Bristol Equities

Coming from renting from a homeowner for years I was really nervous about renting through a company. I was moving from out of state and they made the rental process very easy for my husband and I. We moved into our first Bristol Apartment, which was part of a complex that had recently been purchased that was going through some changes. The residents of this complex were a mix of brand new and very long term. The long term residents were awful– rude and even harassing. Our downstairs neighbor was so awful we asked to move out of our apartment at week three. Worried we would be stuck there for the full term of the lease, we were pleased to find out that Bristol would actually let us transfer to a new apartment. This process went smoothly and within a few weeks we were settled in a new home.
Overall I was very pleased with my experience, my only complaint being that the office staff can be very hard to track down at times and often do not respond to emails.

This review is based solely on the application process. It is the best process I have encountered. The application is all online, only costs $ 25 per applicant, and the approval comes without the typical request for pay stubs or any other type of documentation. The approval came back within 24 hours and I was called promptly with additional instructions. In the end I decided not to move so I don’t know how the management is, but the application process was definitely top notch!

An update on my earlier review: I’ve now moved in to one of Bristol Equities’ properties, and despite some disorganization on my part on moving day the apartment manager was flexible, accommodating and good-​natured throughout the process. Very impressed so far (had one maintenance request that was handled the same day) and love the new apartment. Great first impressions!

While the apartments at Sandycrest terrace are charming, the uphill battle to have any repairs or maintenance done makes living here less than charming.
My bike was stolen from basement storage months ago, and the storage unit has yet to be repaired. There is mold in my unit. There is dog poop everywhere on the grounds. Maintenance deemed my flooded bathroom a «non emergency» and made me wait a day to have it repaired and cleaned. Packages are routinely stolen from the mail room. Property manager is not very helpful and has a bad attitude. The list goes on…

I have lived in two different Bristol Equities apartments and have loved them both. The first was The Vintage in a small studio, and now in a wonderful one bedroom in San Da Roda. First let me say that the management is the best I’ve experienced. Contrary to other reviewers (who maybe don’t know how to fill out a maintenance request?), I have always received prompt and courteous maintenance services, even when it was the drain clogged which was completely my fault. The on site staff has always been there when I needed them, but have never pestered me unnecessarily.
Both buildings have been quiet and clean, and are in good neighborhoods. Most of Bristol’s properties were built in the 20’s, so you have to understand that there may be more maintenance overall, squeaky floors, easily clogged pipes, and maybe even the water having to be shut off (with notice). If you have always lived in new buildings, this might be a tough adjustment, but don’t blame Bristol, that’s part of living in vintage buildings and the charm makes up for it!
The initial screening was easy, I had a lot of credit card debt and my partner has no credit and old medical collections (they weren’t concerned about medical), but my steady income and current debt payments made up for it (no convincing needed). They are pet friendly in most (if not all) of their buildings and acceptance of our two cats was no problem.
Switching apartments was a breeze, I didn’t have to give 30 days notice and was able to move and bring my deposite with me. They gave me tips as to what I needed to make sure and clean to avoid any penalties, and even offered a quick walk through pre-​final exit to give me a chance to give some things an extra scrub.
Until I buy a house, I won’t be living in any apartment that’s not owned by Bristol. I’ve heard the rent is a little high, but I really think they make up for it with great management. Thanks Bristol!

My apartment was under construction for half the time I lived here then they raised my rent by 24% and raised the price of laundry. They never stop posting notices and sending documents. I can’t afford to stay here anymore. I thought I would at least be able to stay a few years but now I have to move again. I am so sick of moving! Real classy bristol equities.

Well, I guess haters gotta hate on their landlord. Quite frankly, I’ve found the management at my complex (Sandycrest in NE PDX) to be quite nice, responsive, and responsible. As good as any landlord I’ve had, and much better than the worst.

I’m now living in the Mt. Tabor building, in my 4^th apartment through Bristol Equities (what can I say, I like to move!), and I’m as happy as ever. I had to move out of the San Da Roda mid-​lease due to a breakup, and the process of starting a new lease at another Bristol building was simple. My deposit even transfered right over with me so I didn’t have to deal with coming up with that chunk of money. My apartment is awesome. I have no complaints.

