Those of you who live/have lived in an apartment complex...

None of the apartments I've lived in are on there. And that's probably a good thing.

 

So far, an accurate representation of my place:

1) "I was only there for three months, and I was averaging 4 mice a week. So, I was forced to terminate my lease. I couldn't really have company over because of the smell from the dead mice."

- Went on vacation for a week, found two decomposed mice in the kitchen. Really pleasant smell.

2) f you move here, you will be among a lot of Section 8 people (which is not bad per se, everybody needs housing and it is good that the government helps). The problem? Most of them are having a hard time making ends meet. They work hard at low paying jobs and often times they fall behind on their rent. Management knows that, therefore the quality of the service that they provide is extremely poor not just for them, but for everybody in the complex.

- This is the friggen truth. Lots of poor people. But hey, it's Baltimore.

3) (same review) BEWARE!! Once you sign the lease, they will not move a finger for you.

- Again, the truth.

4) The walls are thin, you will hear EVERYTHING your neighbor does, and since most of the tenants do lack community manners, get ready to listen to their favorite music as loud as their speakers can play.

- This may be as universal thing, but as I scream at my neighbor right now as she runs around her apartment above me, I can relate wholeheartedly to what this person is saying.

I can't wait to move...

 

Had the same problem at my first apartment. Lived across the hall from a Hispanic family who loved to play Spanish music all the damn time, no matter what time of day/night it was. The people right next to us would then blast rock music to get the other family to shut up. My roommate eventually got fed up with and went to our landlord, who threatened to kick both families out if they didn't stop. The Hispanic family kept playing their music just as loud as they wanted to and were gone within two weeks.

The only problem I can ever remember at that place was when the cops had to be called on that very same Hispanic family because one of the women got beat up by one of the men (there were about 10 people living in 1,300-square foot, two-bedroom apartment).

The other place I lived in in Frankfort was a hell hole. The cops were called just about every weekend because of some shit like drug deals going down and fights breaking out. I'm glad I got out of there in November.

 

I checked the past three places I lived -- all nice, upscale complexes -- and only one was rated as high as 56 percent. I would have put that one up at 90 or 95, a second complex at 85-90 and the third around 55 or 60, only since the neighborhood has deteriorated significantly in the past 25 years.

A ratings site like this is bound to draw more complaints than complements, much like a newspaper. You always hear more from the people who have beefs.

Some of the complaints were valid, though overstated. People pay a lot of money for apartments, and I could tell that a lot of people were using the ratings site just to find something to bitch about. And then they really spewed.

 

The one I'm in now has a 50-percent rating. I found the two posts to be very accurate. One said the management was very nice -- and it is. The second said the electric and gas bills will be wildly high, and they are (my latest one is $300, and I used everything sparingly because my last one was $259). And it also mentioned a mice problem. I've had the same mouse in my apartment for at least two months. I've trapped it in a locked door, with duct tape covering the crack on the door with a humane trap as the vermin's only refuge. It's since stopped scratching so much -- leading me to believe it's dead.

The management lost the initial paperwork I filled out to get an exterminator to my place. Then when the dude showed up, he said, "I'll have to come back later when I can get a key for the door." I haven't seen him in two weeks.

And definitely check out the crime in the area. I didn't and learned my lesson. But the next time I move, I certainly will.

 

For what it's worth, the place we live now (which we like, for the most part) got a 29 percent rating. Most of the complaints were true, but also the sort of things you expect when living in an apartment complex (occasionally noisy neighbors, etc.)

The place we lived during college (which we also liked, for the most part), got a 57 percent rating.

The place where my sister-in-law lives (which she likes, for the most part), got a 50 percent rating.

So it's hard saying how good a barometer these ratings are.

 

But I should take talks of rapes, robberies, stabbings and car break-ins seriously, right? This isn't like 'Oh, no, people play their music too loudly.'

 

Yeah, I would take that stuff pretty seriously. Very seriously.

 

I did like that one of our neighbors -- who we've long since identified as the "creepy guy" who will eventually be arrested for molestation of children -- was blatantly called a pervert and freak on that site.

 

Mine's at 88% & the reviews are pretty much spot on. The big detraction is the rent, which I've thankfully paid for the last time.

 

My place rates 53 percent with 80-plus reviews. :-\

Most of the complaints I saw are accurate (except for the ones that majorly bash the not-awful neighborhood). There are even a few recent posts about the condo conversion that's underway.

I suspect the rating will decline as all the construction continues.

 

The comments on the place where my wife and I are staying are pretty accurate for the most part.
Even though the place somehow got a 55 rating, I would guess much of it comes because it is a pretty good location for how much we pay.
Someone made sure to add how a woman was raped in our parking lot last year. I would guess that that would scare a lot of people off.