Love an apartment, but the ratings are terrible online, what do I do?
September 29, 2014 8:12 AM   Subscribe

I found an apartment I really like, at the price I want, in the location I want, but the reviews online say that there are many problems with AC/Heat, water system and washer dryer units. Is there any way I can approach the leasing office with those poor reviews and get some kind of real assurance that those problems are fixed or maybe have the lease modified so we can get reimbursed if those sorts of problems occur, or should I just pass on it?
posted by empath to Home & Garden (29 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Were I you, I'd start knocking on doors and talking to neighbours to see what the current deal is.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:13 AM on September 29, 2014 [10 favorites]


I was in a situation like this and I don't believe the leasing office will ever give you an honest assessment -- I mean, why would they? What worked for me was to use personal connections to get in touch with a tenant of the building, someone who had absolutely no financial interest in getting me to rent there.
posted by telegraph at 8:15 AM on September 29, 2014 [4 favorites]


Effectively nobody posts positive apartment reviews online. A few people post negative apartment reviews online. This skews the reviews online to be almost unusable.

That said, if you believe the reviews, then I don't really know why you'd trust the leasing office to abide by their "real assurances" or abide by their lease. Are you really going to take the landlord to court to get them to follow their own lease? If so, you should plan on moving at the end of your lease, since no landlord is going to keep a tenant that takes them to court.

That said, if you do want to go forward with this, you can certainly attempt to negotiate these things in the lease. However, I expect that unless you are in an extraordinarily slow market (the DC area as you seem to live is not this way), the landlord will simply ignore you and move onto some other prospective tenant.
posted by saeculorum at 8:16 AM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


Every apartment building I ever lived in has terrible reviews online and I never had any sort of problem with any of them. Discontented people are just way more likely to leave reviews.

I would try to talk to some of the people who live there.
posted by something something at 8:17 AM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Effectively nobody posts positive apartment reviews online. A few people post negative apartment reviews online. This skews the reviews online to be almost unusable.

This one has particularly bad reviews compared to other apartment complexes in the same area, and the complaints are remarkably consistent across reviews, even the positive ones mention the same problems.
posted by empath at 8:22 AM on September 29, 2014


You should just pass on it. I ignored the negative reviews of my first apartment in Maryland, and wound up with a shitty apartment. I ended up leaving a negative review for the place and every. word. was. true.

You can do better. You know what will happen if you take the place? You will have "many problems with AC/Heat, water system and washer dryer units."
posted by Rob Rockets at 8:23 AM on September 29, 2014 [15 favorites]


If the positive reviews mention the same problems then I would definitely take a pass. Confirm by speaking with some existing tenants if you want but yeah... I'd be looking elsewhere. Personally I'd rather live in an apartment that had functioning AC/Heat, water, etc. that was a block or two away from where I wanted to be than be in the exact area I wanted to be in but in a shitty apartment plagued with issues.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 8:31 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pass.
These are "infrastructure" problems that you probably can't assess until you are living there...and in the lease.
Pass.
posted by calgirl at 8:33 AM on September 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


complaints are remarkably consistent across reviews, even the positive ones mention the same problems

This is a huge flag, and a big sign that no, you can't expect the leasing office to tell you anything approaching the truth about how they're totally responsive to complaints about broken HVAC systems and of course you can pro-rate your rent for days when essentials are unusable, etc. Pass on it.
posted by rtha at 8:33 AM on September 29, 2014 [10 favorites]


Are the reviews spread across time or concentrated over a certain period? Or do they drop off significantly after a certain date?

There could have been an extended period of problems that has now been fixed. Lots of capital has flowed to the apartment sector and many buildings go through renovation projects. Also lots of buildings change ownership or management. Especially newer buildings.
posted by mullacc at 8:40 AM on September 29, 2014


My experience with apartment renting in the NoVa area is that apartment complexes owned by corporations are best to be avoided, even keeping in mind that reviews in that area tend to skew unusually negative (checking out the reviews for the local Target or Whole Foods was always a laugh). We had good luck finding a privately-owned apartment through a real estate agent.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:43 AM on September 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: There's only 5 reviews from the last 2 years, the other 70 of them are from 2012 and earlier.. most of them are from 2010.
posted by empath at 8:44 AM on September 29, 2014


The only way I would rent there is if they recently were bought by a new owner or put under new management, and you could see that changes were in the process of being made.

