Northland Property Management

Fantastic experience: Been working with Emily Obney for a few months now. She has been great, punctual, attentive, and you can tell she genuinely cares

Fantastic experience: Have been more than happy with the staff at Northland. We’ve had a few things break and they’ve gotten someone right out to fix it. I especially like when my dryer broke they sent a real appliance company out instead of some handyman.

Fantastic experience: Emily was great and easy to work with. Would highly recommended

Negative experience: This company is poorly run and desperately money hungry. They rely so heavily on AI that they can’t even answer simple questions about the services they provide. They try to force any fee they can. They are adding WiFi into the rent, but they clearly did no research on the company they got the WiFi from. It’s more expensive and slower. If any leasing companies use Gigstream RUN. They also are trying to force their own renters insurance instead of allowing you to use your own. I rent an apartment through them and according to my lease I need a $300,000 liability renters insurance, which I have and had for my entire time having the apartment. In fact I used the insurance they recommended when I first moved in. But now they won’t take that insurance because they have their own. I have already paid for my insurance, have absolutely no intention of resigning and I like the insurance company they recommended. Yet they refuse to take them now and are charging me a fee every month for not having insurance. It also doesn’t help that it’s because the entire system is run by AI so my insurance is getting kicked by their system because of AI. They refuse to fix the issue or add a credit to my account for the false charges that state I don’t have insurance. I refuse to give this company anymore money and will not use their insurance when my lease clearly states I can use outside insurances. The only way to get their AI to approve my insurance is to call my insurance (which multiple renters have and the one call would fix it for all the renters not just my policy) and have them edit their PO Box, but they refuse. Probably because AI can’t do it for them.

Fantastic experience: Shelley and her team are awesome! They know their stuff and are extremely responsive in addressing any of our concerns. We have no regrets hiring them as our management team. Scott Bendickson President, Lamar Estates

Fantastic experience: From a Condo Association board member perspective: Excellent communication and management style. Online website used for general communication, requests etc. is very good.

Fantastic experience: We have been so excited to work with Northland Property, So caring and responsive. Great job with obtaining good rates with subcontractor's. Timely reporting and ethical behavior.

Fantastic experience: Outstanding organizational and administrative skills. Very effective and efficient communications. Accounting, financial and legal functions are all excellently handled. Associations and co-owners maintenance needs for repair services and contractor proposals handled promptly. I believe this is the best management company in the local TC area, and we looked at all of them.

Fantastic experience: Northland was fantastic!. We rented a home managed by them for 2 years and they went above and beyond with all our needs. The house had some issues in the 2 years we were there and Northland was always quick to respond with repairs. Emily is such an asset to that group and cared about our needs and was always checking in. During the BIG ice storm they checked on us constantly. You couldn’t ask for a better management company and anyone lucky enough to rent from them or utilize them to manage their property will not be disappointed! We will miss you guys Tom & Paula

Fantastic experience: Northland Property Management to over managing our HOA about a year ago. They have done a tremendous job of sorting out the mess that our last property created and are doing a great job overseeing our property.

Fantastic experience: They have timely answered the Boards questions and attended meetings as promised.I

Fantastic experience: Great team to work with!

Negative experience: Best day of my home ownership life was firing this incompetent company. They cost me thousands of dollars and for the last 2 years I’ve done it myself through Zillow seamlessly. Don’t let Northland control you with their 10% rate with everything, because ultimately they don’t care about you and you can do it yourself. Believe in yourself. I do it myself thousands of miles across the country better than Northland ever could a few miles from my home in TC.

Fantastic experience: Love working with Emily Obney! She's the best!

