Updating: This is our final week in our unit and unfortunately there has been continued break ins (garage door opener stolen from our car parked inside AGAIN, someone tried to literally pry open our mail boxes, and my husband walked into thieves sawing off a bike lock at 10pm in the garage). However, this time management has responded. They've made immediate, tangible changes and sent out a few building wide emails with updated information and collaboration. This is a step in the right direction. I feel better knowing there is acknowledgment, discussion, and action being taken for the safety and security of the residents here. Thank you, SG for taking my concerns seriously and making changes quickly. At this point it seems like someone inside the building is aiding in these acts - but this is complete conjecture. read more

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Told the agent Liezl multiple times what day and time I would be coming for a self-guided tour but when I came there were personal belongings already inside the property. I was not able to reach her directly to clarify the situation but when she finally got back to me over an hour later she informed me the property had been leased the day prior. So essentially she had me break into someone's home because she couldn't be bothered to notify her prospects of the change. This could have been a very dangerous situation for both myself and the renting party if they had been home at the time. read more

It's hard to imagine a group with more contempt for tenants and less pride in their work. Usually no one picks up the phone when you call - or calls you back. Repairs can take weeks to months and are done as cheaply as possible so they always look shoddy. They don't even replace smoke detectors - they just add new ones so my apartment walls now have three dead ones, one active. Clownish. The property manager typically ignores calls, emails, and texts for literally months, and wouldn't come to the property even when there was a safety emergency. The accounting department is prone to making mistakes, but, like the property managers, ignore emails and calls for weeks so it's hard to resolve things. Notice that most of the few positive reviews (not many of them tbh) mention maintenance people that SG contracts with... Not SG. Don't believe me? They have an F rating from the Better Business Bureau. read more

I have the misfortune of living in a building owned by Meredith and Sasha Shamszad (the S in SG) and also managed by SG (the CEO is their son). You'd think the elder Mr. and Mrs. Shamszad, who is, of all possible things, A THERAPIST, make enough money from the 23 buildings they own in Berkeley, but that sure hasn't stopped them from trying to raise my rent twice with an active petition from the Rent Board that says they CAN'T until they fix the outstanding housing code violations in my unit. My downstairs neighbor had a leak in his kitchen for 6 years and they only fixed it because I told him to call the Rental Housing Inspector. Sasha sure did raise his rent every one of those six years. If you're reading this and you rent from SG, I wrote a Medium article called "How to Request a Tenant Housing Inspection of your Rental Unit in Berkeley" I invite you to read and follow up on if there're maintenance items they've simply refused to fix. Sasha Shamszad hadn't installed carbon monoxide detectors in any of the six units in my building as of 2023 despite the law having taken effect in 2011 - a TRUE slumlord. The rent board returned 3% of the rent I had paid for this; this can happen for you too. read more

This is probably one of the worst property management companies I've dealt with. I moved out over a month ago. I've yet to my security deposit returned. I spoke to Anthony and the accounting department and he assured that he was going to correct it. Now I can't get a simple email response or a call back! No one is ever in the office or are they simply just ignore calls! Not sure why developers would use them to manage large buildings. They can't seem to get down the basics. read more

The building is nice but the management company is the worst in the world. They have lots of units vacant, that tell you something. Stay away from this apartment. read more

SG was our property manager at my apartment in Vallejo up until very recently (new owners = new management), and I miss them already. As far as property management companies go, SG was better than most I've dealt with. Jesse was our maintenance guy, and local to Vallejo. Big shout out to Jesse--he was always super responsive and you could text him pretty much any time with issues and he would try to help. Cesar was a great point person at the office and took the time to respond to emails and take corrective action. Currently, under our new management, the building has been out of heat for nine days and they've yet to respond to voicemails, emails, or maintenance requests. Lol. SG had its faults, but overall a good responsive management company. One thing SG could improve is better vetting of their prospective tenants/applicants. We've had some real doozies in the last year or so, all of whom either bounced without notice or were evicted after causing massive problems throughout the building and with other tenants. Seems like a closer look at prospective tenants could save everybody, SG included, a lot of grief. Aside from this, I liked SG and I wish they were still managing our building. read more

