After two years, I?m leaving for cheaper rent. There is some inaccurate misinformation in a number of the reviews at this complex. I?ve got a long posting here but it?s useful to read it all if you?re thinking about living here. If you have other questions, feel free to read all the way through to my email at the end.

Understand that there are two 'separate' management entities involved in this complex. Beacon Village is a former apartment complex that was converted into condos. (Actually, a coop, but the difference isn't worth discussing here.)

Most likely, you'll be renting from Tremont Ventures Incorporated, affectionately known as TVI. TVI owns almost all of the units in the complex. TVI staffs an on-site model unit for signing up their new tenants. They are the people you?d be talking to when you take a unit here. They are the people you talk to when you need something fixed in the unit. They are the people that call you if the rent is late.

Beacon Village, the coop, has a separate office for managing the affairs of the coop. They are the people responsible for shoveling walkways, running the pool, and emptying the dumpsters. A nice touch is that they will sign for your parcel deliveries and hold them for you.

In a few rare instances, you might rent from an individual owner. But the majority of units are owned by TVI. And most of the remaining have owner-occupants. Experiences with individual-owner landlords will vary, but most of my comments are applicable to the complex overall.

Price -

TVI will charge what the market will bear. Being on 128, they are convenient to a lot of the area?s remaining high-tech industry.

My first year there, June 2002, I came in at $1140 for a ground level one bedroom with no security deposit, no last month?s rent, and twelfth month free. A larger 2nd floor one bedroom was available at $1240 and they quickly offered it to me at $1200 when I noted it was on the side of the complex facing 128 and I was concerned about the noise. The rent for June 2003 stayed $1140 (but now paying the 12th month) and June 2004 would have stayed flat at $1140.

One of the staff people once commented that the owner changes asking prices practically every month based on demand. Historically, prices have been much higher. if the economy rebounds, expect huge rent increases. But you can probably negotiate down from whatever the current asking price is.

Gas heat and hot water, but not electricity, are included in the rent.

Noise -

My apartment had a fairly loud central AC unit but it easily kept things chilled. Almost none of the units have good ventilation. So, if you are outside on a hot day, it feels like you are at an airport due to the hum of everyone running their AC. (It?s a very large and very dense complex.) Cumulatively, all those AC units also throw a lot of excess heat. From an energy conservation standpoint, this place is a nightmare.

If you are on the end of the complex near 128, you?ll also be susceptible to traffic noise and will keep your windows close most of the time. I wasn?t that far from the 128. It didn?t bother me with the windows closed and on those days that I did have the windows open I didn?t really notice it much.

Sound insulation between adjacent units is below average. You?ll sometimes hear people walking above you or water running in adjacent units. My first floor bedroom shared a wall with the front hallway and I could often hear people coming in and out. It depends on your tolerance level. It depends on the neighbors of your specific unit.

Privacy -

All the ground level units have sliding glass doors facing the backside. No windows! So your choice is to keep the blinds shut and live in a cave or leave them open and live in a fishbowl. This problem is exacerbated on the ground level. This might also be a security risk though the conventional rear door that the units would be more at risk.

Security -

My backdoor (not the glass slider) looked like it would be easily susceptible to a crowbar prying the frame. Also, the doors swing out. With hinges on the outside of the door, another potential attack would be removing the hinge pins. Despite these flaws, I?m not aware of any crime issues. I don?t recall anyone other owners or tenants mentioning anything about crime.

Laundry -

One washer and one dryer for my six unit building. Seemed adequate and it was usually available. But I think for most of my time there, there had only been 4 occupied units.

Pool -

One adult pool. Also one children?s pool somewhere though I don?t know where. The pool is okay for hanging out and sipping your soda but don?t expect to do laps or dive in it. It also has a hot tub.

Health Club -

When I moved in two years ago, they were saying something about a health club. It still isn?t available. Don?t hold your breath on it. This might be a useful fact for negotiating price.

Location -

Can?t get much more convenient to 128. Only a few minutes from 93. I can?t figure out that poster who considered it so convenient to downtown Boston.

Size ?

About 400 units. The one-way perimeter road is about 1 mile around. Parking seemed to be ample.

Miscellaneous -

Being a ground unit, I found the occasional black ant crawling around. This wasn?t frequent enough for me to bother calling management.

One tennis court that is lit at night until about 11:00. It didn?t seem to get used too often. I suppose it could be annoying.

Eight dumpsters near the back of the complex. Two dumpsters near the front. Everyone wants to use the front so they are overflowing by the trash service comes to get it. And the trash service picks up every M,W,F. (If you do move here, please find an empty dumpster for your trash.)

Probably a useful complex if you are moving to the area and don?t have a lot of time to look for something. Because of the large stock, there is always something opening up though it might not be at a price you like.

The individual owners seem to complain about TVI a lot because there is a perception that TVI has a large effect on the property values. Despite the location of these units, the market value has been flat for years at only $70-80K. Something to do with the very high co-op fees which include some kind of blanket mortgage.

Overall, there do seem to be a few age-related maintenance issues. The first month I lived there, there were two! problems with my bathroom sink backing up due to a clog in the common pipe even though the drain cleaner said they do all the mains on an annual basis. Also, I recently had few drips of water come through my living room ceiling - I was told this was from water seeping through an internal wall due to heavy rains.

With some shopping effort, you can find better places at lower prices. I agree with some of the other posters - ?OK place for a high prices?, ?ugly and old?,

I don?t understand the poster who said ?It is quiet. Only 2 units per floor and 6 units the whole building.? My building is shares a wall with the next building. So I potentially have noise from two sides.

There is a small pond on the property. But it?s fenced in so you can?t see it!

Limited windows in many of the units.

TVI will let you keep two cats if you ask.

More info -

Feel free to email me at anontom2000@yahoo.com


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