Horrible company, they'll just try to take as much money from you as possible. Anytime you try and work out these charges the most incompetent people will try and "help" but you'll get nowhere. If we could go back we would rather be homeless than rent with these fools. If you can rent somewhere else please do. read more

Do NOT rent from here unless you are ok with owner who is about as tenant unfriendly as you can get... they hire young folks who present themselves well, but there is ZERO reasonability extended to tenants combined with draconian ownership ... if you want examples of my experience, respond to this and ill provide ... im not a complainer, just felt i owed it to pay this forward to potential future tenants read more

I don't normally write bad reviews but this is warranted. We rented from First Site for our student at 104 West Cherry Street, a 4 bedroom. It was the last choice of what was left with signing on late. This was the 2022/2023 school year. We documented the many shortcomings with the move in document. We should have taken photos. During the school year, they had to pay $93 on 2 different occasions to unclog the very old toilet as First Site said it was beyond normal maintenance. The very old and cheap blinds broke in the living room and the students were charged for that during the year. The replacement blinds are cheap, low quality and will probably break with the next tenants. There were roaches in the apartment after they moved in. First Site did have a company come and spray and that seemed to get rid of the problem, but when I called to inquire about a regular plan to spray, they said that they would only come if there were active problems. My daughter said that in the initial warmer months of moving in that they could see many roaches crawling around in the back parking lot at night and near the front door (photo shows this from Oct 2022). The students were charged for cleaning the apartment after move out even though they spent hours cleaning the whole apartment including the one and only bathroom with a very old toilet and bathtub that could not be brought to any shine as they are very old and of need of being replaced. They were also charged for painting the walls for the next tenants. The very worn leather sofa was one thing that they tried to charge all 4 tenants for at the end of the lease, a replacement cost of about $1200. There was normal wear and tear during the school year that added on to an already very worn sofa. After disputing, they finally reversed the charge. Isn't it the landlord's responsibility to pay for repainting and cleaning after tenants move out? First Site's business plan seems to be this: Put the cost of updating (if you can call it that) every year, on the leaving tenant. Beware: I believe that First Site will try for every expense that they can get during and at the end of a lease. This is how they operate. In the end, the $200 that was supposed to go back to each tenant was not refunded but instead a bill for over $1500.00 for the 4 of them. Finally, just recently, they were able to negotiate it down to $500 with no return of the $800 ($200 X 4). Synopsis: The rental office is nice, and for the most part, the staff is friendly on the phone but they are aggressive with charges. Beneath the surface, their approach seems to mirror that of a sleazy landlord, capitalizing on the vulnerability of college students and their parents who are expected to shoulder the burden of maintaining trashy apartments. Document everything and take photos if you happen to rent from them. read more

First Site - This was near the front door of the building. All of the black areas are roaches that were crawling all around the ground. - Apartments Near Me - Normal, Illinois

Got charged $55 extra one month and they originally said it was my roommates balance and then decided it was mine. After each of us being told multiple different things, I went in to the office to clarify and the leasing manager called me ignorant and asked "who raised me". All of the staff at the front desk are mean as hell. ALSO a tiny piece of my window blinds chipped off and I put a maintenance request like I did with every other issue, and they came fixed it, said they may replace both so it'll match but didn't end up needing to, and then charged me $70!!!! because it wasn't "normal wear and tear". 0/10. read more

Slum lords!!! DO NOT LET YOUR COLLEGE STUDENT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!! Over winter break, every apartment in my daughter's building was ROBBED! First Site NEVER NOTIFIED us of the robbery-we found out from one of the other students who lived in the building. There are NO LOCKS ON THE OUTSIDE DOORS so anyone can just walk in (and did). After the robbery, we requested that locks be installed on the outside doors and First Site SAID NO because that would be 'too expensive.' Also, the robbers broke my daughters apartment door to the point where it needed to be replaced. When First Site replaced it, they installed a door with NO PEEP HOLE. We requested one be installed and First Site said no because 'most tenants do not want a peep hole.' WTF?!?! They said their maintenance department has denied our requests for outside door locks and a peep hole. We told them this is UNACCEPTABLE and now they are refusing our phone calls all together regarding these matters. This is extremely disappointing and we will taking legal action against First Site as they are now jeopardizing our daughters safety and well-being. The property manager TJ SUCKS!!! He is a swindler and con artist. FUCK YOU FIRST SITE!!!!! read more

