Edmands House gives you a lot of space for the price, and the apartment units themselves are very nice. Our two bedroom was clean and well maintained when we moved in, and all the included appliances (fridge, dishwasher, A/C) were in fine working order. As of August 31st, 2004, they included all utilities in the rent and gave you your last month free. Quite the bargain. It's the rest of the place that can get on your nerves.

The rental office operates between 9 and 5 on the weekdays, with absolutely no weekend hours. This can be a pain when attempting to say, access your storage bin, for which you need management supervision. Vandals apparently did a number on the bins in days past, so you now need a chaperone to let you into your own belongings. Swell, but considering most people can't afford to take time off work just to get into their attic, your storage bin is rendered almost useless. Our Christmas tree spent the summer under the dining room table.

If you happen to live in building 11, the office hours can also be a problem when it comes to dropping off the rent. There is no drop box in building 11, and you have to be buzzed into building 15 to access the office. So again, you can only drop off your rent between the hours of 9 and 5, unless you mail it in. To have to mail your rent to a building 20 feet away from you is a bit ridiculous, in my opinion.

The garbage disposal is closed on weekends, because apparently some people "abused the privilege," whatever that means. You hear that a lot, at Edmands House. Their slogan should be, "One person ruins it for everyone." Getting the door open to the disposal room when it was available was near impossible. The lock always jammed. The lock frequently jammed on the front door of the apartment building as well, at one point leaving me locked out of my own building at 2 AM. Thank God someone happened to be leaving for the graveyard shift at the hospital. The buzzer works about 7 out of every 10 times.

I also have to mention that this place smells. The lobby smells, the hallway smells, the elevator smells...everything smells. Of what' Who knows' It's a different aromatic delight every day. Could be cigarettes or vomit or three day old curry...it's a mystery. Often the lobby, elevator and hallways will each have their own unique odor, creating a fun game for your guests. What is That Smell' Fun for the whole family!

The lobby, by the way, is filthy, and often has boxes of old stuff people leave out for others to peruse. So the lobby of your home looks like a flea market on the weekends. We affectionately referred to it as the Edmands House Swap Meet.

As stated earlier, the units themselves are nice, parking is ample, even for guests, and I felt reasonably safe in the neighborhood. It's also conveniently located, right across the street from a mini mall (Sabrina Wongs has awesome Chinese food and Riley's Roastbeef does old car shows in the summer, if you're into that), a bank, gas stations, and many other conveniences. It's also close to Rt 9 and minutes away from the Natick Mall, Shopper's World and every chain family eatery imaginable.

So overall, I recommend it to people just starting out or looking to save a few bucks, but it's certainly not a palace. Don't expect to settle down there anytime soon. But it's serviceable. I don't regret moving to Edmands House, but I can't say I'm sad to leave it either.

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