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Reviews 665
Chris Walker
Nov 11,2021Thankfully my relationship with Orchard has come to an end. Honestly that is the best thing I can say about it. Now it is time for the review. My initial contacts with Dash Foster and Dana Posocco were quite positive. However things deteriorated rapidly once Travis Wilson entered the picture. He started by sending me an email on Friday 9/17 asking for my schedule for the weekend so we could set up an initial call. I provided him my schedule that day but never heard back. I got an email from Travis on Monday, 9/20 apologizing for ignoring me and saying he would be available for a call later that day. I advised we had moved and our internet was not yet working but we could have a conversation that afternoon. I never heard back. He sent an email on the morning of Tuesday, 9/21 apologizing again and saying the call would definitely take place later that day…it didn’t. I wrote him on 9/22 asking for a specific date and time for a call which finally took place on 9/23. At this point I should have realized what I was dealing with but I ignored the signs. The initial call took place and we talked about specifics and Travis told me a lockbox would be placed on my property. I told him to let me know when that happened and I could make arrangements for a neighbor to place a key in the lockbox. Travis sent me a text on September 28 telling me a lockbox was placed on the property and asking if I could have a neighbor place a key in the lockbox. I asked my neighbor to do so and he did not find a lockbox on the door. Travis advised it might be on the hose bib so I sent the neighbor back and it wasn’t there either. He said it might be on the utility meter so the neighbor went back and it wasn’t there either. Turns out no lockbox was on the property. The following day someone else from Orchard called and told me a lockbox was now on the property and asked me to have a neighbor place a key. I advised I needed to know the exact location before sending a neighbor over there for a 4th time. This finally happened and the key was placed in the lockbox. The listing went live on Wednesday, October 13th. I was looking forward to hearing how many showings we had on the first weekend. According to my dashboard on your website, there were a grand total of 3 which is frankly ridiculous. I received a text from Travis on Saturday, October 16th asking if I could have the neighbor place another key in the lockbox because apparently the one that was in there had been taken. By now I was a bit pissed and I advised Travis where the spare keys were and to make sure one was placed in the lockbox without me involving my neighbor. The following morning, I received a message from a prospective buyer telling me they wanted to make a cash offer on the property but they couldn’t get into the property because there was no key. I sent 2 text messages to Travis on Sunday asking if this had been corrected but never received a response. When he did respond the following day he said it had been corrected but the bottom line is the opening weekend this property was listed was destroyed. On Monday October 18, I spoke with Dana and told her how dissatisfied I was with Travis. She said she would mention this to his superiors but since I never heard from anyone I have no idea if that actually happened. Travis advised me the offer on the home was $410K. Considering that was lower than my price guarantee with Orchard, I declined. He said he might be able to get them to go higher but her never mentioned any other showings or offers on my property. The next day he let me know the offer had been increased to $445K. At that point I was so sick of Orchard, I accepted. A few days later the inspection report revealed the property needed a new roof and a new deck. Travis suggested I agree to the concessions of reducing the sale price by $5K and paying the deductible on a roof claim. He assured me I would still come out ahead of Orchard’s buyout offer so I agreed. After several more days of aggravation, the final figures revealed that the amount due to me would be $2,600 less than the buyout guarantee from Orchard. When I expressed my dissatisfaction with this, the $1,500 concierge fee was waived so I only ended up $1,100 under the guarantee amount. It is significant to note Orchard did not waive any of their commissions. The fact that local Orchard management was involved in this final resolution and never once contacted me says all I need to know about this company. Take my advice and go with a company who actually cares about you. Orchard is not that company. IMPORTANT UPDATE: I discussed my concerns with Sean Thomas with Orchard and he took the time to listen to my concerns and make things right. As a result, this rating is being raised from 1 star to 3 stars.
Lisa
Nov 06,2021Orchard handled our transition from the Old house to being able to move unencumbered by people coming in and out of our home while preparing to move. They took care of problems that arose due to a plumbing hiccup. They forwarded the buyers needs to us so that we could make sure we met their needs as well. All in all a very good experience. We would recommend Orchard to anyone looking to buy a new home and sell their present one.
