Fantastic management company. I'm a big fan of Brendan Smyth, my broker who helped me since the start of my home search in Durham, NC. He was always VERY responsive in terms of maintenance and anything else that needed to be done urgently, such as when hot water shut off in the wintertime - it was fixed within the day. I couldn't be happier with my experience - I would definitely recommend Acorn & Oak and Brendan to anyone looking for a home in the Raleigh Durham area. read more

We had a great experience with our property manager, Nayara Smyth during our year in a home we rented. She was friendly quick to respond to any needs/repairs in our rental. read more

We worked with Acorn + Oak for roughly 3 years managing our rental property, and unfortunately our experience steadily declined over time due to poor communication, constant turnover in points of contact, and lack of follow-through. The final issue that led us to terminate management involved landscaping/tree work that perfectly summarized the broader problems we experienced throughout the relationship. We requested quotes for landscaping work in mid-March and did not receive them until we followed up weeks later. When the quote finally arrived, the pricing didn't add up correctly and had to be clarified after additional follow-up. We approved what was described as trimming and cleanup work, but communication throughout the process remained inconsistent. Scheduled work dates were missed, partial work was completed without updates, equipment was left at the property, and both we and the tenant repeatedly had to ask for status updates. Most concerning, a large holly/privacy barrier on the property was cut back far beyond what was communicated in the approved scope of work. We were later told after the fact that the vendor believed mildew/mold treatment required such an aggressive cutback, but that was never explained to us before the work was performed. Had that been communicated upfront, we would have had the opportunity to discuss options and understand the actual scope of work being approved. The larger issue, though, was not just the landscaping situation itself -- it was the ongoing lack of proactive communication and oversight. Over the course of our time with Acorn + Oak, we went through multiple points of contact and consistently found ourselves needing to follow up for updates, quotes, scheduling information, and basic responses. Even our tenant expressed frustration with delays and communication issues. For a company charging a 10% management fee, we expected significantly better service, coordination, and accountability. Instead, the experience often created more stress and work for us rather than less. The Broker in Charge ultimately allowed us to terminate our agreement early, and we are now self-managing the property while evaluating better long-term options. I rarely leave negative reviews, but I think it's important for prospective owners to understand that communication and consistency were major issues in our experience. read more

Really poor communication, misrepresentation of properties for rent, and unprofessional, emotionally fragile agents. I think this company profits mostly from the revenue of application fees. read more

My experience with Acorn + Oak was fine until move-out, which is when everything went downhill. I have rented several homes in Durham, and this is the only time I have had issues. The property manager, Erin Darnell, made the process unnecessarily difficult and ended up withholding a large portion of my security deposit under questionable claims. I was charged for carpet issues and odor, despite using the cleaning company required by Acorn + Oak, and the cleaning company confirmed there were no stains or pet-related problems at the time of service. I was never informed that the cleaning was considered "unsatisfactory" until after money was taken from my deposit. Erin later claimed a second cleaning was needed, but neither I nor the original vendor were given the opportunity to address this beforehand. Communication was inconsistent, and explanations only came after I repeatedly followed up. I was also charged for mold remediation, even though I reported the issue in compliance with the lease. Despite this, they still held me financially responsible for part of the cost. Although I eventually received a partial refund, it was not clearly explained initially and felt more like damage control than a fair resolution. I have documentation showing the home was left clean and in compliance with the lease. Only one inspection occurred during the three years I lived there, and I was never notified of any maintenance or cleanliness issues at that time. Overall, this felt like an attempt to keep as much of the security deposit as possible. I would strongly caution anyone renting through Acorn + Oak with Erin Darnell as the property manager to document everything and be prepared to push back at move-out. My original property manager was Celeste Sivori, and she was wonderful to work with. She communicated well and was compassionate. She is the reason this review is 2 stars and not 1. I'm truly sad I was not able to work with her for the time I was with Acorn + Oak. From what I can tell, your experience with Acorn + Oak depends heavily on your property manager, so read the reviews about how the property manager you might be working with treats the tenants. Based on my experiences, I would not recommend working with Erin Darnell. read more

I have had an excellent experience with Acorn and Oak property Management. The agent I worked with, Lisa Rietzes, was pleasant, easy to work with, and clear about the steps I needed to take to rent. When I walked into my new kitchen, there was a gift box there. It contained a roll of toilet paper, a small Hammer, a bottle of water, and several other necessities. It was so thoughtful because those are the kind of things you never can get access to when you move in. At first. Kudos to Lisa and the company! read more

Unethical and Unprofessional Property Management. Withholding My Security Deposit Without Cause Throughout my tenancy, I paid rent on time, maintained the unit, and left it cleaner than when I moved in. I provided detailed move-out photos and documentation, yet the company refused to provide legitimate itemized proof for the charges. This behavior feels deceptive and unethical, and I would strongly caution future tenants to document everything thoroughly and read the lease very carefully before signing. A property management company should not attempt to profit from tenants' security deposits. My experience has been frustrating and unprofessional, and I would never rent from or recommend this company to anyone. My experience with Ariel Kanaby, the property manager, was unprofessional and not helpful. I caution any future tenants from considering a property run by this company. read more

