I've had a house in Old Timberline for almost 2 years and have been very frustrated with the rental agency handling the property (which will go unnamed for now). My main gripe is that they manage to tack on the most absurd fees without (a) checking with me first to see if I wanted the "work" done, and (b) when I call them on it they back off and say they will refund the fees, but this never (rarely) actually happens. I don't really have time to deal with the runaround and usually just let it go in the end, but my patience is nearing an end. My other gripes include terrible cleaning service, doors left unlocked and heaters left on full blast after rentals, questionable maintenance services, etc.

I am very curious about what others have experienced with agencies in the valley? How do Timberline, Mountaintop, and Canaan Realty stack up? I have been nervous about moving because there is a good rental history with the current agency, but this season things are different (only 1 rental on the books for winter, compared to 50% booking at this time last year) and I am thinking about making a change...


p.s. my wife and I bought the house as a base for mountain biking and backpacking, not skiing, but after a >10 year hiatus I have been sucked back onto the slopes thanks to TL and Canaan!

I think they are all about same. The problem is not so much with the agencies but the renters--large groups of college students or families with lots of kids. These types of groups put a lot of stress on a property, making the job of cleaning staffs a tough one. As the former owner of my place put it, "every time I visited the place after a rental, something was broken and the agency could barely keep up with the repairs. Skis go through dry wall like a knife through butter."

I agree it's a tough challenge for the cleaners, and to be fair I probably should not have made a comment about cleaning. Overall I think the cleaners do a good job of things, and there have only been a couple of problems with the results so far. We have also been lucky to have no major damage in the past 2 years, just a few holes in the walls and some dead electronics.

My real issue is with hidden fees which I am not consulted on. Hottub maintenance and chimney cleaning are fine, I just want to be in the loop and take part in deciding who does the work. But then there are crazy things like regrading the driveway and furniture repair that I don't hear about until I look over the monthly statement. I have asked to be consulted before anything like this is done, but it never seems to happen. I dread getting the statement each month for fear or what new fee/service will pop up.

One advantage of being in a rental program is maintenance service, and given the number of things that can get broken or go wrong for second property owners who rarely visit the valley, I'd be happy if I were you that someone is keeping up with the maintenance demands of the house. If you can afford to own a home in Old Timberline, how can you complain about these so-called costs? It has to be a drop in the bucket compared to the major costs of home ownership in Old Timberline (mortgage, taxes, maintenance, utilities)?
Be happy that someone is actually looking after the needs of your second home.

I asked a financial advisor about second property ownership before taking the plunge and he said that if you have to rely on rental income to meet your expenses, don't buy a second property. At best, rental income will defray a small portion of expenses, but it's nearly impossible to come close to breaking even through such programs. For one thing, the margins for the agencies are razor thin because these programs are so labor intensive (24 hour maintenance, cleaning, reservations, etc). The trend right now in the industry is cold beds: people who buy ski properties and never rent them. In my development (Northwoods), I see a smaller number of renters every year because owners prefer to avoid the hassles of renting and have the flexibility to use their units whenever they wish.

I feel your pain. It is not simply a question of the expense, although the charges can be outrageous (I was charged $26 to change the air filter in my furnance. It costs 56 cents at Home Depot and takes me 30 seconds to install), but the failure of management to let you have a voice in the decisions. I resorting to sending a letter to my management company informing them that they were not authorized to make any repairs that exceeded $25 (an they were never authorized to change another furnace filter) without my approval. Further, if they did make the repairs without my approval they were responsible for the costs. This has worked for me, knock on wood.

I agree that the management companies in the Valley are not up to most minimum standards. They generally make no effort to inventory the house after a rental to assess damage before returning the security deposit. It is always a challenge to find the pots and pans since they seem to find new and creative places to hide them from rental to rental. My family has also started playing a game of placing a piece of paper in obvious places to see how long it takes the cleaning crew to find and remove it. The record so far is 6 cleanings. It has reached the point that the anger caused by all this has almost reached the point that the rental income is just not worth it.

If anyone finds a competent, affordable, professional property management service in the valley please let me know. Perhaps DCSki members should start our own coop and bypass the middle man. Surely there is some enterprising member who lives in CV, has solid management skills, and wants to find a way to make a lot of money doing important but not overly complex tasks. Anyone?