Biggest ripoff in Cary.
We moved down to the area in October of 2013. My fiance and I spent a frantic weekend looking at all sort of places in the area, and after looking at several other options we settled on this place.
The place was still under construction, but that meant we would be the first in our unit. Nice thought, but that wasn't what sold us. The the amenities were very attractive, but the location sold us on it. Even so, the place was at least $150/month more expensive than other places we were looking at.
Hindsight is 20/20, but man we must have had blinders on. Here's a few things we were told before we signed the lease:
Pool would be finished in 2 weeks? Outright lie.
Grills would be finished in 2 weeks? Even bigger lie.
Apartments are well insulated against sound? Woah, that's the biggest whopper so far. Specifically, our upstairs neighbor stomps around like an elephant, then lets his kids wrestle and stomp around at all hours of the day. Then he lies about it when he says he only has custody in the evenings until 7pm...when we clearly hear the kids stomping around all day from 7am to 11pm. To top it off, management told us that our only recourse is to move out.
The problem I have is that I've NEVER lived in an apartment where I could hear my neighbors so clearly, and I've lived in some cruddy places before. Water running, toilets flushing, drawers moving...you can hear everything. So even if our neighbors were ninjas we could probably hear every move they make.
Even more so, this past winter several units had water pipes burst, which caused water damage to multiple units. Their response? Send out a letter noting how EXCITING this winter has been, and oh by the way make sure your renters insurance is up to date. Maybe I'm misunderstanding this, but I was under the impression that renters insurance covers damage caused by your negligence, not damage caused by someone else (e.g. the builders not sufficiently insulating pipes, or the management/resident not keeping the heat on in the units).
This also speaks volumes as to how they handle problems. They're quick to shift the blame. The power went out a short while ago, as it happens to do in this area, and they sent out an e-mail saying that the power is out, but wait it's not our fault it's out for the whole area!!!! Yes, we know, but the fact that you're so defensive about it makes me think that it IS your fault. And when the pipes burst, they made sure to send out a link to an article about how some other apartments in the area had pipes burst. Because putting yourself in to the same company as other water-damaged places is always a good idea. I'm from Minnesota. When water pipes burst, it's due to negligence. Either the pipes weren't insulated enough or the heat wasn't on. Pipes don't just burst for no good reason.
And on that, when the pool first opened a short while ago, they sent out an e-mail saying how great it is! But if you're in the pool after it closes, you might be evicted! Yes, they were literally threatening to evict people for using the pool past hours, BEFORE anyone could even use the pool.
Build quality is also total garbage. The finishing details were rushed. The plank flooring looks like the cheapest stuff you can buy and still call it plank. The appliances look like the cheapest you can get and still call it stainless. Half the outlet covers in our unit were painted over (for those not in the know, you REMOVE the outlet covers before you paint around them. It's house painting 101).
And did I mention that this brand new building is already falling apart? Literally. On the top floor, one of the corners has a giant crack in the wall, and the floor is sunken several inches. Rumors are going around about the foundation on that side being damaged as well. It's a wonder this place hasn't fallen in to the lake already. And I'm told that this 2nd building was built BETTER than the first building. Wow.
It's no wonder that the previous owners unloaded this property ASAP. I feel sorry for the new owners. They bought a lemon, and now they have to make it work.
All that said, the location is pretty good. But that only matters if you can tolerate living here.
Worst of all, when we look at their website, they're gouging on prices. The place was already overpriced when we moved in, and yet the prices have nearly doubled since then.
In conclusion, the concept is nice, but the execution was poor at best. We wanted to like this place so bad, and despite everything wrong we're so tempted to renew our lease. But I don't think that's going to happen. The management is just so terrible that it's just getting to be too much to deal with. read more