I've worked with Adam Hedrick for many years managing all 3 homes that I have in North Carolina. I went through 2 or 3 other property managers before finding Adam at Acorn + Oak. He has been kind, professional and always available to talk/text regarding my property. I would be happy to highly recommend him, Kim S. (a California property owner) read more

I have called twice over a 2 month period seeking a rental agency to manage my property as I am out of state. The first time I called I explained what I was looking for and gave the girl my name. (Young white girl). She asked for my address and I stated that I did not want to share that until I talked with someone to see if we were a good fit. She said "yeah, I doubt anyone will call you back." And they didn't. I tried again 3 weeks ago and I spoke with a diffrent lady (Asian, middle aged). Here's where it gets Wierd. I explained that I had called before and explained the situation, her tone changed (apparently she was reading notes). She GAVE ME MY ADDRESS. What..... how did they get my address. Talk about stalker! Who in their right mind would trace a phone number and see its attachment to a property! I asked how they got my address she said " I don't know it's in our system, did you give it to them the first time you called? No call back. AGAIN. I could tell the last lady was working from home, dog barking/people talking ect. But the fact that they could not care less about you is exactly what I am trying to get away from with Block and Associates. There are SO many crappy management companies in NC. It is hard to find a good one. But this is exactly what I am glad happened to spare me the headache of dealing with people like this. The fact that they trolled me to get my address REALLY creeps me out. What else do they do to violate your privacy? And why??? If I don't want to do business with them I do not want them having my address and that is my right! read more

Moved in on the first day and the fridge did not work. Took four days to resolve the matter despite it being an urgent matter per their guidelines. Lost all 200 dollars worth of my move in groceries and was only offered ice for a compensation. One week later kitchen sink leak has dirtied and damaged all of my kitchen appliances. On both urgent matters received an automatic email stating that the property manager was away from their desk despite this being during office hours. Sad to say I'm very disappointed in the service and quality of living. read more

From move-in to move-out, my experience with Acorn + Oak (specifically Anna Bloodworth) was horrible. Anna is incredibly rude and unprofessional and seems to take pride in disrespecting tenants and their belongings. The house was not move-in ready when I arrived - the grass was knee height, one of the toilets was running constantly which inflated my water bill so I had to contact the city to be reimbursed for a problem Acorn + Oak should've solved before my lease started, water was leaking out of the shower door creating puddles, the dishwasher was leaking, the kitchen tile was stained with previous tenants' dog urine, and there were spiders and roaches everywhere. Within my first couple weeks as a tenant, a vendor who came to fix the shower leak (unsuccessfully - this issue ultimately remained throughout my entire tenancy) sent Anna pictures of caulking that had been applied along the entire perimeter of the primary bathroom. This caulking was there before I moved in, as documented by videos I took during my move-in inspection and pointed out by Anna herself when she initially came to check out the water leaking from the shower (which occurred within the 10-day window I had to point out problems that existed prior to my move-in anyway). Despite this, Anna sent me a very rude text accusing me of applying the caulking and threatening me with charges for removing it. When I presented her with the evidence above, she claimed that the caulking wasn't present in pictures she took DURING my move-in (which she interrupted my movers to take because she failed to take them beforehand) and therefore I must be lying. I went to the other bathrooms to see if caulking had been applied there and noticed it had, so I took pictures to let her know it was in the other bathroom as well, and since the caulking is clear, it took me multiple attempts to get it to show up in pictures, so its absence in the photos she took in a rush as I was moving into the house do not prove I applied it. I had to make multiple calls to the Acorn + Oak office and spend hours on the phone explaining the situation to get her boss to agree that I didn't apply the caulking and would not be charged for its removal. I couldn't resolve the situation with Anna because after accusing me of applying it despite my evidence to the contrary, she stated she "would no longer be responding about this issue." Imagine renting from a company that threatens you with charges for things you didn't do and refuses to respond to your attempts to prove your innocence. You do not treat people like this, especially people who are paying thousands of dollars to live somewhere they're supposed to be able to call home. Anna also SAT ON MY BED when she was at the house to check out a maintenance request. In addition, every time I asked a simple question to make sure I understood their policies, she either acted like it was a huge inconvenience or refused to answer altogether, including walking away when I was in the middle of asking. During the last two months of my tenancy when the house was listed for rent, MULTIPLE people came to my house outside of scheduled showings, walked around my yard, and peered in my windows. This is incredibly unsettling and a huge invasion of privacy. While I realize they cannot completely prevent this from occurring, when I brought it to Anna's attention, I at least expected her to express that this was not something Acorn + Oak encouraged and to instruct prospective tenants they could only come to my house during scheduled showings. She refused to do this and blamed me for being bothered by strangers randomly showing up to my house. There are multiple posts on r/bullcity detailing similar experiences with this company, and I wish I had seen those before I made the decision to rent with them. Stay far away from Acorn + Oak, especially properties managed by Anna Bloodworth, unless you enjoy being threatened with charges for things you didn't do, property managers sitting on your bed, and strangers showing up to your house at all hours of the day. read more