Don't plan on getting any of your deposit back! Such a joke. 3 girls, no damage and my daughter received a check for $1.31 back. They are a bunch of crooks. read more

Great prices for apartments and great maintenance staff. Office workers are the worst tho, don't know who put the sticks up their butts but the few times I've called them it's just the worst. Bearable but annoying. read more

the management is non existent in times of trouble They have young kids manning the phones who have no experience in property management They rip off the students with phony charges and keep security deposits knowing the students won't fight back The properties are not well kept and not maintained at all Elevators out of order with no plans to repair on calendar and door locks busted so bums are handing in stairwell they don't care SAVE yourself a headache don't rent from them read more

0 stars is what I would give them. I've called and talked to many people there and they are EXTREMELY rude very unprofessional. I moved into my new apartment and it was filthy... and they wouldn't re clean even though it had been in the 4 hour window! They only give u 24 hours to move out which I'm pretty sure isn't what you're supposed to do. STAY AWAY!!!! You will have to pay ridiculous amounts of fines for doing absolutely nothing wrong. read more

First Site discriminates against the elderly. The only way for a tenant to change their banking information is through the First Site portal. My elderly father was not able to navigate the portal and tried calling them repeatedly to change his banking info. Each time he was told they could not take his information over the phone. He eventually asked for my help but I was told the same thing. I asked to speak to a manager but never received a call back. After a few more phone calls, I was able to get someone to take my father's updated information over the phone. However, it was not updated in their system so they tried to take his rent out of the closed bank account. This resulted in a service charge from the bank as well as a late payment fee and a NSF fee from First Stie. I called to dispute those charges but was told they don't take banking info over the phone (even though one of their employees did take that info). When I explained, once again that my father was not able to navigate that, they told me I should do it for him. Since I work 60+ hours a week I don't have time to deal with their red tape. I was then told my father, who is 87 who used a walker and can not drive, should come to their office to make the changes. I asked if my father could have his bank mail checks to them and was told they only take cashiers checks or money orders. Which again, my father is unable to obtain. I pointed out that they are discriminating against the elderbly and disabled by making it impossible to do business with them. I asked one more time for them to reconsider and they refused. read more

I am very disappointed. I placed a stamped envelope in my mailbox and it was not picked up by the mailman. I called the office to ask them if I needed to do something different. They said there might be an outgoing mail slot which there is not. They then informed me that I must take my mail to the post office if it is outgoing. I was livid. For what I am paying in rent, they should be able to secure, a pick up mail service from the post office. They refused to help in anyway I am leaving this review because I think this is utterly ridiculous. read more

Too many random charges. For anything and everything. Countless little random charges popping up all the time for who knows what. Always some "routine charge" that no one actually knows what it's for, not even First Site staff. read more

They will play nice and fair throughout your lease but as soon as it is time to move out/security deposit, they will not be understanding and will charge you for every single possible thing possible. Got charged over $1,000 for a couch that we did not break. If you want to donate your hard earned money to a college town reality company, I recommend First Site! read more

Have a 1/5 because -11 wasn't a choice Terrible customer service TV didn't work for months. Regular overages on utilities when both residents had less than full-time occupancy. Fees for cleaning that were complete bullshit. We're talking 2 responsible, female college students not a gang of drunken frat boys. Impossible to get anyone in touch with anyone beyond the manager who was never helpful. They want you to move out before graduation is even over. Garbage cans in public areas were constantly overflowing with trash. Friends that rented another apartment from the same firm complained of mold in the apartment that lasted for several weeks. Damage was done in common areas and that cost was spread to all residents were they were present during the time of damage or not They have no functional security cameras Apt door was left unlocked all weekend by their staff. If you read all of these reviews that are not bright and shining, you'll see all the same commonalities. They focus on getting you signed up and then you're just a number. If I could give them a -1 out of five I would Do not rent from these people It's all bright and shiny when you go to sign up, but goes quickly right down the can once you've signed your lease. read more

