I have lived in this apartment complex for 7 years now... and so I feel well qualified to review it. Overall, I have found Alderwood Heights (AH hereafter) to be a reasonably good place to live, and I have been quite happy with my apartment. I confess I'm not sure what to make of the other reviews here that complain about maintenance, construction of the place, safety, and especially the staff. I have never had issues with any of these things.

My maintenance requests have always been answered and the problem fixed right away (within 24 hours). However, I will say that I don't make maintenance requests very often -- only when something is actually a problem. I haven't had too many problems, so the need for maintenance requests in these last 7 years has been minimal -- maybe 2 a year. Each time they have been dealt with appropriately and quickly.

The construction of the complex is about the same as in the other ones I have stayed at in other parts of the country. Apartment complexes are usually generic, and AH is not any different. The building materials are not super-high-quality, but I've never yet seen an apartment complex where they were. The layout is typical for an apartment complex - again nothing special but nothing to complain about. The grounds are reasonably well landscaped and maintained.

I noticed one or two comments about safety. I have not had any issues in 7 years living here. I do know from one neighbor, who works for the police, that there are some car break-ins here. However, she also said that this is true at all the complexes in this area (there are many within a couple of miles of here), and she pretty much said that this is just a fact of apartment complex life in Western Washington -- thieves like to target such places. (Why' You'd have to ask the thieves I guess.)

Finally, the staff... I have nothing but good things to say about the staff to date. One or two of them know me by name, and they have always dealt with me in a courteous and efficient manner. Again I have lived in apartment complexes in several different parts of the country, and I'd say that the staff here are as nice or nicer than any I have dealt with.

For all of that, I find that I would recommend AH as a decent place to live. However, like any place, it is not perfect. So that was the good. Now the not-so-good:

First, they have been slowly becoming more demanding with their charges. At the beginning, water and parking were included. In 2003 or so, they started charging for water, first $19, now $24/month. Then, last year, they started suddenly charging me for the assigned, covered parking space I had enjoyed for free for 6 years. Now I pay $25/month for that. Mind you, this is optional... if you don't pay, there are some un-covered, un-assigned spaces... but your assigned spot will be much closer to your apt, and in Lynnwood, which gets Seattle-style rain most of the year, covered parking is really helpful. However, this combined into a $49 rate increase just on the new fees alone. Beyond that, after a few years of hardly any increases, my rent itself has gone up the last 3 years and now I am paying $775/month (vs. $695/month the first few years). This has made the apartment become increasingly pricey, and I admit that were I not moving back to the east coast for a new job, I might be contemplating getting out after this year anyway.

The second issue, I will say up front, is information I have got second hand, but I may post a follow-up after I move out to confirm or refute it. My neighbor of about 3 years moved out back in 2003 or so, and after he left, I saw him a few times locally. He told me nightmare stories about how they charged him for every little thing wrong with the apartment, including "not dusting the blinds" and for carpet cleaning and so forth. If true, this is entirely ridiculous... as I say, I have lived here for 7 years, and seen plenty of people move in and out. I can say categorically that every single time someone moves out, they re-carpet and re-blind the place. So, charging him for "not cleaning" those things is absurd... it's not like they were going to be kept in the place anyway. He also said that they became very nasty about the dispute, including threatening to employ a collection agency, which forced him to get a lawyer to file suit in court. What became of it, I never learned... but the fact that he had to do that is pretty disturbing. Again, this is second hand information, so take it with however many grains of salt you wish.

Having lived here 7 years, I can say that there has been some wear and tear on my apartment, and so I am wondering what they will try and charge me. I did not pay much security deposit, so if I didn't get it back, I'd probably consider it an even deal. If they try to charge me much beyond that they will have an argument on their hands, but we shall see what happens, and I may post back here (if I think of it) after I get moved and everything here is settled out.

User Responses
From: rpfan69	Date: 08/14/2007
I would just like to follow up on this, as I said I would. I completed my move-out on July 31. Before doing this, I gave notice (21 days before, as required), and they handed me a two page checklist of everything to clean and make sure was in good shape. This included (in my opinion) ridiculously picky things like "blinds taken down and washed clean." Given that these blinds are worth maybe $10 in Wal-mart, the idea that they aren't going to replace them after a move-out is rather absurd. And they do say right there on the checklist that if you leave things dirty and they have to replace them (one presumes their people are incapable of cleaning the thing), they will charge you -- $25 or so per blind, $20 for a new broiler drip pan, and so forth. Seeing this checklist, I simply followed it, and carefully cleaned everything. This included taking the blinds physically off the windows and spraying every single slat (there were about 56 of them on the bedroom window), on both sides, with Formula 409 and wiping them clean. It was a pain in the undercarriage. But... ... having done that, they did not charge me for anything. A grand total of $65 was withheld -- and $50 of that was the carpet cleaning, which they say you can do yourself, or let them do, and I chose to let them do it. The remaining $15 was for a couple of stains in the carpet (to get them out), which was entirely reasonable (there was some staining). I suppose I could argue with them over the $15 (given my 7 year residency in the same place), but it's $15, and it's not worth arguing. I got the rest of my security deposit back, and didn't owe them anything, which was my main concern. In the end their move-out process was not too bad, and I can only conclude from the people saying they "charge for every little thing," that those folks did not keep their apartment in as nice shape as I did, and did not follow the checklist. Therefore I would say that the move-out is not a concern if you keep your place clean and in good repair, as I did. If you trash the place then of course they will charge you -- and they should. In the end I thought AH was a good place to live, if you can put up with the insane "Seattle Area" pricing.

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