Richard Zwick

I've had recent experience with him in property management. His rental analysis report numbers didn't line up and when questioned he completely averted my concerns. He also tried to increase my monthly rental rate with 10 days' notice when my current lease states he must give 30 days' written notice. And again, completely non-responsive when confronted. It reveals a lot about his integrity and character.

I worked with Richard Zwick of Sand Dollar Realty to rent the townhouse at 1353 Congressional Court, Winter Springs, FL 32708 for the last 2 years. Overall I caution anyone from working with Richard or Sand Dollar in any way, and I further can't recommend anyone purchase or rent this house. Here are just some details of my bad experience. First, the property itself: 1. The home was listed as "New Construction" in 2017, but someone had obviously already lived in it due to damaged wood floors, marks in the carpet, broken blinds, and general wear and tear. Turns out the property was built in 2012. 2. The air conditioner failed 3 times (not covered by warranty) in 2 years, including once that left the upstairs loft carpet soaked in water for days. Sand Dollar never cleaned or remediated the carpet afterward, despite my concerns about odor and the chance of mold or mildew forming. 3. Most upstairs blinds were broken at first. The two non-master bedrooms had blinds that could not be shut all the way. Sand Dollar replaced only these 2 blinds, but with the wrong size blinds, thus they had to saw off the end of each replacement blind before installing. The sawed-off ends of the new blinds are crooked and sharp/dangerous, and one blind still doesn't close correctly. 4. The ceiling fans never worked properly, and the technicians who came to repair them multiple times were unable to fix them completely. I was left trying to fix one myself, which I was unable to do successfully, so I had to live without a ceiling fan in the master bedroom for the majority of the lease. 5. Overall the kitchen appliances are below average size and quality. The ice maker drawer in the fridge sticks and is very difficult to remove for cleaning. I was unable to remove it at all for the first year, and once I finally got it to break free, I was worried I was going to break the door off the freezer. Worse, the ice maker clogs frequently, approximately once every 2 to 3 weeks with regular use. The kitchen sink has no hose extension, which makes the sink much more difficult to rinse and clean than any other place I've ever lived. The oven is extremely slow to heat, to the point that it was a joke among visiting friends. The dishwasher leaked at times and was below average at cleaning the dishes compared to other places I lived. 6. As for the integrity of the home, there was a significant and growing crack in the master bathroom ceiling (which they've since tried to cover up with a repair after I moved out), suggesting that the home is settling, seemingly at a rapid rate given its age. This is supported by the fact that several of the interior doors, including the master bathroom, were unable to latch closed when I moved in, and had to be adjusted by Sand Dollar's handyman. One of the adjusted doors was again difficult to close and another had again fallen out of alignment by the time I moved out 2 years later. The faucet handle of one sink in the master bath doesn't extend fully because it was either installed too close to the mirror, or the house has settled in that area too, causing the sink to settle in towards the wall. The bathrooms have no drawers or medicine cabinets, meaning that residents have to pile all their bathroom belongings in the cabinets below the sink. This is extremely inconvenient and not something I've ever encountered in any other house. 7. The carpet itself doesn't match the decor and is uncomfortable. I think they were trying to go for a berber-like carpet, but it does not hold up well, gets snagged easily, and is so short, textured and condensed that it's very unforgiving and hard to walk on. The bamboo flooring scratches and marks up extremely easily. Every little thing on the floor has to be lifted up and set back down without sliding, even on furniture pads, to avoid marring. Now for Richard and Sand Dollar: They can't be trusted. Want proof? They're again listing this same property for sale right now (10/23/2019) as "New Construction", even though it's 7 years old. If that's not enough, they're also holding $364 of my rental deposit illegitimately, and I've never EVER not gotten my full deposit back from any other rental. They have cited things like 6 batteries and light bulbs for $147 (seriously!), and $185 in phantom cleaning fees above the max amount quoted. I have emails and texts. Message Mike Shollenberger on Facebook if you'd like to see them. They're currently asking if I'm going to sue, putting the landlord/property owner at unnecessary legal risk. Last, Richard wrote a book and tries to sell it here. You be the judge if this is trustworthy: foreclosure-home-buying-secrets dot com. If this all isn't enough to give you pause, good luck to anyone participating in the auction for 1353 Congressional Ct. this coming weekend.