In my experience apartment reviews aren't always accurate, but if there's a strong consensus, and especially if there are a LOT of reviews, I would listen to them. (I should add that my dayjob sometimes involves walking around apartment complexes across the country to assess things like infrastructure, so I have a pretty good feel for this.)

Also, if it's a corporate place, they are very unlikely to be willing to negotiate the lease with you.
posted by pie ninja at 8:45 AM on September 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Well, you could offer to pay slightly more than they are asking, if they get the plumbing re-done, the HVAC replaced, and a new washer/dryer, and also insist that it be written into the lease that you don't pay rent until this is addressed, or that you withhold the entire month's rent if any of these problems occur until they are addressed. You should probably look into a good mediator to help resolve issues quickly, also, and include that in the lease.

This just an idea; I'm not saying it would work.
posted by amtho at 8:45 AM on September 29, 2014


I'd be super super wary. My first apartment was a nice building in a perfect location, but had all sorts of mechanical problems. I complained, half-assed attempts were made to fix it, later other friends who didn't have the financial resources I did to move when I did told me that they had to get legal assistance in trying to get problems solved. I'm not sure they ever really did.

So, sure, talk to the management, but chances are really really good that the management doesn't actually care and is just extracting as much value as they can out of the tenants until enough of them band together and sue to actually get problems resolved.
posted by straw at 8:46 AM on September 29, 2014


Pass. I always read the online reviews for apartments, and there's a difference between complaints that are clearly the tenants fault ("I broke my lease and burned holes in the carpet, and they had the nerve to charge me!") and this kind of thing, where multiple tenants have had the same issue over a period of time. I wouldn't take the leasing office's word that the problems have been addressed.
posted by donajo at 8:47 AM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


Online apartment reviews can be tricky, but honestly so can reviews from friends. When I was renting in the NoVA area I had a great place - rec'd it to a friend and she had nothing but trouble. When I moved to a different place we went to a complex that a coworker enthusiastically rec'd and I still refer to the place as Amityville and left my one and only seething hatred-filled review online about them. I'd possibly see if I could talk to current tenants, but if the reviews are really consistent and are about things that are dealbreakers like your AC/Heat probably are, maybe move on to another place. But at some point, I suspect everybody in a crowded rental market just has to operate on radar and gut feelings.
posted by PussKillian at 8:50 AM on September 29, 2014


This one has particularly bad reviews compared to other apartment complexes in the same area, and the complaints are remarkably consistent across reviews, even the positive ones mention the same problems.

Then I'd just decide if you can live with the issues or not.

You could also research the legal side of how and when it's okay to withhold rent, and just plan on doing that. But I'd just know you're walking into an adversarial situation that will take up your time and possibly cause stress (like eviction notices being posted or even carried out).

If it's getting mentioned in many reviews, it's probably not a localized situation. You could negotiate for, say, a new toilet as part of moving in. But redoing the plumbing for a building of occupied apartments is a much different situation.
posted by salvia at 9:00 AM on September 29, 2014


Also balance out the values. For example if going to the laundromat semi regularly is not really a big negative and being able to walk to work is a big positive, then it's a trade off that would be a net positive. If you don't care about central heat and plugging in a space heater is no big deal, then it would be fine as well. If there are no other places with all your positives, it might be fine. If there are other places with all your positives and fewer negatives, that might be best.
posted by Vaike at 9:03 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


I live in an apartment complex that is about 50 years old. There have been numerous updates, rehabs and whatnot.

I love my apartment. What I put up with:

Thin walls
The upstairs neighbors drippy A/C (they did fix it, but ceiling damage suggests this happens every so often)
Some of the worst patching you'll ever see on a wall
Loud A/C unit
Pine cones everywhere in the fall
Pine pollen everywhere in the spring

My point is, that people have high expectations. But, if the complaints are not of the, "I'm too much of a diva to live in multi-tenant housing" and more of the "my toilet has overflowed 6 times," then find a place that doesn't seem to be falling down around the tenants ears.

