These guys were great. The apartment I rented from them 2006-2007 was a no-frills great deal: a HUGE one-bedroom (the entire top floor of a 3-story row house) just one block off the VCU campus on Franklin Street for $550 a month including all utilities except internet. In a city where rent-gouging and slumlording is rampant, especially close to the VCU campus, Main Street stood out for charging a fair price for a sound rental in a great location. The apartment didn't have central air or new windows or other modern upgrades, but it had been well-maintained and had no defects. A small touch I appreciated was they had allowed the previous tenant to paint the rooms in different colors (a green kitchen, beige living room, and blue bedroom) which gave the apartment ten times more character than all the other uniformly off-white places I looked at.
I only needed maintenance's help a few times (to work out kinks in the old radiator system during the winter) and they always responded the same day and fixed exactly what needed fixing. The office staff were very friendly and helpful, and prompt in returning my occasional calls.
The landlord did not show the apartment. They set up an appointment with the existing tenant to show me the apartment before I moved in, which I appreciated as it meant I could hear about the apartment -- and the landlords -- from someone with experience living there and dealing with that company, and without a vested interest in getting me to take the apartment. When I moved out to attend grad school in another city, had I not recommended the place to a friend who took over my lease, I would have been able to do the same.
They returned my security deposit in full and in a reasonable amount of time.
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