After reading some of the negative reviews I finally thought it was time to give my opinion on living at the Sanctuary. Let me just start by saying I have been living there for 4 months and have had nothing but a positive experience. From the very beginning, which began with my initial tour of the place, to this day, I have not had any troubles and things have been better then expected. The grounds of the place are always in great shape, the pool area is great and there are always pleasant people there. Management and the leasing agents have been extremely helpful with some minor things that have come up, and on top of things have been very friendly.

Many people say things negative about Tara, however I deal a lot with business owners in my line of work, and they want people like her managing day to day activities because she works hard, enforces policies that are set by others. When it comes to customer service, I tend to believe that those who complain a lot or come in with negative attitudes are going to get that in return. I don t care what the problem is, I am always nice and have consistently found that in any scenario, including any with the Sanctuary, being nice goes a long way. I would also encourage readers of these reviews to realize that not many people jump on the Internet to talk about their positive experiences with anything in life, but more use it to express dissatisfaction. Considering all the tenants that have passed through the Sanctuary since it was constructed, there really are few negative reviews.

I have had maybe 2 or 3 small maintenance issues when I moved in that were reported in the morning when I got to work, and taken care of before I returned home that day.

I have also met the owner of the property, who was extremely helpful and courteous when I was signing my lease.

I would encourage anyone who signs a lease to read it! Its not the agents fault or Tara's fault if you don't read everything and ask enough questions to make sure you aren't getting into something you are going to regret. We are all adults, and seems as if some people on here don't like to take responsibility.

Lastly, I can guarantee someone will say I am part of the team at Sanctuary, or was told to write this so please send me an email with any questions you might have and I will be happy to give you an honest true opinion as well as prove that I am writing this based on my own thoughts and experiences.