stay away at all costs!!! they do not clean their air filters and charge overages every single month for the "extra" energy used-- no doubt from their negligence. written on the filter in my student's apartment at 1006 main street was: "september, 2022." first site should have changed it in february. at move out time, that filter was still there. maintenance had not changed it at all. the filter was coated with dust and dirt, undoubtedly inhibiting the flow of air and increasing the cost of energy exponentially. an 800 sq ft apartment costing hundreds of dollars every month for heating and ac is ridiculous. they lied. they told us, "no worries. going over the energy cost allotment is a rare occurrence." complete bs. they charge every month. and not a couple dollars ------ hundreds. they also mandated a move out day of may 13, but proceeded to charge for energy for the entire month of may, and send the notice in july. really? if we were going to be charged for the entire month, don't you think a mandated move out day should be closer to the end of the month? nickeled and dimed everything. if you go against this advice, i suggest you take pictures of everything at the start and end of your lease and hire an attorney to look over the lease before signing. the management company will not speak over the phone to tenants regarding disputes. only when i was made aware of the name of the owner of the property and dropped it in an email did i get a call back, and ulises would not hear of anything i brought to his attention regarding the unfair overage charges. he was rude, but the owner is worse. made snide comments about tenants who are college students, and passes judgement if they are not working jobs to pay for the rent, which is none of his business!!!! does not deserve your business!!! don't be fooled. the apartment we leased was no way worth the thousands of extra $$$$ we paid for "using too much energy." it is a scam. plain and simple. my son and his roommate had young america the previous year. they not only did not have a single charge for utilities / energy, but they got every penny back from their security deposit. i highly recommend young america and will never step foot in or sign a lease for first site property again. *** yes to young america ***. stay clear of first site!!!! you have been warned! read more

0 stars. After moving, from a 3 bedroom to a studio. I've had the worst experience. Right before school begun I opened my apartment door and it smelled like sewer. The hallway was covered with water and the ceiling had caved in leaving an opening and pieces all over the toilet and floor. We called emergency maintenance and they came right over. We asked if they knew and he said they've known 2 DAYS PRIOR that the pipes could potentially burst. I WAS NEVER TOLD. I could not live there due to my health issue and the lady on the phone said it was livable. It was not. I had to pay for the hyatt for 2 days and they didn't compensate me. I went back home until it was fixed. It didn't get fixed for a whole month. My mother complained to the supervisor and she was unprofessional and said there's no one on top of her. The leasing manager ignored my mother's email along with the so and so vice president. No customer service. All they did was patch the ceiling and repainted my wall. I complained about the dead bugs in every corner. There's white mold under my sink. I requested twice for maintenance and they ignored my request. As I was cleaning there was a big hole in my wall and a cockroach appeared. I just had move in. The apartment was not clean at all and the air filter was never cleaned. I requested a new filter due to my health condition and they sent someone over but it was still not cleaned. P.s. they charge for overuse of utility fees for each person on the lease. I barely was at my apartment and I was charged $64 extra. They charge a cleaning fee regardless even though you cleaned. Apartments are not clean when move in. No security cameras on the properties. They increase there rent every year. Studios and one bedroom are ugly. They cater more to people with more roommates and renovate those to charge more. The "landlord special" is what first site is. Trailhead has mold on walls, white mold, and roaches. They just painted over the mold. read more

I don't like to give lower ratings. My family comes from entrepreneurial backgrounds including rentals. So I've lived life on the other side of rental management. I understand what it's like to clean something that makes your stomach upset and the smile you get when someone's hired a professional to clean their apartment before they leave. I believe there's something called middle ground and First Site has not stepped into that zone with my experience of the move out inspection and follow up charges we've received. While Bloomington/Normal is not full of the most luxurious apartments at responsable rates I think there's something to say about First Site's operations. First positive notes. The maintenance staff is incredible. When instructed they were on site quickly and produced results that bettered my situation time and time again with little to no instruction. They certainly don't deserve the rating this message is giving. The admitted residents to the apartment complex generally were pleasant. The amenities/equipment to the apartment were fine quality and were upgraded as needed. Where things went wrong and the ultimate reason for this rating was in the customer service from the college student agents and management. If you're going to have residential housing then allow the people to pay by check to avoid bank fees. If you're going to send a person to an apartment for a viewing, make sure your agent knows what apartment they're showing. Small, but reasonable suggestion. If you're going to charge for a clean fee based on the oven and dishwasher spots that need cleaned. Don't make it $300. That's not cool and I think you know it. read more

