AVOID AT ALL COST: This management company is beyond incompetent. We live in an extremely expensive building and pay 350 a month for in garage parking. The garage has been broken into multiple times causing damage to cars inside and the last time, our new SUV was entirely stolen. Not only did square one do nothing to prevent this, they LIED TO ALL TENANTS IN THE BUILDING and refused to tell them this even happened. They sent one email to my girlfriend and I and another to the rest of the building in the hopes of slipping this past us. I will be posting proof of this in the images section. read more

No les recomiendo, quizás deberían de investigar los dueños de la compañía para que se aseguren que van a tener dueños que no los robaran dinero y que hacen sus reparaciones con la dignidad humana read more

-They have a very convenient online portal system for monthly rent! -Timely Responses to any facility issues -Manager is friendly -Surrounding nature provides study-conducive environment! read more

I lived at 52 Rausch St. for 7 years and Raghu and Square One Management has been great. Raghu was always available and very responsive to any needs we had. When I needed a garage for just a year, he was very quick with responding and providing me with some options. I have no doubt that anyone would be in great hands if they want to rent from Square One. It's bittersweet to leave but they made it a very great experience in SOMA. read more

Lived at 52 Rausch St. for about 5 years. Over the years we had a few things break in the apt and Raghu was especially accommodating in fixing these issues in a timely manner. It was nice to have property manager who seemed to actually care, was responsive, and strived to keep the residents happy. read more

I've been living at the apartments at 2501 for two years now. Definitely isn't the nicest apartment you're going to find in Berkeley, since it is an old building. I lived in a 2-bedroom apartment, on the smaller side as apartments go, but with renovated kitchen, bathroom, and flooring, i couldn't complain. Rent was cheap as well, we paid about $480 per person. We never had issues with other tenants in the building - never any wild parties or anything. everyone is respectful and cordial. I really appreciated the owner's tenant-first mentality and how he's been willing to negotiate and make changes, and is always open to criticism and how he can make apartment living a better experience for us. It's a nice location, and an affordable place to live read more

Avoid this place as possible as you can. 2437 Pxxxmont is the worst place I have ever lived in Berkeley. The construction never ends. The construction workers are wearing safety helmet with tenants walking around without safety helmet. The manager is CREEPY! She is a mean woman without manner. She spies on tenants and shows up constantly around the building. She is the worst person I have ever met in this country personally. She is very emotional unstable and very rude to old tenants. All of my roommates are scared of her. The apartment is in between of frat house and gets really loud in the weekends. If you hate parties like me, living inside this apartment is really a nightmare.k read more

I'm currently subleasing an apt at Parker St & had the misfortune of losing both my mailbox AND building key. Soon as I notified Jeana she was on it & quickly gave me a replacement free of charge the next day. She & the rest of the square one staff are so pleasant to work with & have made it a great experience staying here in Berkeley. Thank you again Jeana!!! read more

Terrible management. I was supposed to live in Piedmont Palace and even paid the rent and deposit but was stringed along for 6 MONTHS just to find out that they are cancelling our lease... do not trust them. read more

I had nothing but good experiences with Square One Management. The leasing process was handled very well and I could sign from the ease of my computer. Jeana made correspondence very easy too. I received my full security deposit quickly after moving out. read more

Lived in one of their rental properties for 2 years, and had a very positive experience with the management team overall. They've got a streamlined rental payment process, reminders set up for rent payment, and are forgiving of a few late payments. They certainly aren't like other rental property management teams in Berkeley that I've dealt with in the past, who try and squeeze as much money as possible from their tenants and mistreat their clients. Some areas where they could improve: - inconsistencies with the timeliness of maintenance: our maintenance requests were always filled, but sometimes they took weeks to fix, other times it was done in less than a few days. - stolen packages: this only happened to us once, but one of our delivered packages was stolen from inside the apartment complex. Usually our packages arrived safely, as Pam tries to move them to the correct apartment the moment they're delivered, but this time our package was stolen. This wasn't really within Pam's control, but Square One should create some sort of protocol for package delivery: either they should ensure that it is completely safe to send it to the apartment, or some other alternative should be strongly recommended to residents from the start. Melissa was our main point of contact at Square One, and she was just lovely! She was easy to reach, helpful, and genuinely had our best interests at heart. I definitely recommend Square One Management over any of the other rental management companies in Berkeley. read more

I lived in an apartment managed by Square One Management for 3.5 years and had nothing but a positive experience. Raghu always responded within 24 hours- even during quarantine! Their online portal was super convenient and if they needed to get into my apartment, they were always courteous and gave advance notice. read more

I live in one of the apartments in Berkeley and I have had great exchanges with many of the workers on the management team. I had some parking questions therefore I contacted the Front office and spoke to Jeana. She was a wonderful help to organize my parking plans during Winter break. She handled it quickly and happily which made the process so much easier. The paperwork was also very easy to follow and took almost no time at all! Square One Management also made the applying and leasing process much easier as it is now electronic. My roommates and I were able to sign the lease online without the trip of having to travel to the office. This made everything more simple and efficient. Also, going paperless is great for the planet as well! In conclusion, I highly reccommend Square One Management because of the staff and their efficiency in order to get things done. read more

They recently added an online application process which made everything much more convenient! Friendly service from all the staff at Square One! Jeana was a big help always replying to my emails within a few hours! read more

While they are quick to respond to maintenance request for commercial buildings, there is no upkeep to maintain the cleanliness for the front of the building entrance. Business patrons often complain of how dirty it looks. read more

