I recently applied for a unit managed by Discovery Investments and was very disappointed with the process. I was encouraged to pay multiple application fees, but the timeline and process were not clearly communicated. Shortly after submitting my applications, I was informed that another applicant had been selected, with no explanation for the delay or lack of transparency. Communication throughout was inconsistent, and it was frustrating to be given the runaround. I hope the management team improves transparency and communication for future applicants. read more

Watch out! They keep deposits arbitrarily. They do not respond to messages. I contacted the boss and his wife, and they didn't respond either . I went back-and-forth with them many many times before they refunded me $400. California law requires that they keep pictures of any refunds that they withhold. That did not matter to them. I had to threaten that I would sue them. read more

We had a disappointing experience with Discovery Rentals. They were not transparent during the application process--we paid a non-refundable fee to apply for a property, only to find out afterward that other applicants were already far along in the process. This was after we specifically asked if the unit was truly available. It felt like they accepted our payment without disclosing that the unit was essentially off the market. Clearer communication and more transparency would have gone a long way. read more

Discovery Investments managed my duplex in Oakland for 5.5 years. Being an out of town owner (I live in Fresno), it was critical for me to have a trustworthy, responsive, and diligent management company. Discovery was all these things and more. I always felt valued as a customer of their service, and they were incredibly proactive regarding preventative maintenance and property upkeep. The entire team at Discovery is professional and kind, and they are always up for collaborative problem solving when any issues arise. In terms of tenant placement, I felt involved in the process (I wanted to be) and was always happy with the result. In addition to management services, I also contracted with Randy (the owner) to oversee a renovation of all the windows, the kitchen in one unit, and the bathrooms in both units. The project went very smoothly and I was overjoyed with the results. I've attached a picture of one of the bathrooms. My only reason for not being a Discovery customer anymore is that I sold the duplex! read more

Discovery Investments - Property Management Near Me - Oakland, California

I've sent several emails and used their website to contact them. No call, no email, no reply. If they are that unresponsive with new business, I'm not sure how working with them would go read more

I have lived in a house that Discovery manages for about a month and will discuss their maintenance record so far. On the good side, they do very well in emergencies. For example, on a Friday, I reported a slow drip in my tub and was told that the plumber would arrive in a few days, which appeared to be fine. However, that drip turned into almost a gosher, so I emailed maintenance on Monday explaining that it had become an emergency. The plumber came that day and fixed it. For non-emergencies, however, it can take a week or more to fix, which I find acceptable. If Discovery thinks the problem is cosmetic, they won't fix it. For example, our skylight has a crack in it and a piece covering the kitchen light ihas broken off, although the light works fine. I think management should've fixed these items considering the high rent, but they're not legally required to, and it's not worth hastling about. As a volunteer tenant counselor, I have heard stories about a lot of not so wonderful residential management companies. Discovery seems to be among the best. read more

It's time for me to write this review for discovery investments. I've had the pleasure of being both a renter and a property owner with them: - Way back in 2011, I rented a unit in Adam's point thru discovery. The unit was well maintained and reasonably priced. It was a great experience- they were awesome managers, very responsive, sent people out whenever I had an issue and even helped me out once when I locked myself out right after I first moved. They were always easy to get hold of, and responsive over email. They have an office nearby and I did stop there a couple times. Randy was the main person I interfaced with. He's extremely kind and an all around good person. Flash forward to 10 years later, we were in a situation where we wanted to move but weren't ready to sell our condo. I decided to reach out to the best property managers I'd ever had as a renter: - I spoke with Kathy when we were going thru the process of picking a property manager and setting up renters. I just can't speak highly enough of Kathy. She was in the process of cutting back at work to take care of her mom, but still took time for me. She went thru exhaustive explanations of the management process, what to expect, costs, and advice. She didn't try to pitch me but was very honest and treated me like a friend. Going with discovery was a no brainer! - Discovery did a great job in managing our place in that I never really had to think about the unit after that. There was a few month gap between when we moved and when we found a renter, and the rent was lower than what we'd hoped for, but this is because it all happened in early covid (during the great Bay Area exodus lol). It was poor timing but I felt reassured knowing discovery was helping us out. - We've finally sold the unit! Now we're in what peipei from accounting appropriately called "untangling." They've continued to get notices from various billing/ utilities etc and I have so appreciated peipei continuing to forward it to us. Hopefully that will stop soon, but it does feel very reassuring to know that the notices arent just disappearing and that if something arrives it'll be forwarded to us. All in all, discovery is an honest, hard working management company that treats renters and owners fairly and kindly. They always treated me like a friend and I recommend them on either end of the process. read more

