Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates

Great, great agents. We have spent several weeks over the years always through Joe Lamb.
This year we spent a week in April and two weeks over the Christmas holidays.
They are always attentive and easy to reach if you have an issue. Very accommodating! ALWAYS our go-​to rental agents on the Island.

Third year in a row vacationing at the Outer Banks with this realty company. Easy to work with and beautiful homes. We have been more than satisfied with all of our choices at different points along the strip. We look forward to next year!

We used Joe Lamb for our recent house rental in Nags Head. Every time we called they were pleasant but pleasantries didn’t make up for the fact that our refrigerators sucked and nothing was done about it or the fact that the website had a price $ 1,000 less than what they actually charged us.
We noticed the problem with the refrigerators when we checked into the house. They were not cool. We had two full size refrigerators. The upstairs one was full with food but the downstairs one was ¾ full (if that). I called the hotline the night we got there out of fear of losing our food. He told me to make sure the settings were in the middle and not cranked up. We waited. Nothing improved. We called again and again and again. One man came out and said he wasn’t from appliances and couldn’t really help– oh great, nice to meet you. Finally on Thursday (we got there on Sunday!) someone came out and said there was just too much food. I don’t know how this is possible since the basement fridge was not full. Additionally the house sleeps 16 or more people– what do they expect for the refrigerators to have in them?! Needless to say the time spent on the phone with these people and running to the store to buy ice was a nuisance and waste of money.

I usually don’t review businesses on Unilocal,but since I’ve been using Joe Lamb to book my family vacations for that last ten years, I figure it’s past time.
There are a few reasons I come back to Joe Lamb year after year.
1^st — selection. They have a wide variety of homes they manage, oceanfront to soundfront; large groups to single family. As we are a smaller family of four, I sometimes find it difficult to find something near the beach that doesn’t sleep 20. The variety means I can find something in my price budget. As the economy has fluctuated, it’s been nice to not have to sacrifice family vacations.
2^nd — no security deposit. Now I don’t know about you, but I am tight with a penny. I certainly don’t like having to pay a security deposit on a vacation rental if I don’t have to. Joe Lamb does not require one so that’s extra money I can spend on my vacation.
3^rd — service. One year I had to call because the dishwasher wasn’t working. They came out that day, determined they couldn’t fix it, so they had a brand new one delivered and installed the next day. More than what I experienced, was what I observed. We were lucky enough to be able to rent a small oceanfront home one year. To the left was the walkway the home across the road would use for beach access (also a Joe Lamb property). The grandfather in that home was in a wheelchair that was too wide for the walkway. The second day we were there I watched the handyman rebuild the entire path so it was wider and had a platform so the grandfather could come down to the beach and watch his grandchildren play. It’s the small acts of human kindness like that that made me a Joe Lamb customer for life.

Good service, excellent property selection and in the right location.

Response to Jodie (JLJA) Looking at past reviews in the 24 filtered section, most have 1 star. I am sure it is because you have to give at least 1.
I would love to hear from others that rented #007 Beach Baby. There is no way anyone would ever want to stay in that house again… even if it was free! Did you guys ever replace the smoke detector batteries that were last replaced in 2009? Especially with the electrical problems from the stove… Has anyone fallen down the back steps and hurt themselves on the broken boards that a protruding from the sand at the bottom of said stairs…
Did your company ever address the certified letter I sent? NO! Your customer service sucks & I for 1 will never waste my vacation money on another Joe lamb «property» again!
Thanks

Overall I would use Joe Lamb again, but I would not book during prime time like we did this past week.
We rented «Oh The Places You’ll Go» #655 in Southern Shores.
I could go on and on about the traffic and the time to get there to avoid it but I won’t. Suffice it to say we were 4 hours early, we went to the beach, it started to rain so we found ourselves in a restaurant/​bar waiting out the 3+hours to get in. We meet some local guy, he calls the office for us and boom, we get the call to come get our keys, so we did. Then we got back into the shitty traffic to make the trek a few miles to our house.
The house was pretty much what I expected cleanliness wise as these rentals turn over once a week 9 months a year. We paid top dollar for this house and with insurance it was about 8K. There were 18 of us in my family! 18!
The rush job cleaning was noticeable, the bathrooms were pretty much gross. The shower curtain liners were disgusting, all 9 bathrooms needed a deep cleaning and shower curtain liners replaced. We wished they provided toilet brushes and cleaner but we went out and purchased our own so we could clean the toilets throughout the week.
All the flooring in general was worn and dirty in the corners, if you are the type to notice that like I am. The hard surface floors are laminate hardwood and they are showing wear. We found out that this particular house was almost dropped by Joe Lamb two years ago and they made the owner redo it. The carpets are in desperate need of replacing.
The house has a huge round wooden dining table that sat about 15 people, we absolutely loved being able to sit and eat together and the table was gorgeous.
We loved the pool and the hot tub and the pool guy came during our stay to clean and we did appreciate that as you cannot help sand accumulation no matter how well you shower off.
The outside showers were a treat for us NY’ers and my brothers showered outside every day.
We had to call to have someone come fix the sound in our theater room and they came out on a Sunday and did that… and he had to unclog bathtub drains as well. He was very nice and said to call if we needed anything else, which we did not.
We loved the air conditioning as each floor had it’s own zone.
Perhaps the best feature for me was the location of the house. I would not want to be staying in Corolla and sit in that move in day traffic for hours like a lot of people do. Our house was central to shopping, restaurants and the beach road.
Know going in to bring your own food for move in day as you do not want to get stuck in traffic to go grocery shopping. Shop the next morning.
Have fun in the OBX, we did and I hope to return next year in less expensive accommodations.