I lived in a Bristol Equities apartment in Mt. Tabor when I first moved to Portland, and despite any negative aspects about the complex itself, I have never had an easier apartment renting experience.
(No. Seriously. My last landlord tried to evict me even though I was not even inhabiting his place anymore and had a previously approved subletter move in.)
My boyfriend and I were approved and set to move in the day we arrived in PDX, and the apartment manager even agreed to meet us late in the evening to sign the lease. (About 8pm.) Megan was awesome and always available and responsive by text if we needed to get ahold of her.
I think we had some weird issue with a late payment once and since we paid on time regularly every month prior, they waived the fee. (We also had some weird issues with a neighbor telling lies to Bristol saying we had brought a dog in the building and that we were drinking in the alleyway, but since neither were true Bristol dropped it.) Move out process was also a snap, and we got our full deposit back.
Mt. Tabor had its drawbacks — there was always a bit of a draft since the windows were so old, and the heating system was miserable (two space heaters for an entire 1 bedroom apartment, with no heating in the bathroom), so I found myself tripling my sweater collection. Also our location within the building itself sucked — we shared a wall with the main entrance and could always hear children screaming when they came in or lots of clicking noises when people checked their mail. But maintenance was lightning quick about any issues, and I realize the rest is just due to the vintage style of the building. (The location made up for everything.)
Also, Bristol offers 6 month leases, with month-​to-​month afterwards. It’s nice not to have to commit to a full year when you’ve just moved to a new city. I would consider renting from them again in a different location. They’re really nice, communicative, and efficient.

What more do you want people!!!
Super surprised at the low rating for Bristol. Although, ya know what they say… most people give reviews when they have had a negative experience, not a positive one.
Well, thats not my style. Entirely. I like to do both.
On with the review…
I have lived in many an apartments over my 35+ years alive, and Bristol is as good as it gets. I lived in the Metropolitan building off NW 21^st and you couldn’t ask for a sweeter neighborhood, apartment, neighbors or manager. All awesome!
The Metro is a mix of vintage with some «upgrades», such as the little dishwasher I had in my apartment. I also had a garbage disposal and newer windows. Apparently not all the apartments come with these amenities, but each one is unique and has its own flair, as I learned while becoming friends with several of my neighbors. Everyone who lived there was great and the Bristol office is directly across the street making it easy for rent drop off as well as maintenance issues/​conversations. Every time I went to the office to ask a question, someone answered it promptly, nicely and all my maintenance issues were handled within a day or two, no follow up needed. The manager of the building is the coolest landlord I have ever had/​met. She is personable and professional and always returns phone calls and overall gives a sh*t. Hard to find! The laundry room was big, bright and clean; the hallways and lobby were well kept; and there are several entrances/​exits to choose from.
Unfortunately, most people write bad reviews about businesses other than restaurants or «services» (such as a salon) because they either feel like they got ripped off or didn’t get their a** kissed enough. I can only imagine that goes the same for the not so stellar reviews for Bristol… seems as though someone felt they were paying more than they wanted to or someone didn’t baby them enough.

I lived in the Vintage, a Bristol Equities apartment in NE. I had no real complaints with the actual apartment. My problem started when the apartment manager threw out about 10 of our potted plants in the common area without warning. The cost of the pots alone was $ 100, not to mention that some of the plants were alive and had sentimental value (it was the winter and apparently she thought that if plants were not visibly green then they were dead).
When I brought it up to her, she said that she had posted a notice in the laundry room one day before she threw things away. She acknowledged that this was not enough time or sufficient notice and that she should have put something on our doors to let us know.
Okay, no big deal. I had a few other complaints about the apartment manager, too. But nothing big. The plant thing occurred right before we were moving out. The real problem was when I contacted the actual Bristol Equities management. I talked to Kristen, the residential manager, several times on email and phone, and she acknowledged that she would look into the problem and get back to me. I was only asking for the $ 100 that the pots cost. I didn’t think this would be a big deal. I mainly just wanted acknowledgement that there had been a mistake. I never got that, nor did I receive a call back from the manager about the situation.
It was very weird, and I was very surprised they would not acknowledge their mistake, especially considering the apartment manager had admitted her mistake. Very strange that a big company like Bristol would seem willing to ruin their public perception (at least the perception of two people) over only $ 100.

Looks like your experience with Bristol Equities really depends on which property you’re living in.
I had a great experience living at San daRoda off NE Flanders for about 9 months. Move in and move out were quick and painless. I work on a freelance basis, so appreciated that I didn’t have to submit a pay stub with my application, since those can vary from month to month. The building was quiet, clean, dog friendly (yay!), and the one time I had some problems with the shower, someone was in to fix it the next day. Would have loved an in-​unit washer/​dryer for the price, but what can you do?
Now, living in LA and paying much more for a place with fewer windows, cheaper locks and appliances, and noisy neighbors, I long for my adorable studio with a sun room that was walking distance from Heart Coffee.