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! On day one, my daughter and her roommates asked how utilities worked (as the whole world knew heating costs were skyrocketing), they were told "no one ever goes over the allotted amount and if you did we would let you know you are being billed for excessive usage". They got an excessive use utility bill in March, which included a record of the bills for every month. I could see that EVERY SINGLE month the girls went over what was allotted...no one ever contacted them to say anything until the money for the whole year was used up with 3 months of the semester still left. In December, when the apartment was vacated for a month the heat was left at 65, as instructed in the lease. Maintenance came in and turned it up in each room to 90, which cracked a mirror and the guy left his checklist on the back of their toilet after using it. The electric bill for a vacant apartment was $340, the previous month with all three occupants living in the apartment was $173. I did attempt to work this out with Dalton Keene, the manager and also the VP, Ulises Napoles. The first day of the spring semester of classes, the girls awoke to the front door being jammed....something had come loose, probably from the month of excessive heat. They called maintenance to say they were stuck in the apartment and were told someone would be over. One of the girls had to climb out the little window at the top of the wall (they have the basement apartment that has a ground level view) to get to class. ALL day they had to get on the ground to crawl back in the window. They made calls all day to maintenance...I made three. They finally came out at 4 to fix it. The first month, my daughter was cleaning the toilet and the toilet brush got stuck in the opening. She called maintenance so it would not get stuck any further back, causing issues. The guy ended up replacing the toilet. A month later she got a bill for $352 for 3 hours of labor, a new toilet and A $9 ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS (he used HER paper towels). As with the heating issue, I called Dalton Keene and got NOWHERE! He was super nice, but avoided me as much as he could (I call everyday until he takes my call). Agreed the heat issue was not the girls responsibility, agreed that $9 was excessive for paper towels, but always came back with "he couldn't do anything". read more

First Site - Apartments Near Me - Normal, Illinois

BEWARE if you are renting an apartment from them this year with "UTILITIES INCLUDED" this is not really the case, they give you a small amount of utilities allowance that will not cover the totals of your utilities and you will end up paying for them. We only have 2 people living in a four bedroom while actively trying to not over use utilities and some how went over (80 dollars per person per month) read your lease they are tricky. I have many other hurry stories from this company that I'll be emailing to higher up and sponsors. I have used other leasing companies in blono and they are all pretty bad but first site is by far the WORST. read more

Rented with them for two years and they of course overcharge upon move out and will list damages that were there before the apartment, but of course be what we put on our move in inspection. I will forever tell everyone to avoid this shitty company like the plague read more

The apartments are absolutely disgusting. They don't clean them. Took two full days of cleaning before I could even bring stuff in. When you call for help or to ask a question they all pretend to be busy and then two minutes later have magically left for the day. Will take whatever they can from you and charge you for minimal things that were in fact there before you even moved in. 0/10 do not recommend. read more

Literally the worst apartment agency you can think of. Random charges months after the lease is already up. Earned Bonuses not being given for monthsss. And terrible customer service. I wish I never signed with them. You'll be losing a lot of money doing so. read more

Worst decision of my life! First site is a complete scam. They charged me upon moving out and kept $1000/1200 of my deposit! They claim their were damages (wall scuffs that were already there) and the apartment needed cleaning. My move out inspection was at 2 pm and maintenance arrived at 10 am! I still had a few things to move out and was going to do a final cleanse but they arrived hours before and marked my apartment as dirty. So unfair and definitely not worth the hassle! read more

Will send you an email towards the end of your lease showing you what months you went over your utility allowance out of the 10 or 12 that you are in your apartment rather than notifying you at the end of each month if you did go over. And there is no way to manage or see what you have used and how much you have left. They leave you in the dark so they can get you for your money. read more

