|
|
AdiamoPalmValley
From:
-Anonymous-
Date posted:
6/9/2007
Years at this apartment:
2006
-
2007
I decided to write an objective review, as much as possible, of the Adiamo Palm Valley apartment complex located at 2100 N. 145th Ave. in Goodyear, Arizona only after reading current reviews on the Internet as well as reaching a point personally that I felt it was important enough to relay my observation, experience and opinion to my fellow consumers. I have provided constructive criticism as well as other dialogue engagement with the present management of the property which, as you will read, was not reacted upon in a fashion I suspect any consumer would be pleased with entirely.
I would also tell you as a consumer that it s not a coincidence that you see a lot of new posting criticizing this property since January. Listen to your gut and use your common sense. It is also not a stretch to read the positive recommend posts and see that they may not be representative of the reality of the situation.
The complex was agreed to be sold/bought in December of 2006 at which time I began to see immediate changes. In early February, the San Diego-based Bassham family, completed its purchase of the Alexan Palm Valley Apartments for $41 million, or nearly $136,000 per unit from TCR Palm Valley Holdings LP of Scottsdale, Arizona (source: http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx'id=551593206BEA23BE As with any change, there are issues which tenants may be impacted by and people generally do not like change. The paragraph about management pertains to the present leadership, not the leadership before the sale of the property.
Location The location of the property is a plus. It is conveniently located to the freeway, all kinds of shopping, parks, golfing and the like. There is no doubt, they have a really good location. At least until the commercial properties build their establishments along Bullard Ave. at which time the view of the mountains would be blocked, replaced by the backside concrete view of a building as well as the odor that comes along with retail/food/gas outlets.
Units There is a good selection of units available to meet your size needs. Yes, they are expensive but depending on your perspective, that can be a good thing. I initially thought that was a good thing however I have observed some behavior which would lead me to believe that a person rents a unit but MANY different people transit to/from the unit. While I do not have access to real statistics, my conversations with existing tenants, maintenance as well as my observation of the number of cars in the lots indicates to me that there are more people outgoing than incoming thus an abundance of apartments available. Generally speaking, the move-in specials are pretty good and rents are reasonable. In addition, there are several units which still have never been lived in even though the place has been renting for over a year and a half, probably 2 years now. Personally, for those with children, it was a positive that the unit was never lived in. Having said that however, the carpet wear in these places is horrible so if you have kids, it should be considered a show-stopper. I replace a vacuum bag in my Hoover Windtunnel every 3 weeks or so because the tweed in the carpet is so poor. It is also pretty obvious that the carpet is not a stain master type. Even water droplets on the carpet leave a stain. I generally need to steam vacuum the carpet once a month. The units seem to have a problem with bugs. While the complex will have someone come out and spray once a month I would say that they are wasting their money. When you have to consider the potential health concerns, it s invasive and doesn t work worth a hoot you wonder why you make an effort. Interestingly enough, many of the bugs come in from your walls such as cracks in the tile grout, seems along the carpet edges and cracks that can not be sealed along the exterior doors. Lastly, while I understand apartments are energy hogs, this one seems to be particularly energy hungry. A thermostat kept at 78 degrees will keep your air conditioning going pretty much constantly. A ground level 1000 sq/ ft. apartment costs me about $130/mo. for electricity in non summer months and $180 during summer months. Far too expensive given I have a cushion of air above to insulate me. Lots of air leakages around doors and windows. One more thing as with many apartments, the walls do not protect against a moderately loud neighbor talking on their phone in the bedroom. Seems to me it s more prevalent here than other places I have rented.
Complex While the location may be pretty good, there are a lot of things not to like about the complex itself. Do not get sucked in to the dialogue that states something to the effect that you can get a never-been-lived-in apartment. Look beyond that. The landscaping is poor. Recent changes in the landscaping vendor or level of service have resulted in weeds everywhere, broken trees, overgrowth/encroachment onto sidewalks which are hazards (particularly if you walk into a branch or tree coming around the corner at night) and burrowing critter problems. Just look for the 2-3 ft. long week growing straight up through a bush. Generally speaking, my experience at the pool is that it is not cleaned very often unless a photographer is coming to take pictures or it s just become too dirty to swim in. There are fountains in the pool area which stain the rock and just plain looks nasty until it gets it s seemingly quarterly cleaning. One post mentioned the vinyl sign and while it is an eye sore I expect it to be temporary even if it has been a few months or more since it appeared. If you take the time to really look at the landscape you may also see some building debris hidden in corners which have fallen of the porches. Interestingly enough, the most cosmetic work done such as sealing the driveways, re-striping, fixing building cracks was done in Oct/Nov for what became obvious as the preparation of the sale of the property or maybe even terms/conditions for the acquisition. Maybe it was dumb-luck-timing. Lastly, do not count on the night time security personnel for much of anything but walking around, talking on his cell phone and laughing obnoxiously outside your window at 9 or 10 o clock at night when you and your kids are trying to get some sleep. If you are lucky enough, he will not look inside your car window as I have observed him do a few times. The pittance they are getting paid only allows them to look at fancy, pricey cars instead of buy them I suppose. Frankly, I feel less secure with the guy strolling around than I do with him.
