Short answer. Don't rent from a property managed b...

Short answer. Don't rent from a property managed by 512 Realty if you want to enjoy the last 6 months of your lease. You may be introduced to the lovely concept of pre-leasing which means your unit will be available 7 days a week for realtors to tour for up to 6 months of your last term. We were told that pre-leasing was necessary and acceptable in the Hyde Park area as it was an owner's market and rentals were in such high demand. We had prospective tenants tour the 2 bedroom single family home we rented on a weekly basis -- sometimes several times a week. They were accompanied by real estate agents -- usually strangers to us every time -- not even employees of 512 Realty. They would show up while we were at work and during the evenings and weekends when we were relaxing. In one case my wife was ill and we told the realtor that it was not a good day for touring the house. They continued to pressure us until we finally informed them that we were latching the doors and there would be no possible way to enter even with their key. It can be difficult to tell somebody they can't enter when they have a key to your premise. On another occasion, our dog just had a surgery and was resting in her crate while we were at work. We advised that it wouldn't be a good day for a stranger to enter the home while we were gone in case our stitched-up dog became excited. They insisted on coming despite this until I threatened to contact their management.

Additionally, I would receive several phone calls each week with realtors asking for details about the property "Does it have a fence", "How large is the garage". I would usually advise them to contact 512 and hang up. It was not fun being an information line for 512 Realty's pre-leasing program. My phone number was apparently made available to a local real estate website for any realtor to view. They are not required to contact 512 Realty to get your information. Because of the openness of our information, our phone numbers were used for marketing purposes by some of the these real estate agents to try to sell us homes as they knew our lease was due. Not cool that my personal information was shared with random realtors.

Despite the claims that pre-leasing is used due to the high demand for properties, our unit was not leased until weeks before our lease terminated. It seemed that listing a unit 3-6 months before it was available attracts people that were just "shopping" and not really interested in signing a contract yet. Therefore the process was a big inconvenience to us without any benefit to the management company. But 512 Realty has nothing to lose by pre-leasing your unit -- only the tenant does.