We lived at Shaker House for 4 years. In that time, we never really had many problems. The windows were a little leaky due to them being a bit too large, but hey, they were brand new and vinyl (something I didn't think I'd appreciate until I moved into a place with nasty aluminum windows).

We lived on the second floor of one building for just over 2 years. The only real complaints I had were that you could hear damn near everything above you. No matter how softly your upstairs neighbors walked, it sounded like elephants were about to crash through your ceiling. I also didn't like that there weren't any patios/balconies, but that all depends on personal preference.

After 2 years of peaceful cohabitation with 2 different downstairs neighbors, we got a whiner. Our third and final downstairs neighbor was an older woman who constantly complained about being able to hear our 4 year old son running around. The situation became so difficult for us (and the resident manager at the time who had to listen to this woman), that we requested the next available ground floor unit. The manager at the time was happy to oblige.

The next available apartment ended up needing a ton of work since the previous tenant had been there around 7 years and wasn't exactly the cleanest individual. We got new kitchen cupboards, a new toilet, new carpet (we got to choose the color, as well), a new tub enclosure, new vinyl flooring, etc. It was really nice, and we were beyond pleased. The 2 years we spent in that apartment were happy ones.

There were occasional problems which you'll get with any dwelling. Sometimes the water heaters or softeners would blow and flood the main floor. When this happened (always in this middle of the night according to Murphy's Law), the resident manager would bust out the shop vac and start cleaning up. And then he'd get a professional company out there for a more thorough cleanup as soon as possible.

Some of the electrical outlets in the apartments didn't work. All I can assume is outdated and/or faulty wiring.

The phone jacks in the bedrooms didn't work at all. No idea why since I never bothered asking. The one in the dining room worked fine.

The cable connection in the living room was halfway up one wall (since the apartment was garden-level), so it was clearly visible upon entering our home, and the plug itself was just sort of hanging there.

There is no central air. Air conditioning consists of wall unit AC's. They're better than nothing, but we were constantly frustrated when trying to get cold air from the living room to the back bedroom. You could turn your living room into a freezer, but the back bedroom would still be 90 degrees. We ended up having to put two fans in the hallway to help circulate the air. Which was a bit cumbersome since the hallway wasn't that wide.

The apartments are OK in size. A 2 bedroom, 1 bath is 887sq.ft. I know the 3 bedrooms are over 1,000sq.ft., but they're also a LOT pricier.

The water heaters (at least in the 2 bedroom units) are very small. This means that at the end of a 10 minute shower, we were rinsing off with at LEAST room temperature water.

The community, however, was generally pleasant. Fairly quiet, the grounds were nicely maintained, and since there weren't any patios, all the neighbors got to know each other fairly quickly. That sense of community is something I kind of miss now.

Our old resident manager was fired, and shortly thereafter, we moved to another town. I can't say from personal experience what the community is like now, but I've kept in contact with an old neighbor and she and her family moved out shortly after we did due to a maintenance problem that went unfixed. Apparently, the water heater in the apartment above hers leaked down into her apartment, destroying part of her cupboard and ruining some food. Then, the people below her (who had moved into our old apartment) complained that their bathroom ceiling had started falling apart. The bathrooms in all the units seemed to have some sort of problem with water from upper levels.

We live in Okemos now, under the same management company. We recently heard that the old community director from HERE may be being shipped over to Shaker House. If she continues with her trend of laziness, I can only imagine how bad off Shaker House is going to be in another year or two.

In closing, Shaker House had its faults, but was a nice place to live. Now that there are new people running it, however....well, if I were you, I'd look everything over VERY carefully and talk to a few residents before you commit to a lease.

And please keep in mind that my rating is based on the old manager's ability at keeping things up.

Edit: After hearing how bad things have become at Shaker House, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend it anymore. My star ratings, however, will stay as they are since I was rating a period when a responsible person was managing the place.

User Responses
From: Askanyone	Date: 10/31/2007
Yes This person didn't get the wonders of enjoying the new management at one time I like this place also. But it has gone down hill quikly.

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