I've been a tenant of a Discovery Investment property for close to 10 years and Randy Lee and his amazing team (Marty Chan, Frank Zepeda, Kelsey Nakagaki, Terry Conway , Pei Pein Tan, Sarah and many more) have made my time as a tenant as comfortable and worry free as can be. Their current maintenance coordinator, Judith Lee, is a star! She's very responsive, friendly and resourceful! Any issue with my apartment or the building....Judith has been on top of it sending the assistance I need in a timely manner. She keeps the tenants aware of any concerns or building maintenance. I appreciate Judith keeping me in the loop so that I can plan ahead. I am happy to have found a comfortable, safe property for a reasonable price with great service! Thanks Discovery!! read more

There was a property I was very keen to rent from discovery investments. However, the representative Kevin who was assigned to work with me made me realize that as great as the property looked, the company would not be a good fit to rent from. Kevin had emailed me asking my availabilities for a showing. I had emailed back with different available time slots and received zero response for a confirmation. However, because I loved the photos and location of the home, i ended up calling discovery investments to try to set something up. The lady on the line said Kevin was not in the office, and she would pass along my message. Kevin finally reached out a day after my call, and asked for my email, despite us already having email correspondence. After, he asked for my availabilities, and I gave him times that worked me. Again, he was not very responsive, and didn't try hard to reach out to a prospective tenant. As much as I loved the potential home, this made me realize that if I were to rent from discovery investments, I would be experiencing the same issues for potential future maintenance problems, and other problems that may come with the house. Looks like from other reviews, the quality of the company depends on the employee that has been assigned to work with you. If you are working with Kevin, I would definitely not rent from them. read more

Discovery Investments - Kevin's inability to get back to you in appropriate time frames - Property Management Near Me - Oakland, California

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The worst company you could ever hire to manage your property. Completely Incompetent. Cost me thousands of unnecessary work for their negligence multiple times. Stay away from Randy and Frank, they don't know what they are doing. If you care about your property, stay as far away as possible. read more

This company is incredibly cheap and stingy. They charge the absolute maximum possible rent for their units and they raise their it for every possible reason. They were forced to do some electrical work in the units, and after it was done, i realized that the contractor had stolen something from me which had some value to it [pictured below]. The worst was when i moved out of the apartment, I had spent considerable time and money cleaning the place impeccably. I painted the entire flat, except the ceiling. I didn't have the exact shade of white for it. There were two tiny spots on the ceiling - each was abouit 1/2 an inch across and they took over $500 from my security deposit for that. Unbelievably greedy company! read more

Discovery Investments - This bottle opener was stolen from my unit by one of Discovery Investment's contractors. - Property Management Near Me - Oakland, California

I have lots to say about this company. They are absolutely terrible. If you are a tenant who is considering renting via Discovery Investments or you are a property owner considering using Discovery Investments as a Management company, please feel free to send me a direct message and I will fill you in with greater detail. We dealt with these people for 8 years and it was a disaster every step of the way. I can also give you an owners perspective as we ultimately had to contact the owner directly to get anything done and I am happy to share the texts the owner sent me describing the experience from their perspective. YELP reviews are not always wholly reliable so if you are doing DD on this company, I would strongly recommend that you reach ouand I will share my experiences. UPDATE - RESPONSE TO RANDY: Randy - you didn't make any effort to engage when this was all going on. You also have my email addresses reach out to 'resolve privately' and you certainly have not - your response is nothing more than bluster. I may have been a tenant for 8 years but for 7 of those, the main interaction was sending out a letter once a year to extend the lease, one of your contractors to come out to do a half-assed inspection once a year. We had issues which I highlighted specifically to you, in person, that were never addressed or followed up upon. So me being a tenant for 8 years is far from being a reflection on your company providing a quality service. read more

From a former tenant perspective - horrible experience. A sampling of issues: - They don't respond to maintenance requests in a timely manner, then send out the wrong type of workers. - They also sent out someone to repair our unit without any warning or notice to enter the premises - They didn't read our lease before requesting additional fees that we were not responsible for (eg parking, renter's insurance) Overall, terrible communication and no regard for tenants' right to quiet enjoyment. They ignore inbound requests from tenants, but push things that they need to do with zero warning. They're probably fine if you're a property owner hiring them for management, but I would never recommend renting a property from them. Update: their response is inaccurate. They have zero accountability for their disruptive actions. read more

Definitely stay away from Discovery Investments in Oakland!!! I said it before and I'll say it again. Despite their response of "we don't have you as a tenant" Trust me I've done business with them and it was horrible. They can't handle maintenance requests, they'll nickel and dime you, and worst of all they're about making more money on rent. So at the end of your lease be prepared for price increase...year after year, after year. They're about the owner receiving more money, for obvious reasons. The more they can charge the bigger percentage they can take. Tenants and the like STAY AWAY from DISCOVERY!!! They stand for the money in their pockets, not the the renters/tenants. read more

