Sprague

Stay away from this company. Very unorganized and very unprofessional. I applied for an apartment which I thought was a year long lease, which I wouldn't have known until I tried scheduling a tour. On top of that, they don't have a professional running tours, it's the current tenants. They will take your money and just run with it. I would not even try to rent from them. I should've read more of these reviews before even thinking about applying.

I'd recommend anyone steer clear of Birwood. They handle tenants with the lowest possible concern and their communication is demeaning and insulting. They put off repairs which their family business declares unimportant indefinitely. They told us things were unfixable and we would just have to live with them, which we later had repaired on our own, such as a fridge door hung improperly that wouldn't seal or stay closed.

I ended up paying for many repairs out of pocket because Birwood would refuse them or overcharge us to do them at lesser standards. Birwood worked with me to reimburse one repair which they couldn't do for weeks and I completed in two days but they refused to reimburse any other reasonable requests and also charged us for repairs that weren't caused by us.

Upon move-in, the place was dirty with some garbage left behind (cheap shelves we had to dispose of and the weirdest stuff back in the bedroom closet including a greasy spoon). The closet was outfitted with hardware for a closet rod and shelves but I had to negotiate to even get the rod installed. Overall it seems they are excessively cheap, unwilling to divert any of the rent income to basic maintenance. Olivia, our assigned property manager, had some really awful one liners including, "you just have to remember this isn't your home." The house I rented went up for sale (right after lease renewal) and in preparing for the sale, my garden was chopped down with a weed whacker, even as they mentioned the garden in the listing as a selling point and told us how wonderful it was looking that year.

The house was listed at an unreasonable sale price so the showings went on for about 7 months while my roommate and I worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. (The house had been purchased 2 years prior for much less, with little to no needed updates completed, and ultimately sold for only 1,000 more than that price so yes, overpriced even for Madison's enthusiastic property values.) They had agreed to work around our work schedules and live, online evening classes but weren't nearly as flexible as they said they'd be and were then harassing, reminding us they were doing us a favor by trying to provide 24hrs notice instead of 12. True, that's the letter of the law but decency, diplomacy, and kindness is a whole different thing.

They then rushed a sublet, moving in an unknown male from out of state to a shared lease without giving the current female roommate an opportunity to meet them or ensure an acceptable fit. They were harassing and threatening in this case as well and legal advice and assistance from Tenant Resource Center were necessary. I don't know if flip properties are a specialty for Birwood but I get the impression that Birwood promises very low expense rates to hands-off property owners and then tries to ignore needs or backbill the tenants to keep unrealistic profit margins on the apartments they manage.

Really my worst rental experience ever in this state or others. Birwood, I recommend you send your property managers to communication workshops and stop treating good tenants terribly.

Edit: I did. I was denied due to having had a waiver in august because I had typed my new account number in wrong but it didn't bounce back and V make me known of it for a few days. Then Olivia stated that in 8 years I've been late 12 times, basically shaming me. 92% of my 8 years I have paid my rent on time and I don't cause problems. I work hard and deal with some of the problem causing tenants that do live/lived in this building.

I just think it's ridiculous that less than 12 hours late is a $42.50 charge. They are not relatable or compassionate to their tenets whatsoever. Less than 12 hours after the 1st and you have to pay a 5% (of your rent) late fee. And they will not waive it.

I am very pleased to be renting under Birwood management. Everyone I have dealt with has been overly helpful & accommodating; Olivia, AnnaMarie, & Thresa in particular have been wonderful to work with. Over the weekend, I submitted repair requests, & a maintenance man arrived Monday morning to address my concerns. I would recommend Birwood. Friendly & professional staff.

I have a pretty nice one bedroom apartment near the UW hospital that costs a lot less than the average rent for one bedroom apartments in Madison. I also get an off-street parking spot for pretty cheap. My apartment allows two cats for no extra charge which I really appreciate. They're usually pretty quick to respond to emails (1-2 business days).

I like the online resident portal that I pay rent through - it's very convenient. I asked my landlord if I could get my kitchen remodeled if I paid more on rent the next year and I wasn't sure what kind of answer I'd get. To my surprise, they said yes. I came back in January to a brand new, super awesome kitchen! Thank you Birwood! Giving 4 stars because when I moved in, the apartment had not been cleaned very well. Secondly, there have been times that they could be more professional in their email and text communications. Overall, it's a decent company to rent from.

I have been with Birwood for almost two years now. Their maintenance is FANTASTIC! They respond immediately to requests even during emergency after hours. They even replaced my fridge without me asking. I am seriously impressed and grateful for all of their help! Kim is very friendly and responsive to tenant needs. I can tell that Birwood has worked hard to improve their services - they listen and care about the well-being of their tenants.

The only reason I am giving four stars is because of the quality of the apartment. When I moved in there was mold in the tub, missing fixtures, and splintering wood. It didn't seem like it had been cleaned professionally. Thankfully maintenance was quick to take care of the issues, but I think it could have been in better condition before move-in. Overall, I think you are in good hands with Birwood!

