Let me preface this with...I lived here from 2006-2011, prior to moving to San Marcos. I rent because I do a lot of travel for work and I couldn't stay on top of all the responsibilities being a homeowner while being gone for extended periods of time. I may tend to be more picky than average renters, but that's why I try to stay at nice apartment/condo rentals.
I've been here through many stages of management, development, and even apartments. Over the course of nearly 6 years, I've stayed in 3 different apartments here. 2006-2008 the management was great. I believe Jennifer ran them and she did a great job. But since then, there have been a variety of managers and rental agents. Norma has been the primary rental agent I've seen, although I'm not sure if she's still there. The reason why I mention Norma is because she's the primary point of contact for anything..Rent questions, maintenance, mail, etc.
I have a lot to say about this community, so I will try to break it up in pros and cons to make it easier.
Pros:
Garages are fairly large (some being larger than others) / Washer & dryer in-unit (on balcony) / Areas are landscaped decently with dog stations throughout / Fitness Room
Cons:
Parking (lack of visitor spots, residents park in them or park in your spot while you're away) / Apartments need an interior cleanup and/or makeover. I don't know how many more coats of paint they can slap on the walls. / Gated entry is useless as people just push it open with their car or tie it open. / Maintenance service is slow and requires you to be there on-site if you have a pet. / Very close to the high school and middle school. Bad traffic around 2-3:30pm every day. / Security patrol "pulled me over" because I let a car in front of me in through the gate. I was frustrated with the person dialing at the keypad for several minutes, so I walked up and used my card. I received some kind of warning citation for allowing unauthorized access stating that I may receive a fine of up to $100 for a repeat offense.
I guess I could go on and on, but there are so many cons here. I never really had these issues (other than parking) occur until the last year or so. The management team that cared is gone and even Norma started acting strange towards the end. She seemed more interested in dating a few guys from the complex than helping anyone out. She even told me that she had a thing for those "dark guys". Kind of unprofessional, but I shrugged it off.
Lastly, when I moved out they tried to take a good portion of my security deposit. They claimed they had to throughly clean and re-treat my carpets when I knew they just replaced them once I moved out because they weren't new when I moved in. (I knew this because I accidently left a vase in the dishwasher so I went back, Norma gave me the keys, and I walked into my old unit). After showing them the pictures I took on my final walk-through and how I left the unit cleaner than it was initially, they gave me my entire security deposit back. Well, almost. They wanted to deduct the final AUM (water, sewer, trash) from my deposit. I offered to pay them by check, but they insisted it needed to come from my deposit. So, I walked away with about $960 when they were only trying to initally give me $600.
This place is a joke...Obviously, it's not the worst place, but for the price you pay and the service, treatment, and fairness you get, it's definitely not a place I would live or recommend to anyone. If it wasn't for the high occupancy of the military and quick turnovers by them, I doubt this complex would be sustainable. read more