Willow Properties - Lakewood, Washington

J&T

Jenn Kennedy, Becca, and Alanna are some awesome ladies. They're extremely nice, friendly, and respond well to maintenance requests. The process is much easier than our last unit. I like the simple process of sending an email and having such requests resolved or addressed within 24Hr. Everyone is always friendly and kind to both my husband and I. I love how welcoming they are towards all people. Our unit is cozy and managed well. I love how the grass is cut monthly and the maintenance crew is so nice. Additionally, the application process last year was smooth. Also, I love how well they communicate about fees. My husband and I love our community and most importantly, the amazing ladies of Willow Properties. Love, Josh and Tiff

Sara S.

Well, unfortunately I didn't do my homework and research rental companies before I rented from Willow properties. I didn't know that I had to do something like that, but I guess I learned my lesson this time. Currently I am still renting from Willow properties, when I was filling out the paperwork, the process was intense. They have very strict quidlines and want to know your whole damm life background. I had to spend somewhere between $5,000 just to get into this house. The rent was $1,800 which was really cheap for a 4 bedroom house. But when you go inside the house, the carpets are the original carpets and the home is super old. The house had this musty smell. I noticed that I was getting sick and my kids were getting sick all the time so I pulled back at the carpet a little bit and I was shocked to find black mold everywhere underneath the carpets. I was disgusted. They told me when I moved in they were going to replace the carpets with the next renter, so I'm not quite sure why they want the carpets cleaned on my move out. The toilets were always getting clogged. Some of the heaters didn't work. Our gas furnace went out for a day or two and I called Puget Sound Energy and the guy came over and looked at the furnace and told me that he was shocked that it was still running he told me that it needs to be replaced immediately that it was dangerous. The house was basically a nightmare and needed tons of upgrades. If you're late on your rent one day they will have eviction papers on your door the next day. They're not willing to work with you with anything. I had bad vibes since the first day I moved into this house. When I did a walk-through with one of the ladies from Willows property she told me to watch out for my neighbor she was very nosy and she called and told them everything that was going on in the house I moved into. I'm like oh great it's a Karen and guess what her name was Karen. Every single one of my neighbors was a nightmare. I'm young my kids are young, but I'm a very great renter and I take care of everything, even the yard. The house looks way better than it did before I moved in. But I got treated like I was a criminal, it was crazy. It's sad but I have to say all the reviews in Google are true. Horrible experience, horrible rental company. I would not recommend them to anybody. They only have the best interest in the homeowner, not the tenants. So I received a termination of my lease yesterday on my door and i have only lived here for a year. They will not give me a reason for termination. I'm a single mom with two kids moving is really hard and expensive. I just was not expecting to move I wanted to live here for at least 5 years. Do not rent from them. Run run very fast. There's so much more I want to say but it's just too much. Save yourself the hassle and find another property management company!

Kennedee H.

Have always been friendly and professional to deal with, always answers phones during business hours. Have had to make a few maintenance requests sense move in but it all has been taken care of in timely fashion. Very happy we are renting with them

Jacob B.

The process of getting into a property is relatively smooth, but don't plan on hearing from them until you get your statement at moveout.

Despite them being open less than 20hrs a week, your property manager will always be offsite. The other managers will "leave a message" but don't expect a response, you will be following up constantly.

Correspond in writing ONLY with these people otherwise "we don't have a record of that" will be the answer. Repairs will take up to 6 months after they get approval from the homeowner and have multiple companies bid on the job.

Recieved an enormous bill at moveout, a huge majority of the items were things that were documented by both parties at movein. Took weeks of back and forth, and I finally gave up when the bill dropped just below our deposit on file... certainly has to be a coincidence. There were a few items that certainly were from our stay that I was more than happy to pay for, but they really went all out. I certainly wish the house was inspected and repaired that thoroughly before we moved in! I wouldn't be surprised if they have had those repairs paid for several times at this point. Expect the owner to leave a bunch of their garbage and building materials in the garage, then pay to have it removed when you move out. Expect a $450 bill for them to rekey the whole house (one door) despite them receiving all of our keys (including a lockpicking line item).

Make no mistake, they are there to serve the interest of the homeowner and collect their fee. Anything beyond that is an inconvenience

Jayce G.

I wish I could say I no longer rent from Willow but I sadly do. Would not recommend to anyone! Maintenance repairs go unanswered unless you rudely pester them. Rent goes up yearly with zero upgrades to the property or living space. This company exists to rent out property for other people and you can tell the people renting and Willow as a property management company; Simply do not care about you as a tenant.

Edit: on top of all this the people who work inside the office can't even be bothered to give you a customer service voice and at least pretend like they care. They use crass tones and verbage that is incredibly condescending.

Galen M.

+1*: excellent customer service. Special shoutouts to Alberto, Amy & Jasmine for working with me & providing me with the necessary info as I request it.