I worked with Acorn + Oak Property Management for about three years as a landlord, and unfortunately, I cannot recommend their services based on my experience. My first assigned agent, Stuart Edwards, signed a three-year lease with a tenant despite my clear instructions to reduce the term duration. I had clearly stated that I did not agree to the lease term and did not authorize the agreement. Nevertheless, he proceeded to sign it on my behalf without my consent. I had to escalate the issue to upper management and seriously consider legal options before the matter was finally addressed. This was a significant breach of trust and professional responsibility. I had hoped things would improve with the second agent, Gina, who was at least more polite than the first one. However, she also failed to properly manage my property. Over the course of nearly two years, a water leak went uninvestigated and unrepaired--despite extensive water stains on the ceiling and reports of active leaking from the tenants. I was never informed of the issue. I only discovered it by reviewing photos from a random inspection report sent by Gina, 18 months after the water leak was first reported by the tenants. The inspection report was incomplete and did not even callout the water damage issue. Acorn + Oak ignored the tenants' requests for repairs and let them live in a home with extensive visible water damage for the entire time they lived in the property. In my view, this level of neglect was unacceptable and demonstrated a serious lack of professionalism. Acorn + Oak failed in their responsibility to both me and my tenants. As a result, I chose to terminate my agreement with Acorn + Oak and offered my tenants the option to end their lease early--which they gladly accepted--so I could properly address and repair the damage to the property. Last but not least, there were also recurring billing issues. At one point, I was being charged for lawn service every three days, and no one at Acorn + Oak flagged this as unusual. After looking into it myself, I discovered I was being charged for services that were not even performed. On top of that, I found duplicate charges for the same expenses--only caught because I reviewed the statements in detail each month. Having to constantly monitor and correct their work defeats the purpose of hiring a property management company in the first place. In summary, my experience with Acorn + Oak involved serious communication failures, billing errors, and poor oversight. If you're a tenant or a landlord looking for a reliable, professional, and detail-oriented property management team, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. read more

Being a tenant of Acorn & Oak was a pleasure. On the rare occasions we needed maintenance, Daniel - always super friendly - responded quickly & got it done. read more

For homeowners considering using Acorn + Oak to manage their property, please don't. We did business with Acorn + Oak from 2014-2020. Initially every was great when they were a smaller company. The owner, Michelle, was very involved and ensured a high bar for customer service. As the company started to grow it was logical to bring on more staff and we were transferred to a new property manager, Laura, who was also great. She was proactive in taking care of the property and suggested preventative maintenance (trimming trees, cleaning gutters etc.) to ensure our property was well maintained for our tenants. Things started to take a turn when we were transferred to another property manager, Daniel. Initially things were fine as there wasn't much needed with our house and we had a longstanding tenant. However when we needed to turnover tenants in 2020 things really went downhill. As part of our lease Acorn + Oak was required to complete routine inspections of our property, specifically when turning over tenants. When we had our tenants move out and the new tenant move in, the new tenant reported a significant mold issue in the bathroom. This was a surprise to me as the old tenant did not report this nor did Acorn + Oak catch this on any of their alleged inspections including the final move out inspection. Furthermore, we had been doing regular repairs to our aging bathroom and no one ever reported any mold issues. While initially being described as "not significant" it turned out to be a "significant rot issue" which we were quoted at $10k to fix from their contractors. To be clear, this is almost an entire year's worth of rental income for our property. After a bunch of useless back and forth emails with Daniel trying to understand the issue, how this could have happened and why no one caught this, we attempted to contact Michelle who would not answer or return any of our phone calls. She finally replied to an email and added in a customer service manager who we've never corresponded with and never chimed in again. Things continued to get more contentious with our interactions with Acorn + Oak as they were unwilling to take any responsibility in the negligence on their part. It became very evidence that they were not doing routine inspections and were no longer being proactive in managing our property and frankly could care less about our concerns. All of this resulted in an unexpected bathroom remodel and us having to refund our new tenant first month's rent due to the inconvenience. I ended up having to get in touch directly with the tenant to understand what was actually happening and apologize on behalf of Acorn + Oak for all the mismanagement of the issue. This damage was preventable and could have been caught earlier had Acorn + Oak actually being managing our property. Furthermore, had this issue been caught during the move out inspection we could have taken advantage of the time in between tenants to complete the repair -- not inconvenience someone who was just trying to get settled in and cost us even more money. Due to all of this, and the general lack of empathy or accountability on their part, we terminated our business with Acorn + Oak as it became very evident that as their company grew, the quality of customer service diminished. Ultimately, it was a sad end to a relationship that last many years that had been positive. For any homeowners considering Acorn + Oak, I'd suggest considering alternatives. Michelle no longer is hands on with her company and if you get set up with Daniel as your property manager, good luck to you. So why am I writing this review years later? While I thought this bad chapter was over I got a random email today from Daniel. He claimed there was an unpaid invoice for a repair from July 2020. After a few minutes of digging through our old invoices, I was able to confirm that this repair was paid out of account reserves which are held for misc repairs under $300 -- something easily verifiable on their end had they cross-checked their own paperwork. This was certainly not a welcomed email on my part and furthermore just proves yet another point about how the company continues to be mismanaged. Sadly, Acorn + Oak is no longer the same company that we did business with years ago and Michelle is no longer the same owner who cares about who she does business with. Work with Acorn + Oak at your own risk, specifically to your property and wallet. read more