When me and my other roomate signed with first site last October, we could not wait to move in. We were absolutely in love with our apartment, as it had all updated finishes, and we decorated it to our liking. While we loved our apartment, we did not love First Site, and we were quite disappointed. We will not be resigning with First Site again. First Site has continued to disappoint us. For starters, on move in day, we were told a representative would stop by to check in on our move in and see if we had any questions. No one ever stopped by and when we called, the lady on the phone was nothing but rude. Finally someone had stopped by, and the owner, whom we love, also payed a visit to bring us a missing TV remote. Second, we have had TERRIBLE upstairs neighbors whom we've continued to file noise complaints on. While the lease specifically states "NO PETS ALLOWED," we are frustrated beyond belief. Every time we have called, First Site has promised to stop by the premises, check paper work, and nothing ever changed. No call, no message, nothing. Adam at First Site was the only one that gave us any kind of help. The upstairs dog whines and whines and barks ALL NIGHT. Even until 4am. While my roomate and I are up at 5:45 every morning for class and clinical, we get VERY LITTLE SLEEP. We have recorded videos of the noise and provided them to FIrst Site, and still, nothing. It is absolutely ridiculous that we cannot even enjoy being in our own apartment with a dog that is louder than us. We will not be resigning with First Site again. Another time when a first site worker stopped by, my roomate was sleeping, woke up, opened her bedroom door and the worker was standing right there. No warning of a visit, and a little scary lol. When we even stopped by to schedule a showing (to possibly resign for the 2023 year, the lady at the front desk was rude. We had asked to schedule a showing and she sent us away because the one leasing agent we requested was "booked that day" did not even give us a chance to select another day, so we left disappointed. We will be signing with YA , as their customer service and friendliness towards customers exceeds First Site. read more

This company is a poor excuse for a business. The office manager and workers are by far he rudest most incompetent individuals I've ever came across. I can't imagine how the owner sleeps at night knowing he is robbing people of their money. When they first gave us the apt it smelled like cigarettes and had several large burn holes in the carpets. We did not notice as they had everything masked with spray and bits of carpet. After I requested they shampoo our carpet she never returned my calls. We always had issues with our dishwasher and power and all the faucets leaked even after they came to fix it. When we moved out they charged us $700 dollars to "clean it up." We took pictures of everything and everything was perfectly clean I even scrubbed the walls! Out of nowhere one of the office workers called to tell us we had 2 days to pay or it would go to collections.i asked the office manager if we could pay it in two payments and he refused to listen. He didn't care if this was our rent money or grocery money. He was cold and said pay today or tomorrow or it's going to collections. The charges on the check out sheet were fake and they never gave us a chance to prove it. The owner lies and says the tenants leave it dirty and that he will show pictures but it's all fake. If your looking for an apartment please go anywhere else they will rob you and not think twice. I can honestly say this was he worst experience I've ever had with an apartment complex. The office workers were disrespectful and downright nasty. They need a course in customer service. read more

While living in a First Site off-campus apartment for the past three years, things were generally okay. The parking lot was cleared of snow and ice quite well, and the grass was mowed regularly. They responded to maintenance requests fairly promptly. However, upon moving out a little over a month ago, it's been nothing but a nightmare trying to get any of my security deposit back, even though there were no damages to the apartment other than normal use. They were totally unresponsive to my concerns, and even had the audacity to charge me extra above my security deposit. This was after I had spent 5+ hours cleaning. I will never rent from them again and will strongly advise all I know not to do so. read more

* DO NOT RENT WITH FIRST SITE * My problems with First Site began before I even signed a lease, which is honestly impressive. First Site lied about the day that my apartment would be ready and weren't able to move me in on the day they told me. The agent I worked with wrote down my lease wrong so it said $10,000 a month instead of 1,000 (IM NOT JOKING). A week after move in, there was a gigantic leak under my fridge when I returned from work. It ruined my brand new $100 rug, which they never showed a bit of concern about. Next, there was a loud creaking noise above my ceiling that would keep me from sleeping. I had to file over SIX maintenance requests for this to get fixed and it took OVER A MONTH. After all of this I decided to move out of the apartment early, because I just couldn't take it anymore. I finally moved out and wasn't going to leave a review, because the maintenance team was actually friendly and we're doing the best they could, BUT...... I moved out and two days after I moved out a package showed up in my mailbox. I contacted First Site and asked if they could have someone come and retrieve my mail since I had just moved out and changed my address. They said I would have to contact USPS to get my package. IT WAS TWO DAYS AFTER I LEFT. I asked to speak to a manager and the lady on the phone was extremely rude and kept telling me the policy over and over again. The apartment was still vacant and I moved out two days ago, why can't I get my package? I went to USPS and they said that First Site should have just let me get my mail. I can deal with some apartment problems (that's life), but I can't deal with terrible customer service. If you're looking for someone reliable to rent with, I would rent with SAMI (my experience was much better). read more

