this corrected as this has been a very frustrating process and she said 'yes if you want to wait another week'. I hate leaving bad reviews but feel it's necessary in this situation.
Gwen T.
Great Real Estate Office! Knowledgeable and professional!