I recently inquired about renting my home with Acorn Oka. As a first time landlord I had a lot of concerns and didn't really know where to begin. I was connected with Arial who was well versed and helped educate me. The call rang long because of all my questions and she never rushed me. I really wanted to work with her but ultimately renting wasn't in the cards for me but she helped connect me with a realtor who sold my home quickly. Tho brief, I had a nice experience with Acorn and would recommend! read more

I had to sue them and I won. They break North Carolina renter laws and don't take the proper due diligence to inspect properties. Any updates to the property after you move out, they will try to say you damaged or broke items in the property and charge them to you. In my case, that is in fact what they did and also attempted to charge me for wear and tear items that legally you cannot charge renters for in NC. They expect you will be afraid and unprepared to go to court. My family abruptly lost housing stability after moving into an Acorn & Oak property from out of state. Advice to others: 1) Stay in the property and do not move out until consulting and filing an application with Legal Aid - https://legalaidnc.org/topic/housing/ . 2) Ensure all communication with this company and the landlord is done in writing, such as email. You will want to have this documentation. 3) Email your property manager about all maintenance requests, especially the ones that may affect your health and safety while living in the property. 4) Print all AppFolio maintenance requests should you need them later. In my case in court, one of the brokers said under her breath..loudly that "we don't even use that". They will use threats to intimidate you, don't let them. There are now several tenants that won against their wrongful treatment from this company. Also note: Acorn & Oak pads their reviews with fake reviews....you will notice them on different review sites. read more

Steer clear! We were left no option but to move in the middle of the holidays after being in rental the home 4 terrible months. There was work needing to be done in our "fully renovated" rental that would have caused us to be removed from the home as the foundation was popping through the floor causing uneven ground allover. We were told it would take up to 5 days possibly more and they were not willing to relocate or accommodate in any way and that if we didn't do it soon it wouldn't be fixed until after the lease ended. It does not help that I work from home and could not work in a construction zone. This would have also created a hazardous unlivable habitat for our new puppy. Not to mention we were expected to move our whole bottom level of our home upstairs leaving no space to live. We were not being assisted or accommodated fairly so we took the offer to end the lease being that we had already gotten sick from constant mold issues within the air ducts, ventilation and even on the support beams and insulation underneath the home which we found out after not notified that there would be workers under the home working ripping out the insulation from underneath us because it was molded so badly. This even caused my bed frame to mold! The way this was done was sneakily and disturbing being that this was done after 6PM and we could hear their entire conversations underneath us in the living room. We could even tell they were upset with their contracted workers for informing us of the severity of the conditions that the entire neighborhood was paying to live in as they were the only reason we found out. I would like to say this company is very greedy and undermining to young renters as we were offered nothing and they even had the audacity to charge us for damages that were NOTED on the move in check list that was never reviewed by our property manager which goes to show how well they inspect the properties listed. Please be smart and aware when dealing with them as they mistake the young for gullible. We will be disputing and taking this further if this issue is not resolved. It's sad to note that we were told all the Hayti townhomes in the cul-de-sac are facing this issue and some people may not even know. read more

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I ECHO: For homeowners considering using Acorn + Oak to manage their property, please don't. Apologies for the long review, please take the time to read it!! I recently had an experience with ACORN and OAK that left me deeply disappointed and questioning their integrity. We chose Acorn and Oak to manage our property. Unfortunately, our agreement was terminated abruptly, only one day before we were due to move out of the house, which took me completely by surprise. The reasons given for the termination were misleading and contradictory to the actual situation. I received an email from the broker Yanisa with the termination after I sent out the email asking about our option to sell in case, we are unlucky to be able to find a tenant, considering a wait time of a minimum of 2 months. To worsen matters, they attempted to charge me arbitrary fees for gas and time, which seemed unreasonable given the short duration of our engagement. Questions that can come to mind: What would be the next steps if finding a tenant proves challenging? This is a valid concern and a source of security for homeowners. Transparency in these matters is crucial, something both the broker and upper management (Sean) failed to provide. Notably things about the broker Yanisa, when the first scheduled appointment arrived, she failed to show up and during the initial home visit, the broker expressed interest in purchasing our property. Furthermore, attempting to contact her by phone proves to be impossible. My attempts to address the situation with upper management (Sean) were met with passive aggressiveness and a lack of support. They were quick to dismiss my concerns without consideration. Furthermore, when questioning the logic behind these fees, I was told that the broker Yanisa possesses the authority to charge fees as they see fit, leaving me feeling taken advantage of and unsupported. shouldn't be responsible for her time and gas fees, particularly when she chooses to terminate the contract just a few days after its signing! Ironically, I find myself relieved that the agreement was terminated early. There appears to be a lack of security in their practices. The broker's (Yanisa) accessibility is questionable, they disregard your expectations, and contracts may be terminated with no warning. I hope this review can encourage the property management firm to reflect upon their practices, fostering better communication and accountability in similar circumstances. read more

