Just a warning this is a long one.
The other previous reviews are completely accurate. First we lived in a flat which is a really nice setup, in theory. After the first two quiet months, we realized that the two apartments above us were vacant, because when those residents moved in, we could here walking, talking, music, TV, washer, dryer, vacuum, cabinets closing, toilets flushing and everything in between. You can hear everything from the people walking up and down the stairs outside the front bedroom window, to the busses in the parking lot at the mall that idle outside the back bedroom window. Not to mention the air conditioners which are also outside the bedroom window. If someone owns a dog in the complex I promise they live above you and they probably don't have a pet agreement. We complained about the apartment above us numerous times about leaving their full-size boxer in the half bath under the staircase, which barked and scratched at the door for an hour everyday. It also ran back and forth in the apartment, sounding like thunder. And management made excuses for them because it was his girlfriend’s dog and he was just watching it (all day and night?). Did I forget to mention the UF engineering program’s go-cart in the mall parking lot, going as late as 9:00pm on weekdays and starting as early as 8:00am on weekends? It creates a high pitch motor sound that can be heard from any room in the apartment with all doors shut (including the bathroom, and at this point we do not live in the building next to the mall). I don’t remember that being on the lease agreement to have to put up with that all summer, going into September. A flyer was put up at the mail box about it so residence could complain to The Oaks Mall and Gator Motorsports. It was torn down within 24 hours by management. Not to mention the people who had their individual remote control cars, they make the same obnoxious noise.
Yeah the parking thing I’m sure is worse in the back of the property, but still pretty crappy in the front. They allow one resident to leave their motorcycle in a spot all to itself which has not moved in the past year it has been there ( I wonder if it runs). Our parents who come to visit have to drive up and down the single visitor lane of no more than 25 spaces until someone moves, instead they tell us to tell our guest to park in the tow away zone at the Hampton Oaks medical center as long as they are gone by 7:00am. How can we trust that? Which I have noticed that there are a couple of cars that are there everyday. Maybe they should just give those residence an extra parking decal and stop being so stingy. After a traumatic car accident I was forced to park my rental for three weeks in visitor parking because they would not give me a new decal, I had to have my old decal delivered from a scrap yard in Ocala.
The toilets have a hose in them that every couple of weeks when flushed would come loose and flood the bathroom, if you took the top of the toilet off to stop it you get sprayed. There’s a 4 sq. in. hole in the wall behind the pretty pedestal sink. The bath tubs had some red dots in them, that could not be scrubbed out. Management blamed that on the pesticides from the bug people. The dishwasher would fill up every couple of days with stale water that had a horrible smell, because the disposal backed up into it. Maintenance told us to run it more often instead of them taking the time to just bolt the drain hose to the top of the cabinet.
For the first time in months the spa was at the correct temperature for two days in a row. We went to use it, it was cloudy almost gray color and smelled like a gym locker. Which means two things: there is bacteria in the spa and probably the pool and that there were no chemicals put in it for at least a week. Just before move-in time the pool was so bad that every time we used it we would be sick the next day with cold like symptoms. Last Sunday a man with his four kids practically destroyed the pool leaving all their trash all over the pool. When I went to get the mail the next evening, cutting through the pool, the trash was still there. Do the property staff not have enough time to take not even five minutes to keep the property at least looking nice?
So we were able to convince them to let us move to a townhouse because supposedly there was a demand for the flats (those poor people had no idea what they were in for). Now the tree between our building and the building behind us scrapes against the walls and windows, making a creepy noise all the time. For a property who seems to be so concerned about mold and mildew, they must not know trees on walls can cause a lot of mold. When we first moved in upstairs we really had very few noise issues other than the group who hangs out in the parking lot in the middle of the night hooting and hollering and leaning on other people’s cars. And the incredibly loud car radios, and motorcycles. Would it hurt to put up a sign at the entrance of the complex to remind residence to turn down their music and ride motorcycles at a pace that doesn’t excessively rev the engine?
The new apartment has a crack in the bottom of the front door, I’m guessing that’s how the roaches are getting in. We have to use both hands to close the door, one to pull the handle and the other to turn the key. The carpet should have been replaced before we moved in, but I’m sure we will be charged for it when we move, even though it is fairly obvious that it is multiple years of wear and tear.
The news letter has said the exact same information every month about leash rules and fines and pool rules, but if it’s still being repeated they must not be doing anything about it, try actually enforcing these rules. How about putting some new information in the newsletter like informing residents not to talk on their phones on the balconies because their neighbors can hear every word.
And when the maintenance department has to do things in your apartment, they make sure they do each thing at different times of the month, so you have them in your apartment 2 to 3 times a month. They also take two days to do each job throughout the whole complex, it would be just as easy to type a note for half the complex that said it would be done one day and the other half of the complex would be done the other day, as opposed to one note that says we’ll be in your apartment tomorrow or the next day. I want to know when some one will be in my apartment, not just approximately some time this week. For the pet owners I’m sure they only want have to secure their pets one day at a time not two in a row just in case. Why can’t they change the filters, spray for bugs and check the smoke alarm in the same day, and just take one or two more days to do the rounds.?
I can understand that because of parties and gatherings that people will make more trash on the weekends, but there is no excuse for the dumpster to be so overflowing that you have to place the garbage outside the door. It seems as though it is only compacted once a week and well before the weekend, to the point where it is already close to full on Friday, when it should be emptied.
It was very obvious before moving into either apartment that the patch jobs were done poorly, paint is on almost every light switch, outlet plate and door handle.