My girlfriend and I lived at Briarwood for 2 years. We left because we decided to buy a house due to the market decline and tax incentives. Our unit was on the second floor (out of 4). We occasionally heard noise and banging from upstairs, but that is common to all apartments where you are living below someone else. The race of tenants is mixed with perhaps slightly more black than white. This area of Owings Mills (Lakeside) in general is more black. Fortune China across the street has great take-out Chinese and Japanese food, and Food Lion is also there if you are too lazy to go down the street to Giant.

Our biggest complaint is that there were often groups of people hanging out at the picnic areas outside. They were very loud and usually were there during the summer months. On a few occasions we smelled pot smoke in the halls after people had been smoking in the stairways. The pool was ok, although we did not use it that often. It was easy to get a parking spot near the door unless we came home very late at night, in which case we had to walk a few feet.

Our only interactions with the office staff were to sign our lease papers, pay rent, and pick up packages from the office. They were always friendly and helped me quickly. Maintenance was decent as well. They would enter all apartments 2-3 times per year to check the fire alarms and heating/cooling units, and would always leave a notice on the door one day prior to entering the apartment. We only had to request maintenance once right after moving in because the garbage disposal did not function. It was fixed by the next day. The appliances are probably about 10 years old, but they worked fine. Gas oven and range was nice, although the oven did not have a light to indicate that it was pre-heated. Our gas/electric bills ranged from $50-$100 per month, and the water bill was $9-$13 per month. Verizon Fios was not available there, so we had to use Comcast. At lease renewal time, they offered to clean the carpets free of charge. They also offered discounts each renewal ($250 the first year and $500 the second year). Our rent increased $10/moonth after year one, and would have only increased $5/month if we had renewed again. The checkout went smoothly and I am expecting my security deposit back in a month or so.

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