I was very disappointed and had to switch property management companies this year. I was initially pretty positive about the company because of the ease of their platform, and seemingly very easy going and good natured employees. As we got farther into the year, it became impossible for me to contact them, and I would have to send numerous emails, and also call the office to get a response. I visited the property later in the year, and was told by the tenants they had submitted work requests that were not followed up on. Midway through the year, they also notified me randomly that the tenants were moving out and they had found new ones, who had already signed a lease - all without me knowing. This all seems somewhat illegal as well as very much unethical and I would advise to stay away at all costs. I have no idea what's going on with the company but I've had a very concerning experience with them and am considering bringing my documentation to the better business bureau. read more

Rentals for rich people with no pets. You won't be able to find a rental with them unless you have perfect credit and make 6 figures a year. read more

Sorry.took forever for my security deposit. The bookkeeping is full of shit.acorn took over a month for deposit but expect rent to be paid on time.rent somewhere else!!!! Warning!! read more

So. We've rented a unit at a large apartment complex through acorn and oak for two years before moving out. My experience with them was such a roller coaster and by the end I just wanted my security deposit and leave. Initially I asked them if they had other properties to move into, scheduled a showing and no one showed up or followed up by email with any form of apology. Our first year there, we had a good experience, the property managers were prompt and did everything they can to fix things. They were aiming for a lease renewal which we did (6months before the end of our first lease) and then all the troubles started 1. They wanted to increase the rent but it was against the lease clauses we had signed for renewal. They kept pushing for it while we pointed out the legality of it. 2. They started charging us absurd amounts for water usage - and never showed us the readings when asked 3. They were very erratic with adding in the bills and then sent us late fees when we never received a notice of a new bill being added 4. When we were moving out, they never told us how they were using the SD but used close to 800$ in "repairs". Mind you our flat has always been clean and exceptionally maintained minus some stains. 5. Property managers wouldn't reply and were rude about our move out process 6. They "lost" our security deposits the first time round and after multiple emails and phone calls, we got it over in October months after moving out in July. Anyway. Never leasing from them again read more

Do not use this company! What used to be the best of Durham businesses is now the worst of what our city is becoming. I don't write reviews but given my experience, I felt inclined to share so other homeowners looking to maintain affordable, quality housing in Durham are aware. Feel free to reach out. I'm happy to share more. read more

This company is a joke and they only care about profits over people! Every fee they have is increasing and from what I hear, they aren't even passing it on to the property managers who actually do the work. Just another greedy company. read more

I've been renting a townhouse in Morrisville since last fall that's managed by A&O and have had nothing but a positive experience. Their web site is super-easy to navigate - e.g., to pay the rent and request repairs. They send you automated emails reminding you when your rent is due tna confirmation emails once it's been paid. Whenever I've needed to request a repair of any type, I get an almost instantaneous response from the third party with whom A&O contracts. Further, with only a single exception, my experience with the guys that they send to do the work has been fantastic. Shouts out to Ariel K., my primary point of contact at A&O, and Jaime, who recently came out to take care of some repairs. I was planning to move after my lease here expires at the end of April and move to a super-fancy, brand new apartment complex up the road. Despite being brand new, they just changed management companies (not a good sign) - which I knew because one negative experience followed another. "You'll get your lease by email shortly." Nope. "Yes, we'd be happy to take your out-of-town guests on a tour of the property." Um....except that *no one* showed up to work in the leasing office that day. Some poor maintenance guy had to tell us. As I told them, "For the amount of rent you're looking for me me to pay, I was expecting concierge service - which this is not." So I pulled the plug on that plan and just decided to stay put in my townhouse. (The apartment people - after apologizing abjectly - subsequently offered me six months' free rent. Sorry, no - already re-upped my lease.) read more

Rachel K. was so amazing to work with! She is extremely organized and handled everything thoughtfully, with a personalized touch. She located great tenants...who were from out of state and did so during a tough off-peak month. She went above and beyond to coordinate the logistics. She was very thorough in addressing my questions and communicated with me through every stage of the process. A good and trustworthy property management company can be really hard to come by these days. I am very glad I went with Acorn + Oak and highly recommend. read more