Bristol Equities have some cheap apartments in great locations. That is where the good times end. The units are generally in various stages of disrepair, they rent to shady people, making my former apartment building — Metropolitan Apartments at 2801 NW Everett St (@ NW 21^st Ave.), surprisingly lound and unsafe.
But you get what you pay for, right? Wrong, because they will also gouge you on your deposit. I was even charged hundreds of dollars extra, for repainting, even (we only lived there 9 months and they want us to pay for a paint job). This is the kind of landlord you don’t want to have — one who forces you to sue them.

AWFUL.
BEWARE!
Completely unprofessional management company. Not to mention so many of their properties are so disgusting! If you enjoy taking baths, don’t waste your time with these people to live in one of their creepy apartments. BLEH!

NOT impressed. NOT recommended. The only thing they «manage» is to cash your rent check.

I’m not sure I can count the number of property management companies I’ve rented from … about 10 I think. None except Bristol Equities have stopped and made me think «Huh, these people do their job exceptionally well, with some grace and humanity wholly lacking in the apartment industry.»
I’ll second a former review of «affordable, forgiving, and accepting.» I hadn’t rented in awhile, and had some dents, dings, and cats that made other choices extremely difficult and expensive. And I needed to move fast. It wasn’t until after I got the keys that I realized, I’d be living in my favorite part of Portland in a beautifully restored historic building, in a place that made it damned easy to make a very quick move from 100 miles away. I admire the assortment of higher priced fancy-​trendy units, with some extremely pragmatic deeply discounted units.
What’s more: the rents are low without being anti-​student as the «low income» places are.
When Comcast’s vendor was a pain in the neck about installing cable in my building (claiming only the courtyard units could be retrofitted for cable), a property manager from the main office interrupted what she was doing to come over immediately; she showed them how they could, indeed, route another line to reach my unit without breaking any rules about appearance of the building’s façade.
When unable to reach the on-​site manager, people in the office again were happy to (late on a Friday afternoon) get a plumber right over to fix a toilet (and let me use theirs in the mean time).
The on-​site manager of one property has behaved in a way that seems unprofessional, snobby, overly controlling, and negligent of safety and sanitation issues — and I know a lot of people (myself included) who left this specific person voice mail messages for several days about wanting to rent, without a reply (then this person misrepresented services and amenities that came with the unit). But this is an extreme exception; all other staff I’ve encountered are fantastic. When wanting to view other Bristol properties, the response has been immediate.
The best part is how easily the company deals with changes in the lives of their residents, that require a move. Moving to another unit, even another building, is easy and free of extra costs — no additional deposits or fees (at least, when leaving a month-​to-​month situation; leaving a lease early might be different). Clearly focused on the long-​term, they take care of their residents and their properties beautifully (yes, the units are very charming). I don’t even like city living much but as long as I’m still renting in Portland, I think I’ll be staying with Bristol.

Dude. Fix my Fridge!!!
It sounds like a rogue pack of Volosoraptors are trying to escape.
AND… I’ve been asking you about it since October.
For the third time… please.
get. on. it.

Time to get my move on! «Movin on up! To the Eaaaast siiiide!»
Bristol equities is one of the only affordable, forgiving, and accepting property management corporations in Portland. See, my rental history is golden, but my credit report is somewhat. hrmm. bruised. Not even mother Teresa would’ve given me a Discover card. It will take me years of full time employment to bounce back into shape… thanks college! Boys, come and get me!
I feel like all my reviews are about my dog. Well shut it, pinches! I plan my daily activities around that mutt; he’s a bundle of love and terror. And B.E. allows an excess of 3 dogs I believe. No matter what size. Not all their properties mind you, which is why I gave them 4 stars and not 5.
But good olé’ Bristol Equities signed me up, and notified me within hours that my life was actually valuable and treated me like an actual person and not a slave. It was weird. And so me and the new roomie and Bode boy will hop into our cute little bungalow and live happily ever after.

All I’m saying is that I was (still am) positive I had real shitty credit, yet somehow Bristol Equities granted me the cutest, most fantastic, perfectly wonderful new studio that I’ve been waiting for.
So if you, too, have credit card debt from when you were in college, or owe Oregon a few dollars for one or two (ahem) parking tickets from when you worked in the Pearl and were too lazy to get up an hour earlier to take the bus, you still may be able to get the vintage-​ripe-​with-​character-​studio-​of-​your-​dreams.