Stay away from this place! I have lived here for years (I moved in when it was still Somerset Park.) Archstone promised better maintenance, better security, *it was all supposed to be better*! They are running this place into the ground. They don't take care of the grounds - except for what you see when you are viewing the model apartments. Up there, they have bark in their landscape beds (oooh and pretty flowers too!) In the middle of the complex, they have new-ish mulch (just in case a prospective tenant might wander too far back.) All the way in the back of the complex, we have nothing covering the landscape beds. Some of them are empty. One had a dead bush (brown and crispy) for **more than three months** until someone finally put up a nasty note. Really, insist on seeing the exterior of your unit and the surrounding area before signing that lease.
I have a hole in my wall from work performed in 2009 that was never fixed. I have tried several times to get it fixed and the last time **I was accused of making the hole that was clearly made to access plumbing!** oh and the plumbing repair in question? I had no hot water and I literally had to call them for three months daily because some a-hole kept marking the service request as complete online and the service manager insisted I had no problems!!! I had no hot water for three months!!! We boiled water to make it warm enough for bathing for three months!!! I only got it fixed when a new service manager started.
They change managers regularly so new rules are constantly popping up that no one knows about (somehow we are limited to 2 plants on our patios now, although nothing in the lease or community guidelines says this. I got warnings from something I didn't know was a rule!!)
I have a dog - I pay pent rent, which is ridiculous here. To me, you pay pet rent for the extra maintenance dogs and cats bring to the complex. I have to bring a flashlight when I walk my dog at night because otherwise I step in numerous piles of poop. (btw I do pick up after my dog.)
Oh and they might casually mention that you are responsible for water and trash - when I first moved in (again, it was Somerset, not Archstone) that was included in rent. Then Archstone took over and I was paying about $15/month - ok, reasonable. I now pay upwards of $70 every month (and it keeps going up because occupancy is down and you pay a percentage of the property's water bill!) Our sprinklers went off for more than 6 hours last weekend and they did not rush out to fix it so you can see they really just don't care how stuff like that affects your monthly budget.
Water pipe repairs are ridiculous. They are always listed as an emergency repair, although when my repair was done in 2009, we planned it a week ahead of time and they told my neighbors it was an emergency. The water has been turned off twice in the last month for more than 6 hours with no prior notice. Last night I was calling them from 5 to 7 (literally every 15 minutes, sometimes more often in this time frame) because I got an email saying the water was off for a few hours at 1:30 and it was still off when I got home from work. They never answered the phone!!! I called at least 15 times and they never picked up. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out if I need to go buy water, which I had to do last time they turned off the water; they said water would be available in the office but the office was locked up tight when I got home. They left a 24-pack of water in front of the door and I got a single bottle for two people and a dog because that was all that was left. I could tell they were inside, so I knocked on the door and they didn't answer. I could see and hear people in there!!
The laundry card machines have been broken the last two weekends. They said to come to the one in the office, as that one was working. I went 5 times last weekend and 7 the weekend before and no one was in the office. Both weekends I wound up taking all my laundry to a laundromat. btw, the laundry rooms suck. There is no ventilation as they have screwed all the windows shut for "security" purposes. Meanwhile...I don't think I have to tell you how hot it gets in there when it is over 90 degrees outside.
Lastly, we used to have regular security patrols - nope, no longer. We supposedly have it, I have never seen a security patrol since Archstone took over, meanwhile when it was Somerset, I knew the security guys by name. We knew all the staff by name since they were consistent, not consistently replaced. I regularly take the trash out every night and I regularly see sketchy people, sometimes *sitting on my car*. There are always red party cups left in the parking lot. Where is security if these guys are hanging out in the parking lot at 11:30 pm? one thing I can say is that at least Archstone tries to remove the evidence of the parking lot parties around 7am every morning. I still see random used condoms though...so...yeah that's gross.
You may wonder why we have stayed so long - we have a German Shepherd, which is banned everywhere else around here. We are finally getting out of this hellhole and buying a place. Can't wait!!