I came to Glengarry because it was safe, quiet and clean. Not anymore. Ever since the condo conversion started happening, there have been strangers all over the property all day, leaving their mess on the lawns. They take up all the parking with their trucks and equiptment and the noise is horrific. They plant themselves in front of the front doors so that you have to enter around the back of the buildings. The outside lock wasn't working half the winter. Here we are, a building full of people who are paying to live in a secured building and anyone can walk right in!
That's not the only thing we were paying for that we weren't getting. They closed down the pool and the fitness center in the summer so it could be renovated. We should be compensated for what we've been put through. I know some other residents feel the same way.
By the way, I had my realtor look into it and it's not worth it to buy here. Park Bloomingdale (name of the condos)is much too expensive for a fifteen year old community. Especially when there are brand new condos and townhomes going up across the street. It will be years before anyone will be able to turn a profit on this place.
Equity Residential scams their residents. They had a meeting for us last June so that they could explain the condo conversion and there were people who had been living in the apartment community since it was built in 1992. All this time they thought they were building equity each month when they diligently paid their rent. You should have heard the upset when they were told that only a small percentage of that equity could be used towards a condo unit.
They're obviously not selling very well. They've extended offers to current renting residents to sign six month or month-to-month leases at discounted rates. I guess having a bunch of empty units isn't desirable. Maybe they should have thought about that before raising our rent in the first place.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/15/2007
First of all the buildings were built in 1989, not 1992, so they are 17 years old - get your facts straight before you go bashing a place. Second of all I wouldn't trust your realtor as far as you can throw him (or her) because they don't know squat about real estate in Bloomingdale. Equity in real estate takes time to build - it doesn't happen overnight. So if you had any working brain cells you would know that.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/07/2007
Huh? Are we living in the same place? First of all, as far as the rent-with-equity program, it was made very clear when I signed my lease that, depending on where you bought your home, the equity you accrued with your rent would count for 2 to 3 percent of the home's purchase price. Anything else you had accrued would not. It was spelled out by the property manager and in the literature. I'm not sure why people didn't understand that at the meeting. As far as the cost? I work at a local newspaper, and one of my jobs is editing the list of real estate transfers. The prices here are fantastic, especially for the location! If I wasn't planning on moving to NW Cook due to a job promotion, I'd definitely be buying my place. Do you have any clue what the average cost of a condo is in DuPage County? Especially in Bloomingdale? The average condo is about $200,000 to $250,000. It's higher in B'dale (those new condos over by Stratford you're talking about? I happen to know they're starting in the $300K range) The average home in DuPage County is $350,000. Again, higher in Bloomingdale and the rest of northern DuPage/NW Cook. And as for the construction folks...yeah, it's been sort of a pain. But they've been courteous around my building and I've always gotten fair warning when they'd been in my apartment for any reason or they'd be shutting off my water. But noise? Who are you, Superman? Right now, they're remodeling the units upstairs, next door and across the hall. I DO NOT HEAR ANYTHING. It's always been quiet there and still is. And no, they aren't selling well (I don't believe the sign out front that says they're 55 percent sold -- like I said, I edit real estate transfers!) But real estate in general isn't selling well BECAUSE THE HOUSING MARKET IS DIPPING. Do you watch the news? Here's why I think it's a great place to live: 1) It's well-managed. Every call I've ever made to the management office has been returned the same day -- except the time I had to call late one night (it wasn't an emergency, though) 2) It's well-maintained. I've lived there four years and have never had a single bug, mouse or other kind of pest. I've never had a maintenance problem, either. 3) Like I mentioned, the prices are great, especially for the area. 4) It's very safe to live there. One of my other jobs here? Editing police blotter! So I know what sorts of things go on in Bloomingdale. Pretty much the only time you'll see cops in the complex is for the occasional domestic dispute (which will happen anywhere, believe me) or when they're rolling through on routine beat patrols. 5) It's quiet. Very quiet! 6) Location, location, location. And the five-year plan to widen Army Trail Road that's going on right now? It's in the last phase and that should be finished by this fall. So, yeah. It's not to my advantage to say any of this, because I'm renting and really don't want to move anytime soon, since my promotion doesn't come through for a little while and, frankly, I hate moving! But when I do move, I'll be sad. I love living here. Have there been problems? Occasionally. But nothing that irritated me enough to tell people to stay away and nothing you wouldn't expect living in multi-family housing.
From: onehappyhomeowner	Date: 07/24/2007
Your Realtor may have been giving you poor information. If you had purchased a unit when they opened, you could have bought one starting at 119,900 all fixed up or 7500 less for a unit in original condition. Right now the least expensive condo I can find for sale in Bloomingdale is 150,000. Sure wish I had purchased another one as I am sure I could sell it for at least 140,000. If this is such a bad place to live why are the prices going up in a slow market? By the way I have lived here only 8 months. Sounds like a good investment to me. And yes all those people wandering around the complex are workers whom are making this a beautiful place to live. One Happy Homeowner.
From: Laura_S	Date: 05/21/2009
I wish I had seen this post sooner. I'm now a homeowner at another location and I am so glad I didn't buy at Park Bloomingdale. I got so much more for my money elsewhere! While I was living there, though, I had a bee infestation by my patio and the bees kept getting into my apartment. I couldn't get management to send over someone from pest control so I had to call someone myself. Then one night a giant carpenter bee fell into my apartment through the flue. Tried to talk to management about that as well, but never did they send anyone out to look for the source of the problem. As for the construction, there was one night when I got home around 5. It was the fall and getting very dark outside. The workers were packing up their things when I entered the building. I walked into my apartment, locked the door behind me and stepped into the washroom to use the facilities. While I was in there, one of the workers started banging on my door. Not knocking, but rather attempting to bust through the lock to get into my apartment, which he succeeded in doing. I almost had a heart attack I was so scared (single-girl-in-apartment alone-at-night-scared). When the hotel lock fell on the floor, broken and he entered my apartment he mumbled something and ran away. So yeah, I know what you mean about not feeling safe. And please don't listen to the anonymous poster above who went on to bash you instead of just disagreeing with you. So you got a fact wrong, doesn't change the fact that you felt unsafe in your own home.

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