Utterly speechless. SG Real Estate has failed to meet even my lowest expectations of human decency. After months of complaining about a tenant WHO IS NOT EVEN ON THE LEASE FOR THE PROPERTY harassing my girlfriend, SG has remained inactive and silent, only offering half-hearted apologies and inadequate excuses. Yes you read that right: SG real estate is allowing a person who isn't even on the lease to harass us, paying tenants!!! Even when the harassment escalated to property damage, SG remains silent and passive in response. All they do is tell her to call the police. If you are a single woman, I DO NOT recommend leasing from this company. You won't be protected and it's better for your peace and safety to try your luck somewhere else. I had to fly from Philadelphia to Oak a month earlier to be with my partner so she could feel safe from this tenant. SG Real Estate hasn't even called me back after repeatedly contacting them. Do not rent here from SG Real Estate. read more

shady business practices, incompetent management team, and constant mixed messaging from leasing agents/supervisors. more of a headache than it's worth. much better places to rent from read more

Honestly, one star is too much! Since I have moved here, the elevator has not worked. The laundry room is filled with broken machines. The dryers cheat you because you have to pay to run them 3 times to get them to properly dry your clothes. There is no one onsite as far as staff or management. They do not return your calls, trust me... I tried. There has been a unhoused person camped out front and everyone that has called the management company has not received a reply or help. Do yourself a favor, stay away from this place. They charge too much for a horrible place. Also the only good reviews that have are from themselves. Read their reviews, you will see. read more

SG Real Estate - Real Estate Services Near Me - Berkeley, California

The longer we stay with SG, the better our experience has been. Over the past few years, they've cultivated a really amazing culture and emphasis on customers. They held a mental health awareness event for a student building they operate, which shows a level of conscientious that I think is rare these days. read more

SG Real Estate - Building event for their residents during world mental awareness day - Real Estate Services Near Me - Berkeley, California

We initially rented from the owner of the building, then this wreck of a company stepped in. They don't respond to maintenance requests, and if they actually do, the maintenance is laughable. They leave our coin operated washer filled with coins for weeks so no one can use it. They make the tenants schedule appointments with plumbers and handymen; I could go on and on. To top it off, we had a SERIOUS carbon monoxide leak because they've never bothered to maintain the heating vents. Myself, my wife, and my baby could have died. It was so serious the fire chief got involved. SG didn't even fix the heater, the owner's handyman did. RUN from this company. Don't be fooled by the "good" reviews. They have been pestering tenants of our building for good reviews to try and repair their terrible reputation. read more

Shout out to Tony, our maintenance person, always doing a great job with our unit and building repairs. Love our new bathroom fan. He did other issues and been very satisfied . He was quick to get the job done and leaves our unit cleaned. Very warm and friendly too. Thank you Tony. read more

212 - 220 E. 15th, Oakland CA have not had hot water since 2019. Every once in a while the kitchen sink will run close to hot in the morning for about 30 seconds. While, at the same time, numerous "curb appeal" projects are underway and they sent us a letter notifying us about how black lives matter and they're sending a donation to the NAACP and new exterior paint job but hey hot water can wait. Black tenants lives I guess aren't included in their sincere concern. Complete slumlords. (Definitely run the water in every sink and shower before renting from anyone.) Note to SG. I have only slightly more integrity than you do. My silence can be bought. read more

SG Real Estate - Extremely intermittent hot water since 2019. - Real Estate Services Near Me - Berkeley, California

awful. lived at one of their properties on Channing. awful customer service, management, and maintenance. if you can live and lease with another real estate company, DO IT. you won't regret it. i put in a work order in August when we moved in and it's now March and they haven't even gotten around to it read more

I am a tenant at one of SG real estate properties. I requested a service for ceiling fan installation since my end unit received a lot of sun light and gets super hot especially during the summer. Tony is the maintenance guy who installed the ceiling fan for my unit promptly. Now i have a ceiling fan and get cool air yayyyyy!!! Thank you Tony for good customer service!!!! read more

Would not rent from them. At Telegraph Commons (one of the properties under SG), I was told the "extra large single" was the only unit available, thus I took it. We were not given the option to see the room beforehand. At the time of move-in, I realized I was given the "standard size single" while paying the extra price. They did not budge when I brought up this fact. They will scam you for the money. Later found out my next-door neighbor with the same sized room was paying $400 less than me per month. The property is at a very loud intersection and there were also constant roach problems in the building. If you can, I would highly recommend you avoid renting from here. read more

