Tenant Reviews for 3201 OVERLAND AVE

Pros: location landscaping gym month to month rent (after lease is up) Cons: noise / pollution of Overland Ave Danger of exiting the garage maintenance entering your apartment Recommended for: people who are starting out in LA and need a good central location. Also great for people who like to meet and socialize with their fellow residents. Not recommended for: people with respiratory issues and those who work from home (noisy street, danger of coming and going during heavy traffic) I lived here for years. Woodcliff is a large complex of several buildings interconnected, which run down a steep hill on (very busy) Overland Ave. The location is amazing - 20 seconds to the 10 freeway, 2 minutes to the 405, 16 minutes to LAX. The grounds are very well kept with some nice water features. There are 2 pools and 2 hot tubs (which you don't want to live near due to the noise). There is a decent gym which is very busy in the evening, but relatively empty during the day. Also, above the gym is a nice meeting area that resembles something akin to a ski chalet. The office staff are generally helpful, although I did run into some issues, mostly due to the corporate nature of the company running the building and no one wanting to take responsibility for their mistakes. Overall, they are attentive and maintenance issues are usually taken care of within a day or two. Be warned - the maintenance guys are given master keys and when you request something fixed, they come in to your apartment without more than 1 quick knock on the door. They will even enter to test your smoke detectors periodically. This is one of my biggest issues with this place. I started to get paranoid after a while! I ended up putting a lock on my bedroom door so at least I knew they wouldn't barge in while I was in there. Overland Ave is a major thoroughfare in LA, with big rigs and thousands of cars using it every day. It's also a steep hill, so trucks have to rev their engines to make it up, spewing black smoke (ending up as black dust in your apartment) and making a lot of noise. Getting out of the garage is dicey, as the cars speed down the hill. I've witnessed / heard at least half a dozen accidents due to the dangerous garage entrance/exit. The danger is compounded when delivery or moving trucks park right in front of the building, blocking most of your view of approaching cars. My suggestion would be to live on the back of the building, facing the French school. The kids might make some noise during the day, but it would be much better than the roar and fumes coming from Overland Ave. Avoid the apartments overlooking the pools, and try to get a top floor apartment if possible, because you'll get a breeze coming through and most likely an amazing view. I also strongly recommend getting a good air filter, and perhaps also a humidifier/air filter. I cleaned mine out every week, filled with dark sooty dust. Additional recommendation - safe car

The only good thing about this place is the location and the view of LA from one of the pools. Ever since I moved in I've been beset with problems. On the day of my move-in I was welcomed by roaches. After that Every single that is supposed to be working, doesn't. The maintenance guys do a shoddy job and claim the work is done. If you really want to get something done you have to take a day off. Apart from that the noise from Overland ave is maddening and the only avenue of fresh air is to keep your doors open and take in the recycled corridor air. Avoid.

So i recently went to get an apartment here. It's great when you walk in pool, rec room, etc. the 1 bedroom was a nice, small bedroom in my unit but still ok. Only odd thing they charge for water and trash? They gave me 30 days to move in and i had to bump my move in up 1 week early. At first I had nothing but problems with a few of the girls in the leasing office. They weren't very accomidating and wouldn't direct me to a solution. Finally the person that could help me was the supervisor of the property Barbera. She resolved the situation as timely as posible and kept communication open. Though not how I would have prefered but never the less she did what she could to help. My advise is to deal directly with Barbera for any major problems you might have.

We lived in this apartment for over a year and half. It was pretty good the first time you walked in to their compound. Great amenities, gym, swimming pool & recreation room, if you will use it. Since this apartment building was built long long time ago, they need to repair it as often as possible. the kitchen cabinets were dilapilating. Water often turns brown because of old pipes that they have. Elevators are always on repair. There was a time that the red elevator was not working for 4 months. Truly devastating experience. They will robbed you for the water and trash fee every month that they passed to all tenants. And lastly, they charged me $200 for shampoo cleaning. They are not even giving you receipts for the job done. This is a very ridiculous great tenant policy. Save yourself in trouble and do not move in to this apartment.

I've lived in a studio at Woodcliff for a year and a half and it hasn't been a complete nightmare as some have described, though people have different thresholds I guess. Here are my Cons and Pros: Cons: - Yes, it is pricey for a studio, but on a price per foot in a secure complex with amenities, you're not going to get that much cheaper in West LA. I would know because I work in real estate. - My worst complaint actually has to do with their cable/internet system, which they source to Consolidated Smart Systems (a third party company that adds no value). The internet is constantly going out and they will usually make you wait 3-5 days before they come and repair it. Cable is complete rip off with not that many channels. Consolidated even charged me $150 to install Direct TV, even though Direct TV installed the box and dish while Consolidated had nothing to do with the process. And Consolidated Smart Systems has the worst customer service known to mankind -- i.e., put on hold for 30 min at a time, after which they hang up on you. The worst part is, you can't threaten to cancel since they have a monopoly over cable/internet in the complex. - The elevator to my garage was broken for 3-4 months and I had to keep using the stairs (which winds downstairs and all the way down), taking about 5 minutes to walk to the garage. This isn't 100% Woodcliff's fault seeing as some resident had apparently kept smoking inside the elevator and broke it down. Although, I'm not sure why it took 3-4 months to fix! Imagine carrying groceries from the subterranean garage up 4 flights of stairs, outside around the pool (and sometimes it was rainy and windy) - when I first moved in last summer, yes, there were definitely cockroaches. In fact, I would see 2-3 of them a day. I put out some traps myself and property management took care of it as well. The problem luckily cleared by wintertime and I haven't seen a roach since. - I had a brief termite problem, but the property managers were actually quite helpful and the terminator came within 2 days. No problems since then. - Yes, there is a lot of construction noise that begins around 7:45 one or two times a week -- jackhammering that echoes throughout the property. This has been going on for 6 months. I always have to wake up and shut the windows, put in ear plugs. Pros: - I'm not sure why people complain so much about Property Management. They've always been very kind and courteous to me. They take care of repairs very fast. My dad was visiting out of town and I left the key with them so they could show him in & open the door. Not sure if this holds true anymore, but when I moved in, I received a $500 discount off the first month's rent because a friend referred me. I ended up referring a few friends later on and subsequently got another $1,000 off. - The grounds are clean and well-kept. Although the property is a little older, Property Management has done a good job maintaining the gym, pools, landscaping. Last year, they redid the freshwater springs and put in some fish. It looks pretty nice and I like the fact that when I open my window, I can hear the calming trickle of water from the springs. - There is rent control. Very few people realize this. The property was built in the early 1970s, so can only increase rents 3-4% a year! - Extra parking spaces -- are available and fairly cheap, only $50 for a tandem, $100 for single. Smaller complexes don't offer this and it's great because my friends can park in my extra spot when they are here. All in all, I've had a few pet peeves and short periods of time when I was frustrated, but in general, I'm pretty happy here. I may move in the next year or two only because my 450 square foot studio is getting a bit tight!