This is the worst run management company for student apartments . Getting something repaired you have to call multiple times .No matter what you do to meet the required checklist to leave you will NOT get your deposit back . And they will charge you for things that were already broken or missing . A VERY inflated amount for dust and things like a missing screw on a toilet seat or a broken plastic blind on a window . My sons were charged over 2,000$ besides the deposit . We spent hours cleaning and dusting and wiping down. Then we were notified after it was too late to dispute the charges what they were and were told if we did not pay that same day we received the notice it would be turned in to collection. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM FIRST SITE! As you can see below, many people have had issues with this company and it is 100% accurate and true what they are saying. A lot of people would claim that the reason this company has such low ratings is because the only people who speak up are the ones who have had a bad experience, not good. This is not true! There are probably not many if any people out there who have had a great experience with First Site. Where do I begin? Day I moved into the apartment they showed me the floors were not redone as they promised. I let them know that and over the two years I stayed there nothing changed. There were stains on the carpet all over the place and the floors in the kitchen were completely torn up. There were many other issues with cleanliness of the apartment, holes, rips, tears, etc. Any time I tried to have someone come in and fix something, nothing was done to help. If they did send someone out however, they always claimed that there was nothing wrong and that they would not be fixing anything. My next complaint is actually about myself and a neighbor of mine. First Site gives you a whopping 10 minutes before they show up to your apartment with guests to show your apartment. So if you are in the shower when this message is sent out, you will be stepping out of the bathroom naked and right into people in your apartment unannounced. This happened to my neighbor as well as myself during the time that I lived here. We both filed a complain through their website, and much to my surprise, the person who was handling my complain just so happened to be the Vice President of the company and the person who intruded into my apartment, Ulyses. Instead of acknowledging the issue that I had with this, he disregarded my complaint, threw it into my face, and then retaliated in other ways during my stay with First Site. End of April of 2020. I was looking to renew my lease (no idea why, probably because I only have 1 year left and I just wanted to not have to move out and move somewhere else just for 1 more year). I called the office and again was surprised to find out that someone else had already signed for my apartment and I had less than 2 weeks to move everything out of my apartment and have it cleaned and ready for them, on top of all of the other issues we were having with COVID (no, no one got any sort of financial help during these rough times). My mom and I had to race down there from hours away and stay there over a weekend in order to get everything moved out and cleaned up. They required me to sign up for a move out inspection with them. I called the office and asked about it and let them know that I would be moving out on May 8th and that I would like for the inspection to be that day. They agreed to that. When I was prepping for an online class one evening to start on my homework I had a threatening text message in my inbox telling me that I had had not signed up for a move out inspection and that if I did not sign up for an inspection within the next hour and a half (yes, they really sent this text 90 minutes before it was due) that I would have a $100 fee to pay to them, even though I had already signed up prior. We had the move out inspection, my neighbor had hers (which they kicked her out of and made her wait outside for...Part of the retaliation I spoke about above). I let the crew know of some damage that I had accidentally done to their very cheap furniture. I was told that I would have to replace it in full. I let them know that I would want a receipt of the original purchase information as well as if I am purchasing the couch in full that I will be taking the damaged couch with me. They promised that they would follow up with me on this information. I left, fast forward to yesterday June 24th, 2020. I receive another threatening text message telling me that I need to pay off the rest of my balance in my "resident portal" which I have not had access to in over a month because the First Site company locked me out. This threatening message again told me that I had 90 minutes to pay off over $600 to them or that they would be taking me to collections. I was furious as you could imagine. I called the office and they told me they know nothing about any of this and that they cannot help me. I left my contact information for their manager to call me back and he has never called me. I also went ahead and sent a lengthy email last night to their management team which explained my story to them and I requested a call back from their team. Instead of calling me today, they sent me an email right before the closing of their business hours telling me that its all my fault because I did not call them about the resident portal issues and that it is "too late to dispute the charges." This company and this Vice President have done nothing for me but made me angry and stressed. I sincerely hope that if anyone has read this that it will stop him or her from doing busines with FS read more

West wing apartments are really nice and I have enjoyed living there for 1.5 years. I have only nice things to say about my rental.

