PERFECT for a student and her dog, affordable, charming!. I have had an incredible experience so far with Bob Schmitz properties. I was living in Massachusetts and I needed to find a place to live without being able to come down to North Carolina before I started graduate school at Duke. I wrote an email to Bob Schmitz properties inquiring about a few of the apartments I had seen on line. Not only did Laura Grey reply right away telling me more about the places, she even offered another option I had not even seen based on my needs in a new place! She told me about a 1-bedroom place that was only a couple blocks from where I would be taking all of my classes, was first-floor as I wanted, and had an incredible living room. The place looked great, was a great price, and she was spot-on with my needs so I took it! Since arriving it has been the most incredible place I have ever lived in. It is comfortable, spacious, and I bike to class everyday. In addition, I just got a new dog (Rocky) and he was welcomed by them and now he has a beautiful (and LARGE!) fenced in yard to play in with another dog who lives in one of the other apartments of the house. It has a brand new gated door that is so great to come in and out of. The area around the place is also great and I walk Rocky all around and even walk to rent a movie or anything! Other students in my class commute further and stay in big apartment complexes for more money and no where near the charm and are always sorry they did not find a place like mine! I plan on staying here the entire time I am a student here and I am so happy I found Bob Schmitz properties to make my Duke experience that much better!…

Terrible property owner. Try living next to one of his properties--he will rent to anyone and doesn't care how irresponsible or loud they are. I called to complain about his tenants (loud parties, garbage on their lawn, parties that spill over onto my lawn) and the property manager told me to get over it. Bob Schmitz doesn't seem to care about other people who have to live near his rentals, as long as he makes his money.…

they went out of their way for me. I've had a very positive experience with Bob Schmitz Properties, particularly Laura Gray. I met Laura in the midst of a small crisis - I was adopting my first dog from the Durham shelter and at the last minute my landlord denied the adoption because he is a pit bull (Mr. Wiggles). I immediately began looking for a short-term place to stay that would allow me to adopt him. Also, it had to be cheap, because I was forced to pay two rents for several months until my original lease ran out. To further compound the scenario, I needed to secure a future, larger place to live in that would also accommodate my sister, who was moving up to Durham with me at some point. And finally, I would be out of country during the transition period, and wouldn't be able to move until the second week of the month.

I am sure I sounded pretty desperate, but Laura took this all in stride. B.S.P. are well known for being pet friendly and she immediately welcomed me and my animals. She helped me identify a cheap apartment that I could transition through as needed. She also helped me find a really great house - only it was out of the budget and was available about a month earlier than I could move in. Not a problem. Laura knocked a considerable amount of money off the rent, and pushed the move-in date back a month at no cost to me. They also let me stay in the apartment over a week past my move-out date at no cost, and seamlessly transitioned the deposit to the new house.This is all to say that in my case, B.S.P showed a lot of heart and were very willing to work with me, despite cost to them.

Yes, on move out, I got dinged for the stove pans, even though I scrubbed the dickens out of them, and I forgot to dust the ceiling fans. But these fees were minor, and in light of the extensive, straightforward list of move-out expectations and costs, I can't complain. In general I find their policies fair, extremely transparent, and you can expect a clean house when you move in. Of note, my fridge died in the small apartment soon after I moved in, and at my earliest convenience, the maintenance guy came out to check on it. He immediately determined that it would require replacing, called, got the okay, and was back with a new fridge within an hour. In this case, they did what needed to be done, and with expediency.

After truly suffering under my past landlords, and the final injustice with my dog, B.S.P. was a very refreshing and positive change. So far they've delivered as promised, as expected, and beyond that.…

Great Service, Great Home, Laura's Awesome!. I moved from Austin, TX to Durham, NC earlier this summer and had to find a place to live sight unseen. Laura was super helpful through the entire process and took into account my unique needs, given that I was moving from out of state and have a 4 year old little boy. When I found a place that I really liked, I told them it was a little more than I was looking to pay and they helped me get into the place by dropping the rent a little bit (it wasn't much, but it was every little bit helps!). When I moved in, there were a few things that were less than perfect about the house but I made note of them on my move-in checklist. When they saw the things on my move-in checklist, they sent the maintenance guys over the very next morning! Instead of doing a shoddy job "fixing" the things, they completely replaced them! One thing was the front screen door which was slightly warped at the top corner, and the other thing was that the refrigerator door didn't seal properly. I got a brand new storm door on the front door and a brand new refrigerator! The maintenance men were very nice and personable and even locked up my house when they were finished with the installations. They also included lawn service which was great - I never had a problem with the lawn guys knocking over plants or making a mess on my porch or disturbing any of my stuff that was outside. After a few months, my boyfriend and I decided we wanted to get a place together. He also rented from Bob Schmitz sight unseen (he also moved from Austin, TX). We asked Bob Schmitz Properties if we could transfer our leases in order to get into a bigger house together. Not only did they approve it, they also agreed to install ceiling fans in every bedroom, and slightly lower our rent on our new place too! Laura, again, was super helpful and showed us places she thought would best suit our needs. The transfer has been quick and painless. We are very happy with our Bob Schmitz experience. Additionally, I had several friends who also moved from Austin to Durham this summer. We all rented from Bob Schmitz with the exception of one. We are all very happy with our choice - we love our houses, we love our neighborhoods, and we love the staff at Bob Schmitz. The people who did not rent from Bob Schmitz have a lot more problems with their apartment including A/C issues and old fixtures that were not updated by the property owners. Bob Schmitz homes that I've seen so far have great energy saving upgrades, even in the old historic homes.

