We met with 5 PM companies and Utmost impressed us the most. Joe & Shelly are friendly, personable,…read moreand experienced however this was not a positive experience. Utmost provided market analysis on 3 rentals but could not market them properly. After 8 months of vacancy we made the decision to break our contract and move on. Best decision ever! A friend with multiple rentals unfortunately had a similar experience. Tip: Find a PM company that charges a flat %. Financially incentivizing a tenants lease with 50% fee on the 1st month not only adds to the overall %, it's counterintuitive to an owners goal of long term tenants.

We've been lucky to have stumbled upon an amazing property management co…read more We've been tenets for almost a year now, Transplants from southern CA. We found our home and signed our lease sight unseen. Were we nervous, yes, but boy it was the smoothest transition ever! The house was exactly what we expected, anytime we've ever had an issue with the property, Joe and Shelley have been there to assist at a moments notice. We do plan on picking up a rental property and we definitely know who we would want to manage it! Thank again for providing such amazing service! We highly recommend this group!

Property manager is always willing to work with me Ive been renting with this company for 6 years…read moreand never had any problems they are prompt to fix anything and answer right away

20 + years all in all great team over there give them a try honest and willing to work with peopleread more

I am writing to share our experience with Alder Property Management Firm, whom we engaged with…read moremultiple times over the past several months, regarding serious issues involving their tenants. Unfortunately, every interaction we had with this firm left us feeling dismissed, unheard, and entirely unsupported despite repeated disruptions and safety concerns affecting multiple homes in our neighborhood. From the outset, the firm showed little empathy or willingness to help, and often acted as though our concerns were an inconvenience rather than legitimate reports from multiple affected households. On several occasions, it felt as though they would not take any action unless practically forced to, and even then, only after persistent follow-ups from more than one family in the immediate area. The tenants in question repeatedly caused significant disturbances that impacted four separate houses, both homes next to them on each side and the two homes directly across the street. This was not ordinary neighborhood noise; their teenage children would intentionally honk car horns late at night and early into the wee hours of the morning, shout up at windows to wake sleeping children, throw snowballs with rocks inside them at homes, urinate in neighbors' yards, flip down mail flags as they passed, and race their cars up and down the street. They even threatened violence and used homophobic slurs with one neighbor down the street. These behaviors were both intimidating and disruptive, and entirely out of character for our otherwise calm, respectful neighborhood. Despite this, when we reached out for help, we were met with responses that were at best dismissive and at worst indifferent. One example that stands out was being told by Scott that "car doors shutting are part of regular routine neighborhood noise," as though that explanation could account for the repeated horn honking, property damage, late-night yelling, or dangerous behavior we were regularly forced to endure and that forced three neighbors to complain. At no point did we feel that the Alder Property Management Firm understood the severity of the situation or had any genuine interest in addressing it. Instead, Scott's responses gave the impression that unless we presented them with "loads of bold and irrefutable evidence," they would make no meaningful effort to engage with their tenants or help restore peace to the neighborhood. This experience left us feeling unsafe, intimidated, and frankly abandoned by the very people who are supposed to ensure that rental properties are managed responsibly. Our concerns were not only valid they were shared by every household surrounding this rental. Yet the Alder Property Management firm treated them as though they were exaggerated nuisances rather than genuine community disruptions. What makes this even more disappointing is that minimal due-diligence screening could have raised clear red flags about these tenants before they were ever placed in our neighborhood. It is reasonable to expect that the Alder Property Management firm would perform the kind of basic vetting that helps ensure they are placing responsible tenants in a community. That clearly did not happen here, and the consequences were felt by every family living around the property. We believe it is important for others to be aware of how Scott at Alder Property Management Firm handled or failed to handle a situation that had a very real impact on our daily lives and sense of security. It is our hope that sharing our experience may encourage more accountability, better responsiveness, and a stronger commitment to supporting the neighborhoods in which they place tenants.

We have used Alder Property Management to rent out our home in SE Portland while we were living in…read moreanother city. We entrusted Scott and his team to take good care of our house and deal with the tenants. Every step of the way, Scott and his team were professional and helped ensure that our house was taken care of and our tenants were happy. Living over 1,000 miles away, we needed a company that we could trust and we found that with Alder Property Management. We have referred our friends and they love working with them as well. This is a great company to entrust your property management needs to.