DO NOT RENT FROM FIRST SITE!!!!! HORRIBLE! Will cost you more than just rent in the long run to stay here! RUN AWAY!!! First Site charged my daughter and roommate for damages done by prior tenants. They did not get their sec. dep. back and they were also charged more money to cover the expense of repairs even for existing damages. If you do decide to rent from this company, you better have a good lawyer because they will charge you for every little thing upon leaving. Make sure you video and take pictures of every little thing that is wrong with the apartment when you move in. I MEAN EVERYTHING!! Submit it to management and make them sign off on it. *Although, it will probably not help to get back your sec. dep. ALSO - Video and take pictures prior to moving out!!! YOU WILL NEED PROOF! Don't forget to clean the dust off the ceiling fans - you will be charged! On their website they claim to professionally paint apartments prior to move in. Spackle, scuff marks and holes were left on/in walls prior to moving in. Walls were clearly NOT professionally painted. Unfortunately, they did not take photos upon moving in and we were charged for painting the entire apartment when they left because of this (paint and labor cost) :( First Site also charged them the cost to replace window screens, blinds, fill prior holes left by previous tenants, replace the cracked wall plate, and replace the toilet seat much of which was damaged or broken prior to moving in. Charged them to caulk the tub, replace rusted toilet bolts, tightening microwave bolts, replace burnt-out light bulbs, tighten brackets on drawers, fixing door frames and tightening latches. Charged them for a brand new replacement couch even though they received a used, defective couch with ripped cushions. Couch frame was also damaged which in turn damaged the floor. Charged them to replace living room flooring as well. Charged them to clean off grass clippings from outside of window caused by landscapers. Charged them the to replace and dispose of the mattresses even though they were used, stained, damaged, and painted on prior to them moving in. So please do yourself a favor and rent from another company. Very unhappy with this company!!! read more

First Site may offer interesting or enticing sign-on deals or bonuses... but these deals aren't worth the suffering later! This company does not clean prior to move-in, yet will do all they can to ensure they get as much of your deposit after you move-in by taking advantage of college students. When I lived at The Oaks, we moved into a great apartment... except it was not clean. The agent for the "move in inspection" stood in the living room for 5 minutes and asked us to "go find damages". That is not a move-in walkthrough inspection. They also leave very little space to report damages on the move-in inspection sheet. Find a company that treats their residents like people, rather than individuals paying rent that they can take advantage of for all they are worth. I would give 0 stars if I could. read more

I should've listened to the other reviews, but I was desperate to find something quick when I came to these guys. I'm a single male living on his own with no kids or pets and rarely invite anyone over. I've never had a cent withheld on getting my deposit back, but these people took over half. I barely touched the place other than the furniture I put in there and they want to charge me for cleaning and replacing things that were already in bad condition when I got there. They go way harder on the inspection after you move out than when you move in. I could care less about the money because it's just a few hundred, but I wanted to let people know these people were terrible. Good luck if you decide to rent with them. read more

I rented two different apartments from them. The first one, I had no issues at all and received my full deposit back. The next apartment was different. They say that they "clean" your apartment before moving in, but that wasn't the case. We didn't have a coffee table in our apartment and we thought we just had to purchase our own. Turns out, we were supposed to have one and we didn't get one, which we got charged for after moving out. Also, the "move out/damage" photos that they showed us weren't even our apartment. They made me pay an extra month of rent even after showing them my payments and were unprofessional and rude every time I tried to call them. I haven't lived with them in over two years and the only reason that I'm writing this is because I saw something negative about First Site and wanted to see my review. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. read more

Avoid this place at all costs. They hike up prices on rent like no ones business. Also if you need anything fixed in the apartment then dont submit a ticket unless you plan on paying it. They encouraged me to put a ticket in to clean the drains and later billed me $265. I tried to dispute the cost and they never replied to my request through phone or email. Since I didnt have a chance to dispute the drainage being unclogged they later charged me a late fee for not paying. (cost went to $289) So basically, I was left with no option but to pay no questions asked. This place is horrible. Take your well earned money to a different business. read more

