i'm moving to another city next semester for an internship & am looking for an apartment to live in while i'm there. i have to live in a place that offers a short term lease which limits me some & i can't spend a whole lot. the places that i've been looking at online have seemed like they would be nice, & the prices are good. i look at floorplans, prices, and photos. after making a list of different complexes to go look at over my thanksgiving break (b/c you can never trust online pics), i started looking at apartmentratings.com. i looked up every place on my list, & only 2 had a decent percent of positive reviews. a lot of the reviews complained about staff putting up fake positive reviews to boost ratings. although, lets face it, if someone doesn't like something, you're more likely to hear about it. people do like to complain. so i guess the question is, should i take these reviews seriously? some of the reviews for one place mentioned that most of the people living there are rehab members that cause a lot of trouble. i'll be living alone, so i do want some place safe. i was so excited about living in my own apartment & really starting to get out on my own, & now i feel like these reviews have killed the excitement.
trust the reviews or rent anyway?
11/14/2011
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avoid certain reviews.
Anything with exclamation points, especially a lot of them. they are oftentimes written by the landlord, or company that owns the property.
Be wary of reviews that are too negative, especially if they stand out, they may have a vendetta against the rental property.
if it's college housing, especially in a rich area, they may just be whiners.
try to see the property yourself if possible.
If a lot of reviews warn about issues with the landlord, pretending not to get checks for example, steer clear.
Also, let me tell you, having an apartment, especially alone isn't that much fun. It's not horrible, but the setup is a long, expensive, arduous process.
Anything with exclamation points, especially a lot of them. they are oftentimes written by the landlord, or company that owns the property.
Be wary of reviews that are too negative, especially if they stand out, they may have a vendetta against the rental property.
if it's college housing, especially in a rich area, they may just be whiners.
try to see the property yourself if possible.
If a lot of reviews warn about issues with the landlord, pretending not to get checks for example, steer clear.
Also, let me tell you, having an apartment, especially alone isn't that much fun. It's not horrible, but the setup is a long, expensive, arduous process.
11/14/2011
Definitely do not go by the reviews. They're often written by opposing property managers and disgruntled residents who want nothing more than to complain about something small, blowing it out of proportion.
Pictures of properties, unless they were recently built, are often older than dirt and don't reflect the state of the property as it currently is.
It's best to check it out in person. My parents told me to look at the types of cars in the parking lot and how the children behaved when they got off the school bus to get a feel for the other community members.
Pictures of properties, unless they were recently built, are often older than dirt and don't reflect the state of the property as it currently is.
It's best to check it out in person. My parents told me to look at the types of cars in the parking lot and how the children behaved when they got off the school bus to get a feel for the other community members.
11/14/2011
I do think that you should look for certain things in the reviews, but also I feel you should go look at the place yourself, talk to some people there (often at least in my area, neighbors are more than willing to complain or boast about their area if they know you're potentially moving in) and get to know the renters.
I don't always go by reviews on things like that, because like was said before, often people won't write reviews for things like that unless they have something to bitch about.
I don't always go by reviews on things like that, because like was said before, often people won't write reviews for things like that unless they have something to bitch about.
11/14/2011
Total posts: 4
Unique posters: 4