Laura is great... she pretty much held my hand through the whole process. :)…

Excellent service.. We have been extremely pleased with our experience with Bob Schmitz properties in the several months that we have dealt with them. we moved in 8/3/11 in the middle of the worst heat spell in NC in years. We really appreciated how well maintained our duplex was, the air conditioner never seemed to struggle in 100 + degress and the ceiling fans kept the cool air moving around. Everyone in their office as been kind and professional to us in all our dealings. Laura and Susan were so helpful in getting the right type of place for our needs. We are older with some serious mobility issues and they were very understanding in trying to accomodate us as able. We eventually may have to move to a larger place to accomodate wheelchair issues and we hope to stay with them as well.. Their homes are clean, bright and cheerful.... Best looking places we saw in our long hunt to move back into town.…

Definitely recommend!. I lived with Bob Schmitz for 3 years and wish I could go back! I moved out of state when I finished my grad degree and am renting from a property manager that is proving just how awesome Bob Schmitz was!

I chose my apartment because of its proximity to Ninth St. and East Campus and could not have been happier with the apartment or the service. The apartment was in great condition when I moved in and anytime I had an issue it was taken care of same day. I once locked myself out of the apartment at 5PM, I called the office with my fingers crossed hoping they were still there and alas they answered and the leasing agent came over right away and let me in even though the office was closing.

Every time I went in to pay my rent they greeted me by name and thanked me for bringing in my check and if I paid before the first of the month they gave me a coupon for a free pizza, who doesn't want a free pizza?! My rent only went up $5 every year which I was thankful for given my grad student budget.

All deductions made from my security deposit were justified as I honestly didn't feel like scrubbing down the bathroom after a day of moving.

All in all my experience was very positive and now that I'm renting from a company that takes forever to respond to my issues, I realize just how awesome Bob Schmitz was!…

Rip off Artists... Do not Trust Them with your deposit!!!. First of all, the reviews like mine are from real tenants that lived in Bob Schmitz Properties... hence the same issue with being ripped off with the deposit. My story goes like this: I lived in one of Bob Schmitz townhouses for 2 years and never paid late. The maintenance crew are fast and waste no time in getting things done, but the service stops there.

I moved because I found a better deal and it was 1 month before my lease was up. I called the office and inquired about if this would affect my deposit and Susan told me if I found someone to move in, no. But, if they had to find someone meaning if I just left I would have to pay $200 on top of not getting my deposit. So I brought them one of my professors at the University I attended that just moved here from Chicago... (Note, he was approved for a brand new car and house that he decided not buy, but shop around a little). Susan took his deposit, had him sign a lease, and gave him a move in date pending his credit approval. Then Susan called my other neighbor and asked him did he still want my apartment and of course he accepted. Called my professor back in 3 days and told him that his credit was bad. I happened to run into some issues with the new apartment complex and had to move the move out date back 1 week. I called Susan and asked could that be done and she agreed, but she made it seem as if the new tenant was going to move in on the first date. So, I just happened to run into my neighbor and he asked me if I was moving and that's when he told me Susan called and asked him about the apartment and told him she should put me out on the original date even though he was not scheduled to move in until 3 weeks later. He (my neighbor) told Susan that he would not take the apartment if she did something so f#$% up like that when they both knew I was in Cali for a week. My neighbor asked if he could have my bamboo blinds and other stuff that I was getting rid of and we asked Susan if I could leave them there and she agreed. I was charged for those items being left there and a $150 cleaning bill, plus them replacing the drip pans on the stove they never replaced. After 2 weeks of arguing about not getting this back from my deposit Susan memory all of a sudden came back and I got a $175 check for the items but not the cleaning bill. Even maintenance said the house was fine.

I witnessed my neighbor's apartment being robbed and called the police. The next day I asked Susan (property mgr) if there was a number that the police could call to enter and search when the tenant couldn't be reached and I was abruptly cut off with a sharp "NO" and sent out. The bad thing about this is that when there was a disturbance where the police was called and their For Rent signs were burned, the next day, the office was calling to see if anyone knew anything. Never gave a crap about tenants safety.

If you look at their site, you'd see that these "Great" reviews are the same thing you see here. Do yourself a favor and keep shopping around. There are honest property mgrs in Durham.…

Bob, Stop reviewing your own company you are a rip-off. they are a huge rip-off. After they assure you everything is fine, they then steal your security deposit and will not respond when asked why. Bob also tried to charge me twice for the same thing, I call them to inspect the house before I move out because I pay a company to do the cleaning, I was told they will send my deposit whitin 30 days and when I call them 3 months later they sent me a bill for 1200, BEWARE!!!!…

Good experience, I'd do it again!. I read the negative reviews and felt like I had to defend Bob Schmitz Properties! I lived in a Bob Schmitz home for two years and only moved out because I got relocated. I found the staff extremely helpful, any problems I had with the house were resolved either that day or the next! I had no problem with moving out, I simply followed their move-out instructions and my security deposit was returned to me. If you break something in a house you RENT, of course they will charge you to fix it!…