Preferred Rental Service

Unprofessional and useless company. Expensive service but not worth the money. Do not recommend at all. Fraudulent business.

Critical: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value Do not fall trap of these botted accounts leaving 5 star reviews. Please save yourself the money and be cautious when dealing with this unprofessional business taking advantage of the lack of housing in Santa Barbara.

Critical: Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness, Value This is the biggest waste of money. Huge joke of a service and all they do is check craigslist to find you "preferred" housing. Once they scam you out of your money, they will block you so you won't be able to contact them. Seriously, do your work yourselves because this was the biggest 800$ lost to find housing.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE. Do the research on your own. Do not listen to the bots leaving 5 star reviews. Once again, they check craigslist and call that "professional service". Once this scam company takes your money and you are unsatisfied, they will absolutely not get in contact with you since they already took your money. Do your own homework and find housing on your own.

I was in an unfortunate situation in which I needed desperate help in securing housing for my journey at UCSB. The housing situation is so limited I was forced to hire preferred rentals and was so shocked with the utter disregard for satisfaction they were supposed to provide. I got stuck with the worse housing situation in which they said it was "one of a kind".

I found out this place is illegal to rent (room doesn't have window or door to outside), there is no sink, and no kitchen accessories. Rent is 2,200 (way overpriced) and the landlords are so so awful. I would not recommend this place to anybody at all looking for housing. Absolute waste of money to find me a an overpriced junk spot in santa barbara.

If you are looking for anything housing related in Santa Barbara, Goleta, or IV, do NOT use this service. I am a senior at UCSB and was unfortunate enough to use this service in hopes I would get adequate housing. Instead, I payed $800 and ended up in one of the worst rental situations I have ever dealt with. To top it off, I have tried calling countless times during working hours and left a voicemail in hopes I would get a call back and they just took my money, placed me in a God awful housing situation in SB, and have been ghosting me for weeks now. Seriously, if you are desperate for housing, this is NOT it.

Do your research on craigslist because that is pretty much all they do while looking for housing for you. Absolutely do NOT waste your $800 with this service as the housing you get will definitely not be "preferred".

I was hesitant to sign up for the $30 PDF service during this COVID-19 time, however there was a note on their sample rental list stating how they were continuing to provide updated listings, just at a limited capacity. One month later and they have only released ONE updated listing. Today is April 29 and their "current" rental guide is dated April 3.

I've called, e-mailed and submitted request forms for additional communication and even a refund. Nothing, no response. I noticed they're still posting listings on Craigslist, but no updated sheet. Incredibly frustrating as every other small business has been great in communicating and adapting during these challenging times. I have some patience, but to have no response and no acknowledgment is rude. If you aren't able to operate during this time, simply close and put a note on your website. 10/10 would NOT recommend at ANY time.

I have now used Preferred Rental Service for over 5 years with my different properties. They make the difficult task of finding a quality and qualified tenant a breeze. I have 3 beautiful rental properties that I want to see great people enjoy. Leah has found me those perfect tenants time and time again. I will never go back to the countless hours of weeding through applications on Craigslist where I used to advertise. Leave it to the pros it's worth every penny! Thanks again Leah for finding me another outstanding tenant for my San Roque house.

No stars for this company. We listed an immaculate 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath condo with them in June and honored their exclusive contract for the next three months while they searched for a tenant. Finally, in Sept. -- with the place still vacant and no prospect of a signed lease -- we terminated the agreement. Even with a local vacancy rate of 3% this company couldn't deliver.

The next day we hired a more motivated real estate agent who held one open house and found well qualified tenants for us within the week. Given our experience, we wouldn't recommend Preferred for other landlords. They no longer seem to have a client base beyond the cold callers who respond to their Craigslist ads. Their open-ended contract gives them no incentive to perform by any reasonable deadline, but they'll still collect their fee.