Discovery Investments handled our 1-year lease professionally and with a personal touch. Our requests were addressed in good time. Our move-in and move-out were managed efficiently and with attention to our needs as renters. A very positive experience. read more

Discovery Investments have managed our portfolio of properties in the east bay for over 10 years and I can't speak highly enough of them. Randy and the team work to the highest standards of care and diligence. They quickly address problems and ensure that our properties were in great condition and we had awesome tenants. Through the Covid crisis, the helped us navigate that complex situation with care and diligence. After working with many agents over the years, I can't recommend them highly enough if you are looking for an outstanding property manager. read more

We rented an apartment from Discovery Investments for about four years and had a terrific experience. The team is friendly and they were always quick to respond to any service requests. Our move out experience was also painless, which, as far as I can tell, is unheard of in the city! I'd highly recommend them to anyone looking to rent an apartment in the Bay Area. read more

As someone who rented from them it was an awful experience. Kevin, who dealt with maintenance was kind and helpful, however I lived without a working dishwasher for weeks. (twice) and other matters were not dealt with rapidly. They charged me over the regular price for trash, even after I reduced the cart size. On leaving the property the inspector who came to check the property was very unfriendly and was searching for anything to charge me for. My experience was, as others have stated, they nickle and dimmed everything. Not a nice experience renting from them at all. read more

I've rented with them for 5 years. I've always felt listened to, taken care of. Any issue I've had was addressed promptly and professionally. Definitely recommend them! Thank you for everything folks, it was a pleasure! read more

I needed a property manager to deal with a rental property I suddenly was in charge of. After asking around, two people independently recommended Discovery Investments -- a Realtor friend and a family friend with rental property. After speaking with Randy, the main person at the company, I signed up with them. They've helped me sort out and guided me through the messiness of the Covid restrictions very nicely. I'm ve since asked them to manage another property and have confidence that they'll do well. Recommended! read more

I want to share the positive experience we've had with Discovery Investments! My husband and I just completed three years renting one of Discovery's properties, a gorgeous house in the El Cerrito hills. Marty Chan gave us a special showing of the property to start. Marty is super chill and straightforward in his communication. The vetting and lease-signing process was efficient and understandable. The home was spotless on move-in, everything in good working order. Throughout living there, the Discovery staff was great. Kevin Nakahara was responsive and friendly by phone or email on any service we needed. They have an expert stable of vendors who showed up promptly (though with adequate notice) whenever something needed fixing.  Month to month, the online portal made payment easy, and the back-office staff (Vida and Pei Pei) kept up clear, personable communication re. any owner communication or admin issue. When it was time for us to move: Again, Marty and Kevin were great, really collaborative about creating an easeful, win-win transition. The first couple who came by to view the house as potential new tenants equally fell in love with it, and we were able to authentically speak to our positive experience. The close-out process, from final walk-through to using their professional cleaners to getting the remaining security deposit back, was stress-free and collaborative. In short, we would highly recommend Discovery Investments as a renter, as well as a property owner. Thanks, Discovery! read more

I lived as a renter in a property managed by Discovery Investments for about six years. In that time Marty & the team was always helpful & professional. They were good at very quickly responding to essential maintenance requests: locks/gate issues, water leaks, gas leak, replacement of alarm etc. The maintenance staff they sent over, whether contractors or associated with Discovery, were always good, fast, and polite. That said, Discovery was very slow at responding to non-essential requests, which required me to send repeat follow-up emails, and some issues just never got play (replacing a window shade we broke, a request to upgrade a light in my room to a dimmer switch) - so I found it fastest to take care of non-essentials ourselves in house. But overall, pleased. It was our second property manager in this house and they were heads and shoulders better than the first. read more

They promised me there was a washer and dryer in the basement when I moved in, and there wasn't. I asked them to deduct $50/month off of my rent because of this and they ignored my emails and calls for 4+ months. I've given up at this point. My stove was broken when I moved in and I asked them to replace it. They entered my apartment when I wasn't home without permission to replace them. I am considering pressing charges. read more

This is a terrible company. We had them manage our short term rental in 2016 and we are still dealing with issues related to business taxes ... apparently they never closed the accounts, or notified is there was a tax lien on our house. Unorganized, bad communication. Don't use them. read more