I worked with SG Real Estate on a new lease in the East Bay area and this could not have been more smooth and stress-free. Specifically, CJ has been fast to reply and assure me all matters are being handled in a timely manner. From my questions pre signing to after the lease was finalized SG is handling my questions and concerns with care and haste. Would recommend working with SG for your next lease. read more

Do not use this company to manage your properties-they will screw you Left me with big giant water bills which I am, a year later, still dealing with... Unreliable, flaky, terrible communication I went with Beacon Properties in Oakland, so far so good But there are many companies out here that will manage your properties much much better But def avoid SG They are crooks, big time! Especially the owner! read more

Lived at what they call "The Hideout on Piedmont" in Oakland. After living here for a few months (moved in July 2022), SG Real estate became the new property owner. Ever since then - the building has become a pile of garbage. They will never clean the premises - ive seen the back yard (that no one uses) being cleaned maybe once or twice in the last year since SG has owned this. Even when there is a spill in front of the large trash dump - it isnt cleaned up even when the dumpster gets taken out of the garage. Downstairs area is always dirty, garage is atrocious. Speaking of the garage - SG has blocked the handicap parking space with repair things they never use. Thankfully I hope no one has needed access to this space - but the fact that this has been like this for forever is just one thin that shows how horrible of a job SG is doing with this property. Oh, and there is a bug/nat problem in the garage, not too annoying but still gross and also goes to show how hygienic this place really is. The dumpster (which, lives in the garage) has never been cleaned - i cant imagine what we've been inhaling, but i can guess based off of the intense smells that the garage has. Speaking of repairs - they rarely get to them. And if youre looking for anything urgent - dont call, because theyll tell you someone will call you back shortly but youll wait hours until its past office hours and then youll call them back and they will tell you sorry its too late now. Hopefully this doesnt happen to you if you're locked out (they removed the awesome digital lockbox that the previous owners had available) because youll be locked out expecting maintenance to come by but it will turn out that youll need to call a locksmith which, in my case, cost me $300. Simply refrain from relying on SG for - pretty much anything. Theyll also leave the elevator disgustingly dirty - as it has been for the entirety of SG's ownership, it has not been cleaned once. Im surprised they let potential tenants come walk through my unit when the condition of the building is actually nasty. Also - the permit on the elevator has been expired since January 2022, and its Sept. 2022 now. I hope you also like sudden billing for water/trash of multiple months with zero notice. Although it was expected from the original owner that we would be billed for water - it never happened, and then suddenly after living here for 6 months, i am hit with a bill for hundreds for water and trash. There are PLENTY of other places to move into at a cheaper price with a cleaner environment - on site staff - awesome amenities.... read more

Never ever rent from SG Real Estate. The employees range from unhelpful and unpleasant to deal with, to completely useless. The premises appear nice, but are not maintained. The trash room was a disaster at all times. Tenants have an utter disrespect for common areas -- never breaking down boxes, putting trash in the recycle bin, etc. -- SG did nothing to remedy the issue except issue a reminder about breaking down boxes whenever someone complained. The gate to the parking area was broken more often than it worked -- they used Covid as an excuse to not fix it for months. The pedestrian gate was also often broken - either stuck in the locked or unlocked position. The upstairs patio intended for tenant socializing became a home base for local homeless who would use the fire pit and electrical outlets. Nothing was done about the fact that we had homeless people living there. When we complained we were told to call the police or approach them ourselves ask them to leave. Neighbors left food out for stray cats -- which attracted rats, raccoons, and even an otter at one point. No one stopped the neighbor from doing it despite the safety issues and that rats and raccoons infested the property. Another neighbor took over the common landscaped area as her own and There were multiple dangerous dogs on the property and the management did absolutely nothing about it. (Two dogs got in a fight and neither was required to leave.) One neighbor's dog attacked a neighbor and SG did absolutely nothing to remedy the situation. I moved out a month ago and am still waiting for them to return my security deposit, which is late under California law. They absolutely don't care. read more

