Oak Harbor Real Estate & Property Management - Oak Harbor, Washington

J G.

**Worst rental experience over decades of renting**

I am one of the best renters available in the market. No smoking or bad habits, minimal wear on the living area as a single occupant, excellent credit score. They charged a hefty admin fee (free money -- $400) and hit me with everything they could at move out (free home improvement -- $1,300). If they treat me this poorly, what do you think they'll do to you?

Keep in mind that they offer $20 for a 5-star review *prior to move out*. The only positive reviews here appear to be property owners and people who fell for this tactic. Extremely money hungry and bad members of the community.

You can see my move out photos. Looks nice, right? To them, apparently looks like a massive opportunity to cash out.

--- my experience ---

Rental provided to me in poor condition. They forgot to provide the code for key access and I had to wait at agreed move in date and time for them to respond to my text (no one at the office). Trash in the recycling and yard waste containers. Personal effects in the interior. Horrendous smell in a bedroom closet (that I spent hours cleaning to remove). Slow kitchen drain that I fixed with warm water.

They did slowly address maintenance issues. Had gale force winds that loosened a fence section and they took about three weeks to fix it after my request. Enough time for the neighbor to find it annoying -- we chatted about it.

I left the rental in better condition than I received it. Cleaned for hours interior and exterior all the way up to move out. Moved out my personal belongings a month in advance. Had a professional carpet cleaning. I even paid it forward by leaving an expensive electric lawnmower and some helpful tools for the next tenant. I had verbal confirmation from their staff that leaving these tools was fine.

They apparently charged me for removal of curtains (that they had there originally), removal of personal belongings (that they had there originally or I had verbal approval to leave), added doorstops that never existed (free home improvement!), upgrade to toilet (perfect working condition already -- free home improvement!), replacing lightbulbs (that I already carefully replaced!), lawn care (free home improvement!), exterior window cleaning for windows (that didn't need it). Despite my paying out of pocket for the professional carpet cleaning, they took the entire hefty security deposit, leaving me net negative on the move out. Not to mention doing whatever with the expensive lawnmower instead of paying it forward to the next tenant.

Leonard R.

Upon taking possession of the apartment, I encountered several unresolved maintenance issues. The floorboards were unprofessionally and unevenly repainted. The carpet was lifting at the foyer transition bar, with no transition bar installed between the bedroom and living room, and additional separation at other seams. The linoleum flooring was peeling near the kitchen cabinets. Interior bedroom doors and trim were left unpainted and mismatched from the rest of the room.

The lawn had not been maintained prior to my move-in. I had to mow the yard within two days of arrival. An electric mower was left behind by the previous tenant, but no batteries were provided, requiring me to spend $200 to make it usable.

As active duty military, I’ve relocated frequently and lived in multiple rental properties over the past 15 years. This is by far the least well-maintained unit I have ever taken possession of. Whether these issues stem from the property owner or the management company is unclear, but as a property owner myself, I would expect these matters to be addressed before any tenant move-in.

Many of these concerns could have been resolved ahead of time if a proper quality check had been conducted prior to move-in and the issues remedied accordingly.

Aerial L.

Oak Harbor Real Estate and Property Management is by far the best property management I’ve ever had. They made the entire process of looking for an apartment very easy and every part of the process was very convenient. The online portal for their tenants was very easy to operate and everytime I reached out to the staff, they responded very quickly. Always ready to assist in any way that I needed. I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for a new place to call home.

Elicia V.

*New Applicants Beware*
As a renter/tenant of 10+ years and traveling healthcare worker, I have been through many encounters and many property management agencies and I would highly advise against bothering with this agency.
My first issue and red flag was their poor communication. Trying to set up showings through website is hit or miss and getting anyone on the phone is almost impossible as well. Just expect to leave a message they’ll get to you when they get to you.

Second red flag was when finally getting someone from the office on the line and inquiring about a property, they told me they had an applicant but the person who applied was a quote on quote “bubble applicant” meaning they applied and met criteria but they were waiting to see who else applied in case there were better options. So again, be advised you may give these people your money, meet criteria and they will still wait to see if someone better comes along and keep you waiting as well.

Which brings me to my main issue… as a veteran renter I know the importance of being transparent when applying especially if you’re credit is not ideal- mine admittedly is not having around a 580 and my husband around a 650. I called BEFORE applying asked about the credit policy and what they are looking for and let them know in advance that ours was not ideal. They specifically told us “we work with people” and can always do a thorough look through rental history and just do higher deposit in the event of lower credit but we have specific things that are automatically denied(all rental related- it’s an actual part of the agreement on the application) However this is not the case as we still were denied having very close and over the 600 credit score they advise you to have and having NO poor rental history. They denied us at over 600 minimum credit score BEFORE they even reached out to any reference or our current management company that we’ve been with for over 5 years! They also say if you have questions about denial to call and ask- don’t do it. The man in the office will definitely just gas light you and ask “if you even know what your credit score is” when yes you do and that’s why you called to be transparent before applying.
Overall, if you’re looking for a company who is actually taking the money you pay to fully vet you and decide if you are a good renter and going to be a good addition to the community -don’t go here. They are not doing that, don’t be fooled by them saying they’re willing to work with you, and honestly if you’re not well above the criteria don’t bother. It is definitely more a money grab than them actually doing the work to vet good tenants and potential community members. We had spoken with Lisa, Linda, and Mike. Scheduled a showing, jumped through hoops, paid extra to apply for our cat, and they still denied us without even verify past rental history, and did not even tell us we were denied until 3 minutes AFTER we drove the hour to the island to view the property. Highly unprofessional and cannot be trusted to give accurate information or stick to the information they provide.

Rachel C.

Edit: They decided to let me out of my lease and do the right thing with no penalties I am very greatful that we didnt have to settle in court. I can say that this is a nice a quiet apartment building I have been here 2 years and never had any issues with noise. Online rent pay is really nice and easy to use when you make maintenance request make sure to call and email them as well as do it in the portal I only had one issue with it taking months for them to get the bad outlet in my bedroom fixed since then all outlets in the unit were replaced. The garbage is an issue it often gets strewn all over the parking lot and there are rats so don't leave your garbage on the porch before you take it out.

We will see if I have to update the review once it comes to getting my deposit back.

Removed 2 stars because I was charged for replacing blinds when it was marked on my move in sheet that the blinds were never replaced when I moved in. I was also charged for exterior window cleaning when they had literally just did the exterior windows the week I moved out I will be discussing this with my lawyer I have the voicemail saying when they were coming do they charge everyone for that? I spent 3.5 hrs deep cleaning the apartment and was charged 260 for cleaning it was seriously spotless I didn't even hang anything on the walls except pin nails....

Andrew M.

Made it very easy for me and my family to find a house to rent last minute after coming off a deployment and moving from Florida. I'm very thankful a company like this took the time to help me in every aspect of our move. I can't say thank you enough to this team of professionals

Brian J.

This team was great to work with. As an owner, they helped us find reliable and affordable subcontractors and then found us great tenants in less than a day! We are thrilled with their service and support.

Alex F.

You will never get your full deposit back. They charged us over $100 for "Exterior Window Washing." Their landscaper was the one who was throwing grass up on the side of the house. $88 to remove a shower curtain. It took over a month to receive the deposit back once they were done helping themselves to it!