We leased a home for three years in Piedmont through Discovery. Randy and Marty helped us quickly find a great home that they had just finished renovating. We were very happy with the home and neighborhood and Discovery consistently responded quickly to attend to any maintenance issues that arose. The guys were always friendly, helpful and easy to work with. Thanks Randy, Marty, Frank and Pei Pei! read more

Worst company to work with. Zero communication skills and no one is on the same page. You're contacted by a different person each time who knows nothing about what the person who contacted you before. We were sent and asked for the same things 3 times after sending them in on more then one occasion. Late on everything, couldn't get maintenance to our rental. No one ever answers the phone and good luck with anyone getting back to you. It's sad to see how these guys run people around. Shame on them. read more

Shady, unprofessional, disorganized company. This firm took over management of a place I was leasing 2 years into my living there. Over the year, it was pretty clear they wanted to do the minimal work and collect a check from my landlord. I let them know about several maintenance issues in the apartment at the start of them taking over, that they paid lip service saying they would address but never did (over a whole year!!). Then when the pandemic hit, they made excuses about that being the cause of the slowness - what were they doing for the 8mo prior? They said they would send someone to do a baseline check of the unit and never did - then when I moved out, someone came to check out the unit and said everything looked good as far as me getting my deposit back - I had thoroughly cleaned the place. 2wks later I get notice that they will withhold 150$ of my deposit for cleaning - they attached pics of a pair of scissors and a spatula I had left in the unit to justify that bill! Said that in order to rent out the unit again that this is standard - which is written nowhere in my lease. After that, they sent the remainder of the deposit check to an address that I have no idea where they got, even though I very clearly filled out my new address in THEIR move out paperwork. I am convinced now that they are completely incompetent. I understand everyone was adjusting during the pandemic but these issues much preceded that, and as a hcw myself, I don't have the luxury of performing my job with this incompetence. Incredibly shady and unprofessional, mind-numbingly inefficient. Don't work with them if you can help it. read more

Discovery has been managing our property for many years. Randy Lee and his crew is very responsive to the customer needs and highly professional in property management. Special shoutout to Marty Chan who is super knowledgeable of the rental market and proficient in finding a good match of tenant & property. We have been recommending their service to friends. read more

Looking for an apartment with limited time was a nightmare. Thankfully the team at Discovery understood my needs and was able to match me with a charming (newly renovated) unit that ticked everything on my wishlist. Minor issues after move-in but was swiftly dealt with by management. Love the convenience of submitting requests via online portal. read more

I was a tenant in a property managed by Discovery Investments. They were fantastic property managers (a huge step up from the folks before!). Julia was a fantastic contact person for me. She responded to my issues in a timely manner, was always friendly, and seemed to genuinely care. ...you don't see those qualities as often as you'd hope when you're a renter!... I have no complaints, beside the fact that they are no longer managing my residence! Shout out to Vida also for being a total rock star! I already miss you, Disco! read more

We are just finishing up renting out our house through Discovery Investments for about 1.5 years, and had a great experience from start to finish. I found them very responsive, especially in the beginning, when I had a lot of questions (as I've never been a landlord before and there were lots of confusing forms to fill out). We had a few minor issues with our tenants (hot water tank stopped working, a tenant broke a lease early, normal things of that nature), and Randy/Kevin and the rest of the team took care of things pretty quickly and without creating much drama on our end. But the most effusive praise I can give is that just we had to go through a fairly painful, panicked process of getting our house ready to sell, which involved a complicated mess of lots of moving parts, such as communication with the tenants, coordination with real estate agents, and some non-standard stuff (such as allowing the tenants terminate at will instead of requiring X days of notice, etc.), and also a big information dump to me (as I was not familiar at all with the process of trying to vacate a rental property) and the entire team was incredibly awesome at making this as easy as possible for us, especially Kathy who really helped calm us down over the phone. I just found them incredibly professional for devoting so much time and effort on us even knowing that we would soon no longer be clients. Highly recommended. read more

Marty Chan, Randy Lee and his crew are by far one, of not the best property management company here in the east bay. I highly recommend them if you're listing your apartment or home for rent. They treat everyone with respect and kindness, they are on top of paperwork and issues and they are good to their tenants. I have nothing but respect for these guys and their tireless work ethic. read more

My experience renting a condo from Discovery has been excellent. I have been here going on 5 years. I was lucky to get the place, I was the first to see it and grabbed it! Over the years I have also dealt with the equally fabulous owner of the condo on many things. But every interaction I have had with Marty and with everyone at Discovery has been professional and helpful. They conduct their yearly inspection and any other business so quietly and efficiently I don't even now they are there. They always treat me with respect. 5 stars for Disco! read more

