The review from "Not worth the Moula" is right on target! This apartment was initially at the top of my list. I was a prospective tenant coming from over 2 hours away and "the man" would only show me the available apartment during the week so I had to go through the trouble of getting off of work. He couldn't even give me a reasonable description of the apartment over the phone (hardwood floors vs. carpeting, appliances, overall condition), informing me "your guess is as good as mine, it's the first time I'm seeing it too" - poor business practice! From the description on rent.com and from others on this forum, I decided to take a look anyway.

When I got there, I was VERY disappointed!

OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT
I was first showed the pool and "club house," neither of which was open on a Wednesday afternoon in the summer. The man couldn't even give me the hours it was open and wouldn't bring me into the club house to see the "15 piece" exercise facility because he didn't have a key - again, poor business practice! It would have been nice to see the extra "premier" facilities the complex heavily advertises, especially considering the long trip I was taking.

Mountain Club has a 2-inch snow removal policy; in other words, snow isn't removed until it compiles to over 2 inches. There are steep hills throughout the entire complex. Anyone from North Jersey knows that attempting to control your vehicle driving on these types of hills in even 2 inches of snow, which will likely turn to ice, is terrible.

You have one assigned parking spot and have the option of renting a $50 per month garage. The man couldn't even tell me which garages, if any, were available. There are visitors' parking spaces marked with faded "V"s (probably hard to see at night) and there didn't look like nearly enough to satisfy the likely parking demands in the complex. Plus, I noticed that the visitors' spaces weren't evenly scattered throughout the complex, so it is very possible that anyone would be walking a good distance to get to his/her apartment after parking in a visitors' space. My main concern was either me or my boyfriend not being able to park close to the apartment, or having our visitors accidentally parking in assigned spots, either due to the limited availability of visitors' spaces or not seeing the faded "V"s, and getting towed.

INSIDE THE APARTMENT (keep in mind, all apartments may not be in this condition)
I walked in and my attention was immediately drawn to the terrible condition of the hardwood floors - water stains, peeling polyurethane, rotted areas, deep scratches, etc. I asked if they would be doing anything to the floors before the next tenant moved in, to which he replied that he would consider re-polyurethaning the floor if I would pay $15 extra per month for 3 years, or at least a year if I would decide to leave after that. However, he would not refinish the floor, only polyurethane over the rotted wood, stains, peelings, and markings. He couldn't guarantee he would paint any of the walls, opining that the yellowed walls were in fine condition.

The cabinets in the kitchen were old - likely from the 1970s. I opened the cabinets to see the condition on the inside in one, you could see a big wet spot indicating a current leak.

The bathroom was in terrible condition. Leaky faucet, sink halfway covered with calcified water, same with the bath. The man did, however, agree to replace the sink, but only if he couldn't get it cleaned in "decent" condition.

It looked like a layer of wood on several doors had peeled and/or broken off in spots, which he said he'd keep as is.

Also, the one air-conditioner and appliances (besides fridge) were old.

He claimed the apartment was 800 square feet - DEFINITELY NOT THE TRUTH. I saw another apartment that was 700 square feet and looked bigger than this.

Also, the hallways leading into apartment weren't well kept - weird smell, dirty floors, etc.

The price of this apartment was $1155 a month AND NOT WORTH IT.

Keep in mind, I'm not an extremely picky person, but the condition of this apartment was not worth $1155 a month. I didn't let the man know that I disliked the apartment, always appearing cordial and interested. However, the man was rather arrogant (maybe unintentionally), more than once telling me that he could easily rent the place without making a change, also informing me that I had better make a decision quickly because it would be gone by the end of the day, likely by the next appointment, and "not to bother calling" him either way if I waited over an hour.

In all fairness, there were some NICE FEATURES of this particular apartment - ample closet space, decent-sized kitchen with a large window opening into a decent-sized dining room area. They also allow cats and charge no pet rent or security deposit for pets. They have an option-to-buy clause in the lease (if you're even interested prior to or at the conclusion of your lease). The extra facilities (pool, fitness center), however nice they may be since I didn't get to really view them, are available at no extra cost.

Hope my detailed and honest description was helpful! I went with the Pinefield Manor in Denville. The staff was extremely cordial, the apartment was cheaper, all newly-renovated, larger living room, more closet space, closer to Rt. 80, 46, 287, and about 7 minutes from the Mountain Club Area.

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