Utopia Management

I have been using this company for one year to manage my property. I believe the first two reviews are written by Utopia. The disgruntled girl hit it right on the head when she said this company is unprofessional, unqualified, very rude and disrespectful.

They were using an unlicensed realtor to manage my property and to carry out the duties of a licensed real estate agent. This company is a money collecting company not a property management company, MONEY IS THEIR BOTTOM LINE!!!

Pros: NO PRO'S

Cons: Everything!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 12/03/09

My wife and I have been customers of Utopia for well over a year and could not be happier. We live 3 time zones away and never have to worry about our investments thanks to the staff at Utopia taking care of everything we need.

Posted 11/12/09

My serch for a place to live was very hard since english is not my 1st language. Utopia always called me back and was very patient with me. I am going to school and did not have a full time job. They worked with me so that I could move into the condo. Other companies did not call me back . This is a very nice, friendly company.

Posted 10/19/09

Do not use this company. They are unreliable, discourteous, and rude. When we first wanted to look at some apartments, the lady (Katie) promised to meet us at the property at 8:00am the following day. My roommate called in sick to work so he would be able to go and look, but she never showed up. She never even called to apologize for missing the appointment. When asked about this, she simply said "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot." It is your job, and you forgot? Come on. The viewing was rescheduled for later in the week, and this time Katie showed up. We decided to get the place.

I wasn't currently living in San Diego, so arranging a time to sign the lease was a little tricky. Katie agreed to come in on a Saturday at 1:00pm. I made the 3 hour drive down to San Diego and arrived at Utopia at 12:45pm. I waited for 1 hour 15 minutes and tried repeatedly calling Katie. She never showed up and never answered the phone call. She didn't call back on Monday, so I called her and asked what happened. She claimed "the secretary forgot to unlock the door," but you would think the realtor would have keys if he or she was planning to come in outside normal business hours. She said I would have to either drive down again or she could fax it to me so I could sign it, get it notarized, and fax it back. When I asked about paying for the notary, Utopia did not offer to pay for me. I argued with them for 30 minutes, but they did not give in. Finally I just said I would drive down again. I left work early a few days later and drove the 3 hours again to San Diego to sign the lease.

While we were living at the apartments, we had no issues with Utopia. We never had to deal with them.

When we moved out, we received a letter informing us we would receive our security deposit balance, less and charges, within 21 days at our forwarding addresses. It has now been 44 days and we still have received no information. We have been calling them for a week trying to talk to the appropriate people (Katie or her boss), but they have not answered our calls, nor have they returned them. The security deposit is a significant amount ($1600), but now that we are not paying them, they no longer care about customer service, if they did to begin with. Do not deal with this company, you will regret it.

Pros: 5 day grace period to pay rent

Cons: Everything else

Posted 10/14/09

I gave them my invoice for garden service...even though I was told they are on a 30 day pay cycle. I still got my check in few days. It was great.

Pros: they're fast

Cons: none

Posted 10/12/09

I have been renting from Utopia for the past three years. Whenver I have needed something they have been quick to respond to any emergencies. My manager is very knowledgable and the maintenance staff responds quickly to problems. I recently had a friend of mine move into town. She was able to make appointments for the weekend she was visiting, found a property and was able to do everything else from out of state so she was able to move in as soon as she got here. She was happy with her manager and the staff of Utopia and I was glad I had recommended them. Thanks!

Posted 08/25/09

I was with another management company who told me I wouldn't be able to get what I was asking for to rent out my property so I decided to go with Utopia Management. I'm so glad I did. Not only did they rent my unit out in only 3 weeks but they got the price I was looking for. Great job!

Pros: Great Management!

Posted 08/24/09

I was new to using Utopia to handle my account. I was having a lot of issues with my invoices and payments. From the first time I called the accounting department. They were so efficient and made sure my account was taken care of. They would fix any issues I was having and call me back in a very timely matter. I have had nothing but good experiences so far and am looking forward to them handling my account much longer!

Posted 08/21/09

I was looking for a condo to rent for my college daughters so I called several management companies that had listings of 3 bedrooms. I was shocked to find out that these management companies do not call you back. Utopia Management did return my call and I was able to set up an appointment to see a 3 bedroom near the college for the weekend. We drove down from LA area and met with the weekend gal. We liked the unit and we rented it, I am so glad somebody called us back. Thanks Utopia

Posted 08/18/09

I would like to start by saying I would give them NO star if that was a choice.

to make a very long and painful story short, i will just get to a few of the points.
Utopia seemed so helpful when we wanted to rent out our condo, they called back the same day and happened to be so friendly.