Kevin

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/16/2008
This person is in the minority. The bottom line is that the Sanctuary is not good place live.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/02/2008
Dear "Kevin" (if that's your real name) ~ Obviously there are always conflicting opinions, and residents who live here who really don't interact with the staff, or go to the clubhouse or the pool. That's their prerogative. You're not living at any apartment complex just to use a pool or a fitness center, or to get coffee at the office every morning. You rent the place for a place to put your stuff into, to come home from work, and to sleep at night. That's not too difficult thing to grasp, right? Give the amount of negative feedback to this board, it's obvious that one or two people would 'speak up' to counteract the negativity. Problem is, you come off sounding like someone who works in the apartment field. I've rented apartments at different areas around the Chicago area, and they all say pretty much the same thing. They've all been schooled to do the same thing. That's how the business is, I imagine. Your 'response' to all the other negative postings on here comes off sounding phony. So what you're saying is that EVERYONE who posted here who had or has issues with the manager (who shall not be named as it seems this site is not editing for content) just has some grudge to harbor? And that the manager and staff are perfect angels and not anything like how they're described in other postings? Are you that naive? It just comes off as plain suspicious. Here is the bottom line: you don't have any other outlet to communicate problems, especially with the staff. The ownership believes the manager can or does no wrong. Then again, why is it that this place constantly is giving away free rent? When you're full up, or all rented, don't you not give away any incentives? Just a thought from someone who doesn't do sales and obviously knows nothing, right? Bottom line: in regards to the 'nice' factor you seem to bring up, it is not the resident's responsibility to be nice, if there is no reason to be nice. One is not contingent on the other. You work in the office? That is your JOB to provide proper customer service to the residents. It's not based on if the resident is 'nice' to the staff. That's what you are getting paid for. That, ultimately, is what shows up in postings like this. I am not taking a position one way or the other on this. I have seen these people work first-hand. I -do- think that the number of negative responses does show that it's not just one person with a grudge. That's a copout excuse and you know it. I guess that means large numbers of residents must be having problems. And it's too bad, because, some minor issues on the property aside, it's the newest place out there. This is in the middle of nowhere still. Remember that. But, from a personal standpoint, I'm happy that the ownership doesn't own more than one property. For those of you who have lived at complexes where they were part of a bigger chain of places, and you may have felt like you were just a number? Guess what: there are more checks and balances involved with bigger management companies. Not so here. If you run into a brick wall, you have nowhere else to turn to. Then you're screwed. Just sayin'....
From: kjs3323	Date: 08/04/2008
The reason my name is up here, along with my email is simply that I do not work for the Sanctuary. In my posting, all I have done is state MY OPINION on the Sanctuary, as I said in my first sentence. You have yours, I have mine, everyone else has his or hers. I???m sorry your experience hasn't been as pleasant as mine, maybe it goes back to that positive attitude I have. Seems to have worked out for me and as a result, I'll keep living that way. Also, in valuing commercial real estate, such as apartment buildings, a vacancy factor is always used in determining the income capitalization approach to value. The reason this is used is that on average most apartments/rental properties can be expected to have annual vacancies of 5-10% here in the Chicagoland area. The fact that the Sanctuary has vacancies is really nothing surprising, and more than likely independent of the issues reported on this site.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/06/2008
Kevin, you just haven't lived here long enough. Stay a while and you too will experience some of the issues that are posted. It's just a matter of time. Hate to burst your bubble, bud.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/10/2008
67 renter, you mention in a later post that we shouldn't assume you work in the office because you are far too busy teaching. Shouldn't you be grading papers or planning your next bulletin board? If you're so busy, why are you on here responding to everyone's posts? Also, if The Sanctuary of Lake Villa staff has done so well then why are they experiencing turnover in the leasing office? I understand if you don't respond, since you're so busy.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/15/2008
Interestingly enough, the manager worked and lived in Indianapolis. How convenient. You've been busted '67renter'. If people thought you weren't part of the staff, or the manager, they do now. Too funny.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/21/2008
If this is "getting old" then why do you continue to post? You must have a vested interest in defending this apartment community. The reason we (yes, there is more than one) remain anonymous is to protect ourselves from the ramifications of voicing our opinion about the apartment complex. Although you have experienced positive interactions with the staff, we have not. I choose to keep my name or any other identifying characteristics off this forum because I have an outstanding issue with that has gone unresolved for several months. I know first hand, the property manager is unethical, engages in questionable accounting practices (the monthly statements I received were littered with mistakes; this continued to happen even after I brought this to their attention - who knows how many residents paid these fees) and is fake. I work for one of the largest employers in the northern suburbs and I can name five separate coworkers that live/lived at The Sanctuary and had a negative experience. That alone indicates there must be more unhappy current/former residents out there. In fact, one of my coworkers (a manager) was treated so poorly by the Sanctuary he shares his story with his staff to teach them how NOT to treat a customer. Also, you mention you are a teacher (several times) I assume someone with your specialized training can easily identify the uniqueness of one's writing style. I am not a teacher and it is clear to me these anonymous posts were not written by the same person. In addition, that assumption is ignorant. This apartment complex has been the receiving negative reviews before Tara was the property manager. It would be impossible for one person to fabricate all of these negative posts. These apartment homes are very expensive and advertise luxury amenities; however, in the opinion of many people, the Sanctuary continues to fall short. I can assure you with confidence there is more than one or two disgruntle Sanctuary residents. If it were only a small population of unhappy people, wouldn't they have eventually moved on and replaced by happy residents with positive experiences such as yourself? Since these complaints continue to surface, I suspect it isn't one or two angry residents that continue to renew their lease only to have a reason to post how they feel on this forum. You pride yourself in being an educator; however, I seriously question your critical thinking skills.
From: 67renter	Date: 08/30/2008
Perhaps then you are incapable of understanding irony, a literary device which does require some thinking skills. My point was that your accusations of my being Tara simply because I posted a positive review would be like my saying that anonymous was the same person writing over and over. I'm not actually saying that all of the negative reviews by anonymous are written by the same person. Likewise, the positive reviews come from residents who have had a positive experience. Anytime you have a site like this, you are going to be much more likely to see more negative reviews than positive. People are always more willing to complain about something rather than say something positive. I choose to try to balance all the negative here with the positive experience I had. If you consider that a "vested interest", that is your problem.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/31/2008
Oh yeah....67renter is DEFINITELY Tara. I can see the sarcasm dripping from the sentences...what a load of garbage.

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