I thought working with a property management company would be the right way to go to avoid creepy landlords as a young female. Boy was I wrong. The staff at Windermere were dishonest to me and my roommate about the state of the home we were to move into. There was mold building up in the laundry room and the wall was falling apart due to a water leak. Issues that WE discovered ourselves. The leak was clearly visible to the human eye; my roommate took photos as soon as she saw the leak and we let Windermere know of the issue. Of course, this was after we had already paid $4,400.00 and signed our lease. These issues were completely ignored by all who did an "inspection" of the place. The mold is a huge concern of ours, as it should be. I had requested a professional mold test on December 17th but that request was never acknowledged and there was no follow-through. The people at Windermere made it seem like the mold was "no big deal". One of their staff members tried to tell us it was "lint stuck to the wall." That was very insulting because all photos show it is, in fact, mold. She also kept defensively talking over us, like our concerns were not valid and she had to "defend, defend, defend". She said something along the lines of, "when we complete our inspections we don't break open walls to look at their pipes.!" as an excuse. Well guess what, I didn't break down any walls either and I saw the water leak OUTSIDE of the walls. My roommate and I were not and have not, been living in the home due to the hazardous conditions. This company was not honest and scammed us out of money along with the landlord they represent. Had we known about these issues prior, we would never had signed the lease or given any money until the issues were addressed. It completely baffles me how all of these issues came about once the landlord and Windermere had our money and a signed lease. We were hopeful when we spoke with Paula at Windermere who said she would advise the landlord to forgive our January rent due to the living conditions. The landlord said "no" and that the conditions were "livable". And that was that. It's shocking because I keep thinking "Doesn't he want a good relationship with his tenants?". However, the landlord had to "drive 1,000 miles and take time off of work" due to him wanting to complete the repairs himself. That information was used by the landlord and Windermere as a tactic for us having to pay rent for a hazardous home. It was his choice to do the repairs when there were plenty of capable contractors right here in the community who would have completed the job within the week. It took a month for this guy to fix issues he ignored for a long time. This has been a terrible experience for me and I have 0 respect for Windermere Property Management and the landlords they represent and choose to defend. Now, if you can excuse me as I write a check for $2,200 for a house where I have not lived in over the past two months. This is due to Windermere's lack of anything regarding the mold test and the lack of urgency regarding the mushy wall in the laundry room. It's truly just the principle of the situation and I feel frustrated, and I am lacking hope for my living circumstances. 2025 is rough and I believe we all need to help each other out, not take advantage. And that is what Windermere did and does. All - Use caution and complete your own inspection before signing a lease agreement or giving any money. This company will lie to you and scam you and think nothing of it. read more

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This is for the renter's side of their business. They charge tons of fees - $50 per person for the application, $20-25 for each pet, and when the first application came back with no results on the credit score they asked us to submit a new application, with new fees. They promised to refund the first application fees via email, and did not. All in all just applying cost us (two people + pets) about $300. Windermere did not even want to manage the property I was applying to and dropped the owner of the house as a client AFTER I paid all the fees - I was in touch with the owner and she was bewildered - it sounded like they have never wanted to take the property over and are so unscrupulous that they operated like they would just to get the application in. Read the other reviews. At best they are expensive, at worst they are fraudulent. It's so hard to avoid them because housing is tight here, but you will surely pay more in the end if you choose them out of desperation. They rely on you not going to small claims court or hiring legal to keep being scummy. read more

Agent was extremely slow in getting back to emails, multiple missed calls. Completely ghosted after sale was made and didn't assist in scheduling a key exchange to buyer or seller. Did not fulfill verbal agreement of $500. read more