-2*: I had an electrical outlet that needed replacing & spent up to 4 months trying to reach the worker (Dave?) to fix it. I wake up one morning to my door being unlocked & Dave(?) Announcing himself. #1. I did not receive a call for that day & #2. I never received a letter stating they were coming (I checked my mailbox when they came in & it was empty. I check again when they left & find the letter stating someone was coming to fix my outlet). Not only did I deal with this issue but I contact management & they denied anything wrong happened & that protocol was followed. Unacceptable to enter a residence unannounced, especially while someone is sleeping. That can put a life in danger, worker or tenant. Know your audience before wandering into anyone's unit, regardless of the reason & especially if you don't know if the party is there or not.

+1*: Rent has been affordable for me (even with the gradual increases in rent, which is understandable) & management have always worked with me in case I'm late (only ever been late twice in 3 years, but regardless, any additional fees + rent have been paid in full).

-3*: probably the biggest issue is other tenants.

I had been dealing with loud neighbors for a couple months, even going as far as confronting them & putting in noise complaints. While it seemed like the neighbors were understanding, the noises have continued for serveral more months (loud voices, music, & intercourse, just to name a few). While the noise complaints were getting to management, management has taken a long time to put an end to it (rather, the legal proceedings were taking a long time, so property management can't be held accountable for that), stating to me "We spoke with the tenants already, they understood that the noise can be heard and felt in the other units. However, it is an apartment complex and unfortunately, daily life noise happens and can be heard as well". What "daily life" happens at 2am consistently? We live in small units with thin walls, why is there a need to talk over each other? Not to mention, I wake up at 530am every day to make it to work (& by default, have money to pay said rent, for 8 years no less!!). For anyone who knows or doesnt know about landlord/tenant laws, upon signing a lease with ANY property management/owner, there's a special clause (Quiet Enjoyment) which dictates that a person who is claiming residency at an establishment has the RIGHT to enjoy their living quarters free of unnecessary noise & that it's the landlord/property managements job to enforce/uphold this clause, even if it's not specifically stated in said lease. This also means that the disturbance of this clause by another tenant can be a nuisance, in which case a lawsuit can be filed.

+1*: communication is top notch. Anytime I send a work order or noise complaint, it gets answered & addressed. I always hear back from management, no matter what issue I have. Unfortunately, fixing the issues I have in a timely manner is another thing (which, isnt necessarily their fault. Going thru the legal proceedings can take a while, which I'm understanding of).

+1*: properties are in a prime location (near bus stops), which makes it easy to travel to & from work or any other place.

Overall, has been fantastic until the end of 2018/beginning of 2019. Never had an issue with laundry facilities, stove, burners or fridge. Ive had to replace the doorknob of the main door due to being locked out twice & locked in once (faulty mechanism inside the doorknob itself. Easy fix) & had to replace the plug in my toilet tank (water erosion had destroyed the plug so when you flush, the tank was hissing constantly, trying to fill the tank back up).

In conclusion, I would say give the property management a chance. If there's any complaints you have with anything, continue sending work requests until the issue is addressed.

Cullen R.

Renting from Willow has been one of the better experience I have had. They took over from my original property management company of 10 years and have been significantly better in all ways. Very communicative and quick to respond to questions or concerns. The follow our agreement, including inspections which I like.

Heather P.

Given the circumstances of my experience with Willow Properties, I feel that this has been a shared experience with other previous tenants.

To start, in the midst of the pandemic/moratorium - Willow had made us pay for multiple plumbing issues. It should be the rental property that covers plumbing when it isn’t working, not at the responsibility of a tenant. They said that we were flushing baby wipes down the toilet when we threw away all of our wipes. In addition to that, they didn’t use a camera to snake the lines when they cleaned our pipes. The worst part is, when the plumbers were leaving we asked them if there was anything wrong they told us no, but were quick to take pictures of the baby wipes. We rented with Willow for 3.5 years. Most of our issues occurred in the last year living there. After they decided to tell us that we had to pay for plumbing, we realized we needed to move out.

Our next issue was upon moving out. We knew that we needed to get the single plot of carpet in house cleaned and get the house deflead upon moving out- that was fine. General rule of thumb is that carpets get replaced every 3 years for rental properties, not at the expense of the previous tenant but the owner is the home.

We weren’t expecting to get a deposit back. But we didn’t realize they would been charging us for the new carpets. What was the point of paying for a carpet cleaning if they were going to get a new carpet? I also got two separate quotes from Lowe’s and Home Depot for the square footage of the carpet to be replaced and it was hundreds of dollars cheaper than what we were charged.

The rent was extremely cheap for the area, but definitely not worth the headache in the end. You’re better off renting for somewhere a little higher because they’re eventually going to rack up the expenses towards the end/moving out.