We rented with Acorn + Oak from 2017-2023, and in the past two years, service has really declined to the point of negligence. At the last property we rented, we were transferred between three property managers, and that was only in a 2-year period. Now, as we're in the process of moving out, it seems that the communication between all the managers was practically nonexistent, and the new property manager is trying to charge us for damages that were actually created by maintenance workers that Acorn + Oak hired. One example: a repairman tore a massive hole in our wall in an effort to expand our electrical box, which he then refilled with plaster but never painted over. They attempted to charge us for this hole, as well as for a tiny pin-hole we created with a very tiny painting hanger, so that we could cover up the ugly, unpainted plaster. That was just one of several maintenance requests that their repairmen left half complete. When I called them out for this and for other, similar issues, I always receive an email 4-5 days later, ignoring most of the points I am trying to make but saying "thanks!" That's not really an answer, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. All in all, it's just really disappointing. It's kind of crazy that to them, it was totally acceptable that we lived in an apartment where one of the heaters didn't work (even though we reported it), two out of the three outlets in the living room didn't work, the sink was constantly flooding, and repairs were only seen through halfway. We tried to be chill and complained minimally, but it's pretty crazy to go through all of that, and then get charged for blinds that were broken before you even moved in... read more

It seems most of the positive reviews here are posted by existing tenants or homeowners, so I thought I should provide my experience as a prospective applicant. While searching for homes in Durham, I found numerous brokers with Acorn and Oak were unresponsive, unprofessional, or both. It should be noted that Acorn and Oak brokers "work remotely", so the office cannot help you get in touch with them, nor did any of their brokers ever answer their phone or respond to voicemails in weeks of trying to reach them. The first property I looked at was brokered by Ashley Morgan. Ashley proposed a time, I agreed to it within 3 business hours, and she responded at the end of the work day saying the time she proposed wouldn't work. When we were able to finally agree on a time, I left work early to drive to the property, and when I was 5 minutes away, Ashley called to let me know she had forgotten the keys, and we would have to reschedule. 0/5 stars. The second property we were interested in was brokered by Derek Schoenrock. Derek was unresponsive to my girlfriend's emails, often going numerous days without a response, and could not be reached by phone. In the end, he said he did not respond because he was waiting for prospective applicants to pile up so he could do all the showings on one day. No apology or explanation was given as to why he failed to communicate this earlier. 1/5 stars. Finally, we were interested in a property brokered by Lynlee Maddren. As "broker-in-charge", I was optimistic about a slightly higher bar of professionalism, but was again disappointed. After emailing Lynlee, and leaving a voicemail, her assistant ultimately called me to say Lynlee was too busy to send a 1 minute email, but that I should hear back soon. Two days later, I was finally given one proposed time of only 15 minutes to see the property. 2/5 Stars. I ultimately chose not to consider renting from Acorn and Oak given the incredibly poor communication by their team. Frankly, if they cannot be reached by phone or email, I can't even imagine the difficulty of working with them if anything went wrong as a tenant. In most jobs I'm aware of, ignoring calls and emails from customers is a sure way to get fired - though Acorn and Oak clearly does not hold their employees to that most basic standard of professionalism. read more

We've rented from this company for two years under property manager Stephen Vick and here's what we've enjoyed. Men showing up unannounced at 8am with jackhammers to rip up our driveway. Mold seeping in through the walls after Stephen didn't finish repairs on a leaking gutter. My wife reached out to him repeatedly to fix the issue and even offered to paint over it herself if he dropped off a can of Killz. No response. A bathroom that smells like feces because of sewer gas coming up through the bathtub drain. After two repair requests that resulted in only the toilet being recaulked, we gave up, and stopped using that bathroom altogether. Water pouring in through the screened porch skylights every time it rains. Upstairs AC stopped working three summers in a row. Every serviceperson told us that it was a new system, still under warranty, and just needed to be replaced. It wasn't replaced until it died completely this summer. We went three weeks without AC because the homeowners wanted the manufacturer to honor the warranty but have a new company do the work. The Stephen thought that this was a reasonable reason to make a family go without AC for three weeks. He dropped off one window unit and ignored the request for another. We can't walk along one side of the kitchen because the hardwood floor sinks 4 inches down when you step on it. Stephen has seen this marvel in person, but didn't think it warranted a repair. Then the market exploded in our neighborhood and the homeowner decided we needed to move out so that they could sell, after only a year and a half living in the home. The property manager was always friendly and that goes a long way. But eventually people are going to notice that the bare minimum is being done and that it's weird to have to tell guests not to use the hallway bathroom. We've been paying $2800/month for all this, in a nice Chapel Hill neighborhood. In the meantime, we've been responsible tenants. Replaced the broken child-choking blinds with new cordless ones. Had the house pressure washed and yard mulched seasonally (much more expensive in Chapel Hill than in Durham, btw). Handled small repairs ourselves. Made close friends with the neighbors, all original with the 30 year old neighborhood. We paid full rent during the weeks without AC. I say we, but it's been my wife dealing with them. I doubt they would be as dismissive and gaslighting towards me, a combat disabled retired Army Sergeant. I've been dealing for the last three years with severe issues related to my disabilities, which has put the weight of work, family, and home on my wife's shoulders. I was in and out of the hospital while she was asking for working AC, leaks to be fixed, mold to be addressed. Emails pointing out all of the above have been ignored. Emails pointing out what a dirtbag the property manager is have also been ignored. Then we had a backhoe and full construction crew show up unannounced at this week 8am. Stephen didn't answer his phone. The maintenance coordinator didn't offer apologies. The owner of Acorn + Oak brushed it all off with "I don't oversee the Property Managers", and the Broker in Charge never returned my wife's phone call asking for assistance with the situation. Up until the backhoe, I thought we were just dealing with a crappy property manager but he's clearly just following the company's lead. As a business owner myself, negative Google reviews are not my first resort. But Acorn + Oak doesn't deserve any more of my patience. read more