This review is for the rental side, not the real estate side. The island is small and Windermere is smart to take advantage of that. When looking for a rental property you will see their name all over many different homes in the area. There's a likely chance you will end up renting a property through Windermere, because housing is slim and your options are limited, so before you do so, here are some things you should expect. If you put in a work order for something to be done, chances are, it will never get done or it will take months to get done. We reported our water/ice machine on the fridge never worked. When we moved out a year and a half later it still did not work. We had our garage fixed, the dishwasher looked at and replaced, but it took months. When you move out: expect to receive a $1500 bill for small things such as "did not change lightbulbs, toilet seat was loose so we replaced the entire thing, filled in holes in wall from where you hung pictures and we charged you even though the lease says not to fill in holes when you move out" Also, we will charge you half your months rent because it took us time to do those things. They're also smart enough to know that if you need a home, you'll sign a contract even if it says you're going to pay these fees at check out (which it doesn't list a monetary value for those fees listed above, so they could charge anything they want) Simply because housing is tight over there. The renters side of Windermere has one person in mind when they make decisions, and that's the home owner. As a renter, you are not put first. My advice, put your BAH toward buying a home instead. For the entirety of the time I lived in WA I paid $1600 a month for a home I didn't own. When I moved out I was charged $5000 for minor repairs to the house including the lightbulbs, the rent while they replaced those items, cleaning the yard, etc. With that money I could have invested in my own home. (Now that I've learned my lesson I have just purchased my first home at my new duty station) Should you use Windermere as a realtor to purchase a home? I'm not sure. I don't have experience with them. The island is small, you may not have a choice. What I will recommend is to not use them when looking for a rental, or at least read through the contract thoroughly and know what you're getting yourself into. If you own a home, and you want to rent it out, Windermere is great, because they will pay your mortgage ten times over with the money they hustle out of your renter. And whether they like this review or not, it is my experience and my opinion, so it's staying here. Be blessed and make wise choices read more

2 bad occasions with this business. First, they failed to verify my employer and my employer tried contacting them back (minutes after my employer missed their call) but the rep from Windermere already decided to deny the application. 2nd occasion, we had a showing that was scheduled at 3:30pm and received a call 15mins right before the appointment saying that they signed the property over to someone else already. read more

Buyer BEWARE! Windermere took advantage of me and it looks like they've taken advantage of others who have left reviews as well. Horrible experience with an agent who did little to no work, but still wanted a payday when I decided to go with someone else. I'd warn everyone to STAY AWAY!! read more

Windermere Real Estate represented a property that my daughter bought as here first home. Windermere advertised property having two parking spots. After purchase it was revealed there was only one spot. After appraisal spot is worth $38,000. After hiring a lawyer to help resolve deception Windermere's response was not our responsibility. They were happy to receive commission but replied Too Bad to someone who used their services. 1 star because you have to choose something. Purchase of first home went from great experience to great disappointment. read more

I love our local Windermere. You won't find another real estate office with more educated and dedicated brokers.

Tremendous experience with Windermere Rental Properties. The front office is knowledgeable, and kind there is always someone available to answer questions or give recommendations. The real star of Windermere Rentals is Jason McFadyen. Jason can always be reached via phone, text, or email and is professional and courteous. I had to move for the military on incredibly short notice, and Jason helped find my family several rental options within hours. Jason always went above and beyond to make sure that my family was taken care of and that we had the proper resources to move in and out of our homes. When it finally came time to PCS, Jason kept in touch to ensure a smooth transition. We could not be happier to have rented with Windermere and definitely recommend to all of our friends. read more

Windermere in Oak Harbor is a nightmare. I would give less than 1 star if possible. I moved out of the unit and turn the keys in before the end of the month and still didn't get my rent pro rated for that month as they said they would. The property manager Cheryl Lueder and Jacklyn Allen never communicated on the move out inspection. They went in and inspected the unit by themselves and charged me $200 for no reason. No email or itemized listing of damages in the unit were provided. Very unprofessionnal and rude team here in Oak Harbor, WA. They took advantage of me as an active duty sailor constantly detached and deployed. They are definitely not recommended. They still owe me $700. read more

My wife and I wanted to sell our home by owner, as we had done three times previously, but a friend who happened to be a realtor for Windermere persuaded us that we should go with them for the best market reach and highest selling price. What a huge mistake. From the get-go, our realtor was a bad communicator, was error prone, and showed poor judgment. For example, she brought her husband, who was recovering from open-heart surgery, to the first showing of our home. For the second showing she told us the prospective buyers had cancelled, and next thing we knew they were in our driveway with their realtor, expecting a showing. So we showed our own home. When we asked the owner of the local Windermere office to let us switch realtors, he gave us a guy who wasn't much better. He often seemed to be working for the prospective buyers, not us. And once when we met at his office, he couldn't get his printer to work so we could sign documents. Fed up with all the incompetence, we requested that Windermere's commission be reduced from 6% to 5%, but the owner denied our request because, he said, we had sold our home for more than the asking price ($17,000 more, in a market where other homes were selling for up to $100,000 over asking), and that we should just be happy with that. When I pointed out to him that our home had sold as a result of a Facebook post I had put up, he replied that it didn't matter how it sold, because Windermere was the contracted selling agent. So our decision to hire this incompetent, unscrupulous, greedy company cost us $27,000 in real estate commissions for what turned out to be a miserable experience. Never again! read more

