Dwellings Seattle Real Estate and Property Management

EDIT (UPDATE): After living in a property managed by Dwellings for 3 years, I have decided to update this review. While Laura (who is efficient, helpful, and lovely to work with) was nothing but professional, we had tons of problems with Dwellings as a property management company. We were constantly switching agents that were managing the property, in 3 years we had 4 different managers. The property we rented had a host of problems, many of which were ignored or repairs were delayed for lengthy periods of time. The staff was generally unhelpful, lacked compassion for us and our belongings, and caused a lot of strife and frustration for me and my family. We witnessed unprofessional behavior from the Dwellings team and have resolved not to rent from their company again. I would caution anyone else to do the same.

I had Dwellings manage my property for about a year and after they stopped responding to my emails and started consistently paying me rents late I decided to let them go. When I finally got in contact with my tenants I had found out they were not responding to my tenants email either. So now I am out all the money I paid for dwellings management fees and a laundry list of management tasks that need to be attended to for my tenants. I feel betrayed and taken advantage of.

Meg and her team have been great! We moved from Seattle in 2011 and decided to go with Dwellings to rent and manage our townhome. Being it our first home we had ever bought we were nervous and did a ton of research. After 4 years we could not be happier. The Dwellings team has always been responsive and kept us informed on everything needed. My wife and I are extremely satisfied. We have and would gladly recommend the Dwellings team.

I’m not sure what it’s like to list with or rent from this property management service. I can write that they manage (d) a unit in my townhouse complex, and after the last tenants moved out (like 2mos ago) the Dwellings clean-​up guy left piles and cans of trash in our shared driveway – unbagged foodstuffs, wet cardboard etc. Thankfully good neighbors have worked to get the refuse reduced – multiple emails to the property manager to ask them to clean up the mess have led to a couple promises but no action. Boo! Enough of an annoyance for me to write this review!

We recently noticed that our credit ratings went down and the cause was because Dwellings Seattle did a hard credit check on us.
I wonder if they still do hard credit checks which end up affecting peoples’ ratings. Lame of them.

I’m in the beginning stages of my rental process, as a renter so will do a follow up as well. As of today, Annette has been awesome to work with. She truly cares about the landlord and renters best interest. She’s been extremely transparent and flexible. She’s done a great job of ensuring all parties are comfortable and on the same page. She’s been very responsive and took the time to talk through concerns until resolved.
I hope things continue on this way. Looking forward to a smooth/​supportive rental process.

Meg and Annette are the best. After I put my house on the market a few years ago and it didn’t rent, I interviewed 3 property rental companies and they, by far, were what I was looking for. They screened the applicants appropriately and had a renter within a few days. The renters were the best and they got their full deposit back for maintaining my property in the manner they found it.
I find it very hard to believe that Meg would keep someone’s deposit if it were not warranted. (I read some reviews below).
During the years, I has some normal maintenance that needed done and their handyman saved me a ton of money and repaired things in a very timely manner.
I would recommend Dwellings to anyone who either wants a property management company to look after their best interests or anyone who wants to rent from them.

Meg and her staff are a bunch of crooks! My wife and I stayed in her overpriced duplex for a year and paid $ 1250 deposit (250 of which was a pet deposit and non refundable). When we left it was in better shape then we found it, but they still kept $ 977. With email after email from them trying to say that we did this or that. Little did she know we kept the walk through sheet from moving in, and everything she mentioned was marked already at the time of move in. So with no way to justify keeping the deposit she is banking on the fact that I will just let that happen… Well Meg you are trying to screw over the wrong person. I will bury you in paperwork and complaints till the end of your business (which I hope is very soon)!!

