Marketing and leasing
Editorial photography, transparent listings with credit and income on the page, and the September turnover cycle managed end-to-end if your buildings run on it.
For owners
Property management with a long view, since 2008.
Eighty units across Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, and Allston/Brighton. Flat 7% management fee, no leasing fee on renewals, vendor invoices passed through at cost. Owner retention past year one is over 90%.
What we do
Full-service management for Boston-area owners
Tenant screening
Credit pull, employment verification, prior-landlord reference call, and a Massachusetts-compliant adverse-action process if we decline.
Rent collection
Online portal with auto-reminders. Owner draws on the 10th of every month, direct deposit, monthly statement the same day.
Maintenance coordination
24/7 emergency line answered by Charles River Trades. No vendor markup — actual invoices are forwarded to you. Owner approval required over $400.
Financial reporting
Monthly statements, year-end 1099s, IRS-ready tax packages each January, and a live owner portal with statements, leases, and work orders.
Compliance and Massachusetts law
Notice-to-quit drafting, security-deposit accounting per c.186 §15B, BHA Section 8 coordination, and source-of-income compliance under Massachusetts law.
How it works
From signup to first rent check
- I.
Free portfolio review
We walk the property with you, pull comparable rents within a half mile, and send a written rent estimate plus a positioning memo — usually within two business days.
- II.
Sign and set up
Month-to-month management agreement, owner portal access, and any pre-listing prep we recommended (paint, deep clean, photo shoot).
- III.
List and screen
Listing live with full transparency on requirements. Average time on market is 21 days; September-cycle units list mid-July and turn over August 31.
- IV.
Lease and manage
Move-in walkthrough with photos, rent collection on auto, ongoing maintenance, and monthly statements written in plain English.
Transparent pricing
Flat 7%. No leasing fee on renewals.
**7% of collected rent.** No setup fee. No maintenance markup — Charles River Trades invoices come through at cost. Leasing-only placement: flat $1,500. Month-to-month with 30 days' notice on either side.
Why owners choose Northwind
Seventeen years of doing this the long way around.
I.
We've been here since 2008
Through two recessions and a pandemic. We didn't grow during the cheap-money years and we didn't shrink during the hard ones.
II.
Cambridge-and-across-the-river only
Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Allston/Brighton. We turn down properties farther out — Newton, Watertown, Medford — because we couldn't get to them quickly enough.
III.
No vendor markup
Charles River Trades and our approved third-party vendors invoice us at their rates. We forward the actual invoices. No percentage added.
IV.
21-day average vacancy
Cambridge MLS average is 41 days for unfurnished 1BRs. Ours is 21 because we list with full requirements upfront and qualified applicants self-select.
Owner stories
Owners who have stayed
I inherited a four-unit brownstone in Cambridgeport that hadn't been actively managed in fifteen years. Northwind walked through with me, gave me a frank punch list, leased the two vacant units inside a month, and net cash flow went up 28% after their fee. Nine years in.
Switched from a national PMC and immediately stopped getting random charges added to my monthly statement. Maintenance is faster, my tenants seem happier, and the team actually walks the property — which my prior manager did not.
I live in California and own one Brookline duplex I bought in 2010. Northwind treats it like one of theirs. Monthly photo updates of the common areas — no contract requires that, they just send them.
Ready to talk?
Get a free rental analysis
We'll send a written rent estimate, comparable rents, and a positioning memo — usually within two business days. No commitment.