Zeddicus Zorander
Nov 06,2021This is going to be a book. Because my mom made a mistake when I was 12 and gifted me a dictionary. But for those that want to skip the details, my overall message is simple: I liked the service I have received thus far and the proof of that is that I am now doing what I normally would never do, and create an account just for posting this review. But here I am. In particular, a shout out to Steve Mortimer in Atlanta, my showing agent, who was particularly awesome. He bent over backwards to show us many houses on a tight and often suddenly sprung up schedule, never complaining and always helpful. Thank you, Steve. I am actually still in the process of buying a house in the Atlanta market. Right now in November, it's a hot market to sell and it's tough to actually get a house. We chose the option to move first, and this is the part of the process I can speak about. It appealed to us because it's obviously more convenient to move out of your current home before selling it. But the pain point has always been that it is very costly to do so. Not any more with this option. I have bought and lived in two other houses before, and this one will be the third one we've moved to. We're an older couple with kids that have moved out (or tried to) and a two still in high school. Anyway, suffice to say, money can be an issue, especially when you need to move. Our method before was spend quite a bit on renting, hotels, and food. So money has always been tight around moves and selling houses. And if there are needed repairs? Risks need to be managed, and the risk of losing money because of something you needed to do and couldn't because of cash problems is money, could mean even more costs as the time to sell your house will likely lengthen, and thus add even more cost to an already expensive bill. Or it might be money left on the floor to be scooped up by the buyer. If that doesn't bother you, then please stop reading. This review is not for you. With the option to move first, they will make an offer on your home before you move. They give you this money up front to pay off your current mortgage, and for me this meant I would realize what they termed "instant equity". It means exactly what it sounds like. You can use the equity from their offer to put forward a down payment on your next home. This is the one you will be buying to live in while your current home gets sold. But the service doesn't stop there. Once you've moved out, your house will get worked on by their concierge service. By that point, you'd have gone through with an agent what needs to be done with your house and I always felt like I was in control. They will assess the home and determine how much they are willing to risk to update or remodel the home. Anything more than that, you'd have to pony up the cash for. I take one star off for this part of it, which is my only real complaint about the service as a whole. Everyone's selling situation is unique. My situation called for some repairs, which got interrupted by the the goings on of the world. 2020 was not a good year for most, myself included. Top it off, I had lost my job just prior to that! I couldn't even blame my unemployment status because of the pandemic. But get a job I did, because I am a somewhat driven person. And now we're moving to where we're gonna live for that new job. I took one star off, I said, because I do not feel that the concierge service really listened to what I was telling them. I feel I know my situation better than them. The second thing they got wrong was that I had construction materials inside my home already, but not installed (pandemic interrupted the upgrades/repairs I was slowly managing to do). Initially they were not willing to spend what I knew they could get back. And they did not hear that I had the flooring, or ignored it, and their advice was to install carpeting. I was like...what did you just say? Anyway, get through it we did, it just took longer to do...because money is always the issue. So at the moment, we're waiting to close on the new home. Then we can move. As soon as we move, their concierge service will come in, repair or upgrade the house, if any are agreed upon, they'll maintain the yard, etc and the house goes up on the market. All while you're sleeping in your own bed, in your new home. The risk to this, I caution, is in not being able to sell your home expediently. The additional cost of effectively living in two places at once can be daunting to a lot of people. I'm hoping our house can get sold fast in this hot market so that it doesn't eat into the profits from the sale. Thank you for reading if you got this far. I hope you've enjoyed it and got something out of it.
Reese Seigler
Nov 04,2021When we began the process with Orchard, I thought it was a useful service that could offer some benefit for our specific circumstances. Orchard seemed to offer an advantage in a seller's market of using their resources to buy the new home with the expectation that the disadvantages of paying a mortgage on one house and a daily fee on the other would be minimized with a quick sale of the old home. However, that process has been negatively impacted by a model that spreads various duties across multiple employees and leads to confusion, lack of action, and poor response to questions. There is a separate person responsible for each part of the process, many of which could have all been handled by a single realtor through a traditional agency. We had one person acting as our agent when buying the new home, a substitute for him when he was unavailable, another person actually showing us homes, an occasional substitute for that person, another agent for selling our old home, and then a replacement for that person. Because Orchard has in-house departments that handle title and mortgage, they would automatically reach out to us as they were notified internally, but there seemed to be no actual communication between them and our agents about where in the process we were, and these other departments were generally non-responsive to questions we had. This left us scrambling to meet deadlines we didn't know were set and resulted in oversight on their part of an addendum that pushed the whole process back, which no one told us had happened either. All of these delays cost us money in daily fees (which makes me question how much motivation Orchard has to draw the process out). This means we will have to go into closing with more cash out of pocket than anticipated because we won't have final numbers on the sale of our old home before other deadlines with Orchard's mortgage broker. While I'd previously recommended Orchard as an alternative to other agencies, I'm going to have to let those people and any one else know to avoid them.
