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Very noisy; hidden lease details
From:
-Anonymous-
Date posted:
3/13/2007
Years at this apartment:
2006
-
2007
Please learn from my mistakes and DON'T MOVE HERE!
I moved here in December and am regreting that VERY much! Before I even moved in, I was regreting it. I submitted the application about 2 months before I moved in, and 2 weeks after I submitted it, they started a special for $745/month, 1st month free. Of course, they would not give me that special because I already submitted the application, and it took them 2 weeks to tell me no!
Next chapter, move in day... When signing the lease there were 2 surprises that came up that were never mentioned before. 1. On the application it was listed as a 12 month lease, but on the lease, it was listed as 15 months. Their reasoning was that they do not allow move-outs between December and February, WTF' It was too late now, because I already was set to move out of my old place. Now I'm stuck here even longer. 2. It is listed on the lease that the rent will automatically increase by 3% EVERY year, which would bring my rent up to $800 next year, and even more the year after that. Fortunately, I am planning to move out before that happens.
Moving on... NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! My apartment is right up against Domino Lane and is VERY NOISY! The windows are VERY thin and you can hear cars and trucks driving by at all times of the day. There is a beer distribution center and some sort of garbage truck transfer center right down the street, and you can hear the trucks driving by as early as 5:00 AM! I even put up thermal curtains and that barely makes a difference. Noise from other apartments is also very bad. You can hear nearly perfect conversations and FIGHTS from apartments next to you, and from ones on other floors even. The walls and floors/ceilings are PAPER thin. Some neighbors are very disconsiderate and watch TV and listen to music very loudly (i can hear it right now as a matter of fact!), sometimes late at night, but mostly during the day and in the evenings. You can hear every door open and close.
I haven't had to deal with maintenance too much. On move in day, my mailbox keys and one of my apartments keys didn't work, but they got me new keys within an hour. My toilet also runs from time to time, and they said that they said they would need to replace some parts inside, but that still hasn't happened yet, although I haven't followed up with them about it either. Also, when I moved in, the dishwasher wasn't mounted properly, so I fixed that myself. And one of the closet doors kept coming off the track, so I jerry-rigged that. There was also about a 1 or 2 inch gap between the bottom of the main door and the floor.
There are only a few good things about the apartments. 1. Location: it is located next to the Ivy Ridge Shopping Center, which has some decent restaurants and shops, and they are building a new Super Fresh, which fortunately isn't creating extra noise at my apartment (or maybe it just blends in with all the other noise!). It is also a short drive to the Septa R6 Ivy Ridge train station, it is a 20 minute ride to center city.
2. Apartment ammenities: the apartment is a nice size for a one bedroom. The kitchen cabinets and floor looks brand new, but the appliances look at least 10 years old. Everything works well.
The bathroom is sort of small, and the floor is uneven and bumpy. The door also does not close completely. The carpet throughout is a little worn, and there were a few stains, but overall, not too bad. Electrical outlets are minimal and the location of the outlets that turn on and off with a switch are inconvenient. I had to run an extension cord to my TV so that it would not turn off with a light switch.
Closet space is on the small side, but with the included storage locker in the basement, it makes up for it. Laundry machines are also located in the basement and work well. $1.75 to wash, $1.50 to dry. Washer capacity is kind of small.
The safety seems fine to me, deadbolt and chain on the door. Although I'd feel a little safer with a second lock and a thicker door. Buzzer and intercom to let people in the front door works fine.
Mailbox is conveniently located right at front door. Although receiving packages (UPS, Fedex) is a pain, because if you need to sign for it and are not here, there is nobody else to sign for it. I end up having them ship to my workplace, or even worse... driving to South Philly during rush hour to pick them up. At least at my old place, the security guard or office staff would sign for the packages, but there isn't even an office or security on-site to do that here.
There is plenty of parking and they did a decent job removing the snow that we got. Watch up for the big bump pulling into the lot though.
Utilities: All utilities are included, except electric, which has been running about $25/month. We'll see what that goes up to in the summer with the A/C running. (which by the way is only in the living room, you need to buy your own for the bedroom if you want it.) Stove and heat are gas, so that is included with the rent.
Cable: I'm not even getting cable because it is too expensive. Comcast wants $20 for basic cable, which is just local stations, not even extended basic. There next package up is basic digital cable, which the introductory price is $60, then it goes up to somewhere around $80/month. Can't get satellite either, because I am facing north, and according to the lease, you can only mount it inside or on a personal balcony (which none of the apartments have!). I am using antenna only, and reception is pretty good, based on the huge towers down the street!
Internet: Two choices here, Comcast $42/month, or Verizon $28/month. I chose Verizon (which is not VZ Avenue). It works fine for the most part, but beware, the Westell 6100 modem that they give you is crappy. My internet was only working at night. It would stop working exactly at 7 AM and start working again at 5:00 PM. I called up Verizon and they could not explain why that was happening. Tech came out, which by the way, they can only give you a time window from 8 AM to 7 PM, and not any more specific, and you must be home when they come. Very inconvenient, but anyway... the tech came out, and he didn't even have to come inside, as soon as I explained what was happening (which Verizon should have communicated to him in the first place), he said that it was because of the radio towers causing interference in the lines and that there was not much that can be done. He did suggest buying a Westell 2200 modem (which I got off of ebay, Verizon doesn't offer it anymore.) I got this modem and now my internet works all day and night. I had one other incident where my internet went down, they needed to come out and reconnect a cable in the junction box on Ridge Ave.
Telephone: I only used by cell phone, and I get great reception in my apartment (Verizon Wireless).
Overall, It is barely tolerable for a year, and I would not recommend living here, even to my worst enemies! I regret not following the recommendations from other posters about this complex before I signed anything. Don't be stupid like me.
As for better places, I really don't know. I used to live at Greenbriar Club off of City Ave, and that place wasn't too bad, but a little more expensive. According the ratings on here, Ridge Carlton is supposed to be decent. Summit Park is supposed to have events and stuff, but is too expensive to live their by yourself. But as for me, I think I will look on craigslist (http://philadelphia.craigslist.org) for an apartment in center city next year. If you are moving here from out of the area, and want a city like setting, this is not it. It is more suburban here with not as much to do within walking distance.
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