All units are 2bed/2bath. When I lived there (I just moved out), rent ranged from 2650-2850 per month, trash and water are covered. $1000 security deposit. When you sign the lease, you sign a supplemental form that says you agree to pay a cleaning fee of $400 regardless of how you leave the apartment upon move out. The landlady gave us a copy of the lease, but when my roommates and I moved out we noticed she neglected to give us a copy of the supplemental form. We visited her office and she made a copy of the supplemental form - and that was that! Also, you pay an additional $40 deposit for a parking space. This was returned in full when we gave back the garage remote when we moved out.

**I should note, the security deposit and first month rent must be paid in cash or cashier's check. She does not accept personal checks for this. Afterward, you may pay your monthly rent with personal checks.

Pros: Decent-sized living space especially if you live in units that cost 2750 or 2850 per month. The main difference is the size of the living room --- my roommates and I felt the living rooms of the 2650 units were a little too compact for our liking. Bedroom closets are relatively roomy. Also, there are plenty of laundry machines on-site. 5 washers, 5 dryers. You use a special laundry card (as opposed to quarters) -- so you don't need to carry around change!

Maintenance is pretty good about fixing damages you might incur during your stay. My oven broke - I reported it to the landlady, and within a week maintenance came in and replaced my entire oven with a new one for free!

It's also good that each unit has an electrical switchboard in the master bedroom. Several times my roommate would use the microwave, toaster oven, and coffee machine at once (all on the same circuit). Of course, this overloaded that circuit and it would short. This was easily solved by flipping the corresponding power switch conveniently located on our personal switchboard! By comparison, I haven't located the switchboard in my new apartment... I don't think I have access to it, so if I have a short in my new apartment it looks like I'll need to call maintenance/an electrician to fix it.

Also, there is a trash chute on each floor. However, you have to walk to the garage to dispose of recyclables.

Cons: Rent here is on the expensive side for North Village, even if you divide it among 4 roommates (here I paid $687.50 per month individually --- in the new place I live, I pay $566.66 per month individually, which is probably closer to the median rent you'd find in this area. I have met friends who pay $400 elsewhere in North Village, but this is not common).

Also, this is a relatively HUGE apartment complex for the North Village. There are about 4 floors and 14 units per floor. Assuming there live about 4 people per unit, there were about 200 residents in the building. Living in the "Love Boat" often felt like living in the dorms. All of the residents I ever saw were undergrad students. Folks liked to throw parties during the school year. Since most/all of the bedroom windows face the tile/cement inner court, it was really easy to hear the activity of kids running up and down the stairs, yelling across the way, their cell phone conversations and their arguments. Although the manager lives on-site, she often was out during the evenings so she wasn't around to address the ruckus.

Another con is that the walls are somewhat thin - it's easy to hear what's going on in the bedroom next to you, if you know what I mean.

Cons regarding laundry machines: the laundry cards only accept $5 bills and upward. You can't deposit $1 bills or quarters into the card. Also, the laundry machines are somewhat pricey - washer charges $1.25 per load, dryer charges $1.00 or $1.25 per load (I forget). If you like to divide your clothes by color like me, I found it most economical to wash the colors separately then throw them all together in a single dryer afterward. That way, colors don't bleed. Be careful though --- if the load is really large altogether, your clothes might not dry completely. I always made sure jeans and towels were washed and dried separately from my other cotton clothes because they're so heavy ---- it was nearly impossible to dry them together.

Overall, I didn't love living here mostly because of its price and because of the unavoidable noise and activity from so many "energetic" undergrad residents -- but I didn't hate it either. It did the job. The maintenance crew was good. Fortunately, the manager will be nice to you and will be more responsive to your requests if you prove to be a "good neighbor".

Overall, I'd give it 3 or 3.5 stars out of 5.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/23/2009
Wow, you way overpaid. I lived in a 2 bedroom on the first floor for $1700. The place is a dump too. This was 3 years ago.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/23/2009
Reviewer: talk about "inflation" :/ however, it was one of the few places with a 2bed/2bath available north of wilshire when my roommates and i were looking around for an apartment, so we were stuck.

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