Good luck!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:22 AM on September 29, 2014


Given that the reviews are a little bit outdated, you might get a little bit of value out of asking the management company about it: "I noticed that online reviews from 2010 kept mentioning heat and AC problems. What types of upgrades have you done since then? What's your policy for rent reductions when HVAC is out? Do you have a reimbursal policy if I have to buy a space heater? What's your typical response time on this type of issue? How about for plumbers? Is your maintenance guy a licensed plumber?"
Your goal here is not to get them to say anything in particular but just to see how they respond - you want to see how much they shuffle their feet and mutter "aw, heck, this again", versus having a genuine answer (good), versus going into a total used-car schpiel of how awesome everything else is (ha!), versus blaming the former tenants and saying it wasn't a real problem anyway (big red flag). You also want to demonstrate that you're a tenant who will be calling them all the time when things aren't working right, which might (no matter what they say) lead them to conclude that this relationship is doomed to fail; so if the place suddenly is already rented out, consider it a bullet dodged.
posted by aimedwander at 9:46 AM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Don't trust the management office to tell you the truth about what repairs they have done or will do. Talk to some of the people who live in the building now. I know that's not convenient, but it's the only way to find out if things have changed since the bad reviews were written.
posted by wryly at 10:44 AM on September 29, 2014


I lived in an apartment with significantly worse online reviews than other places around, and it SUCKED. The two questions I posted to AskMe about this place and their abominable "management" were just the tip of the iceberg. This is your home you're talking about - do you really want to clench up every time something goes amiss and you know you're going to have to deal with apathetic, incompetent management again? Do you really want to seethe every time you write out a rent check? I dunno, maybe you're more chill about such things than I was, but living in a place with awful management can become a serious quality of life issue beyond just the issue of whatever's broken. Yes, more people post negative reviews than positive reviews in most cases, but the consistency of the reviews you're describing is a pretty big red flag that I think you'll regret ignoring.

Don't trust the leasing office to act in your best interests here. Talk to other residents (WITHOUT someone from the leasing office present) if you can, and if they talk about living there with anything other than enthusiasm, or if they don't describe those HVAC issues as a thing of the past, you'd be doing yourself a favor if you passed.
posted by DingoMutt at 11:19 AM on September 29, 2014


Personally, when I find consistently negative reviews, that is a flag. A lot of negative reviews are about dumb shit that isn't actually relevant to you, or you'll get some random negative ones here and there that indicate someone had a bad, but not common experience. But when they are consistent ones across the board, and even the positive reviews mention that, you either need to decide if you're willing to put up with problems with AC/heat, water system and washer/dryer units, or find a different place.

I do think the leasing office will not admit to anything being wrong, but I would speak directly to the property manager and ask. It's possible there will be a concrete explanation. "Last year, we switched HVAC maintenance companies because we were having issues." "We will replace any defective washer or dryer and it's stated in the lease what we will replace." If they can't offer you any specific explanation or concrete resolution they've taken, then they probably don't care about the problems. I'd ask broadly and see what they say, knowing full well they will want to spin it.
posted by AppleTurnover at 12:23 PM on September 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


If only a few of the reviews are from the past few years and the neighbors seem happy now then I'd chance it.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:49 PM on September 29, 2014


I would find another place. If the reviews consistently complain about the same issues, that's a big red flag—you're looking at real problems, not just random cranky tenants. Few things suck more than being stuck in a lease with a shitty landlord.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:31 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


I lived in a building that has tons of negative reviews online. they focused on things like the water system, the assholey/slow to react management and service team, and similar stuff to what you're describing here in general.

at first, i chalked it up to it being a very large complex that people often moved in to simply because it was large enough that there was seemingly always an open unit at some time despite it being a desirable location.

The reality was that i actually got pulled aside by a manager at work one day for being stinky after like, the 4th random water shutoff that seemingly barely fit within the legal requirements for notice(and they were weasely as hell about this).

Knowing what i know, i'd never live in a place with reviews like that again. I also wouldn't really count on talking to current tenants, as the whole time i lived there(and after!) i ran in to people who never really had some of the problems and minimized the problems they did have.


Holy shit am i never living in a place where i have water system issues again if i can avoid it though. I really really wish i had done some research before i moved in to that place(it seemed perfect!... from just viewing it and talking to the management). So many stupid mornings with no water, or no hot water, and of course no heat since that was radiant and water driven.


Oh, and they also dinged me for damage to my apartment directly related to their shitty maintenance of the building on the way out, and actually sent me to collections in ADDITION to keeping my deposit over water damage that was their fault. Never. Again.
posted by emptythought at 5:40 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


When there are a lot of bad, consistent reviews out there--it's for a reason. Unless you are cool and froody with laundromat use, no water, and no heat in winter and no AC in summer, "perfect" probably isn't. You can't motivate a lazy landlord.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:00 PM on September 29, 2014


Agreeing with other folks that if the complaints are consistent and also present in otherwise positive reviews, consider them red flags.
posted by jazzbaby at 3:50 PM on September 30, 2014


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