I've been mulling the idea of writing a review of Hunter's Run for a few months now, but I've never come up with a way of organizing one that I'm happy with. I've decided to organize this by topic; hopefully any of you reading this will find it helpful. Those of you who've been reading these reviews should know by now that Cambridge took the complex over; I moved in prior to that.


WHAT MANAGEMENT CAN'T CHANGE:

*Location*
I love the location. Fred Meyer is across the street. So are my dentist, the place I get my haircut, some local and national restaurants, and the sports & recreation park. It's easy to get to the freeway and major roads. The property is bordered by the strip of parkland that runs through Beaverton, and there is a creek, a small playground, and a few trails. The Merlo MAX station is a mile south of here and is easy to get to. It's about halfway between central Beaverton and Tanasbourne. I generally feel safe here, and I personally have not seen any graffiti or vandalism in my nearly two years living at Hunter's Run.

*Construction*
For a complex that is 20 some odd years old, the construction seems solid. My particular unit barely even shows signs of typical wear-and-tear. Obviously things like appliances need to be replaced and whatnot once in awhile, but the actual construction itself appears to be sturdy. My floor plan is also well designed. It's organized in a way that makes sense, and there is more usable wall space than I've had in previous apartments.


AND THE REST...

*Maintenance*

Maintenance started out great. Work orders were attended to within 24 hours if not the same day. One of the staff, I'm not sure if he was the foreman or not, actually knew my name, which unit I lived in, and what work he'd completed in it, and that was only after one request. It was quite impressive, actually.

Then Cambridge came. Initially the maintenance quality and staff were pretty terrible. Work orders were never completed within 24 hours, and sometimes took over a week to be taken care of. When the staff arrived, they would occasionally deny a problem even existed. At one point I had a dryer which literally smelled like a sewer after it had been running for awhile. Staff came by to examine the problem one time while it was occurring, but they said it just smelled like hot air. Though dryers do make a hot air smell, this one smelled like the sewer. It hadn't made that smell before. Eventually the problem resolved itself, no thanks to the maintenance staff (who could often be seen standing around, joking and laughing, both around the grounds and in the main office).

Since then the maintenance staff has changed and quality has improved. Work orders can now be placed over the phone and are taken care of quickly. I had an old refrigerator which began making a very loud buzzing sound; within a few hours someone came by to see it, and within week I had a new refrigerator in my unit. Thus far the new maintenance staff have been curteous, professional, and effective.


*Rent Increases*

Originally rent was very competitive for the market, especially considering the amenities, staff, and everything else. It was one of the lowest priced complexes I found in the area, and vacancies were hard to come by. I lived in Salem before this, and as I was figuring out what I'd be doing in the next few months I was touring many complexes. One day I called here again on a whim, and it turned out that one unit was coming available, but a few people were already interested. I came up and signed the lease that day.

Then, of course, came Cambridge. Once the lease was up, I got a notice that my rent was going up by $50 a month. I got a raise a month later which also amounted to $50 a month coincidentally enough. I asked the office why it was going up, and I was literally told that I was "one of the lucky ones, because most people had theirs go up by $100-150!" I could not believe someone was actually saying that to me. At any rate I inquired further. The increases were going to "many changes you'll start to see in the next few weeks." The only immediate changes I saw were the removal of trees and shrubbery because "they had ants." I was also told some older appliances were being replaced. A few months later (this past winter) they repainted the complex - in the rain. The new paint job was, and remains, horrendous. The rain washed away new paint, and nobody ever touched it up. Surfaces were not adequately protected during the painting, so there is a lot of bleeding over and splatters of white on say, a dark brown surface.

Over the months following the massive rent increases, there was a mass exodus of tenants. That seemed to end roughly a year ago. To this day the parking lot is a ghost town during the day and still boasts quite an abundance of spaces every night. Though parking never seemed to be an issue to begin with, now you don't even need a reserved space to be able to park right in front of your building at any time.

But - that rent increase was not enough apparently. When that lease ended my rent went up again. This time it was only by $10, but this was still very irritating after the previous increase and its lack of results. Top that off with the poor economy, and it's clear Cambridge has some pretty bad taste. This time I did not ask why. I went looking online for a new place to live. I found Hunter's Run on multiple sites, and they were advertising my floor plan for $100 LESS per month than they were asking from me. I printed this off and took it to the office. They agreed to waive the $10 increase, but refused to reduce the rent because they "never lower rents." In other words, if I moved out and came back a week later, I would save $100 a month in rent on the unit I am already living in.

Then they mentioned they had a larger one-bedroom unit available for $50 less than what they were asking from me. If I was willing to move into it they could give me that rent on the larger unit (two doors down from my current location). I refused because of the time and cost of actually moving, setting all of my utilities up again, and dealing with the address changes and whatnot. I signed a lease elsewhere but had a last minute change of heart and stayed because of the location (and a check I received from family which covered the difference in rent between the new place and Hunter's Run). Even today however my floor plan is advertised at less than what I pay.

According to ForRent.com there are 318 units here. Assuming an overall rent increase of $100 and roughly 300 units occupied, Hunter's Run's initial increase gets them an additional $30,000 every month on top of the rent they would already be receiving. I'd sure like to know where that money is going.