A couple of years ago my wife and I were looking for a management company to help rent out a condo we own in West Seattle. We were appalled to see all the negative reviews for just about every property management company in Seattle. After some deliberation and debate we decided on Dwellings.
After about two years of excellent service I’m convinced we made the right decision.
They did all of the leg work of finding tenants and doing background checks. Once the tenants moved in they have been great about working with me and my tenant to make sure everyone is satisfied and happy.
They are great and very proactive when it comes to issues and even work with my HOA on my behalf, something I always dreaded myself. I receive my rent deposits on time each month with a detailed monthly statement.
No complaints from me. I’d recommend them to anyone.

I had been using Dwellings to manage renting out my house after I moved from Seattle. Everything for was great for almost 2 years, however starting about mid-​2013, communication became severely lacking with Dwellings taking days to response to issues/​questions and/​or not responding at all. I ended up finding another management company in January 2014 to take over managing my house. I would not recommend using Dwellings to manager you rental!

My wife and I moved to New York City for a year and needed a management company to find a tenant and manage the leasing of our home while we were gone. Laura Montoya did an excellent job. She told us what we needed to hear to get the home ready and helped find reasonable contractors to accomplish needed improvements. While we were away her communications were always prompt and respectful. Her professionalism, candor, and attention to detail have contributed to a very satisfying engagement. The tenants she found were great and left the place in as-​rented condition. Upon our return we checked with the tenants and learned they appreciated Laura’s work as their landlord. That’s a win/​win.

I received a quote from Dwellings last year for managing our condo buildling. Our HOA was considering finding a management group again this year and so I contacted Dwellings to re-​confirm their original quote.
I responded to the original email (the contact is still with their company), contacted them through their website form and also called and left a phone message. A month has passed and they have never bothered to contact me — even as a courtesy.
If this is their response to potential new business, I can’t imagine they would provide quality, timely service to their customers..

About 18 months ago I moved from Seattle to the east coast to follow a wonderful job, but that meant I needed to leave my West Seattle home to a property manager to find renters and handle all of the little ‘homeowner’ things that I would be doing if I were nearby. Fortunately, I found Dwellings and they have been a godsend. Very personalized service, responsive and effective in finding GREAT renters. I have such peace of mind knowing that they are working on my behalf. I highly recommend them!

I was getting ready to move to Seattle from San Francisco and was looking for a place to rent. I knew nothing about the Seattle area let alone where I should live. I scoured craigslist and found several places that seemed interesting, but felt the need for some local expertise. I sent emails to a few property management groups and Dwellings was the first to get back to me.
I was contacted by Annette (who was AWESOME) within a few days. I was offered a free MLS search, which I took just to see if she understood what I was looking for. The results included 6 properties, all of which were the type I was looking for so I decided to enlist their services.
I scheduled a 3 day trip to view properties and was trusting in Annette to be efficient with my short time available and to find properties suitable to me. Upon arrival, I found out that she had 20+ properties ready to be viewed. Her selection was great and gave me lots of options location wise, quality, and price. Complemented by Annette’s expertise of the West Seattle neighborhood, I eventually found the perfect place for me.
The property I settled into was not originally part of the list that we were going. The listing actually became available the night before my last day of tours. Even as we were touring, Annette was actively looking for more listing that might pop up. That was the difference for me.
After finding the listing, Annette helped me through the application process and did everything she could to make sure that I got the property I wanted. Again, she went the extra yard.
Overall, I love my new place and extremely happy with Annette/​Dwellings. She was truly professional and constantly went over and beyond her duties to make sure I found the best place for me. If you need help finding a rental, Dwelling is great choice.

My wife found an ad for Dwellings online and then on Facebook. We read about this company and I ended up giving Meg a call. I felt immediately at ease, and made an appointment for a few nights later. We are currently working with Meg to find a new place to lease, and she’s been working hard to try and find a place that fits our wants/​needs. It’s nice to have someone that is exceptionally nice, fun and helpful. We look forward to going to different places with her… and even our little puppy loves her Auntie Meg. If you’re looking to rent/​lease/​buy a place in Seattle and surrounding areas, give Dwellings a call. They work hard for their clients, and they are extremely friendly.