Apartment reviews

[acole1]

Me and the fiance have been looking around at apartments, and one thing that is high on our list of priorities is safety. I realize apartments have a statistically higher crime rate, but I'd like to get one that is pretty safe.

I have read several reviews online, and I'm not sure how to interpret them. I know that angry people are more likely to post a review than satisfied people, so how seriously should I consider poor reviews?

Any suggestions on this, or apartment hunting in general?

Thanks!

 

[Jeff7]

Are you able to visit the apartment? Would it be possible to rent a house instead?
I've essentially got a house to myself here - the other half of the building is a convenience store, but the noise isolation is quite good. No one above me to be loud, no one below me to get annoyed by footsteps, no communal laundry facilities, and so on.

If you're paying utilities, ask about insulation. Your profile says Texas, so heating shouldn't be much of an issue, but I've also read about Texas summers. You probably don't want much of that leaking into your house, fighting your air conditioning system. This place I'm in is probably visible from space in infrared wavelengths, it leaks so much heat.

 

[sjwaste]

Check crime statistics for the area, or even the building itself. The local police should be able to help.

Visit the place. Does it look safe? Do you feel safe? Is it gated? Need an access card to get in? Is there someone at the front desk?

A lot of it is going to have to do with the neighborhood too. You're not likely to find a good building in a bad part of town.

 

[dlx22]

I have lived at two different large complexes

first one (~500 units) has a 33% positive rating, second(~200 units) has a 45% rating on apartmentratings

those both look bad but in reality they really were not that bad.

Apartment living is really only as good as your neighbors/landlord, I don't try and piss anyone off either

edit: i'm in the dfw area

 

[TallBill]

Only angry people post reviews. The ones online about my complex were "maintenance is slow to fix things", blah blah. Whenever we've needed a repair, someone was out to fix it insanely quick.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Only angry people post reviews. The ones online about my complex were "maintenance is slow to fix things", blah blah. Whenever we've needed a repair, someone was out to fix it insanely quick.

Exactly. When I worked retail, we once got 12 bad call-in comments in one month (or maybe quarter, I don't remember), and this was a bad thing because we didn't get any positive comments. My own comment though, was that not many people will call in to say, "I had a normal shopping experience today, thank you." If someone meets expectations, they're not going to get special congratulations for adequacy.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Where are you looking? Are you moving away from DFW?

Anyway, I guess reviews are going to be pretty inconsistent. One person's aggravation may not bother someone else. I guess I'd pass on landlords with numerous complaints about the same problems/shady practices from multiple posters.

- Generally, I've had better/more consistent experiences with the large corporate-run apartment complexes (like Equity Apartments, for example) than private landlords. Though the rent/amenities/utilities aren't as negotiable.
- Don't rent a place without seeing it first hand. If you have to, schedule and trip to actually fly-out to your new location and hunt in person. You'll get to assess in what condition the properties actually are, and in-person impressions of the landlords.

 

[JDub02]

I got a good tip when I was apartment hunting ... call the local police department and ask them how many calls they get to the area or complex and what the calls are for. That'll give you a good idea of the area.

 

[acole1]

We went out to visit a few places on Saturday and stopped by one we really liked. It is advertised as "luxury apartment living." The grounds are kept very well kept and clean, it's gated, and everything appeared very nice. The guy who showed us around said he lives there and enjoys it because it's quit and people keep to themselves, but who knows if that's really true or not.

It's owned by a corporation running primarily N/NE Dallas apartments.

Regarding the location: its not in a bad area of town, backs directly onto a undeveloped field, and the next block is a Frys with some other office/commercial space, right off a main highway.

It's set with a group of 3 apartment complexes, and is the nicest one. One on the right is a not quite as nice, but close, and the one on the left is a bit older, more family oriented, and a bit worn out.

It had some good reviews online, and some where people were mad. The anger is primarily about slow maint, management in general, gates not working (not unusual for most apartments it seems), car alarms occasionally going off, etc.. Nothing close to the "I had my car broken into 3 times, witnessed a beating in the parking lot, and am on a first name basis with the PD" reviews I have seen for some places.

For those in the DFW area, it is close to I20 and about 10min west of 360.

 

[bobdole369]

Apartmentratings - and any site for that matter - are poor indicators of actual tenant reviews and experiences. Most property management places drum up the reviews, lots of fakes go in. Most former residents call them out on it, and post terrible reviews.

Visit the place, hang out and ask a few neighbors what they think.

See ifyou can find the maintenance garage and talk to the super - he's a great source of info.

 

[JMapleton]

If you know the city well enough you should know how much crime is in the area. I choose my complex because I know the location is safe, although the price is higher.

Important thing is to know what kind of people live there. A lot of retired wealthy people who live in my city part time live in my complex (neighbor has an SL600), so I know it was safe and quiet.

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Where are you looking? Are you moving away from DFW?

Anyway, I guess reviews are going to be pretty inconsistent. One person's aggravation may not bother someone else. I guess I'd pass on landlords with numerous complaints about the same problems/shady practices from multiple posters.

- Generally, I've had better/more consistent experiences with the large corporate-run apartment complexes (like Equity Apartments, for example) than private landlords. Though the rent/amenities/utilities aren't as negotiable.
- Don't rent a place without seeing it first hand. If you have to, schedule and trip to actually fly-out to your new location and hunt in person. You'll get to assess in what condition the properties actually are, and in-person impressions of the landlords.

I live in an Equity Apartment complex, they've been pretty good. Not amazing, but good. The apartment is in good repair and any work that needs to be done is done fast. We had trouble with a neighbor throwing loud parties, throwing up in the bushes, leaving garbage and broken beer bottles around, etc. The apartment manager had a sit down with them and tore into them. I'm not sure what he said but we haven't heard a peep from them since.

My advice is go to the apartment and look around. If it looks in good repair it's a good sign that they care about keeping people happy and keeping their place attractive.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: acole1
Me and the fiance have been looking around at apartments, and one thing that is high on our list of priorities is safety. I realize apartments have a statistically higher crime rate, but I'd like to get one that is pretty safe.

I have read several reviews online, and I'm not sure how to interpret them. I know that angry people are more likely to post a review than satisfied people, so how seriously should I consider poor reviews?

Any suggestions on this, or apartment hunting in general?

Thanks!

Do what I am doing. Avoid any area with greater than 90% minority populations, or those with greater than 75% White populations (unless you are White yourself, because then you aren't ruining anything property-value-wise.)

Racially diverse areas are best, since most people get along that way.

 

[Scouzer]

the concept of picking an apartment is totally foreign to me. in alberta, the fact is if any apartment comes available you just take it. it doesn't matter the neighborhood or anything, because if you skip it it could be months until you find a place.

in my town vacancy rate has been less than 1% for years, and less than 0.5% for the last two years.

wish i had the luxury of finding a nice place.

 

[shortylickens]

Visit the apartment, dont rely on review sites. So many of them are just fibs & falshoods told by apartment agencies trying to get easy advertising that looks like helpful advice.