That was it!!! it went downhill from there.
They never checked the mail box and got us in real big trouble with the electric guys in San Diego.
They kept charging us for placing the condo in the paper long after it was rented. When I called about them returning my money for the unnecessary ads it took close to three weeks to get an answer and they refused to give us our money back.
I called the head rep, she told me that it was not her problem and i had to deal with my personal rep who was never there. I told her that i can not reach my rep and she does not return calls. The head rep told me that is not her problem. ( NICE)
They would only show the condo on Fridays nights , leaving potential renters to find another condos to rent as they were not willing to wait an entire week to see the condo. When I called the rep to ask why, she said that she was busy and that is the best that she can do. Too bad for me huh? Poor girl.
I have a list that could go one for months but I will spare you.
The final stab is that even after I fired them they refuse to give me back my deposit from the tenant until i had to send a rep from another company ( physically) to see them. They delayed it for over 1 month.
They are a very terrible company and only want your money. They keep trying to sell you stuff. what is that about?? they are completely useless and you are better off without them!!

Pros: Great when signing up

Cons: Rude, liars and do not return your emails or calls

Posted 08/16/09

I recently came to Utopia to have my property managed by them. During the process of getting my property rented out my father passed and I just wanted to say Thank you. I appreciate the professional way in which you handle my issues.

Posted 07/31/09

I would highly recommend to anyone who is looking to rent or have their properties managed to choose Utopia Property Management. Their staff is friendly, welcoming and quick to respond to any emergencies or everyday around the house fixes. They are a responsible and efficient company that provides excellent customer service. I was not good at being a landlord. Now I am back on track with the property rents and they have filled my vacancies with great tenants.

Posted 07/30/09

I am in the Navy and when it came time for me to transfer and find a place to live I had so much trouble because alot of places were not willing to process me with out meeting me first. I needed to sign the lease and have a place to move to without seeing the unit. I found Utopia Management's website and they have alot of choices and varity that I was able to find what I was looking for, did my application online, was approved and everything turned out great.

Posted 07/29/09

Great company, extremely professional and helpful with every aspect of property management. Would definitely recommend to anyone.

Posted 06/09/09

I was real happy when I rented a house thru Utopia because they were very good about taking care of my maintance needs. I know they had to contact the owner and wait for a response but they did not leave me hanging out there waiting. They have good techs that called me and came out to do the repair so I was not going the weekend without a kitchen sink.
thanks for your concern.

Posted 06/01/09

Having a property management take care of my rental has been one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make, Choosing the Best company in San Diego was the easiest! Utopia Management is #1

Pros: Great Service

Cons: none

Posted 06/01/09

We hired Utopia to manage the renting of our home, they did so in a timely manner. It was not until the new tenants called to cancel due to a change in job relocation the morning they were suppose to move in. Of course I was upset, but due to the diligence of my property manager at Utopia, a rented was fould before the weekend ended. I have complete confidence that Utopia has an able staff that goes above & beyond to get the job done.

Pros: Service

Cons: None

Posted 05/31/09

I have been renting a very nice house in San Diego for the past year and have just recently bought a house. I wanted people to know that Utopia Management work with the owner of the house to allow me to stay until my house closed escrow. I received my deposit with in the time frame and found them fair with my securtiy deposit. Now that I am a home owner If I ever needed to rent my place I would recommend them and anyone out there that wants to rent you can be assured you will be treated fair.

Posted 05/06/09

Utopia is honest & fast! I run a demolition Co. I recently did work for Utopia and I accidentally dropped my invoice into Utopia?s drop box?not knowing that is for rent payments. The next day the lady at Utopia called me & said she had been handed an invoice and just needed to know what property my bill was for?I had forgotten to put that on the invoice.
I apologized for leaving it that way?she was very nice and said it was okay and not to worry she would be sending me a check by the end of the week. I was glad that they didn?t just wait for me to call them asking if they had gotten my bill.

Posted 05/01/09

We are currently deployed to Germany and have had our home leased out with Utopia since 2007. Utopia did an excellent job in getting our home re-rented right before the holidays. We thank Nancy for really working hard on this and we really appreciate it. Thanks for looking out for us while we are deployed!

Pros: Excellent Service

Posted 04/29/09

I just signed up to have my condo rented out with Utopia Management and it was on the rental market only 1 day and it was rented! I found out that the property manager showed it at 7:30 in the morning and had it rented by 3:30 that same day. I am so happy that they were willing to change their work hours to accommodate this woman because my condo is in a bad part of town.

Posted 04/07/09

I just signed by third lease extension with Utopia Management. They are everything I look for in a landlord co. Responsive, timely and caring when you need them, and they give you your space when you don't.

My rent has always been reasonable and affordable, and each year I appreciate that they don't raise it too much.

I would highly recommend searching through their properties if you are looking for a place to live in San Diego.

Posted 03/18/09

I recently became a vendor with Utopia Management. Thier accounts payable person is friendly and she returns my calls quickly. I e-mailed my invoices last week and...I already have a payment from them. I'm happy!

Posted 03/12/09

I have been renting a townhome from Utopia Management for 2 years now and decided that it was time I recognized them as a professional and honest company. My reason is that there was a leak that started in the closet. It spread and mold started to grow before I realized it. Utopia jumped into action and got the right people in to remove the wall and take care of the leak. I was thankful that I was not blamed for the problem and that they moved quickly and proceed correctly according to the law. The last place I rented was terrible. thanks Utopia for cleaning up the mess and restoring my life.