Because I work in the industry as a Leasing Specialist and Assistant Manager for mid-rise/high-rise new construction in the Bay Area, I am VERY PARTICULAR in my requests, how/where I choose to live, and quite knowledgeable in Fair Housing. SG Real Estate has been a PLEASURE to work with for my renting needs, especially given the fact I can be viewed as "difficult" by some. SG Real Estate keeps their properties CLEAN & well maintained for the most part. Like any place, there are tenants that do not follow rules and leave things disorderly, however, that is no fault of SG. When I've made them aware of issues they have always been highly responsive and reactive to any & all issues. The rents are always within reason for the area and product being offered. The application process/fees are reasonable and user friendly- you usually get your screening results within 72-hours. Their written communication is thorough and detailed and they offer a variety of properties to accommodate all needs for any potential renter. Now to the staff- :) :) I'm sure I annoy the mess out of all of them, LOL! However, it is not intentional and I mean well. I've had the pleasure of working with Jessica, Cristina, Shannon, and Thany- they're all AMAZING!!! :) Each woman has been of assistance to me in some way and I am greatly appreciative of their work. If you're looking for a well-maintained, CLEAN, reasonably priced, and PROFFESSIONALLY managed place to live then SG Real Estate surely has a place for you to call home. Check out all their active listings on their website. Happy Home Hunting :) :) :) !!!! read more

I just moved into a commercial space at the beginning of the year. Shadi was my point of contact during my move in. She has continued to be great!! Moving your business can be quite daunting. Shadi made my move in process as smooth as she possibly could have. She is very quick to respond and is a pleasure to communicate with. It been such a relief to come across such helpful pleasant individual. read more

Alan is a true professional. At a time when customer service is yesterdays news, Alan, Cesar, Anthony, Danae, Gabriela, Monica, and the other members of the SG Real Estate staff just get it. They all do their best. Love these guys! read more

Incorrectly charged me for parking rent for 17 months then tried to take it out of my security deposit. Terrible record keeping and will not help you out. Only respond to calls and emails when something may cost them money. Did not provide me with a key to the garage for over 2 months. read more

The building is falling apart and my maintenance requests continue to be ignored. My unit was inspected in October and found to have more than 20 code violations which still have not been addressed. Communication is terrible and erratic and there is always someone new in the office so no one ever knows what's going on. read more

My toilet stopped working this past sunday morning and I had no idea what to do and as a new tenant I could only think to request a maintenance through our tenant portal and thankfully they respondeded and although one day late it was fixed! very pleased with the communication and to the maintenance worker that worked there magic. appreciate it! read more

I live in a building in Berkeley recently sold to and managed by SG Real Estate in February. I had lived in the building just under 2 years when SG Real Estate got involved. They have been unbelievably terrible. If anyone is on here who lives on Regent St and is managed by SG Real Estate, send me a message because I am beginning to consider legal action and additional testimony could help us all. The problems escalated from frequent "inspections" ~bi-weekly, water shut offs during the day. These were all announced 24 hrs in advance, so not illegal. When all the carbon monoxide alarms in the building went off one day, I called their after hours number and submitted a request. Ultimately it took several weeks to replace the alarm, and the tech did not show up the first appointment I made (and had to take time off work to be available for). Initially they told me it was my responsibility to replace the batteries in the alarm, so I had to go through the exercise of buying batteries in spite of the fact that these alarms are set to expire and new batteries will not stop the beeping. After this failed, they called me to say that the "real reason" they didn't replace the alarm was because they had lost the keys to my apartment. After one of the inspections, there was left a huge soot stain on the carpet. I filed a maintenance request that was never completed. The facilities manager at SG Real Estate blamed "the owners contractor" and said to me "it wasn't us because we always clean up after ourselves." The request remained open several weeks and was "canceled" a few days ago with no resolution. The stain is still on my carpet. And the Berkeley Rent Board confirmed that SG Real Estate *IS* the owner so the circuitous blaming the owner is BS. Last but not least, yesterday afternoon when I got home from work, I had quite literally been locked out of my apartment without cause or notice. SG Real Estate took it upon themselves to change the lock and bolt on my door without providing me with a key. Several hours later when I got access and went inside, they had torn out 2 large sections of drywall, apparently part of a "renovation" that involved removing my heater, tearing up the wall and not fixing, and leaving a layer of sawdust all over... are they done? And apparently they plan to change all the apartment door locks within the new few months again. I wonder if they'll have it together enough by then to let us know and provide keys. Are they harassing tenants to pressure them out or are they simply alarmingly incompetent and negligent? Either way, they are bad news. read more

