Belong - San Mateo, California

SomeDude1777

Marcelo was Amazing!!! super responsive, professional and courteous! Application process is very straightforward and easy to navigate. Belong has been Amazing from start to finish!! I would highly recommend using them to rent your next home!!!

YC

Belong has been managing my rental property for the past three years. They have a great concept, an excellent online system, and their rent guarantee is definitely a unique perk.
However, the experience largely depends on your concierge, as they are your sole point of contact for all issues. I had a concierge who was difficult to reach, often taking 2-3 days, or even up to a week, to respond to urgent matters like tenant eviction. During that time, my experience with Belong was quite frustrating.
My recent concierge, however, has been a breath of fresh air. He is responsive and fully understands the tenant situation, making communication effortless.
Overall, while Belong's offerings are appealing, the system could be improved to ensure consistent, streamlined service regardless of which concierge you're assigned.

P.S. When my first concierge left, I wasn’t even notified until I contacted customer service. I’m giving 4 stars overall, thanks to my current concierge

Leslie G.

Absolutely horrible experience. I wish I could leave no stars or negative stars. Our time renting with Belong could not have been worse. During our rental time, we had countless issues, no support, landlord trespassing without advance notice, and upon finally trying to move out and leave, they have refused to reimburse the full security deposit, are acting in bad faith and are in breach of the Civil code 1950.5 F1.

They still owe us $1207.81, and will no longer respond to us. The items they called out needing the deposit for repairs were not real, not accurate and were either normal wear and tear, or not due to us as tenants. The inspection was done without reasonable time for tenants to make repairs on their own (Civil code 1950.5 F1) and even stated there were no repairs needed. Then after our lease was up, additional costs were deducted from our deposit , all of which is still illegal.

I do not recommend anyone use this company and I would happily continue to work with anyone that is interested in a class action lawsuit. Their actions and behavior is predatory as a property management company.

Aaron B.

I strongly advise homeowners to think twice before using Belong Property Management. I entrusted them with my property at 2707 Urbino Ct, San Jose, under the assumption they would manage it responsibly. Unfortunately, my experience was anything but that.

The tenant Belong placed in my home caused severe damage over the three years they managed the property. While tenant behavior is unpredictable, these issues could have been mitigated with even a single inspection. The floors, carpets, and walls were saturated with dog urine and feces, and there were multiple holes in the doors and walls. The condition of the property was shocking, and should have been caught much earlier had Belong conducted regular inspections.

After discovering the damage, Belong provided me with an inflated repair estimate that was nearly twice the actual cost of repairs. To make matters worse, they added an unreasonable $5,000 fee for overseeing the repairs, which seemed completely unnecessary.

When I ended my contract with Belong, getting any communication about the security deposit was a challenge. Despite multiple attempts to contact them, they ignored my emails until I became frustrated and demanded answers. In the end, they kept the full deposit, leaving me to cover all of the repair costs on my own.

In short, my experience with Belong was extremely disappointing. The lack of communication, poor property oversight, and unfair handling of the security deposit make it clear that this company does not prioritize its home owners. I would not recommend them to other homeowners.

Cynthia S.

Update: Adding two more stars since stove has been replaced. Still have a few things that need to be resolved.

So far, I am not having a good experience since moving in to the place we're renting.. a whole lot of stuff needed service as if nobody did a full inspection of the home before advertising.. landlord left hazardous waste in the garage to which I am waiting for the Belong "concierge" to resolve.

I'm 3 weeks in without a working stove and yet I am paying the full amount of rent. The first two weeks the customer service had been great... but now... I have not heard from anyone at all.

Sandy D.

It was a tough Process at the beginning, trying to rent our home in a very unstable market. There were some hiccups here and there within agents not , showing up to the property but Marcelo came through and was able to take control and manage to rent our home right away. At the end, we were happy with the outcome. We look forward to working with Belong. Thank you, Marcelo for your hard work.

Eliser H.

I found a perfect house with a large backyard for my son to play in. We looked at the house and liked it. We applied to Belonghome and sent all the requested documents, work contacts, and current housing contact. To my surprise, the only information they asked for was my credit score, and they even said it wasn't good (isn't a 755 score good?). My rental history is 100% correct, and I honor my duties and obligations. They also didn't contact my boss to get information about my work, they didn't call the owner of the house where I currently live to ask for payment history and other things. In short, I paid $60 for each application and they didn't ask for anyone's information. Terrible work, I don't recommend them.

Daniel R.

We just moved into a house managed by Belong. It's a nightmare. Instead of communicating with a single person, you are shipped between multiple representatives who very clearly don't communicate amongst each other. We're going through hell right now just trying to get minor issues addressed. Please do yourself a favor, if you see that you're going to have to deal with Belong instead of an owner, DO NOT SIGN THE LEASE.