Posted 03/10/09

Kudos to Utopia. I have been renting from Utopia since November 08 and want to say that overall the experience, from the receptionist to maintenance down to the managers, has been exceptional and professional. Thanks for making my moving experience positive.

Pros: All together great moving experience

Posted 03/03/09

I have been having my property managed by utopia for fourteen months now.
From the first day Utopia's people have been great. They were very responsive and quick to get someone out to my property when it needed repairs.
Thier maintenance guys are friendly and knowledgable about thier work. Utopia takes care of everything from my properties monthly bills to my tenants rent payments. I have already recommended them to my friend who asked me how my rental was going. She is going to be calling Utopia to rent out her mothers property very soon.

Thanks Utopia for peace of mind!!

Posted 02/19/09

The service at the separate offices must vary judging from the comments on this site. Other sites I have looked up have the same type of problems as the ones that follow.
Since the week after signing the contract the problems began. I had people calling to look at the house from the ad I had placed but Utopia doesn?t show places on weekends so I gladly showed it. When I had questions about how the process worked for the renters it would be days before I would hear back from the rep. A few months after the house was rented out I received one of the statements saying they had paid my HOA dues. The problem with that is I paid them already. The statements the HOA was sending to the management company gave the balance as $0. Why did they feel they had to start paying? Again trying to get any answers took about a week. I would send emails but the replies from the company would not include any answers. About six months later I got a letter from my HOA stating that the dues have not been paid for a few months. After calling Utopia three times they informed me that they would take care of it. The next statement showed that they had over paid by hundreds of dollars. Instead of paying me back the money Utopia just used the money they overpaid the HOA for the monthly due till it ran out. Utopia still has not paid me back for the late fees that accrued either.
My tenant wrote to me stating that the HOA had written a letter stating that the palm trees had to be trimmed and he was happy to do it himself but before he did it Utopia sent a guy out to do it even though I told them I was taking care of it. They charged $150 for a job that takes my about two hours. (The list goes on)
After I wrote the company stating that I will not be needing their services any longer I got a letter from their rep. asking as to why I was terminating the contract. Wow, really!

Pros: They did rent out the house

Cons: Don't return calls/email timely, can't manage simple financial dealings, not open weekends

Posted 02/12/09

Utopia's accounting dept is awesome!
I sent in an invoice for the property that they manage...I service the pool. thier accounting girl got me a check the next week. It was great! She was polite and even told me I could E-Mail her the invoices to make it super easy for me.

Posted 02/11/09

I have been renting out my house for years and have changed property management companies before and now that I am with Utopia I plan to stay. Everytime the tenants have a maintance issue they take care of it. I was worried that if the maintance was'nt taken care of that more damage would be done and then it gets more expensive. Thank you maintance dept for all your efforts in keeping the tenants happy and the property manager for their efforts as well.

Posted 02/10/09

I am in the military and in Japan right now. I would like to say Thanks again for everything you guys do. I am really greatful, since it's kind of hard being over in Japan.

Posted 01/31/09

I am a new tenant and I just wanted to say how impressed I am with Utopia?s Maintenance Department. I called and reported a maintenance issue and not only was the lady I spoke with helpful, but genuinely pleasant. They sent out repair personnel the same day and made the repair at the same time. Over the years I have lived in several different rentals and I can?t tell you how refreshing it was to get such great service. Thank you Utopia for your great customer service!!!!!!!!!

Pros: Great Customer Service

Cons: none

Posted 01/28/09

I have been a vendor for Utopia for many years. I have also work for other property management companies and I will tell you Utopia is by far the easiest and most organized to work with. Always very responsive to calls if I have a question about a job to be performed or an estimate I have been sent out on. They make my job easier.

Pros: Service oriented

Cons: n/a

Posted 01/28/09

This is the 2nd home i have had with this management team in charge of and found them to be very good on ensuring the property is maintained and our investment is protected. good job my hat goes off to them

Posted 01/26/09

I moved do to work and I needed my 4 bedroom home rented out and to good tenants. I found Utopia management and they took care of everything because it needed painted and cleaned. They were able to get me the estimates and get the painters in then the carpets cleaned anprofessional.d finally the house cleaned. I was so happy when they called to say that they found a good tenant with perfect credit. I am so pleased at the service and I do not mind paying for good help it is always worth it to pay for a professional.

Posted 01/12/09

I just have to say thank you to Utopia for the great customer service!! I recently discovered that my tenants trashed my rental property and I had no idea what to do. I called Utopia to take over the unit...and they took care of all the damages...it didn't cost an arm and leg to fix it and they restored my unit like new. I re-rented my unit to some great new tenants and I'm so relieved. Thanks!!!

Posted 01/12/09

Having newborn premature twins is hard enough, but then the heater to our apartment went out . I called the Utopia office to report, they understood my situation & had the heater repair company come out in the middle of night. I greatly appreciate their caring staff for listening and going over & above.

Pros: Great Service

Cons: none

Posted 01/02/09