The mixed reviews about this company are interesting. They almost convinced me not to rent my current apartment. But... my experience has been great so far. Stove had a problem - it was replaced. Fridge had a problem - technician came by the next day. My neighboring tenants are kind, responsible, and quiet during night hours. As of living here for half a year, I have no complaints. I will say that it seems like SG takes more of a hands off approach to its tenants, so if you have a bad neighbor you may have a harder time than me. read more

One week and two days after making the request, my husband was able to get through to the staff member in charge of our work order. He reports that she was responsive and helpful: someone came out and fixed the washing machine the following day. (Now the elevator is broken, but we seem to be receiving more regular communications, which is an improvement. We hope that they continue to be proactive and responsive in their maintenance and communication). read more

Avoid SG Real Estate if you can. I am in one of their beautiful properties in Oakland which is the only positive thing I can say: The actual building and area is great. The management (Jessica Vernaglia and team) is the worst I have ever experienced (maintenance team great! btw). I've lived all over the Bay and the country and SG Real Estate takes 1st prize for being the worst. My partner and I were sold on the unit as we moved in from out of state with the contingency that we would have two parking spaces. Not only did they have us sign a lease and pay for both spaces but when we arrived I noticed someone kept parking in my space. Left a not the first day and let it go. the second day I waited for the driver who was a tenant that was ALSO paying for that spot. A week went by me emailing and calling SG Real Estate to understand what was going on with the parking space I paid for (went to the office but it was closed due to COVID). Meanwhile my partner and I were missing keys to the apartment we were paying for (never received all of our keys!). Two weeks go by and we only get any hint that SG Real Estate still exists after I come home with a sticky note on the floor next to my door from my neighbor saying he has keys for me. My neighbor had my keys dropped off to him (I guess he must work for SG Real Estate???) to give to me. I disregarded the fact that I had to go to my neighbor's door (he doesn't know me and I don't know if he's comfortable with a stranger coming to his home) thought wow finally they listened. NO apparently SG Real Estate thinks it is safe to have a lock box with extra keys hanging from the front door. Apparently that was broken into and the only reason I got keys was because SG Real Estate had to change the locks to the building after the break in.....There is a fresh new lock box back on the front door now. I learned that only maintenance responds to calls or email (maintenance team you all are the MVPs! ) so I emailed them about my situation and they forwarded it to the "appropriate" people. Jessica Vernaglia you said verbatim "I may have mistakenly double booked parking." (I have the receipts btw) then proceeded to say how you have done things "historically." No apology no trying to make it right even though we had a deal and I know you needed to rent this unit that was sitting on the market for a couple months vacant. You cheated us and you and your team should be ashamed for your dishonestly and extremely poor customer service! I am an irate customer who has no choice but to be locked in this situation for a year. Avoid SG Real Estate. Now I know why they call this place the asylum. You either have to be crazy to live here or this place will drive you crazy. Best of luck to you all who expect decent professionalism and customer service at the bear minimum because I doubt you will find that here. read more

I began renting with SG in May despite the other negative reviews on this page. I really loved the unit I toured and was optimistic. On move in day I was not even provided the keys to my building and my unit had not been cleaned (in a Pandemic!). Since moving in I had submitted multiple work requests (the oven/stove was inoperable for 2 weeks, the furnace makes loud clanking noises throughout the day and night and this issue is still unresolved. Would not recommend this property management company at all. read more

