Fisherman's Landing was sold to Aimco a while ago and became Solana Vista. When you first get here the place seems ok, and people treat you like royalty. Once you've moved in, that changes quickly.
It's a pet-friendly area, sort of. There are places to walk your dog, but there are also horrendous non-refundable pet fees. Many of the apartments are in poor shape; there are bugs, walls and windows leak, my apartment has had a hole in the ceiling since I moved in, the kitchen is literally falling apart and the front door gets stuck at times. If you point out any of these many failings, the people working here will look as if you are having real problem that will be looked into, and then nothing happens. When I moved in, someone had "forgotten" to hook up the washer and dryer and it took three weeks to get it done.
When they show you the apartments, and if you read on the website, they'll brag about cable TV, and about wifi around the pool area. You get to pay for that wifi by the hour if you want to use it, and that cable TV was only the option to buy a plan from Brighthouse.
I wake up at 5:30 every morning when the neighbour above me turns the shower on. It sounds like I have the Niagara falls in my bedroom! If there ever were any sound insulation between the apartments, it's long gone.
If you want to change apartment within the community, say upgrade to a bigger one, they'll put you on a 30 day waitlist and charge you a $500 fee. Tenants put on the waitlist will also be charged 5% extra on the rent! At the same time, new tenants are offered up to two month's free rent and there are plenty of empty apartments.
The old saying "It's all about the money" is all too true when it comes to Aimco; they seem to be out of money! There's supposed to be complimentary coffee for the residents. That machine has worked once during my year here. It's allegedly too pricey to fill it up so it's always empty. They used to give out a monthly calendar, telling important little details like when bug-control are supposed to come, but that calendar became too expensive so it is no more.
It's supposed to be a gated community, I've lived here for nearly a year and the gates have never worked. I talked to one of the neighbours who has lived here a year longer than me, and it hasn't worked during all the time she has been here either, she could recall the repairman saying he had seen it closed one time about half a year before she moved in. So that's 2,5 years since anyone can remember seeing the gate closed even as an experiment!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/27/2009
Horrendous pet fees? Maybe. But you knew about them BEFORE you moved in. Fees for transferring. Absolutely. It costs money to move you to another apartment. They have to turn a unit for you to move into and then turn the one you just moved out of. Stopping the newsletter.Yes it costs lots of money. Dont know if you've noticed the economy, but it blows. Your lease spells out ALL of these charges and fees. I'm certain as you were moving in you were to anxious for Frank or Amy to give you the keys, that you probably didnt pay attention to what they were explaining. The gates, I'll agree with you on that one. However, if there weren't a bunch of mindless residents who tailgate and hit the gates with their cars, push them open when a code they shouldn't have doesn't work, or just plain dumbassedness and hang on them tear them up, it wouldn't happen. It costs a ferw hundred dollars EVERY SINGLE TIME a gate tech comes out to fix them. Hearing noise upstairs from thei shower. Yes, its annoying. But, you live in an apartment! If you don't want to hear your neighbors, buy a house. I agree there's no excuse for leaving the washer dryer unhooked for three weeks(assuming thats true). Before you respond with what I am certain will be witty and pithy, YES, I used to work there. Yes I know the resident with whom you spoke about the gates. And yes you're an imbecile.
From: newinflorida	Date: 06/14/2009
Hmm, this is interesting. I've been living at Solana Vista for the better part of a year now, I found this site when wanting to read reviews for my new apartment home, and I of course wanted to read the reviews for my current community as well. Sadly, I agree with most of the things in the review. My apartment is very expensive, and it's not a good place to live; I've had more problems with it during this one single year than with all places I've lived previously in my life together. I'm closing in on 40, so that's bad! To be fair, the economy in general was much better when I got it, and that's why it's expensive; they've lowered the prices for new tenants. And, to be fair, they've had a lot of people working here coming and going during the last year, and that explains why it has taken a long time to get repairs. I think the people working here do the best they can, but they are only so many, on a limited budget, and with a large number of apartments to service. I used to work with leasing apartments a long time ago, and I agree with the writer about the fees and waiting time to change apartments. I'm nearing the end of my lease, and I've made it very clear that I will not stay in the unit I have, and they will have to clean it up and fix some things after I leave in two months time anyway. They would still rather have me move somewhere else than meet me even half way on the fees. (I'm a good tenant; I'm quiet and I pay my rent on time.) I find this peculiar since there's at least 15 empty apartments here today, these units are advertised with up to 1,5 months free rent and they're still not able to fill them. Regarding the anonymous user response; the pet fees have been increased during the year, so someone getting a pet today would have to pay much more than a few months ago. I agree with the noises; there are noises in all apartments but MORE OR LESS depending on the construction of the buildings, and the ones here are definitely more; I for one hear the neighbours TV very well! Regarding withdrawing services such as coffee, newsletter and the possibility to pay online with a visa card, well, of course these things cost money. But the fact that the economy 'blows' doesn't justify withdrawing services like these when the surrounding communities still have them. Or rather, Aimco can withdraw them all they want to, but it does make it more difficult to keep the tenants when people start comparing to other places in the same area, as I myself have done. On a more personal note; when someone expresses opinions you don't agree with, calling that person an imbecile sort of takes away credability from you own answer.
From: bassgoddess	Date: 06/15/2009
I was going to write a comment here, but now that I think about it, I'll write a review instead. It's fascinating though how the first person who wrote a response calls the reviewer an imbecile; if that's the attitude you have towards people who don't agree with you, you should probably try to find employment in some other business. Also, if a number of tenants complain about the same thing, it's very likely a real problem.
From: RH82195	Date: 10/25/2009
Just a fact Check. Aimco has owned Salona Vista for many years. Aimco decided a few years to improve the community and renamed it when they had completed the upgrades. I lived in this apartment complex for over 2 years and decided to move to a different city or would still be living there. This was by far the best place I have ever lived in. I will rewrite my own review but my experience follows. The gates worked consistently until someone rammed the gates over and over last February and then a second person hit and ran over the key pad. Within the 2 years they replaced the roofs on all buildings and covered parking areas. Put in new energy efficient AC units and thermostats. Had Verizon make the buildings Vios ready. Re-screened the patios. Painted the buildings. Put in new Stainless steel appliances in all units. Built a fitness center with card key access. And repaved the parking lots. The biggest problem is the buildings are older with limited sound insulation. Prior to renovations I did have some major AC and water heater problems but in every instance maintenance was at my door in minutes addressing the problem (even at 3AM) with smiles and apologies. They even drove to Tampa in the middle of the night to get a water heater from another complex so they could install it before I left for work. When My AC broke they took my dog to the maintenance office since he was so hot they were afraid he would have a heat stroke.

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