Negative experience: We hired Northland in 2023 to manage our first rental home while we moved to San Diego with the military, and it was one of the worst decisions we’ve made as property owners. From the very beginning, the experience was negative. The representative who came to inspect and appraise our home had a horrible attitude—she repeatedly emphasized the percentage Northland would keep, dismissed our desired rental rate as “too high,” and acted like she owned the place. They placed a tenant, but throughout that first year Northland made repairs without notifying us, charged us without approval, and was almost impossible to reach. When that tenant moved out, the home was left in shambles—and Northland offered zero accountability or assistance. We had to handle and pay for all repairs ourselves. For three months Northland claimed they “couldn’t find a renter,” while we were stuck paying the mortgage and their fees out-of-pocket. Eventually, we flew back to Michigan, fixed up the home and found a tenant ourselves in less than 24 hours. Several applicants even told us they had been trying to contact Northland for months with no response. Overall, this company is shady, unprofessional, and irresponsible. They make unauthorized decisions, charge without consent, avoid accountability, and are unresponsive unless it benefits them. We’ve since switched to managing on our own through Zillow, which has been far more successful and stress-free. Some of our fellow military friends have also had equally poor experiences. It’s worth noting that Northland has many other bad reviews online—and they tend to respond with lengthy, defensive replies rather than taking responsibility. That was our exact experience in working with them: never accountable, always deflecting. Bottom line: Do not trust Northland with your property. Save yourself the stress, money, and frustration.

Negative experience: I have not rented through Northland but I will say their communication skills are severely lacking. I reached out to schedule an appointment to view a house, they texted me back a day/time to which I replied that time/date would work for me. I showed up to the house at the date/time, a few minutes after our scheduled time I texted to see if someone would still be meeting me. They replied they did not confirm the appointment and they were across town showing another house and wouldn’t be there. I rescheduled the showing for a few days later. As I’m halfway through the house, the agent tells me the owner decided to change the lease to a 10 month instead of yearly as they will be renting it as a vacation rental. Their communication skills are terrible and they will completely waste your time.

Negative experience: Greedy and lack professionalism. Moved to Traverse City 3 years ago and rented a house who's owner used Northland. My complaints are many so let me list them: -This is not their first offense but perhaps the most egregious. Communication goes through Northland, so when there are questions from the tenant(us) to the owner or vice versa, the message is sent to Northland and then relayed to the opposite party. When our initial lease was running out, we began communication regarding renewing the lease. The owner told us, through Northland, that we could renew at the same monthly rent, no increase. Northland proceeded to, months later, send us the new lease to be signed with an increase to the rent. By this time, I had gotten into contact with the owner and he was not aware that Northland was increasing the rent, with apparently no increase to the rent he would be collecting. He decided to sever his relationship with Northland. Greed. -Throughout the time we were renting the house and the management company being Northland(around 24 months), they must have gone through 3 or 4 managers. This made it incredibly difficult and frustrating to communicate with Northland as every time a new manager was brought on they were busy catching up to the new role and where the last manager left off, thereby, making communication slow and tedious. Also, every time that there was a new manager, any prior communications were lost and had to be renewed. Specifically, we originally signed a 2 year lease and the majority of frustration came in the last 6 months when we were attempting to renew. During this time, I cannot recall(although I could check my sent emails) the amount of times I had to find email chains with the past managers to forward to the new managers in an attempt to bring them up to speed. -Personally, the way I saw my relationship with Northland was one of business. They are a professional business and I was using their service, therefore, I expect communication to be adequately professional. I was NOT impressed when the managers at Northland would text or email me with a surprising lack of grammar. Specifically, I did not appreciate the formal tone in communication as though we were childhood friends without any business between us, the lack of capitalization and punctuation, and the use of emojis and text-faces such as ":)". You are representing your company so if that is how your company chooses to communicate to customers, like a high-school girl's group chat, then so be it and that is the attitude and image of your company I will give. Unprofessional. -Began charging a fee to direct deposit monthly rent half way through our term. This felt like nickel and diming that the company was using to extract more profit from tenets when this was not charged in the beginning. -Last one, communication could, more often than not, be very slow. As far as I am concerned, Northland Property Management is a small sub business of Century 21, a real estate brokerage firm. This is speculation, but I would be surprised if Northland Property Management has more than 3 employees and this means that when you are contacting them, especially when they are rolling over employees so frequently, they are also busy helping other tenets, showing homes, and any and all other of their business duties and communication can be very negatively affected by this. There are surely more small points of friction I have with them but the takeaway is this: Northland appears to be a company that is dishonestly greedy at the detriment to the tenants and property owners and struggles with professionalism.

