Tenant Reviews for 525 W Oakdale Ave

I WISH I READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE I MOVED TO THIS HORRIBLE BUILDING WITH THE WORST MANAGEMENT OF ALL TIMES. COUNTING MY DAYS UNTIL MY LEASE ENDS . CAN'T WAIT TILL I GET OUT . STAY AWAY FROM THIS DISASTER.

This complex is full of extremely loud and rude neighbors who blast music, jump around, and make so much racket 24/7. The walls are thin so you can not get a single moment of peace in this building, and management doesn't do anything to help. If you work from home or take online classes you'll just have to deal with listening to your neighbor blast bass boosted music that literally vibrates the walls and floors of your apartment when you're trying to concentrate. This is the first building I've lived in where I've seen roaches. I was told my unit would come with a microwave, and the website even said so, but that information was misleading and incorrect because my unit did NOT come with a microwave. The "package room" is a complete disaster and unorganized, and packages get stolen left and right with no resolution. They said the elevator repairs would take "approximately 3 weeks" but right now it has been almost 6 entire weeks and the elevator still isn't fixed. The laundry room is too small and doesn't have enough working washers and dryers to accommodate the tenants. The central heating is weak, the weather outside is in the single digits and my apartment is absolutely freezing, I'm having to bundle up under multiple blankets to stay remotely warm. The parking garage is cramped, dark, and impossible to navigate. Don't let the new "fancy" lobby fool you, this place is not worth what they charge. Don't move here.

STAY AWAY. This building could be great but it is so poorly maintained I wouldn’t recommend anyone live here. The management company will shell out money for a tacky lobby design rather than fix things that actually matter - broken laundry machines, a persistent cockroach problem, dead mice in the parking garage, a package room that constantly “loses” packages & smells disgusting, garages doors left open throughout the night leading to bike theft & random people parking in assigned tenant spots. Construction noise is constant, even on weekends, despite the property manager saying it would be done months ago. DO NOT RENT HERE.

This building has so many issues, I don't even know where to begin. The cockroach problem is out of control. Horizon Realty Group does absolutely nothing to address it. They claimed to have pest control come, but the problem never goes away, partially because people just dump garbage in the trash chute room and it never gets removed and the threats of penalty are never followed through on. Residents complained about the front lobby, which is littered with 100s of packages daily, so they acted like they were listening and said that they would give us a "package room", but we would have to sacrifice the gym/workout facilities. What they actually did was turn that gym space into a brand new leasing office and they now dump the packages into the old leasing office, which has been completely gutted and is a disgusting old closet with exposed electrical and wooden beams. The laundry room always has at least 1-2 machines broken at a time. Lights are burnt out in the stairwell for months on end. I could go on and one. STAY AWAY!!!!! It's not worth the spacious floor plans!

This place is roach INFESTED. DO NOT RENT HERE! If it weren't for the bug problem, I wouldn't mind staying here. I counted the days until my lease was over. The location is amazing. The neighborhood is amazing. But the roach problem is ridiculous.

In general, my experience with Horizon Realty at 525 W Oakdale has been beyond disappointing. Martha, the building manager when I rented the apt, was very sweet, and I was so excited to live here. However, I soon found that Martha would take sometimes 3 weeks and multiple calls and emails from me before responding to issues that should have been fixed before I moved in. Additionally, the apt was never cleaned or repainted before my move-in. There were holes in the wall, and it took months before the building finally painted it. I had to clean it from top to bottom myself. When I asked for compensation by a rent decrease for the time that the apt was in disrepair (including a hole in the floor that was still not repaired), they responded that they would only pay me back for the money that was taken (apparently wrongfully) by the building engineer when he let me into my apt once ($75) which should have been repaid anyway. However, I have heard from other tenants that building will not hesitate to hold the residents accountable for a late rent payment or damage done, of course. They themselves prefer not to be accountable in any way, though. After Martha was promoted, Elizabeth took over as building manager, and she can take a week or more to respond to messages, not to mention her behavior when you speak to her is very rude. She even turned her back on me to dismiss me when I asked about some laundry that had gone missing (after she had not replied to my previous attempts to contact her about the issue). Most concerning, though, is that two weeks ago I let the building know via email and the work order form that the vanity door on my medicine cabinet in the bathroom needed to be fixed. It was coming off the hinge. This was never addressed, just as my closet doors have not been fixed despite work order and email requests, and the vanity door came completely off the hinge and fell on my head when I tried to open it a few days ago. When I called the Horizon office to explain what happened and to ask how they were going to rectify the situation, they never returned any of my three calls. The door was fixed but conspicuously without the requisite form dating when the repair was made. I requested the dated form and received a form but still undated. My next step is to report this to the city, but I would not recommend renting here. I look forward to moving somewhere with integrity and respectful customer service.

They are horrible. This place is horrible and the management is horrible. They do not care about the residents and will suck up all the money they can get.

Don't live here if you aren't a super deep sleeper or mind dogs that constantly bark and even bite. Maintenance rarely gets things done. My unit was not cleaned despite having 17days to do it. Nothing I requested to be done has been done three months later. My upstairs neighbor slams her dresser against the wall, jumps and stomps, allows her dog to run around, and drops things at all hours. The management says they can't tell someone not to do those things, no matter how loud at night.

We originally looked at one unit and were a bit disappointed in the lack of light but in talking with the property manager, found out that another unit had been recently renovated and was outward facing. (I definitely recommend the outward facing units as it feels like a cave if you have an inward view) We were the first people to live in our unit post-remodel and it was a really great job. New finish of the floors (although the smell lingered for a month. That fresh!) and protective wrapping was still on the appliances. Great amount of closet space, especially for a 1 bedroom unit and since we had an outward facing unit, had extra space to have a home office, dining room table, and still have room for living space. There were a few things that maintenance had forgotten to install post remodel but it was quickly handled and Edwin did a great job getting everything ordered and installed. They have a lot of units in one property but we felt that we were able to get good service when we had complaints. (It was tough to get packages since we both worked, so Saturday office hours were nice as well!) We also had a parking place, and while it is a VERY tight fit down there, my 4runner was kept save, previously having theft in another area made this a very appreciated plus!

I am in the process of moving out of this building. I should have left months ago but couldn't afford to pay rent for two units through the duration of my lease at 525 Oakdale. Building management will claim that they do not have a roach problem, but this building is bad. I have been seeing them in my own unit on and off for the past 6 months. In the past three weeks the situation has escalated. EVERY DAY for the past three weeks, I have seen roaches in the common floor of the building, sometimes dead, sometimes alive. Management would not even discuss terminating my lease early. I was told I had 'unreasonable' expectations for upkeep of an apartment rental. Was also challenged to check the other buildings on Oakdale and that I would find similar problems there. (For the record, I have talked to others that live on Oakdale, no such problem exists). Aside from a bug problem, the noise is a serious issue here. The walls are so thin that I can hear my neighbors phone when it is on vibrate. Although management has said my oven is ok, my apartment smells like natural gas all the time. Management does not care about their residents. They are doing just enough to get by. I would not recommend that anyone live in this building or any of Horizon's buildings.