Safety While the management may plug safety in the complex there are some things that inherently protect the property. First, it s in Goodyear where crime is not that bad. Second, it s in a sparsely populated area. Third, it is off the beaten path. However, the property itself has inconsistent policies with other safety issues which boggles my mind. For example, no more alcohol in the pool area but they allow grills to be on porches and used even though the lease agreements say not to. There are a lot of people that misuse their garages for more than household storage or auto parking. Some have used the garage as an motorcycle repair shop, auto body shop, furniture making shed and who knows what else. Silly things such as not being permitted to back your car in have been communicated to me by a passing maintenance guy but nowhere in my lease do I see it itemized. When asking 2 different management employees the origination of the rule I received two different answers. One, it allows the police to easily see license plates. Two, it s a safety issue. The complex allows people to speed in and out of the complex whipping around corners so it would appear on the surface that it s safer for residents to back in when they can so their vision is less obstructed when looking for the speed demons. Again, they need to focus on the speed which people drive in here and less on which way you park your car. I was unable to find an Arizona law which states cars in residential communities must not back in. For those wishing to use the pool or Jacuzzi after 10 PM, you re out of luck. This may impact those of you that are single or young couples who like to hang out beyond 10 PM.
Maintenance - Since occupation, the complex has seemingly had a good amount of turnover in maintenance staff. A few were really good and the frequent amount of visits I needed for maintenance allowed me to befriend a couple of them who have since left for other opportunities. My unit has had mold issues in a bathroom which is due to the poor ventilation. The bathrooms, while quite large, were not outfitted with a good enough exhaust fan thus even when on they quickly fall behind in getting rid of the moisture. As it turns out, this is a pretty common problem as I think all leases now have a clause about alerting management the moment you think you see mold else you, the tenant, are responsible for costs of repairs. The air conditioning unit I have failed twice in the middle of the August heat last year. To compound the problem, it took DAYS to get it fixed and we were not offered any concessions for the inconvenience. We were told to pack a bag, leave your stuff and stay at a hotel with two infants and a dog until they got it fixed. The second time I had to plead for the use of the mobile air conditioner which was already present on the property. Turns out the thing wasn t properly fitted or scaled for the apartment anyway which is probably why they didn t want to bring it out. I have had two breakers stop working to the extent that the power had to be shut off to the apartment so the breakers could be replaced. While this next item is a construction issue, the walls are not even, square and neither is the door to the outside. After a couple hours of trying to seal up the door properly so the dust and bugs do not come in, the maintenance crew had to give up. The problem is the crooked door jam. Apparently this is also a common problem as I know others that have had the same problem. During a dust storm and in the heat of summer when bugs are looking for cooler places, this can be a problem. Like many apartments, the materials used in this place such as the cabinets are extremely poor and given the price you pay you should expect better quality. Toilet chains. Pop quiz, how many people does it take to repair a toilet chain' Here, two. I have had the toilet chain replaced/repaired a total of 5 times in between both toilets. What s more, all they do is replace it with the same poorly constructed chain or rig it so they fix the problem until the next time I call. Sure, I could fix it myself correctly for $4 in parts from Home Depot but then I may be held liable for something.