Fantastic experience: Northland has been wonderful to work with over the last few years. They were wonderful helping me price the home I had for rent, show it, help with getting the lease set up, and help the tenants with questions and concerns. Emily was always wonderful, cheerful and easy to work with, and incredibly helpful with maintenance problems at all hours, and was a great liaison with the tenants and the repair contractors.

Fantastic experience: Northland has been excellent to work with. Everyone has been so helpful and quick to respond to any questions I have or service needs. Emily, whom assists with the maintaining of the property, is always ready to take on a new challenge or help out in any way she can. Truly an indispensable part of the business.

Fantastic experience: I cannot tell you just how wonderful of an experience I've had with Emily from NPM!! Absolutely nothing but resourceful, responsive and just all around helpful!! What a gem!! Thank you Emily from NPM!

Fantastic experience: I've been working with Northland Property Management for my 4-unit building for a while now, and I couldn't be more impressed with their professionalism and dedication. From the start, their team has made property ownership a breeze, handling everything from tenant screening to maintenance with efficiency and care. Communication is top-notch – I’m always kept in the loop, and any concerns I have are promptly addressed. They go above and beyond to ensure both me and my tenants are happy, which is truly invaluable as a property owner. Knowing that my property is in such capable hands gives me complete peace of mind. I highly recommend Northland Property Management to anyone looking for a reliable and proactive management team. They truly excel at what they do

Negative experience: I stayed in a unit they managed for 2 years because there was no other option. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND IT! I would try to get them to do maintenance but it was never done in a timely matter, in fact most times it was infringing on State Laws with how long they would wait. They do not care about your health or safety at all, I inquired about the furnace filter because I didn’t think it had ever been changed and their answer was “ I don’t know the last time it was serviced.” And that was all they had to say. The fact they were “managing” an apartment 1.5hrs away from them blows my mind. We paid a fee every month for lawn care and snow removal, and it took them 4 MONTHS to mow our lawn in the summer and it got over a foot tall in the middle of a city. Needless to say they care very little about you and only want your money.

Negative experience: Essentially farming application fees. Agent was unreliable and vague, switched through the middle of the process and had much better success.

Fantastic experience: My wife and I purchased a house in Traverse City, Mi with the intention of renting it from out of town. My Real Estate Agent recommended Northland Property Management. I contacted them and they took charge immediately, but they never did a thing without my approval. We had to renovate the property and they were very helpful with the process. They recommended a handyman and he turned out to be the best we've every had. When it came time to rent the property they were fantastic. They have the resources to filter out the best renters and all we had to do was kick back and wait for the process to complete itself. My wife and I own several properties in another state so we are aware of the difficulties of the job. We highly recommend Northland Property Management. Professional, inexpensive and always keep updated. You will not be disappointed.

Fantastic experience: All the ladies at Northland professionally manage our rental property in Traverse City. We are grateful for all of their knowledge & help each day. We thank everyone at Northland Property Management!

Fantastic experience: Michelle at Northland went above and beyond for us when we needed a furnished place to live in quickly. She called her staff and within hours we had a beautiful furnished condo on a lovely lake to rest in that evening. Bravo Northland!!