We rented Petes Retreat (#178) for a week during Aug 2011. The owner obviously took pride in his property, a pride not shared by Joe Lamb. There were light bulbs burned out on our arrival and it was like pulling teeth to have Joe Lamb replace them. Simply a matter of quality control on rental turnover. The shower drains were clogged with sand and took minutes to remove the water. Although we knew beforehand, the lack of WiFi was inexcusable for the amount of money we paid.
All in all, a rather disappointing experience. Would probably not use Joe Lamb again.

The home we rented from them was beautifully decorated and furnished but it was absolutely filthy! Showers had mold, there was remnants of food on the floor and counters in the kitchen from previous guests and the dishes in the cabinets had not been washed. Needless to say, for $ 6k+ a week, you’d expect at the very least for the place to be clean. Called them to get them to come out and clean, but got blown off.

We had a GREAT experience renting a vacation home in the Outer Banks from Joe Lamb Jr, but in order for you to understand why this was good, you need to understand what was bad at Kitty Dunes Rentals…
I consider myself a major detractor for Kitty Dunes Rentals and will spend as much time as I can telling everyone about our experience. My family rented a home on the OBX in August 2010. The home was rented based on pictures KDR (Kitty Dunes Rentals) posted on their website AND conversations with their leasing agent. We even asked for more pictures which they said they could not send. After a lot of questions from us and responses from their agent, we rented a $ 2500 ocean front house in Kill Devil Hills (5 Happy Clams). We showed up to find a house that was in very serious need of attention and care. The cleaners eventually cleaned it, but they are not miracle workers! This home had furnishings, fixtures and appliances that were so outdated and neglected… not to mention unhealthy and simply needed to be thrown out. Blood stained pillows, molded refrigerator, bugs, 20+ year old mattresses, stained carpet and furniture that should be trashed. Honestly, the home looked like a yard sale waiting to happen. Needless to say, $ 2500 for this was not acceptable. When I spoke to the agency’s GM, Jerri, she was everything BUT Southern grace, charm and hospitality. I have been in the real estate rental business for 25+ years in the Carolinas and Washington DC and NEVER have I received such poor service and lack of respect.
She did visit the house after we picked up the keys but instead of using this time to ask questions, apologize and empathize, she was combative, defensive, insulting and basically challenged everything I said. She never considered how we felt and ignored my worry that I have asthma (as does my son) and that the mold in that house would not be in our best interest. Not once did she acknowledge my concern. Instead she said… it was MY mistake for believing the agent that leased the home to us and «we signed a lease». She hid behind them advertising this home to be vintage… trust me… vintage does not mean disrepair! End of story.
Now…me being a Real Estate professional from the South, I have a low tolerance for poor service and someone disrespecting another person. With that said, it took every ounce of my being to control my anger and shock at how incompetent this person was and the things she said to us.
Needless to say, after hours of searching we fortunately found another home with Joe Lamb Realty but only after calling every agency we could. Their home was not only clean BUT well maintained. I am not sure, but it appears that they represent owners that maintain their homes to a level that is worthy of being rented AND they hire customer focused agents that are attentive and care. WOW… what a concept! Kitty Dunes Rentals should study THAT business model.
It is also worth noting that their Sr. VP, John M., did get involved with us but was little more than a clean-​up person that was ineffective at accepting responsibility for what happened. They did refund a small amount of the rental cost but in the end we could have rented a grander house for the price of what we lost at 5 Happy Clams and the cost of a second rental. Yes… they refunded us for linen service but that was because we did not use it… duh! They refunded us for taxes, but again, duh! What they did NOT do is compensate us for an entire day of lost VACATION as we were forced to find another home last minute in an area where year-​advanced renting is required (thanks again, JOE LAMB REALTY, who will get 5 stars from me!). They did not even consider the loss of being oceanfront for the rest of the week, and simply the frustration of dealing with incompetent people like Jerri and John, which neither deserve the title they hold in that company. The home was misrepresented by them and the owner on the website, which is wrong at so many levels!
We did speak to many people while we were in the OBX and discovered that Kitty Dunes Rentals has a reputation for poor service and Joe Lamb is highly recommended by locals. So… we became another detractor of the first and promoter of the second.
I hope KDR considers the feedback out there and decides to become a responsible representative of rental vacation homes for people that believe in what they are being told and sold.