Don't believe any of the positive reviews on here. I promise you, after living in one of thier properties for 5 years..... they suck. Everything in these reviews is true. Do not move to any of their properties! These people are TRASH! Can't do their jobs right. I have not met one person here to do their job correctly, they're all like DMV workers. Maybe Paul from accounting, MAYBE I'd the only one fit to actually have employment. However everyone else is Lazy, unknowledgeable, it's like everyone's first day on the job! Everyone that's works there from home can't be working for 8 hours a day, CANT BE!!!! Their bosses need to REALLY look into the amount of work these employees are putting in and the QUALITY. The quality isn't there what so ever. I can call, email, AND GET NOTHING! I'm so glad to be moving out after five years of dealing with these trash employees that hold 0 accountability to everything people need. SG is a business. They don't care about people or the risks they put tenants in when the properties are messed up. UNPROFESSIONAL GET A WHOLE NEW STAFF OF EMPLOYEES THAT CAN ACTUALLY DO THE WORK FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE PROPERTY!!!!!!!!! It's not just an Sg problem. They need to take accountability and look at their employees at why there are so many unhappy people here. We are not all making this up. This company is a scam to people really making an honest living and trying to just LIVE! Let me give you an example. I've been living at a property for five years. I've seen it all. My tipping point was the ongoing construction, homeless/drug addicts always being in the apartment building, trash everywhere, and my mail constantly being stolen (aka major fraud! Thanks sg!!!!) I'm so tired and no one deserves to have a living situation like this. Pretty much everything that can be a problem is a problem with them because they are terrible at managing properties, communicating, just being human and doing their job. I always felt bad for the two matienence people they send out. They make these workers spend their own money for repairs and then they pay them back, maybe that's why nothings fixed. Who knows. They're just slumlords all around. Sg sucks. More than sucks y'all. It'll ruin your mental health dealing with these people. I swear they have made me so overly depressed. Run. DONT move to their properties. RUN!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure I'll have an update. And my update will still be to run away from these people and don't look back. read more

1. we were stripped of our parking due to construction 2. our house was robbed of our valuables 3. construction made loud noises 4. upon moving things were broken and not fixed 5. safety was jeopardized due to having gate not being fixed 6. washing and drying machines were constantly not working 7. it took weeks for a maintenance request 8. heater was broken and couldn't be fixed 9. we have submitted a list of concerns but were met with neglect 10. when we moved out we cleaned and painted the house and was still charged $500 for cleaning and painting 11. packages were constantly stolen 12. amazon hub was broken and hasn't been fixed your company has showed me that all this was is just business and that you all had no intentions of caring for the tenants or there opinions or concerns read more

They don't care bout your health or safety I been having mold on my walls and I'm getting sick from it even after I cleaned it, I reported it many times but it's like it's nothing to them they just throw me a whole paragraph full of gibberish, save yourself away from these people they will not care bout you read more

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I can't say enough good things about the SG team. Shoutout to Thany for always being responsive to any questions that might come up as well.

SG is currently telling tenants that it will take them months to approve installation of Sonic fiber internet because they are "understaffed." Smells like BS to me. Sonic says they've never encountered this with any other property management company. (And, yes, so many maintenance issues.) read more

Ok I am sharing another review here. I recently moved out thankfully, and I just want to confirm and validate all of the reviews that describe SG as an unresponsive, irresponsible, shady property management company. I did my research when I chose my new apartment, and of course, negative reviews on Yelp can be emotional. You think, maybe it won't be that bad for me? It is THAT bad with this company. Their agents are immature, unprofessional, and quite frankly the interactions I've had with everyone there have been stressful, frustrating, and disappointing. Please avoid renting with SG. I know it's hard because they're all over Berkeley, but they really don't care about the tenants. read more

SG is a total mess. First, when we rented our apartment and signed the contract, I showed up to the office to pick up the keys and they had no record that I was the new renter. Thankfully, we didn't really need them during our tenancy, but when it was time to move out they did not return the security deposit after sending us an email saying all of the deposit would be returned. They were impossible to get in touch with--no one would respond to our emails or our phone calls. We ultimately had to send a security deposit demand letter threatening to take them to small claims court before we could get it back. If you're having similar trouble, that's what I recommend, as they responded to this letter immediately and we received our check within days. One other fun detail is that they removed the ceiling from one of the parking lot areas in our building without notice, and so there were exposed pipes, water leaking all over the place, rubble everywhere, etc. read more

The only reason SG is getting two stars is because of the excellent staff they employ to service the buildings. Simply put, they do not care. Emails go unanswered, late water/sewer bills are sent, repairs not made, the building is not maintained. It's unfortunate that such an awful company manages such a beautiful building because it is slowly going to rot from neglect. Do not rent with SG if you have the choice! read more