Quite literally the worst Property Management company in existence. They only care about taking money from the parents of college kids--no care for regular, every day tenants. Upon first moving in, the apartment was filthy--yet it was our responsibility to note all damages and dirtiness due to First Site's lack of care for providing clean, safe rental units. I'm talking down to every individual pin hole, nail hole, scuff, scratch, etc. Disregard the fact that First Site didn't fix these issues after the LAST tenant moved out...really. Throughout our short stay, our upstairs neighbor routinely had parties and despite our complaints to First Site (documented), no action was taken. Upon moving out, we were promised a specific date and time to surrender occupation of our apartment unit. Maintenance arrived three hours earlier than the scheduled time and had already completed most of their "repairs" by the time I arrived 30 MINUTES prior to the scheduled appointment. We had left behind a few cleaning supplies to make sure the place was better than when we found it, and when I arrived the maintenance team was literally in the process of throwing away our PERSONAL items into the garbage--hours before our scheduled appointment! As if that wasn't bad enough, they replaced a pair of blinds because they weren't functioning, even though prior to their arrival they were just fine. They charged us a "cleaning fee" for having to remove our PERSONAL BELONGINGS from the unit. What a joke! The dispute process is useless, the entire organization is disjointed and has no ability to communicate. I had to drive to their maintenance warehouse just to get a copy of our move-in inspection list. Horrible experience, horrible company, for your own good--stay away. read more

If you are a student deciding where to live, make sure the realty company you sign with is not First Site. This company takes advantage of inexperienced college students. I had a 12 month lease and stayed at a property that wasn't even new and updated to begin with. The house was rundown and extremely old. Most of the damages of the house were already present because of how old it was but we got charged an extremely large amount to repair damages that were already present to begin with. I cannot emphasize this enough, TAKE PICTURES AND RECORD every inch, accessory, item in the property. They will find any and every reason to charge you for anything they find wrong with the property. I even got charged when they bought new mattress's ! There is also several issues regarding privacy. Make sure you know your tenant rights before moving into the property. They should be giving you notices before entering your property. When I lived at the property they would come and show the property to potential new tenants without notifying me or my roommates. We would be woken up very early in the morning to random people walking through the property and a First Site employee showing the property at the worst times. They even opened our doors when we were sleeping. You can imagine it is very embarrassing to have random people looking at you when you are still in your sleeping attire. Very unprofessional and easily avoidable by notifying tenants. When we put in work orders for things that didn't work it would take them weeks to come out to properties to fix, or they just wouldn't be fixed at all. I didn't have a usable microwave for 2 months regardless of how many work orders were submitted. To conclude, if you have any option besides First Site, I highly recommend you take that option. read more

DO NOT RENT WITH THEM. Several issues regarding our bathroom and shower when we moved in as well.. took them 3 days to fix it and they told me I couldn't shower until it was fixed so I had to wait until it was convenient for them. We had several issues regarding a gas leaking from our stove and they did not come out until 4 days later because it wasn't claimed as an emergency. They just told us not to use it? How pathetic. A few weeks later our fridge stopped working and they said it wasn't an emergency either and someone will be out when they can. $150+ worth of food spoiled and they did absolutely nothing. Fed up with them and will never rent from them ever again. read more

Our building dryer (one washer/dryer for 8 units) has not worked since I moved in over the summer, it does not dry even half loads of clothes and often fills the lower level hallway with condensation and smoke because the vent comes unattached. Maintenance has been contacted multiple times and all they do is wrap duct tape around it and say it's "fixed". The maintenance person who did this also admitted he was not qualified or certified in HVAC or any related area, he was just a "general handyman". On one occasion my neighbors and I had to call the Normal fire department for fear of the building catching on fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. When notified through emails, calls, and messages in the resident portal, First Site has either ignored or brushed off our concerns. They continuously say that they are sending their unqualified maintenance out to "take a look at it", but nothing is actually ever done. We have asked multiple times for them to just update the washer and dryer but nothing has happened. I haven't had a horrible experience with First Site in any other aspect, but this lack of communication and respect has made me not want to resign. It is clear that First Site knows a majority of their clientele is college students that they can easily take advantage of and dodge any concerns. read more