Very clear management and policies. The values of the…read morecompany are excellent. Although I am relatively new to living as a resident in one of their properties; I am enjoying my lodging and see value in their management of the apartments.

I would give zero stars if that was an option. I had no problems with the prior management company…read more I have had issues with a loud upstairs neighbor for almost a year now and management has yet to fix the situation. I have have been compliaing since March 2025 when the inconsiterat cow moved in. Management does not return emails or phone calls. By far the worst property management company ever!!!! I strongly recommend you stay away from any property they manage.

I've been using Portland Property Management as my property management company for my rental…read moreproperty in Northeast Portland. I've been renting the house out for the last 13 years and Portland Property Management along with the owner Matt, has been really great. They've helped me find good deals on contractors for upkeep of the house and they've done great background checks to find good tenants for the property. I would never rent to strangers that I found on craigslist or something like that. Professional background checks are necessary to find good tenants. Also, they have been great about keeping good clean records and accounting for all the 13 years of rental income and expenses... There's no way I could keep track of all that because I'm terrible with accounting and organizing financial data.

They took over a slumlord rental I had been in for more than 10yrs (owner paid $19k back in 2001 &…read morehad done very very little renovation / maintenance, only fixing things that put it in hard code violation). PPM did absolutely nothing to improve the conditions of the deteriorating home when they came on or after, only raised the rent multiple times & changed where the check was mailed / deposited. They did 1 single walkthrough to "check caulking" around the house. 2yrs later when it was time to move out after paying timely for 12+yrs, they not only kept 100% of the deposit, but claimed a seemingly arbitrary number of additional debt that was more than 1/2 above the price of rent. Absolutely fraudulent. Thankfully I own a home now, but it damaged credit / renting reports for one of my housemates who paid faithfully until he moved out 2yrs before I released the property. They're clearly about racking up properties, not about being invested in the spaces they are responsible for. The housemate is looking into litigation against them now for damages. Any company that just collects properties to collect on is going to have quality control failure. This is yet another, but with the possibility of intentional fraud.

These guys are great. I am a first time landlord with little experience in the market. Mack and his…read moreteam beautifully packaged and presented my house to get a quick response. They were able to walk me through all the steps and hurdles to getting our house rented at an attractive price. I much appreciate their professionalism and knowledge of the market that has made my experience go smoothly. I would recommend them to anyone.

It's unfortunate that I feel compelled to write a negative review for Spear, and I'm at a loss as…read moreto why they have a five star Google rating so far given the experience that my partner and I have had with them. Although I do see that there are a handful of reviews by family members in the mix. From start to finish of the application process it has been one of the worst home rental experiences for myself to date, which is saying something as I have lived in several states in the US and a couple of countries abroad. Apparently, the company is relying heavily on AI to do the job of human employees, which is a disservice to the homeowners as well as potential renters. Our experience started with an AI bot setting up a fake tour during the middle of the week. I received a text and an email confirmation for the property tour after negotiating a time over the phone with the bot. My partner and I then showed up at the appointed time to find that nobody was there to meet us. I called Spear and left a message asking if there was someone coming to the property. While doing so, the homeowner came home to find us waiting for a tour that he had no knowledge of. After an incredibly awkward initial interaction, the owner very graciously offered to tour us himself. At this point, staff from Spear did call to apologize, stating that the AI system was new. That was the only instance we  had a real time interaction with Spear staff when needed, but the error was already made. We actually ended up having a positive interaction with the homeowner despite the mix up, and we let him know that we would be putting in an application. He said he would put in a good word, and we said our goodbyes. That was the only bright spot in the process. My partner and I then put in our applications, and began to receive a series of auto-generated emails prompting us to nudge anyone who we would be relying on for information and references, sometimes multiple emails a day. After a few days we were told via these auto-generated emails that we were accepted (we had to enter a portal to open the acceptance letter). This notification came to us at the end of a particular day. The next day when opening the email, we saw that a deposit was posted as due the day before, even though we hadn't been told yet that we were accepted or how payment would need to be made. I called several times asking clarifying questions, and never received a live person, leaving voicemails each time. Desperate to talk to a real person before having to hand over thousands of dollars and having time to read the lease and ask relevant questions, I drove an hour round-trip on my lunch break to their "office". I found that their office address is nothing more than a mailbox at a circulation desk within a building.  On my way back to work that day, I did receive a phone call from a staff member who said that Mackenzi Spear was out of town and when he returned, he would address our questions. My partner also had questions, as this particular property had additional HOA rules and regulations that we needed to review, but were not provided. The process to get answers was laborious, and days would go by intermittently as we gained partial information from Mackenzi only via email, and never a personable phone call where we could have a normal conversation. I asked both in email and via text messages with staff for instructions on next steps in the process, but received no answers. We then received an ultimatum from Mackenzi to sign the lease or lose the house, before we had been supplied with all the information requested and reasonable time to review it so that we could make an informed decision. Unfortunately, Spear's ultimatum fell on a day when I was on a scheduled trip out of state (which I had told his staff I was making prior), and I was literally airborne when his imposed deadline passed. But ultimately, my partner and I were feeling like we dodged a bullet with this company. If this was how the application process went, we couldn't imagine that dealing with them for the duration of the lease would be any better. We were quite disappointed because we loved the property and felt the owner and ourselves deserved better. I cannot recommend.