Ryan Cristobal
Nov 03,2021The Team Awesome people to work with from beginning to end. I was provided with updates of any changes, delays and next steps. Orchard The process of selling your property cannot be any simpler. You will have full confidence selling your property once you meet with the team and plan everything out. I recommend Orchard, I am happy that that I gave them a call. Thank you very much Orchard. Working with your team was amazing!
Jenny Leman
Oct 27,2021Using Orchard was convenient for not having to show the home when living in it. The biggest issue came when listing old home... the buyer's inspector found roof damage and clearly documented them with photographic evidence, but Orchard's insurance company (AGIA) decided the roof was fine and denied the insurance claim just DAYS before closing. I had zero power in the process. We ended up with $0 upside on the sale of our old home and no way to advocate for ourselves or appeal the insurance claim denial, because we were in the 3rd party position and had no advocates on the Orchard side with any power. We are STILL trying to appeal the insurance claim as it was complete BS (even our orchard LA said so) and getting nowhere with Orchard, but in the end... I walked away with $0 on the old home.
Caveat Emptor
Oct 23,2021(AUSTIN) I got a very nice offer from them, and continued monitoring my dashboard and the offer did not change so I anticipated that that was what they were offering me. I called my assigned agent (who was rude to me on multiple occasions, one time saying "I don't want to waste anyone's time" and referring to my offer as "low." She said she would help me make the offer. 24 hours later she said that the P&S was in my inbox. As I was looking to sign, I was notified I'd need to sign/re-sign paperwork, selling agreement, buyer's agent (even though I had already signed that). BTW: I was doing the "Move First" program. I was also advised that my new "Instant Equity" offer from them was ~220K less. There was nothing on the website that said that the "instant equity" offer could change. My jaw dropped! They were now seriously trying to lowball me with the new "Instant Equity" offer. (Again, when I contacted them to make the offer, it was over ~220K higher). This is a switch-and-bait tactic they're using to gain business. Are they paying people for these ***** reviews? My experience hardly reflects anywhere near 5 stars. Too bad they didn't have a 0 stars. I ended up using Open Houses to go view homes as the assigned agent wasn't responsive. I asked for a new agent and then again this "bad apple" contacted me. Your requests also fall on deaf ears here. Austin is one of the hottest markets in the country so timing is everything. It was going to take 24 hours to put in my offer from initial ask to put in an offer ASAP. I also ended up speaking to their "VP of something", obviously an inflated title, as he was no more professional than my agent and her boss. I would not recommend this business. Look elsewhere. Deceptive practices.
Megan Raggio
Oct 14,2021My family and I were skeptical of the Orchard process when we first heard about the company on GMA. We had tried moving out of the area a few times before but with no success to either buy or sell in the area we wanted to live. Then after the initial call with Monica, we felt like we were in the right hands. Since we wanted to move out of Houston to Dallas, Monica set us up with a realtor in our desired area. Through the entire process, she kept in contact to make sure we were happy and the process was as easy as possible. Neven and Kori were so easy to work with! Kori would go to houses when we couldn’t come up and video the walkthrough. It was great because it helped take the pressure off a little to constantly go back and forth. Neven made sure we got the best deal on the home of our dreams. Everyone at orchard, including the financial staff, were so easy to work with. The day before closing Houston was hit by a hurricane and the wind knocked down the back fence. Luckily, with the concierge service, getting the replacement did not hinder our closing at all! I have never been through a process that has gone that smoothly. It was honestly hard to believe. Then it came time to sell our old house, and Nick our listing agent was a dream come true. Again, he made the process as easy as possible! Nick and his team gave us some great but easy suggestions to help our house sell fast. He made sure all the concierge work got completed and the house listed in a couple of weeks! After only a few days on the market, we received a full price offer! I couldn’t imagine buying and selling the traditional way.
mako delaossa
Oct 14,2021good service but a little slow on responds
Rich
Oct 09,2021The process was very easy starting with Christina McKenzie.