*Office Staff*

Similar to the original maintenance staff, the office staff were friendly and usually knew my name and at least the general area of the complex I lived. They were always pleasant to deal with even if they were obviously busy. Their conversations with one another were put on hold when you walked into the office. They also had an attention to residents. Tenants were permitted to keep decorations and plants on balconies, front porches, and more. I was told they sometimes had contests on who had the most nicely decorated patios, and with some of what I saw (including my neighbor's unit) I believe it. They also told me they tried to keep rent increases small and modest at most, though with the Cambridge takeover I never had the opportunity to verify that part of things.

Cambridge's staff is generally the polar opposite of that. Granted they have their good moments, but more often than not that are rude and short-tempered. Even if you are bringing your rent check to the office they seem extremely bothered by your existence. Apparently there's a box inside the office you can drop your check in so they don't even have to say hello to you anymore. If they are in the middle of a conversation, you have to wait for it to end before being helped. I haven't noticed it with the newer maintenance staff, but their first maintenance staff would often congregate in the office and they would have loud conversations which didn't end when you walked in. It was always very awkward to walk into that. I avoid dealing with them whenever possible; it's not a pleasant experience.

And the patio and garden contests' The clubhouse events' Forget it. They sent out a notice forbidding the kinds of decorations that used to be encouraged, and for awhile they closed the clubhouse to tenants for undisclosed reasons. Their mail policy also changed. If you receive a package you have 4 days to pick it up (the number of days has changed from 3 to 5 to 4; I've stopped keeping track honestly). If you don't pick it up they send it back, but they feel no obligation to let you know anything arrived. If you're getting a gift, you may not receive it. If you don't request a tracking number on something you order (or if a shipper doesn't update their online info on time), prepare to visit the office daily. Sometimes even if you call and ask if a package arrived they make you come to the office rather than check for you over the phone.


*Noise & Neighbors*

Say what you will about this, but I want the place I live to be quiet. I don't want screaming children outside. I don't want to stay awake listening to someone else's loud bass. A huge part of what convinced me to move here was the prior management's stance on this. They flatly stated they do not allow loud parties or other large disturbances. They even started asking me certain questions as though trying to determine whether I would be a party animal or not. After moving in it was literally so quiet sometimes that I wondered if walking around my apartment would annoy anyone. Extreme perhaps, but a welcome change from past complexes. The only noise issue I had at that time was the utterly bizarre practice the landscape crews had of leaf-blowing on a near-daily basis even in the rain. I never understood that, but I haven't noticed it happen for quite some time now.

As per the general theme around here, Cambridge changed that. I had a neighbor at one point who for two months straight would have their music and TV turned up so I could hear it in my own unit. It took the entire two months before the new management took care of it, and I even started writing down when it happened and called management at least once a week about it. There have been a few cases like that (once in awhile I don't mind, but when it's that consistent and loud I'm gonna complain). If you want anything to be done about it, you have to be ridiculously persistent in your complaints.

As for your neighbors themselves, it seems they no longer need to be clean. One of the nearby tenants seems to have a liking for domestic disputes and taking those disputes outside so everyone can hear he and his girlfriend/spouse/something-or-other yelling. They also have a liking for convicted felons; I cannot tell if the people in question actually live there or just hang out with the residents, but they are often outside my window, skateboarding in the parking lot next to peoples' cars, and at times literally drinking, cussing, and bragging about their experiences in jail. For a complex that calls itself luxury living, Hunter's Run has significantly dropped its standards.


CONCLUSION

Ultimately, I love the unit itself and the location. It's a beautiful area with convenient access to transportation and services. No matter the management, parking has always been easy for me. However, Cambridge has done some serious damage to the complex and its reputation, and there are no signs that they care or intend to change anything they haven't already changed. When I moved here, Hunter's Run was one of the top 5 rated complexes in Beaverton on this site. Today it's in the 30% recommended range and dropping fast.

If the physical aspects to an apartment complex are most important to you, then Hunter's Run remains competitive and pleasant, especially given the suburban setting. When it comes to management, rent, and the overall atmosphere though, Hunter's Run has devolved to ranging from poor to nothing special. Pick it up and plop it down somewhere else and Hunter's Run loses its appeal. Make sure you know exactly what you want in a complex before moving here.

User Responses
From: tortillarat	Date: 08/14/2009
It doesn't sound like you read the review. If management is with another tenant obviously they aren't going to stop that. The problem is when they continue having a casual conversation with other employees without bothering to even say something like "I'll be right with you" to a tenant standing right there. Also, as I clearly stated, I fully understand the occasional noise issue, but when it is as consistent and loud as it was I am going to take action. If I can hear and understand someone's TV programs every day word for word, it's too loud. I'm sorry to hear you're unable to understand that. As for my life - I've got a full time job, friends, hobbies, and I happen to enjoy writing as well. Believe it or not, there are people out there who would like to read something about a place they're going to live that goes beyond a short paragraph like yours which merely resorts to calling someone a moron and saying they are disturbed by everything.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/14/2009
OHmy gosh. What do you do for a living? You had all this time to write this gripe? Something's wrong with you. If you can get this erased, do it now! FAST! You sound so ignorant honey, save yourself. You had to wait while someone finished a conversation? "If they are in the middle of a conversation you have to wait for it to end" Well DUH! Most people with manners don't interupt others! Moron. You should have left. YOu seem bitter and un-happy--guess what? Children scream! They play and frolic, and are learning alot about the world-they get excited and squeal with delight. Not apartment managements fault. Oh yea, people watch TV too-sure you shouldn't be disturbed by it, but you seen disturbed by every thing. Get a life and BUY A HOUSE IN THE WOODS!
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/24/2009
Anonymous, You said it! Turn in your notice to move out!

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