I lived in this apartment complex for almost five years, and for the most part it was a decent living experience. The staff in the office (Vallery and Cindy) is a good one, and they have always been willing to help residents when problems arise, and were able to work with me to keep my rent slightly lower than market value during my stay there. The maintenance staff is good too, and fixed the few problems I had quickly, most often on the same day. My biggest disappointment with the unit is with the corporate folks who own the property, and with some of the neighbors who don?t appreciate quiet as much as my wife and I do.





I expected the corporate owners to work with me a little when I needed to get out of my current 12 month lease a month early to close on a house. I?m already paying for the entire 11th month (of which I?ll only be using four days to move), and I?m giving 30 days notice. I figured that I?ve pumped about $27,000 into that complex, always paid rent on time, and rarely burdened the maintenance staff, so getting around a $600 fine for leaving a month early would be no problem. Nope. Whether you opt out of a year lease after one month or after 11 months of a 12 month lease, you still have to pay a one month penalty for doing so. So now, in addition to having my first house payment due on June 1 (a payment that?s $100 a month less than their rent, tax & insurance included), I owe Charleston Oaks $1200 to essentially stay in my apartment for 4 days while my wife and I move everything.





And let?s not forget that they?re keeping the entire $100 security deposit, too. We keep the apartment spotless, but they?re keeping all the money anyway as an additional penalty for leaving 30 days early. I was told that any additional cleaning fees would be charged to us seperate from that $100, which they won?t use to cover any cleaning costs.





Again, these aren?t complaints I have with the actual on-site employees. As individuals all of them treated me fairly given the unflexible (and in my opinion ridiculous) corporate policies they had to work with.





A few negatives from my stay there, most of which have happened within the last year or two:





Young dudes who regularly drive through the parking lot with subwoofers in their cars that will rattle your blinds. (Since moving out, the apartment staff has informed me that the issue has been addressed and is no longer a problem.)





Neighbors with massive subwoofers who play blow em? up video games that make you look outside to see if a thunderstorm is approaching. But I guess you?ll get that anywhere.





The water bill is dispensed by NW&P out of California, who puts enough surcharges on the bill so that it comes to about $25-30 a month. Everyone I know who lives in a house in this area pays about $10-15 a month.





The dumpster by my unit always filled up beyond capacity between trash pick-ups, making me walk around in search of a less-full one elsewhere in the complex.





Positives:


< maintenance staff kept the property fairly clean and well-manicured, and kept everyone?s appliances running smoothly.

The office staff seemed to treat everyone with courtesy and respect.

Virtually no crime anywhere on the property during my five-year stay.






Final analysis: Not too bad for apartment living, but unless you just enjoy that kind of living, do yourself a favor and just rent a house--You can get a good one a lot cheaper than Charleston Oaks (or any other decent complex) is charging for their units, especially now that Charleston has raised their rent another 7%. Colonial Grand has built "luxury apartments" right next door to them, so I guess Charleston figures it can get more for its units based on its proximity to newer, more expensive ones. I can?t say I would recommend this complex, but that?s because I wouldn?t recommend that anyone live in an apartment if they can avoid it.

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