We worked with Acorn + Oak for over a year and man are they a breath of fresh air when it comes to property management companies. The last company we worked with treated us like a number and had zero emotion/empathy/etc... Acorn + Oak (specifically Lynlee Maddren) has been the complete opposite. Lynlee always responds quickly, the speed to provide in home service has been outstanding, and we feel as though all parties are being treated fairly/respectfully. If you're considering a company to represent you and your home I would highly recommend Acorn + Oak. read more

Literally made renting a pleasure. First time I've ever had that experience. Johnny Farfan was responsive, respectful, helpful, and professional. Would recommend without hesitation. read more

We had an exceptionally positive experience working with Acorn + Oak, and especially with Brendan Smyth, who was super helpful and responsive, answering all our (many!) questions and helping us navigate a sublease. It was by far and away the best experience we've ever had with a rental/property management company. Acorn + Oak is professional, customer-focused, and easy to work with. Thank you, Brendan, and A+O! read more

Daniel Woodward has been our property manager from Acorn and Oak for several years and has been outstanding the whole time. We cycled through several property managers before Daniel took over, as our property is several low-income duplexes that are hard to manage. Daniel's communication is always thorough but concise and keeps us updated on everything that we need to know. He has worked tirelessly to try to find assistance for our tenants and keep them in their homes during Covid. Daniel is trustworthy, reliable, proactive, and a great communicator--for those reasons, we are still very happy keeping our property managed by Acorn and Oak. read more

Poor representation of fair housing practices. They discriminate against individuals source of income, no matter that you qualify, you're just not wanted!!! And NC government is definitely behind these segregated factors, I have been researching the living options in nc for lite income and it's sad. read more

The agent that showed me the house, Ashley Morgan, has been my property manager for the duration of the tenancy. She is awesome and responsive and checks in to make sure I have what I need. Another agent I viewed with I found to be overbearing and probably would not be as fond of Acorn and Oak had I rented with that agent. Acorn and Oak have serviced all of my maintenance requests in a timely manner. They have followed up on issues to make sure I was taken care of. read more

Originally Acorn + Oak had several properties that caught my eye and my review is for the set up and experiencing with the realtors that showed us these properties as we never actually rented from the company. Once you e-mail about a property you are paired with the realtor showing that specific property and a time is arranged to view between the two of you. Out of the two properties we viewed, there were two different gentlemen showing the listings even though they were about five minutes from one another. After the initial e-mail I quickly received responses back and while it took a couple days to confirm the dates, things viewings were set up fairly quickly (one within a day and the other within a week). We had set up several showings on the same Saturday so I appreciated the fact that both realtors were flexible with time and were willing to accommodate us. We loved the first property which had been listed for three months already and the priced had already been lowered twice. Being a thrifty person I asked if there was anymore wiggle room and was encouraged that there might as long as we didn't require further repairs/changes to the property. The second property was too big for us but both realtors were helpful, answered questions (not memorized but could find the answers) and left good impressions. The first viewed the property with us while the other waited outside while we looked. On Tuesday after viewing both we received a follow-up from the second property but still had not heard from the first that we were interested in. After e-mailing the first realtor and hearing nothing all day we called him about twelve hours later. Things were discussed again and he told us he'd give us a call back in the morning to confirm with the owner. We received a call the next evening much later then we anticipated with news that an application was in on the property and an apology. It's disappointing to feel so close and then have such a huge let down. While the realtor was kind to let us know he was checking with the other staff to see if anything could meet our needs I was very disappointed with how he conducted the follow-up and thus that we lost the property. We never heard back from him although we did find another property from Acorn + Oak that we were interested in. I e-mailed about it earlier this week and have yet to hear back. I checked the site today and the property is no longer listed. Another odd side note is they have no breakage clause on the leases (per the realtors that showed us the properties) Apparently if you are unhappy and want to break the lease you can't, you must continue to pay until the end of the lease regardless. I won't be using or recommending Acorn + Oak in the future because of the experience I had with them. read more

