If I could give negative reviews I would. Leah Jay only managed our rental for 4 months. In that time the property manager never set foot in the house, no inspection was carried out. Not even after our tenants gave notice and handed the keys in. The house was badly damaged with holes in walls, stains on walls and carpets, and horrible patch jobs on every single wall multiple times from picture hooks. Leah Jay put all of this down to wear and tear. When we disputed it they cancelled the rental agreement and told us to collect the file. No outgoing inspection was ever carried out so we had nothing from them at all. Didn't stop them from taking management fees from our rent every month though! We ended up having to go to tribunal only to find out that the property manager was playing us off against the tenants and telling them we were requesting things that we weren't, and telling us that they were saying things that they weren't, to create tension between us. Total damage bill was just under $5k but because Leah Jay never upheld their end of the contract (out going inspections are a legal requirement and the tribunal urged us to take legal action which we did not) all we got to keep was 50% of the bond ($1200) We then spent 2 months working through nights and weekends to return the house to a decent standard. If you have any respect for yourself or your house don't go through Leah Jay.

I strongly recommend not dealing with them. If you have the option, then go elsewhere. Illegally entered my property with people without notice
And then asked for repairs to be paid for that were pre existing and noted in my lease

Approximate cost: $180

An abhorrent company! Leah Jay Property manage a share house property in a family area and rent it to a group of men whose behaviour falls short of reasonable behaviour. Parties with drugs and alcohol are frequent. The house and the behaviour is a disgrace. The owner lives interstate and Leah Jay gets commission regardless of the disruption to the community. Leah Jay Property have had numerous approaches by residents but refuse to resolve the issue.

Leah Jay have had our property for a couple of years and everything was fine. When we said we were selling and would be o/s the service deteriorated. The tenants had a small dog that was included in the lease. Anyway, the dog did its business in the main bedroom several times and even thought he carpet was cleaned - Leah jay thought it ok! There was also a suspicious stain behind the door in the ensuite that they missed! The dog scratched the bedroom door a lot and they weren't going to get it repaired until I intervened. The door was sanded back but then only painted the affected area but in the wrong colour! The repairs weren't inspected - at least they admitted to that. Palings on the fence needed replacing, the blind in the bedroom fell off with just a touch and there was pieces of timber falling off both side gates - both went undetected! We're out of pocket $1000.00. so don't use the maitland office and we will go to the dept fair trading

Approximate cost: $1000

I have been a home owner all of my adult life so I've never had to deal with property managers. That was until I moved to Newcastle. I have since leased two homes, and while the first experience with LJ Hooker Belmont was great, things went down hill rapidly with Leah Jay.
Since we moved in to our home in Cardiff I have never been made feel so worthless. Leah Jays only focus is their landlords. Tenants are certainly made to feel inferior.

Our property manager on a number of occasions has made no attempt to correct the landlord when she knew what he was saying was wrong.

Thankfully, after a few months the Tribunal allowed us to be released from our agreement without penalty and we are now in a lovely property with an amazing young lady as our property manager and a teriffic landlord.

If anyone is tempted to enter into a lease agreement with Leah Jay, beware. I would strongly advise against the thought. There are far better, more unbiased agencies aound Newcastle

I would strongly recommend against using Leah Jay. They ONLY offer the DEFT payment system. After 3 emails, 8 days and threatening to deliver the rent in cash unless they gave me my legal right of one free method of paying rent, they sent my the DEFT Bpay number. So as long as you don't mind using internet banking you can access a free method, as per your rights.

We started using that system the afternoon before rent was due as it was our pay day and the reason we moved in the day after pay day to ensure there was no risk of not having funds to pay rent.

The DEFT system takes us back to the dark ages. We pay Thursday afternoon using Bpay but it isn't credited to the agents account until Monday. So we are now consistently late with rent although the money leaves our account every Thursday.

When discussing this with Leah Jay they couldn't care less. I find them a disgusting agent to work with and would suggest any tenant be extremely careful dealing with them.

We chose Leah jay Maitland to manage our property , everything was very professional right up until we signed up then it was all down hill from there , they recommended tenants which we now think was a friend of someone in the office , they did nothing but whinge and complain about absolutely every LITTLE thing possible , they broke windows and Leah jay sent us the bill they had a cat inside which was definitely not on the lease and Leah jay backed them for that as well , they were rude they told lies they didn't call back unless it suited them they wouldn't answer emails , we met every obligation as landlords and went above and beyond to make sure everything was right in the place and when we finally got them out they tried to Take us to court and the property manager called me to tell me I should just pay them what they want to get rid of them !! WRONG , this would have to be the worst experience with any so called professional organisation I have ever had and I definitely wouldn't recommend them to manage anyone's property

Approximate cost: $380

Maybe Leah Jay already has too many properties on her books to give a damn about new business, but she's sure missed an opportunity with me! I called into the Warners Bay office more than a week ago as I was in the process of purchasing a property in the local areal. I advised the receptionist as such, and explained that would like to chat with one of their property managers to discuss possible returns and to discuss a rental contract as a landlord. I was quickly dismissed with "I'm sorry but all of our property managers are either too busy or not in the office". Ok fair enough, so I gave her my card as well as the address of the property so that someone could get back to me. After no response I phoned the same office 2 days later and explained the same situation and that I hadn't heard from anyone. Well this receptionist said "You weren't speaking with me, but let me take your details and have someone call you". That was now a week ago, and I'm afraid you've missed out! I'm going to the agents (Global) only a couple of doors away ;) They've been heaps more responsive.

I have heard horror stories of property managers, so I asked around a LOT before choosing Leah Jay to manage our investment property. Everyone I spoke to in Newcastle recommended them and it's not hard to see why! They are the BEST!

They found excellent tenants for our property. Any maintenance issues are brought to our attention straight away. They are also able to make recommendations on rent, etc, based on their local experience (fantastic for us, as we no longer live locally and don't know the housing situation)

One of the reasons I chose Leah Jay was that a few tenants had also recommended them. As a renter myself, it was important for me to find a manager who would not just look after the owner, but also the tenant.

Hghly recommended service!