Negative experience: I don't normally write reviews, so this is definitely warranted. We rented through them for 2 years, contacted them 6 months prior to the lease expiring so we could have a new place lined up (homeowners didn't like the company either) and wanted to stop working with them. We asked to see all places under $2,500 per month and all they could muster was a link to their website and no follow through for showings that say "available" on their website that we expressed interest in. We don't smoke, we don't have pets, we've never left on bad terms with a place and we've never missed a payment, and we took such good care of this place that we received the full security deposit as well as additional money from the homeowners back. The moment we signed paperwork Hannah Stenke deferred communication to others and would send automated emails letting us know when she wouldn't be available (as if she's ever been helpful or needed before), and they would have people following up 2-3 times to ask if something was fixed even though they already sent somebody else out to fix it months prior, yet we would have pending maintenance requests that would sit in the queue for months on end ultimately never getting solved that's how bad the communication is. From what the homeowners told us the only reason they went with this company was because they took the least percentage, hopefully others can understand why it's because they put in the least amount of effort. There was an incident during the middle of winter where we locked ourselves out of the house (our fault), we offered to pay $20 cash for them to drive 5 minutes down the road and drop us off the spare key or let us in, and they told us either we could call a locksmith or walk 30-40 minutes to the office in the middle of winter to grab the spare key. We held onto that spare key until the end of the lease when the homeowners asked us if we had any idea where it might be because Northland had no clue where it's at and they were freaking out, they forgot we had to use it during the winter... If you are a potential renter, don't rent from any property associated with Northland Property Management, and if you are a homeowner, there are other better rental management companies out there that can manage your properties a lot better and at least keep track of keys. I work from home and they contacted me to ask if it was okay if they came into the house for 8 hours Thursday and 8 hours Friday to take some measurements and mess with painting instead of waiting until the end of our lease which was in a few weeks. We respectfully told them that would not work for us because we had to move, go through our stuff, attend some weddings and go on a backpacking trip booked months in advance so it would be best to do what they want to do after we move out. No response for over 24 hours so I followed up with them and all they said back was, "someone will be showing up that Friday for only a few hours." Inconsiderate, unprofessional, non-communicative, Hannah shouldn't even be a door greeter with her level of "customer service".

Fantastic experience: They are the absolute best! The attention to detail, great communication, and personal attention makes every interaction such a pleasure. In addition, they find and vet great tenants. Thank you Michelle and Hanna!

Negative experience: Picks up phone and Immediately hangs up. I would think I caught them at a bad time, but this keeps happening regardless of what time or day.

Fantastic experience: We ended our relationship with NPM in the fall of 2022, because we were no longer renting the property. I reached out to them with a question about taxes this year, and they reopened my accounts so I had access to all the end of year paperwork to help make sense of the 1099. They are responsive and professional. Their screening for tenants is outstanding. I felt they always had my property's care in the forefront of their decisions. They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for. If I needed a rental property managed in Traverse City in my absence, I would certainly call them again.

Fantastic experience: I love working with their team! They are friendly, quick to respond, detailed and guide you through every step of the way. I recommend them to all my friends!

Fantastic experience: Great to work with. Really thorough team and positive attitudes all-around. It can be tough to keep smiling when the housing market is under a lot of pressure and long days at work build up, but NPM and everyone involved were always smiling and professional. Thank You.

Negative experience: This company farms application fees from customers desperate for a rental despite a sole applicant already having been chosen. Landlords have no reason to complain so long as their rental is tenanted while Northland cops a winfall in fees from apps that will never be viewed.

Fantastic experience: Northland has managed my property in Traverse City since I acquired it. Michelle, Nancy and Hanna have each done a wonderful job in every aspect of the operation. They are responsive and thorough, offering guidance and suggestions as appropriate. I sleep better knowing that my real estate investment is being managed by this very professional group.

Fantastic experience: NPM is a well-oiled machine. Very communicative, responsive, and extremely professional. I never feel in the dark with any of my properties. I'm thankful for the NPM team and that my worries are their cares.

Fantastic experience: We are beyond thrilled with our experience with Northland Property Management. They have amazing connections with local vendors, great communication and they found a renter in 1 day.

Fantastic experience: Great management company. Made everything easy and very professional. Highly recommend them.

Fantastic experience: We've loved working with Michelle, Nancy, and the whole team. They have enabled us at the right layer of collaboration and kept us informed. Their rates are really clear and worthwhile. Their communication represents us to tenants very well!

Fantastic experience: Northland is an example of how property managers should conduct business.

Negative experience: Very unprofessional and incompetent staff. Very bad business. Was cursed at by property manger and treated with a high amount of disrespect. Diane was one of two employees in this incident, the other never even introduced herself properly.

Positive experience: They own probably more than half the rental properties In Traverse city. They have alot of people working for them and you can easily get a rude landlord. If they are spraying bugs, they might give you a few hours heads-up... Not much time at all to plan ahead if it doesn't work to ur schedule. My wife has PTSD and she gets horrified if anyone enters the home that isnt a family member. She would be fine if I were there to watch everything. They weren't the best at accommodating to her. I was at work when they would announce it sometimes.

