Well. Let's see here. It's not the *worst* place you could live. However, let me count the reasons that you should go elsewhere.
1.) Management Company & Billing Problems
Whether you are a college student or not (I'm an alumni), they treat you like incompetent children. You are guaranteed to have billing problems. Expect lots of nasty notes about missed payments when you have already called and requested a return phone call. Expect to have to do a lot of legwork to get any response. Expect to do a lot of taking your lunch break to go and settle billing issues.
2.) Bugs
Expect them to do *nothing*. We have had an EXTRAORDINARY mosquito problem. Standard strength foggers do next to nothing. Three people fogging did nothing, thousands dropping before us as millions kept coming. As we felt the cans empty we ran for the apartment and they still are a cloud through the entire length of hallway and over the lawn. It is to the point of a health hazard. We called three months ago about the issue and were told that the management company was getting estimates for an exterminator. A cold snap came through and killed some of the adults off. Apparently they decided they didn't need to do anything, now that mother nature had (very) temporarily taken care of the problem. Now, the mosquitoes are back worse than ever. I'm practically bathing in mosquito repellent and I've got at least 12 welts.
3.) Bad wiring
Outlets are practically falling out of walls, the breaker for the AC trips constantly, and our electricity bill is *curiously* high. For people whose AC hasn't worked for more than two days in a row, a $150 electricity bill is obscene. Also, not every unit has access to their meter. Ours is locked down. We're also right next to the laundry room. I'm beginning to think that we have been paying the laundry room bill too.
4.) Poor Finishing/Maintenance
You know that they just don't want to put *any* money into improvements when they would rather send the same poor maintenance guy out to hand clean our AC than get the AC company to come out and fix the poor AC unit that sounds like a dieing jet. It likes to make this sound all night. I haven't slept much recently.
Rather than replacing the worn tub, they repainted it poorly. So, it has completely deteriorated from perfectly normal or even gentler than normal usage. The closet doors are either so long that you can hardly open the closet or so short that you can't get them to stay on the tracks. The bathroom door is short on the width so that it almost gaps at the frame. The appliances are newer than some, but they're not really new and the counters are a cheap plastic that soaks up stains and you'll have to scrub it off with Magic Eraser. Also, the venting appears to be crossed, the laundry room appears to vent into our apartment. Also, we frequently come home to the smell of someone else's cooking. Odd, when we're on the garden level.
The problems are too many to really count. I've never been so happy to leave a place in my life.
Tip: If you need housing near MSU, look elsewhere. The management company (DTN) runs each sub-region as a separate business. So, I suggest either staying on campus in a dorm or biting the bullet and going all the way to another "region". It's not that much travel time difference and it's definitely worth it. I lived in the Okemos region at another DTN property with no problems. Maintenance had the power to replace whatever needed to be replaced or to call contractors to do things that needed to be done, and the office staff was always competent, friendly, and given enough authority to do their job. read more