Square One does a good job of providing resources and help for their tenants. Prices and locations are reasonable, and their management at the complex I live in is helpful and attentive to the state of care of the building. read more

Square One managers are easy to contact, and the pricing and location of their apartments are very reasonable. I had a lot of questions the day i signed the lease and they answered with no difficulty. read more

I live in one of their properties in Berkeley and I will say that Square One Management is an honest, fair, easy to contact management company. Some of their complexes are on the older side, but most of the interiors are either renovated or in the process of being renovated. Their staff are very helpful and friendly. They also make it very easy to rent, from how they go about signing leases to their online payment portal. PROS: -Very easy to get in contact with, either by heading into their office or sending an email to their info email address. They also answer fairly quickly. -For Berkeley locations, their office is nearby in downtown Berkeley behind the CVS (VERY BIG PLUS for UC Berkeley students w/o adequate means of transportation) -Very quick to fix any maintenance issues you bring up to them. They also have a scheduling system designed so that you can schedule maintenance to only occur when you are home. -They have an online payment portal w/the options to set up payment reminders or automatic payments (don't worry, you can also pay by physical check if that's more your cup of tea) -They have live in apartment managers that are quick to resolve any issues -There are a lack of noise issues in the complexes. -The complexes are gated -They are not shady (a big issue in Berkeley among other management companies)! They are very professional. They give you formal notices to enter the dwelling, and they follow all applicable rental laws. They do not try to skirt laws, nor do they do shady back door deal type things. CONS: -Packages left out by UPS/FedEx/USPS are often stolen (This is not isolated to them. Happens at almost all apartment complexes south of UC Berkeley near Telegraph Ave) -At least at my location they have only coin operated laundry machines (a big pain because you have to exchange money at the bank for quarters every other week) -There is no working call button at the main gate for visitors and/or UPS/FedEX/USPS. For visitors you have to go down and let them in. For package deliveries requiring signatures, they often leave a note on the gate telling you to go pick up the package at the nearest post office, UPS store, or FedEx store. -Since some of the apartments are older, they do not have grounded electrical outlets. This means you have to buy plug adapters for some of your electronic devices that have three pronged plugs. read more

My experience with these folks was awesome: Raghu showed me the place in SoMa from day one and beyond. In my 15 months of dealing with him, I always received prompt & personal attention about everything from ghost alarms going off in the building to whacked up garbage disposals (twice... *may* have been my fault). They were also super flexible about the last month of my renting from them. Thanks for being cool, Raghu! read more

Fantastic and convenient apartment complex next to campus. Rented an apartment on Dwight Way that was located on a higher floor at the back. Found it relatively quiet and the management team was very responsive and more importantly friendly. Dealing with Ram and Raghu was easy and they were quick to take action with issues in the apartment. Ram especially was super friendly and always went out of the way to ensure that everything in the apartment was working as expected. Overall, very pleasant experience. The location was fabulous and there was easy access to bus stops close by and many eating places. Parking on the street too was not an issue and always found something available next to the building. Prospective tenants looking to rent something close to campus will find this apartment complex very convenient. It was always kind of quiet year round and there were quite a few graduate students in the building. read more

I had the opportunity of living at 52 Rausch st. My experience was memorable. Raghu who was my person of contact at Square Managment is great. He always made himself available and responsive to any needs we might've had. The apartment we rented was one of the bottom floor units. It was great. a two-floor loft with concrete finishings and metal railings, very inconspicuously hidden in a beautiful alley and wait for it........ the best part is that you are basically surrounded by bars :). The neighborhood is pretty cute. It's an oasis in the middle of the SOMA-loin. Overall a very positive experience, highly recommended. read more

Living in the 2501 Benvenue Ave. complex was great! Before we moved, Square One asked us if we wanted renovated and we agreed. They renovated our apartment in the summer and we got a really nice bathroom and kitchen. Their service is also very reliable as they were able to fix our doornob when it was very loose. Overall, great experience. read more

AVOID this place at all cost. This has been my worst renting experience of all time. (1) The landlord was not there to help but really to lure next round of tenants and spy on current tenants looking for reasons to fine them. They would put a slip under the door in the morning after I left for school saying that they were going to show my apartment to prospective renters at noon, and then scolding me that my room wasn't tidy enough. They also once changed the lock to building front door without telling me or my roommate, causing us to be locked out late at night for hours. (2) The office front desk was arrogant, rude, and very slow in responding my questions. When they did respond, they tend to ignore my requests all together. (3) Worst of all, they don't honor their agreement with tenants. My lease there ended in May (2017), but I still haven't received my security deposit check back. I emailed, called, and visited them without result. They don't have any proof that they ever sent a check to me, but claim they did and want me to PAY THEM to void the hypothetical check. I'm still fighting to get my deposit back. If they are so careless with their check and their tenants' money, you can only imagine how they would "manage" the properties. read more

This company is one to take note of. With the difficulty of finding housing in Berkeley, Square One was the easiest and fastest service I've had experienced while leasing an apartment for the first time. They are very quick when responding to housing interest emails for example, when we did not get the apartment we wanted, they were able to find another one for us with similar price ranges. They of course have online payment options and have a great informational website for tenants and for potential apartment seekers. I would like to shout out Jeana, a front desk employee. They try their best to make sure all of Square One's tenants are happy and they always notify my roommates and I when something comes up as well. They are very professional and come from an understanding standpoint. Employees like Jeana make Square One stand out from the rest of the rental agencies because they value customer service and support. read more