Just sold our house in Oak Harbor; We can not give a high enough recommendation to our agent Julie Kinnaird. She sold this house in 2 weeks and took care of everything from listing, showing, repairs and closing. We did this all from the East Coast with zero hassle and receive the price we were looking for. She is the best hands down and has given me a greater appreciation what a great real estate agent can do for you. Julie Kinnaird Windermere Real Estate/Whidbey Island Office: 360-675-5953 Cell: 360-632-6619 Largest database of listed properties from all brokerages - updated every 15 minutes! http://juliekinnaird.withwre.com read more

Our experience with Annie Cash at Windermere Real Estate was excellent! We moved to Oak Harbor from Marysville on relatively short notice, so we had to sell our prior home while simultaneously shopping for and buying a new house. The market in Oak Harbor is hugely a seller's market currently, so we were a little nervous about finding a house that would fit our family that was within our budget. Annie reassured us that we could make this happen and helped us every step of the way. We ended up finding a great house within our budget and Annie was great at negotiating to get us the most for our dollar. We are so pleased with our new home, but whenever the day comes to sell it, we will definitely be calling Annie again! read more

Don't expect to get your deposit back. Charged tenant hundreds of $$ for normal things owners should cover: "carpet cleaning, mowing grass, trimming bushes, empty recycle bin." Housing is tight and they take advantage, especially if they know you will be deployed and can't do anything about it. read more

JULIE KINNAIRD! The best! I am located out of state and had lots to sell on Whidbey. I found Julie on the Windermere website. She has proven to be knowledgeable, responsive, thorough and worked diligently until the properties were sold, about 2 years. Even after the sale she has remained just as helpful as during the sale. Julie's phone number is 360-632-6619 read more

I saw a home at 1254 NE Quill Terrace managed by Windemere Real Estate. The home rental was 2500 per month. I was reluctant that this price was a little out of my budget. However the Home was Huge. I never really looked at what the difference between a 1200 or 1800 square foot home but 4800+ really makes a difference. The Agent was very knowledgeable and it showed in the homes he presented us. I was also surprised that the rent was not that much of a difference between a 1800 square foot home and the home I saw. Windemere seems to have the elite homes. Not the run of the mill cookie cutter track homes. The places he showed us were all beautiful. The kind of homes I would like to buy when I can afford to buy, and the rental prices were well within their value and well maintained. I would strongly recommend them to any potential renter. read more

Windermere is a lovely real estate and property management business. After difficulty finding a home to rent in Oak Harbor, a business associate recommended Jason McFayden at Windermere. Jason was more than amazing. He took customer service to a whole new level. He treated me and my family like we were his own family. I would highly recommend Windermere and Jason McFayden to any military personnel inbound or outbound. They are phenomenal! Thank you for all your help! read more

Navy family moving from OKINAWA. Well, we arrived in Oak Harbor on a Thursday, looked at a place right after we arrived and they of course wanted more than BAH. We only had 2 places that we could find that would accept pets and both were small and overpriced. Friday we started looking into buying so that we wouldn't have to pay someone else's mortgage and we could have all the pets we wanted. The wife found a place that she liked and contacted the sellers agent for a viewing. Saturday morning we walked through, wife liked it so we asked the realtor some details. She told us they were 2 serious offers and 2 maybes. We decided we wanted to put an offer down but didn't know where to start. She contacted a loan officer from Guild, and we got approved and put an offer in all that day. Sunday we got accepted. We were able to move in early and we closed way earlier than expected. Our process from moving to Oak Harbor to closing was 19 days I think. The agents here definitely helped to facilitate our speedy process and we really appreciate everything they did. Overall a really great experience and highly recommended. read more

We rented with Windermere Property Management for just over a year. When we needed to find a place to live, Jennifer and Sarah were extremely helpful and caring. They were great about communication when issues came up with the property (it was the owner who chose not to fix a few things). When it came time to move out, we received almost our entire deposit back. I felt that they were very reasonable and professional. I would recommend renting from Windermere. read more