Rodney Johnson
Sep 30,2021Awesome!!!!
Nicole Santos
Sep 17,2021Poor communication, ultimately more costly in many ways than selling and buying, the realtors' they assign you are incompetent at best, I had to ask for my executed contracts, my pre-settlement agreement wasn't signed by Orchard until I lived in my new house over a month, my house went on the market a week late, they don't stage just paint and clean- which you pay top dollar for, my house has been on the market for two weeks a handful of showings and no offers. I reached out to customer service multiple times and it wasn't until I left a comment on their IG did someody actually get back to me. Absolutely awful experience! (Northern Virginia market).
Michael Junior
Sep 14,2021I'm an active service member with order to relocate to my next assignment. I explained this to the Orchard representative, and after discussion I decided to move forward with them. After finally scheduling a virtual viewing through zoom on 9.13.21, my next appointment for assessment was due on 9.15.21. On 9.14.21 I was called by a representative that old me that the higher ups in your company decided that there people are overwhelmed and won't doing anymore viewings or assessments moving forward....WTH!!! Now I have to find alternative ways to list, sell, and move out my family in an extremely short window, because YOUR company leadership can't manage time and personnel!! Thanks for not only wasting my time, but also my family's and my patron's time; as I will have to adjust because of YOUR mismanagement. Don't bother with your patronizing apology, it's fallen on dead ears!
Adam
Sep 14,2021When my wife and I decided to move across the country, we tried to imagine the "best case" for how we could coordinate selling our home and buying a new one without needing constant travel between the states or including an extended period of homelessness. We explored I-Buyers, PCOAs, and renting, but everything came with a catch. Our imaginary fairytale process was a benefactor floating us the value of our house while we buy a new one, then allowing us to repay them from the sale once we moved out. Orchard was pretty much an exact match for our imaginary perfect process. They gave us a very fair value for our old home, without requiring that we move. We were able to shop for our new home with a guaranteed budget and without worrying about coordinating the times of purchase and sale. When we did (finally) manage to purchase a new home, we could focus on the moving while they managed all the prep and listing of the old home. With VERY little input from us, they managed to sell the house for WAY more than we ever even imagined, netting us not only a relatively easy move, but ALSO a nice payout. The entire time, I was skeptical that there would eventually be some catch. There's no way this could possibly be as good as it sounds. And yet, here I am in my new house with the extra proceeds from the old house, telling everyone who will listen to use Orchard.
Kevin Simpson
Sep 08,2021Orchard was helpful through the process even when the buyer's lender fell apart on their promises. I sold for $60,000 over what I expected and $30,000 over what I listed. All in all, it was a great experience.
Oliver Lambert
Sep 03,2021Everything is fine. They helped us very quickly to find our dream home.
amanda
Aug 30,2021I have enjoyed my experience with Orchard. My listing agent was definitely the shining star, Christine Harvey. My first encounter with a member of the Orchard team was the gentleman that came to inspect my home. Wow how knowledgeable he was. Everyone I encountered was top notch. I will use Orchard again for sure.
Maria Armas
Aug 24,2021Everything has gone smoothly and very transparent. I have been extremely satisfied with the entire Orchard team and I would recommend to friends and family 100%. Kudos to Orchard!👍🏻
Live Free
Aug 23,2021Our price from Orchard was about $300 a square foot the same weekend the cheesy cheep builder grade home listed for $607 a square foot directly behind us. They didn’t realize the comps they were using were for scrape offs. We had 4 fireplaces and 120 windows but they didn’t really take any time to notice. They wanted to flip our house and make a big payday.
3300 N Interstate 35 STE 700 , 78705, Austin, US
https://Orchard.com
Jesús Antonio
Nov 11,2021Renting and buying apartments i the worst actiity I have ever faced, because it exhausts me a lot. However, there are advantages in this activity, for example, you have an opportunity to acquire new house or apartment. It means the change of environment and new emotions. I am not able to find accomodation by my own, thus I had to apply to special agencies. I chose this one and I was pretty surprised by its work. They made everything fast and helped me a lot. I'm really grateful to this agency that they helped me in activty which I don't really like.