My wife and I have lived here for around 7 months now. At first we were really excited to move in. But now, we can't wait for our lease to be finished so we can get out of here!
Pros:
- The apartment complex was finished in February of 08 so the facilities are very new.
- They have a nice clubhouse with things like a gym, PCs with internet access, a pool table, and a huge plasma tv.
- MOST of the office staff is fairly friendly the majority of the time.
- Free internet in the apartments that's pretty reliable.
Cons (Hang on tight, there are a ton of them):
- Insulation in the apartments must be the bare minimum to pass building codes because you can hear EVERYTHING above, below, and beside your apartment. This is very very annoying!
- Water pressure in the apartments is terrible. Even changing out shower heads made no difference.
- Water in the apartments takes over 2 minutes of running before it even begins to warm up. Huge waste of time and water.
- VERY cheap carpeting in the apartments. After 7 months of vacuuming every week, we still have to empty our vacuum cleaner 3 or 4 times per cleaning because of all of the carpet fiber that is picked up.
- Maintenance is nearly non-existent. You're almost better off fixing a problem yourself. They're very slow to respond, or don't at all.
- We were told that their screening process for tenants was very rigorous and yet there seems to be a lot unsavory characters living on the premises.
- Cost of living - price of apartments is very high compared to other locations. We pay $1200/month (250 below Southern Oaks' "Market Rent" for our apartment) for a 1400 sq ft, 2 BR, 2 BA apartment. Across the street we could rent a 3 BR, 3.5 BA, 3 floor town home with top of the line everything for the same amount.
- You're charged bogus fees for ridiculous things. For example, you must pay a $200 pet deposit and on top of that, you're charged an additional $10/month "pet rent."
- Parking is abysmal! When we first moved in it was pretty good, but as they've gotten more tenants, I've had to park further and further from our building. Every night that I come home is a scavenger hunt for a space remotely close to where I live.
- Poor weather preparation! We just had a snow event this past week. By the end of the day, much of the snow had turned to a sheet of ice. While walking our dog around the complex that night and following day I noticed that the management had done NOTHING to maintain the sidewalks or roads. Every surface was totally covered, even the stairs residents had to take to their apartments. Nothing was done the entire week. The sun had to melt everything. Law suit waiting to happen.
- Getting out of a lease can cost nearly triple what you pay per month! Keep your lease short so you can leave as soon as it finishes. I wish we had done this.
Overall, I would not recommend that anyone live here. You can definitely find much better value and service elsewhere. While there are a few positive things about the apartments, the negatives vastly outweigh the positives. Do yourself a favor and avoid Southern Oaks.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/29/2009
If you're considering moving here, this review is exactly "right on". Unfortunately, our neighbors are partiers and think that it's ok to play loud music late at night (1:00 AM - 3:00 AM). We had to call the police, as well as the apartment courtesy police last week because our neighbor was extremely loud at 1:30 AM. She proceeded to cuss out the police officer, had her dog attack my door, and other unbelievable stuff. At this point, she has been given one last chance, but this sure takes the niceness out of being home. The people above us moved out, so I can only imagine who they will let move in. Also, the many of the pets are HUGE which I was surprised with in these apartments. I also have a dog and attempted to pick up the waste, because I finally gave up...it didn't matter because there was so much waste. Not to be rude, but the dog waste products are so big, that it almost feels like humans are going outside...I don't understand why the owners of the HUGE dogs don't pick this up...it's really terrible. Plus, it's right outside my window, so that's what I see when I look outside. Good luck in your search. Unfortunately, I believe that these incidents are indicative of apartment living.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/07/2009
Yes, the dog fecal problem is horrible here. I can't believe that they don't enforce some rules.
From: wieuiei	Date: 03/04/2009
Thank you all, I will NOT be moving there!

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