Birwood was a nightmare to deal with. They act as though they are on top of it, responsive, and care about their tenants until you move in. There were multiple times service techs came to the house when we were not given any advance (working on things we had not called in). Their employees become extremely rude once the lease is signed and you are locked in.

Don't sign up for auto pay right away. I signed up and was charged an extra $300 the first month on "accident" until I noticed and had it fixed. Also charged an extra fee the first months rent after renewing the lease until it was noticed and brought up. I rented for three years because I loved the location, but would never recommend this renta company to anyone.

When moving out almost half of my security deposit was taken for "cleaning fees" the place was spotless and much cleaner than the dusty apartment that I had moved into. I bought a cleaner for the carpet and went over it before moving and was still charged for cleaning that. Also charged for normal kitchen wear and tear like replacing the burner catchers. Moved in to a new spot that is not with Birwood and everything is great.

I have been renting for 10 years and this is the worst rental company I have dealt with. Would not recommend unless you would like your rental property manager to speak down to you through texts or email every time you have an issue. To your response, there were two times we were not notified at all. One instance maintenance people were actually in the property and the other they used a ladder to get on the second story balcony.

This was review was not written to get a response or reach out to anyone with your company, rather warning future tenants about issues that were not resolved with your company.

I have lived in a Birwood managed apartment for over two years (working with Kim!) and they're great! The office is offsite but you can do everything online, pay the rent (no hassle with checks or money orders), submit maintenance request etc (maintenance requests were taken care of super quick like in a day or two). During my stay, I had to sublet my apartment twice due to temp work in another state, Kim has been a great help for both subleases, she even successfully rent out my parking place so I didn't end up loosing money at all. Give the office a call if you're new to town and looking for an apartment!

DO NOT RENT FROM BIRWOOD. While the office staff are kind and probably good people, they are I incompetent when it comes to being property managers. They have no floor plans for the units, and milk you for every penny. Maintenance is unreliable and dord not actually fix anything. It was overall a terrible experience.

Try to avoid Birwood if you can. When we first moved in, our dryer was not working and we told them right away. It was not fixed for six months. I understand that they were probably busy when everyone was moving in and out, since our property is near the University of Wisconsin, but it was not fixed until February when we had moved into our unit on August 14th.

When they finally replaced our dryer, the maintenance men broke one of the legs while installing it so the brand new washer and dryer did not work. We told them about it immediately, but they claimed that we just did not know how to work it. They sent some to "show us how to work the machine", and that's when they realized that it was broken.

All the while, they were still charging us $28 a month (August to February) for in-unit laundry, even though none of us were able to do our laundry and were taking it to the local laundromat. For about a week in October, the maintenance man was coming in and out painting every room. This was not a big deal in of itself, but he would leave the doors wide open, letting bugs in; one of my roommates is deathly allergic to bees so this caused major problems.

He also once left the door wide open while none of the tenants were home and tracked mud and dirt throughout the house. Lastly, he spilled paint on a lot of our furniture, including our dining room table and my roommate's bed. We made the mistake of renewing our lease for another year but sublet some of the rooms because some people in the house did not want to deal with Birwood for another year.

The subleasing process was extremely difficult and did not need to be. Once we found people to sublease, Birwood claimed that all people needed to come into the office to sign a new lease; however, two of the people didn't live in Wisconsin at the time so this was a problem for us. Also, when the new people were trying to move in, they asked for a floor plan so that they could plan out their room and such; Birwood does not have floor plans, which is surprising as they are the "Property Manager". Overall, this is a horrible Property Manager.

I didn't expect them to be amazing, because after all, this is a house that college students rent and a majority of landlords around the university are not the greatest, but Birwood is the worst landlords I have gone through by far.

I've had such a great experience renting from Birwood. I re-located to Madison from the Twin Cities very quickly because of a job offer. Everyone I worked with at Birwood were friendly and personable. I was given a skype tour before having to drive to Madison from the Cities to see the place, which was very convenient. They were understanding of my situation and worked with me in an efficient manner to ensure that I had a place to move into before I started my new job. Maintenance requests are easy to submit through their online portal and are taken care of promptly. Property is well maintained. I highly recommend renting from them!

Moved into my first apartment this last fall, and Birwood has been the most pleasant company to work with. Kim is awesome and very personable. Maintenance issues have been taken care of promptly. I did not hesitate to renew my lease; they really make you feel welcome and at home! Highly recommended.

AVOID BIRWOOD AT ALL LENGTHS. We first moved in to a unit coated with dirt, broken screens and doors and mold. After extensive hours of scrubbing and cleaning, I asked if they could repair our screens and door handle. They said maybe in 2 months because they're busy. 2 months. So, I repaired the door handle myself (though none of our bedrooms still lock) and just let the repairman come for the screens, which he measured incorrectly and basically found a way to hang them off of our windows.

Most of them fell off within a few days. Then, our washer machine quit on us and they told us that we must just not know how to use it. It has been 4 months and counting of having this broken washing machine on site. On top of all of this, no pets are allowed (they think a pet could do any more damage to this dump?)