I was surprised to see so many low ratings for Discovery Investments, because I've had such a wonderful experiences with them over the years! Over the last 6 years of living in my apartment in SF, I have had nothing but positive experiences with Discovery. Our property owner hired them after I had been living here for 1.5 years to manage maintenance concerns and such. Like many people living in SF, I was a tad hesitant to reach out to ask about fixes in the apartment for concern of being disregarded, or worse have our rent raised or an eviction notice due to too many maintenance requests (which is illegal). Discovery Investments was always very prompt in their responses, and scheduled maintenance folks to come out for each request. Over the 6 years of living here, I had to request maaannyy things such as: leaky faucet replacements (3 of them); a new refrigerator; a new washing machine; someone to come fix our broken garage door (twice); broken fire alarms; someone to come replace the door on our outdoor shed, which had become swollen over time - you were unable to even shut the door to the shed before they fixed it; mold removal in the bathroom; a leak in our solarium (3 different times); and possibly a couple more requests that I have forgotten about. Not only did they send people out to fix these requests, Discovery Investments send someone out once a year to evaluate the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, as well as a person to check the fire extinguisher, and recharge it if needed. Also, as COVID-19 hit, Discovery Investments sent out emails right away informing residents they could work with them with issues paying rent due to many people losing their jobs. They sent out resources for renters rights associations as well. I sincerely have very much appreciated the effort and responses from Discovery Investments, particularly Kelsey Nakagaki (Transaction Coordinator). Kelsey has been incredibly helpful and responsive to me with all of these requests, and I am very thankful to have lived in an apartment in San Francisco (moving out this weekend!) in which our needs were met. Thank you to the team at Discovery Investments for making my time living in San Francisco much less stressful!! read more

Horrible... We needed a short term (6 month) rental while we were in the process of selling and buying a new home. Found Discovery Investments to be tardy, never making an appointment on time, and very dishonest. Discovery attempted to bypass common California renter laws, and was disingenuous about what constituted normal tear and wear as well as pre-existing conditions. Would not rent from nor use as an agent for rentals. read more

I've rented all my life, but never dealt with a Property Management firm before... always with a landlord. I have to say when there's a problem in the apartment or the building to be addressed, they jump to it. In this day and age when we bemoan the usual ineffective and inept service that we find in our daily lives, this company is quite the opposite. There ARE people out there who care about how they do business. Thanks, Discovery! read more

I'm a travel nurse and needed a short term rental. I found an ad through Discovery Investments website for a cute little place for a couple of months and from start to finish the whole process of renting with this property management company was smooth and easy. And the best part of course was that my security deposit was returned in full in less time than I had anticipated. This company proved to me to be professional and trustworthy and I would highly recommend them. read more

I have recently changed my review. Do NOT rent from this leasing company. All they want is your rent money. They do not care about the comfort of the tenants. They accept section 8 tennants that break the rules and keep the apartment complex up. I have tried to get something done with my neighbor who breaks the lease continually, yet they ignore me and blow me off like it's nothing. DO NOT RENT FROM DISCOVERY INVESTMENTS. They are shady, And care more about their section 8 tax break tenants than their full paying tenants. I cannot wait til my lease is up. Living in a apartment managed by this company is torture. I made the mistake of renting from them. Thank you, for nothing. read more

Really great land lords from the start and all the way through. Marty showed me the place and got me all situated.... and here's the kicker... I got locked out of my place... the door knob came apart in my hand as I was trying to open the door! It was midnight and I was worried that there would be no locksmith awake and I'd be screwed! Luckily, I called the number on the buzzer and hit the # for emergency and was directed to Randy. Didn't answer right away, but texted me immediately and then came over and got me all sorted! I came to find out that Randy is my actual land lord and owns the place. Nice guy and he's having someone come to replace it all with the same key tomorrow. whew, disaster aborted! thank god! read more

Last year I found a Discovery rental house online, at a moment when I needed to find a new home in only a week's time. Kevin Nakahara helped me see the house very quickly, and then helped me secure it - again, very quickly, despite the fact that, though I could afford it, I had no credit rating (I've always paid cash). Thanks to Kevin, I've had a lovely year in a beautiful house. He negotiated for me with the owner, to get the length of lease I needed; and in every way was tremendously helpful and kind. Discovery proved to be very good, too. On the rainy cold weekend of Thanksgiving last year, the front door mysteriously became impossible to close completely. Discovery sent out a knowledgeable man to fix the door immediately, so that I could feel both safe and warm that night. They have furnished the same kind of prompt help for the few other, less pressing things that needed attention. (The house is in very good shape; the things needing attention were the ordinary little things that happen.) The people in the office are also responsive and pleasant. Only good things to say here! read more