We feel very fortunate to have rented a property with Behzad at Zad Realty over nine years ago. We…read morewere truly blessed to find this beautiful home managed by Behzad and his company. Requests for any needed repairs were addressed quickly, communication was good and Behzad was very kind. We lived at this property through the pandemic and when our businesses were forced to close with no notice, he worked with us to be able to manage rent during that time, for which we were so grateful. We would have continued our relationship for years to come, but the owners decided to sell. When we moved out, our full deposit was returned. We would rent with Behzad again, should the opportunity arise. My husband and I highly recommend Zad Realty!

It is very hard in Portland to find a property management company you can trust. My experience with…read moreBehzad, and his company, Zad Realty, has been nothing but professional and positive. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to rent a home from him. 1. He will actually return your calls and talk with you! 2. He will answer all of your questions. 3. He will respond to your emails. We walked through the home together at the time to sign the lease and he told me where the flaws were and to write them down. When I had an issue with the rental, he did not ignore it and worked with me to resolve the issue. He cares about the condition of the properties and wants to keep them maintained. Basically, just having the opportunity to talk and establish a relationship with the person you are renting your home from feels very nice - like the old days. I told Behzad that thanks to him I will continue to have faith in humanity and that there are nice property managers and nice people who care, still out there in the world! :) Thank you Behzad!

so far they have been very helpful and the rent is a fair price and the building is in good…read morecondition and

I hired 4 separate property management companies over the years with the goal of protecting my two…read morerental properties and serve potential tenants fairly by avoiding any major issues on damages and/or maintenance problems. It's a tough ask given the rental dynamics of today! I find out the hard way the majority of these companies tend to provide only minimal support with the goal of maximizing overhead costs to the owners but also delayed maintenance support to the tenants which ultimately lead to strained relationships and lost tenant occupancy. Breakwater NW fulfills all my needs in a property management company! This company is strictly professional in dealing with both the owners and the tenants. Breakwater protects the owns from any hassle, but also support all tenant needs with 24 hour maintenance service time requirement. It really appears the owner Tara Costanzo provides great care for both her larger than normal workforce and owner/tenant relationships. Basically, she is amazing at dealing with people with earnest yet fairness and puts out fires (metaphorically) easily! Guess it's in her DNA. On 1 occasion, I really want to shoutout my appreciation on how she protected me from an overly demanding tenant wanting to deal with the owner directly about property complaints. Believe me, not all property management companies will go through this elevated effort! I also have the privilege of working with Cheri Petticord (portfolio manager of my property). Cheri really does her job well and perhaps even enjoys her work given the often difficulties of around-the-clock challenges. On tenant turnover, she and Faith Gibbs respond extremely fast in providing inspections, estimates, and maintenance scheduling thereby saving time on tenant transitions. She really understands the individual owners perspective and needs despite their large client base. Nice teamwork! Cheri is also very easy to talk to and provides nice insights on choice of tenant selection. As mentioned at the beginning, I worked with many property management companies but none as effective and professional as Breakwater NW. If I have other properties within their support radius in the Portland area, Breakwater will be the one and only! -Keith