New to the area and looking for something nice. It's hard to do on a island where most of the homes are at least 30 years old or more and you are used to new sub divisions with lots of space. Out of the 4 different property management groups here on the island that I went to, the people here are in the top two for niceness. Not that the other place is any more nice. They are pretty evenly yoked. They also both have the best listings as well. The man that we dealt with in actually finding a place was very nice and very patient with us, and helped us get a great price on a new listing since it was just out of our budget and the owner was willing to work with us. If we are in the market to switch up rental properties before we buy we will definitely be going back to them first. The lady who answer's the phones and you will probably be paying, is super nice and very well informed. I have yet to feel like there was anything she was telling us or talking to us about that she didn't know what she was talking about. read more

A good option if you're looking for rentals on Whidbey Island. They are MUCH better then some of the other competition. At least they don't hang up on you if you call them on a fact finding mission like some other people in the area do..... read more

Jacki Wyatt at Windermere is absolutely tops! She helped my parents buy a house with a tricky lease back from a developer and helped my family buy a home while we were mostly absentee on the East Coast. She went above and beyond in what became a challenging settlement, and post purchase has helped us line up contractors and services, and even helped us research and find a real estate agent to sell our home on the East Coast. I can't say enough good things about Jacki and highly recommend her and Windermere. They really looked out for our interests. read more

I rented a property through this company, it was the first time that the house had been listed with Windermere and was in horrible shape as far as the house interior, exterior and yard care. I took the house anyway due to the lack of decent looking affordable houses in the area during the time in which I was looking. During my stay I was forced to live with materials and possessions left behind from the previous tenants and told that if I wanted it taken care of I would have to remove the stuff myself. This wouldn't have been a huge issue accept for the fact that due to the fact that the previous tenants were friends of the owners some of the possessions could be moved or thrown out, and then some had to stay. This made it frustrating as I was not able to even have complete access to all of the resources on the property. The real issue I had with Windermere came at my move out cost when they chose to make outrageous charges against me with the move out inspection. The receipt that they showed me stated that they hired a cleaning service that documented that it took them 12 working man hours to clean this house. This house was only a 3 bedroom 1100 sq. ft. house with wooden floors. If this house would have had carpet and was possible and was possibly a newer house or that maybe I was a slob that decided to have a meth lab in the house next to where I slept I could understand this claim. But as I am not into narcotics and the house is old and has wooden floors I cannot understand where they can justify that they took 12 hours to clean a house that I had cleaned before moving out. Another charge that I found to be a little disturbing is the flea treatment for the house; I understand that due to the fact that I had a pet that it is courteous to treat the house for the next customer, that is not the issue for me . The issue I had with this is that the same was not done in return when I moved in due to the fact that on night 1 that I had just moved into the house and was unpacking things, I crawled into bed and started feeling things crawling on me. After searching the bed and house I had discovered that it was infested with fleas. This was at 9 pm which made it so that I had to go to Walmart and forfeit my own money and get local flea treatments. By the time this was all said and done I was not able to get into my own bed until after 12am due to the fumigation process. I do not understand how Windermere can win these awards of best property management office when actions like this and poor management like this is happening. I feel like due to the fact that they inherited a house that was in very poor shape that the first customer that they had reside in it was going to be the poor sap that had to pay to get it fixed up. I would not recommend this company to anyway as far as renting through them, I cannot attest to how their other side of the house conducts business so as far as I know the real estate side of the business is winning awards for customer satisfaction. read more

I'm not one to write reviews but I always love to read them through a neutral website. I like to review the good and bad of someplace I'm going to require services, especially when using a property manager. Let me tell you, I cannot say anything bad about Windermere Property Management, Jason McFadyen is in charge of the Property Management side of the house in Oak Harbor and he has always gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure my property was taken care of and that the tenants concerns were met simultaneously. Which is not an easy thing to do all the time. All the ladies in the office were kind and professional and also did the day-to-day inspections, updates, filing work orders and more with no mistakes. If I ever had a problem I would just call the office or text Jason with quick responses all the time. I would highly recommend using them to anyone who needs a property manager in this area. Property is something not to be trusted with just anyone, call Jason! read more