HALF-ASSERY AND CONDESCENSION I don't normally complain or vent, or leave scathing reviews. It takes a lot. This was a lot. My husband and I rented from A+O for 6 months in an 18 unit building. We were attracted to the building and A+O for their cleanliness and ease of signing up to move in. The tour was good, the units were newly renovated, but the shortcuts in the renovation became quickly apparent. -repairs: the repair style was very half-assed. - Many units had broken AC during the summer, and it took weeks for them to be repaired. - After months of intense rain storms, and the gutters (which were also hanging off the building in places, only attached by a nail) were overfull and clogged. Tenants notified the property manager and requested that the gutters be cleaned. Only after at least 2 months of checking in with Will, the prop. manager, were the gutters finally cleaned. Before the gutters were cleaned, Will bought a fire pit, grill and picnic table for the backyard, which was nice, but not the necessary repairs/maintenance we were all asking for. -I don't know what paint they're using on the walls, but it feels like chalk and is impossible to clean. When we tried cleaning cooking splatter off the wall with a wet sponge, the water soaked into the wall and the chalky paint came off the wall. - Many units' doors (front doors and interior doors) didn't fit in their frames or close properly, causing many tenants to have that addressed right after they moved in. Everyone's front doors had a different number of locks on the doors. LAUNDRY ROOM -The laundry room was broken into multiple times, by someone who was hot-boxing it (smoking tons of weed in there), which we could smell from our apartment which was right above the laundry room. It felt like someone had just hot-boxed our apartment when we came home to that. While I don't judge whatever you want to smoke, this shouldn't happen. We requested that the punch code to the laundry room be changed (since it was the same as the address of the building with 2 digits swapped. very easy to guess). The punch code was never changed. -The property manager (Will Spence) claimed that the landlords (who live out of state) were not willing to spend more than $300 at a time on any given repair. Because of this, a broken dryer just wasn't repaired. The solution to how insanely hot the laundry room got was not to install any ventilation, but to drill holes into the plexi glass window of the laundry room door. This didn't help at all. -The apartment adjacent to the laundry room flooded multiple times, over a span of months because the washers in the laundry room were either broken or not installed correctly, and not repaired when addressed. - Communication between repair workers and tenants was often spotty, with repair people showing up without notice. -Several tenants had issues with their shower water leaking out into the bathroom baseboard, causing a constant mold issue. This took a long time to be addressed, and then when it was, we were told that the repair people were going to come in to each apartment over a 2 day period to replace all the baseboards in all the bathrooms. This never happened in our bathroom, which was ok because we didn't have that water leak issue. -Our apartment's toilet had a cast iron elbow from the 1970's that was leaking into the apartment underneath of ours (the same apartment that had the laundry room leaking into it off an on. We felt very bad for this tenant). -Another leak into our downstair's neighbor's apartment was from our AC drain line which was looked at 3 times, but never properly addressed to eliminate the leak for good. -condescending email during beginning of Covid: A+O's "compromise" at the onset of Stay at Home Orders was to allow tenants to pay half rent at the start of the month with the requirement to pay the rest by the 15th of the month. In their email saying how they understood that some of us became unemployed due to Covid-19, Will told us to "get scrappy." -Finally, we moved out! We were told that we would receive our security deposit one month after moving out. We moved out at the end of August. A+O did not reach out to us to find out where to send the security deposit. I had to track down someone from A+O because our property manager and his menagerie of assistants were not responding to my emails or voicemails. I finally got two receptionists at their office to nudge Will for me. One of his assistants finally emailed me and said my security deposit was on it's way to my new address. When I finally deposited the check, I got an email the next day from my bank saying: "The following check deposit has been delayed because We have been unable to verify a check presented for deposit with the paying bank." I had never received that message before after attempting to deposit a check. After another week, I got my money, Thank God. read more

Have had nothing but great service and support from Acorn + Oak since I began using them as a rental management service for one of my rental properties. Leslie Guiditta is always responsive, whether to my request for help or to a request from one of my tenants. The tenants she has found have been quality tenants and have always paid on time. Can't say enough about her and Acorn + Oak in the Triangle. read more

I have been very pleased with my manager Yannie at our very nice condo. We have had a two extremely minor issue and she stayed on tip of them until they were completed. Extremely nice to speak with answer's all your questions and concerns quickly. A real pleasure to work with. Keep up the excellent work. Kind Regards Dan Hayes read more

We have had such a great experience with Acorn & Oak & are so sad our time has come to an end. We had to move out of state due to work, but our time with Acorn & Oak & Daniel Woodward was awesome! I do not have one complaint. Our questions were always answered & our experience was great! Thank you Daniel & A+O!! read more