Negative experience: This company was horrible to deal and refused to give security deposit without any explanation as to why. I would recommend everyone find a different company to work with as they were nothing but difficult the entire process.

Fantastic experience: We have rented a home for the past year thru Northland Property Management with Maria de Leon as our assigned Manager. Maria has been responsive, attentive and a pleasure to interface with. Highly recommended

Fantastic experience: We recently bought a home in Traverse City and are part-time residents. Our realtor referred us to Northland for property management and we couldn't be more pleased. Our property manager, Maria is very profefssional and thinks to ask questions of us that we never woud have thought of, to be sure we are doing everything we can to take care of our place. We interviewed many propeerty mangers in the area and are so glad we chose Northland - they get our highest recommendation!

Fantastic experience: I just have to take a moment to share with everyone how wonderful it has been (and is) working with Maria (Cathy, too!) from Northland Property Management. They are prompt and considerate. They've been very caring. Which is something I seek out when working with businesses. It's an overlook quality that, in the end, makes all the difference. I can't recommend them enough.

Fantastic experience: Property Manager Maria de'Leon has gone above and beyond to help me find a new home. NPM has also been the management company for my current home and have been very professional, courteous and helpful while renting with them.

Fantastic experience: Professional, excellent track record and policies. Prompt communication and very knowledgeable

Fantastic experience: We rented through Northland Property Management all of last year and had a wonderful experience. Kathy made sure all our questions were answered in a timely manner and was truly a pleasure to work with. Could not have asked for a better experience renting in the Traverse City area!

Fantastic experience: C21 Property Management is a "5 star company". They review property regularly, attend to needed issues as they arise. Tenants are treated with respect. Owners do not have to worry about the property. You are always kept in the loop. Repairs are done by local professional companies. Office is always ready to speak to owners and resolve situations that might arise. Feel so lucky to have my property with C 21 Property Management Team. Thank you for all you do.

Fantastic experience: Tim Gallagher of Gallagher's Carpet referred me to Maria and the team at NPM; thanks Tim. The Northland management team have been excellent in all aspects of management; marketing, tenant recruitment, handling maintenance issues. They have a good supporting cast of trades people who are prompt and fairly priced. Communication is excellent. I could not ask for a better property manager.

Positive experience: Very professional and responsive property management company.

Fantastic experience: We were new to the area when we moved here. They were so helpful in finding us a place to rent. They met us on a weekend to look at a place which was really convenient for us due to our schedules are living in another part of Michigan. They are always available and if not, return your call back within a few hours. If you have problems with the place you are renting, they get the problem solved immediately. I highly recommend using this company to rent from. Great people to work with.

Fantastic experience: We are huge fans of Cathy and her team at Northland Property Management. This is our third year working with them, and we couldn't be happier. A management team should be capable of taking on the responsibility of your property -- to efficiently handle day to day needs and yet also keep you posted of important matters. They are winners in every sense of the word.

Fantastic experience: As an owner of two fully furnished condos in Traverse City available for yearly rental, I came across Northland Property Management. In contacting them to marriage my units with those in need of Traverse City, in town, housing I was amazed what a great job Cathy, Nancy and the staff did in generating numerous candidates than doing background reviews and meeting needs of those wishing housing in TC. We stay in communication with our present and past renters who also appreciate Northland Properties professional approach to housing. Thank You Cathy and your associates -

Fantastic experience: Cathy and Maria are the best! They were able to get me moved into my new rental unit from touring the home to getting the keys in one weeks time. They made me a priority and are an absolute pleasure to work with. Northland is very responsive to any issues that have came up on the property and have worked with me to resolve them the same day. I would recommend Northland Property Management to anyone looking for rentals in Northern Michigan. Nancy has been extremely efficient in responding to any concern or need I have had. My experience with Northland tops anything I have had with past landlords, they actually care and work for the tenants.

Fantastic experience: Cathy McKinley and her team at Northland Property Management have been managing my rental property since 2014. Their range of services, as well as their experience and excellent customer service have helped me feel secure that my investment is performing well! So much so that in 2016 when I purchased a second rental property, Cathy was the first person I called!!!