Property Management I will lead this section by saying that all but one of the persons in that management office is disrespectful, condescending and outright rude. Heck, the new manager had not introduced herself via a flyer or anything. I had to seek her out myself. Thank goodness for me that one woman was held over from previous management group, Riverstone Property Management. I only work with her now because I don t feel I can not trust or believe what comes out of the others mouths. The residents I speak to all concur that she is shining star there so if you decide to rent from there please seek her out. The property was turned over at the end of 2006 with no transition plan. Apparently, upon talking to the first group of young people that were left to manage to property there was no transition plan. Therefore, several problems arose. For example, multiple billing inaccuracies which originated due to a billing system conversion which was poorly planned. One month tax included, the next missing, the next it appears again. Maybe your water was included. Maybe it wasn t. Did they include your garage fee' How about your month-to-month fee if you have one' They said you re fine because everything is included in the rent price line item. Think again. Heck in, one month in particular the residents didn t even get the bill until the deadline passed. Residents were asked to make a best guess and we ll bill you for any differences . If you travel and want to know what you are paying before it is paid it becomes very difficult. There is no consistency in when the bill arrives. Sometimes it arrives 1 week before the end of the month, others, it is prepared/ready at some random time at the beginning of a month. Of course, late fees are $50 and $10/day thereafter so if you are not babysitting your rent you could cost yourself a lot of money. The lease and bill will remind you that any errors or omissions do not absolve you to pay what they think you owe them. Since the property ownership change I have not had a bill which was accurate or complete (4 months). In addition to that billing conversion issue, the amount of people in the office turned over frequently for about two months. Every time I went in there was a different person who was only there to fill in from another property . This has led to inconsistent property management behavior, employees who are powerless to do much of anything but blame things on past management or conversion issues, and generally the people do not handle themselves well. Frankly, I have found the new management to be condescending and disrespectful. When dropping off the rent check, instead of getting Would you like a receipt' you get a young woman who literally jumps up from her chair and says OH!, I ll take that. Upon giving it to her she says Is there anything else' . This is an indicator of a fundamental shift in the leadership, its experience and objectives. This extends beyond verbal engagements but in their notices and writings as well. Written communications left on your door is very condescending to the tenant. This is made more irritating when I have to deal with constant interruptions for any number of visits. While some are indeed necessary, why can t the property couple the fire extinguisher inspection, air conditioner filter replacement, fire extinguisher installation under the cabinet and other silly things in ONE visit instead of many visits scattered every few weeks. Further, they schedule things during holidays such as the fire extinguisher installation under the cabinet on Thanksgiving week was just plain thoughtless. While I respect the owners need to tend to their property, this behavior is disrespectful to the tenant and could be perceived as an unnecessary invasion of privacy. Another annoyance are the snippets which get communicated by mouth about rule changes amongst tenants but no written communications is sent to residents until they see a sticker on their car that it will be towed unless they park forward into a space. Communication issues indeed but also indicative of the youthful ignorance of the new management and its ownership. My experience with the new management has been opposite of an earlier post. When problems, issues or concerns are raised the management does not know how to react or respond. Unless it s a simple problem like a toilet chain issue, they seem to wander around mentally in determining what they should do. Ultimately, the response will end with them thanking you for bringing the problem to their attention and they will follow up on it. If you wait long enough you will see little or nothing in terms of response. I will say that the current maintenance manager has tried to make significant changes for the better but he certainly has his work cut out for him.
Odds/Ends Of course, you take all these observations, experiences and concerns and silly things crop up which may impact your decision making. For example, when the trash man comes, there are several dumpsters which are difficult to open because they were slammed shut when the truck emptied the dumpster. People have begun to leave their trash outside the dumpster. Unfortunately, the maintenance guy gets stuck with opening the sliding door and putting the trash in themself. You ask yourself, why can t the dumpster be fixed/replaced'
My intent is to provide additional detail on my observations and experiences. Some of these issues can be experienced in other properties as well. Given my experience however I would be extremely likely to take an unknown property versus this one at this point. In my opinion, there is most certainly a large degradation in the management of the property as well as the services they provide. I hope this review allows a future tenant to make an informed decision and weigh the good points vs. those which may be difficult to tolerate. If you re single or even dating, this might not be a bad place if you can get an itemized list of rules. If you have a family, the intrusiveness, lack of management skills and generally being treated like an adolescent will likely deter you.
Clearly they should focus more on things like billing, changing the website to something more current (still points to the old property name) and other more important items than whether or not your car is touching the white line of a parking spot.
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer: No attempt has been made to verify or assure the accuracy of the claims made by the author of this opinion or responses. You must judge the truthfulness of any review and accept responsibility for your use of this information.
Free estimates on moving trucks
Free quotes on movers
Up to: Alexan Palm Valley
Goodyear apartments
|
I'm the author!
