Review History for anonymous

Chantecleer Lakes


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anonymous

Resident 2004 - 2005

12/11/2005

I've been renting here for almost a year, and for the most part, I'm very pleased with what I've gotten for the price paid. Until now. <br><br>Recently, (and I mean short-notice recently) the company that owns the property (Equity Residential) is transferring the property to the Equity Condo group. While residents were recently notified of all this, legal documentation given to us dates back to 2004, so they have probably been considering this for a while. Renting is no longer an option here, unless you rent from a private individual owner. With this, I'm now getting things I did not know I was going to pay for. My rent has recently included such bonuses as: legal notices on my door (not just me...the whole complex), a resident meeting where VPs of Condo group taking over tell you about the condo process and refuse to answer questions that might have a negative answer in resident's mind. Think they only answered like 5 questions, though significantly more were asked. The VP running the meeting then cut off residents from asking further questions and referred them to the condo sales people. I’ll try to paraphrase the condo VP trying to be our friend: “Illinois laws are very complicated, so I’m going to try to simplify this all for you so you poor renters can comprehend this.” I applaud the effort, but not the motive.<br><br>Another example from the meeting was the person that signed a lease 3 months ago before the "your apt is going condo and we're selling it notice from management". He's got 9 months left here and Equity admitted that since they are selling his place, they can enter and show it to prospective buyers any day for the next 9 months. Sure, they'll give you a little notice, but that's certainly not what I bargained for. To Equity's credit, all existing leases are being honored (they aren't kicking you out mid-lease). While you're serving the remainder of your time here, you'll get the pleasure of "beauty construction" aimed at boosting property value and your subsequent property taxes if you decide to buy here. Management was unable to provide an estimate of property taxes that owners will be responsible for. That’s big gap, if you ask me. But since renters don’t pay property taxes to the city now, getting an estimate from the city would be too much work, I guess. But even an estimate would be for the property as-is, not what it will be with the improvements. So any number they gave us for property taxes would go up anyway.<br><br>As renting here isn't an option anymore, this post is aimed at people who are thinking about buying a condo here. Maybe it's right for you, maybe it's not. Prices currently range from about $121,000 for a 675 sq-ft 1-Bdrm to $195,000 for a 960 sq-ft 3-bdrm. Current residents get a bit of discount. Whoppdie-doo. Oh yeah, don't forget the $150-$210/month "assessment fee" you'll pay to condo management, just for buying in the community. That will help cover (for management), according to the legal-ease novel we were all given:<br> - Postage supplies = $4,500 annually (in 2004, they spent only $939 – perhaps they predict delivering more legal notices to residents/owners?)<br> - Telephone/Answering/DSL = $5,000 annually (wow, they must need REALLY fast DSL – I get all those services for no where near that price.)<br> - Gas = $11,000 annually (in 2004, they spent only $4,400) (I’m bit less irritated about this one since natural gas prices are slated to rise significantly this year. So, you’ll be paying more to heat your condo, and you’ll be paying more to heat the condo office through your assessment – double fun!)<br> - Extermination expenses are estimated to go down with the condo takeover - that's probably because individual owners will be responsible for the cost of that, should the need arise. (Note, I have not had any pest problems)<br> - Pool expenses are estimated to quadruple from 2004. (Wow, are they planning to fill the pool with Perrier water?)<br><br>The complex was built cerca-1985. Parking is okay, but some areas of the complex are often full, so residents park in fire lanes overnight. But, hey, that’s okay, because there hasn’t been a fire yet, so the fire lanes can be blocked until there is a need to use them, right? There is a resident that parks his tour bus across 8 or 9 spaces occasionally, but maybe you’ll luck out and he’ll move out before you move in. Oh, I can’t forget the limo driver that believes it’s okay to take up 5 spaces so none of the lowly residents he lives around will park anywhere near his limo. But I believe each condo comes with 1 assigned parking space, so those 2 drivers are really going to have to get creative. It’s possible the bigger condos get another parking space, though you’ll probably have to pay for it.<br><br>With a condo takeover, they are slightly upgrading a bit with new mailboxes (my current box receives mail daily just fine), new paint, hallway revitalization, all of which are subject to change by the * asterisk in their notices. So in my opinion, you’ll be happy* here (that’s subject to change without notice). If your condo is vacant before you buy it, they will supposedly do some other upgrades like cabinets and tile and stuff, which I guess is nice.<br><br>So if you’re interested in condo, my advice is not rushing into it before you get all the information you need to make an informed decision if the purchase will be right for you. I’ve gotten in the habit of asking the same questions to different people to make sure I’m getting a consistent answer.<br><br>On to my rental experience: The rental office staff has been friendly (of course, I usually just see them when I'm giving them money each month). I have not heard any noise from my neighbors, but I live on the 2nd (top) floor, which is the place to be, in my opinion. <br><br>My apartment is spacious, but the 1/2 size stacked washer/dryer is not. If you have large blanket or comforter to wash, the washer is not an option, but they do seem to fit in the dryer fine. I've had very few maintenance problems. But, when I did, they were resolved promptly to my satisfaction. I like the big patio door in my living room, but, boy does that let in the cold air in the winter. Grounds are well-kept and the parking lots have been quickly cleared of the recent snows. The community surroundings are nice, with shopping and the interstate close by. <br><br>Overall, I have enjoyed my rental experience here. For me, purchasing a condo here is not the right decision at this time and I have begun to look to rent elsewhere in this area.

    Review 22 out of 65

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    Chantecleer Lakes

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