Tenant Reviews for 525 W Oakdale Ave

I just found out aobut this place, and I wish I could have read it first before moving to this apartment. Florence (the building manager) is really rude to my guests (she called the cops once when I was unloading stuff from my friend's car for 10 min!, she also yelled at my other friend when I was unloading other stuff), she is crazy and rude. She might at first look "nice"(in her own way), but she is not.. Has nothing to do in life but to make your likfe a night mare.. I ahve been here just ONE month and she spies on me if I am talking outside with my friends, she didnt give me the apartment clean and has done nothing to do so (even after we told her a couple of times and even called the company), one of the bathrooms is leaking and all of the water starter to get out, and when we called her (on a Sunday), said she was having fun and not to bother her. The laundry room closes at 10pm and the gym too (beacuse she is crazy!, instead of giving everyone a key). But the worst complain, and please keep reading this, is that when our new furniture was delivered the deliver guy couldnt even deliver it!! because he said that she had called the cops once (im not sure why.. probably because she is crazy) and she said the furnityure would not fit (when she didnt even look at it!) and was standing right there when we were talking to the delivery guy, and was even telling us what to do! ("go and buy another couch" and "that is not a lot of money to pay for another delivery"). Summary: we had to pay for another deliver and she denied everything with horizon. Horizon has been horrible, talked to the CSR asking to talk to a manager and they NEVER transfer you.. we have called at least 8 times and have not done anything about the leaking in the closet! and they seem to not care.. You can hear everything the neighbors do upstairs, because the building is so old.. The only good thing about this place is the area...

The building is full of roaches. It's pretty standard to see them smushed on the floor in common areas. I've had to battle them in my own apartment since I moved in. Maintenance is abysmal. We've been waiting a year (thank god the lease is up) for bedroom blinds. They have one guy for four buildings who literally can't fix anything. He came once to "fix some wiring" and randomly started flipping circuit breakers without saying anything first. He could've fried my computer. On a funnier note, I saw the maintenance guy trying to get someone's stuck key out of the security door with a pair of pliers once. For twenty minutes. And Florence. She holds packages until she feels like distributing them. Don't even try to get Netflix or Blockbuster here--you'll be wondering whether to track down Florence or or send an email to the company. She has no concept of boundaries. She will spend half an hour telling you about her terrible life while you're trying to go to work or something. She glares at you if you have a friend over. She issues random instructions like "Don't bring boxes in through the front door. Go to the side door instead." Like I'm the hired help or something. And heaven forbid you try to move out, EVER. In the last two days, Florence has let seven groups of people into to my apartment (that I know of, anyway) to look. I work midnights, so I literally haven't slept more than an hour at a time for the last three weeks because it's a constant open house. And it's funny--no one wants to rent the place.

I'll keep this simple: Pros: Great neighborhood Underground parking available Relatively cheap for the area Cons: Florence sucks, even more so if you get on her bad side Disrespectful neighbors who falsify complaints Cheap everything; expect problems when you move in Cold in the winter, hot in the summer Parking lot is never salted in the winter and is a pain to get around Terrible view unless you like looking into someone else's window The "fitness center" is two broken machines, a half broken treadmill, and an old stationary machine. The cable is old and cuts out from time to time. Rent is way more than it should be. Overall, I rate this place a D . If you don't have any other option, it'll do. But there has to be something better than this.

I've been living here for three years and enjoy living in the building. Florance is a great building manager and always keeps the building looking great. She also takes care of recieving packages and getting them too you. This was the first place I moved when I moved to Chicago and just love the area, the safeness, the proximity to everything I like to do. This is a really great place to live

For my first apartment, I have been very satisfied with the building. My roommate and I were able to find a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment which is almost non-existent in the city. We haven't ever had a problem with untimely maintenance. Whenever we've had problems, the building manager, Florance, has been very good at getting someone up to our place to fix the problem within a day or two. Florance is very efficient at taking care of the aparment complex and its upkeep. Its not uncommon to see her sweeping out front or tiding up in the laundry room. When I was moving in, Florance made sure the apartment was repainted and checked to see if we wanted it painted any certain color. Whenever I see her, she usually spares a minute for a quick chat about how things are going. She is also really good at making sure I get any important packages as soon as they are delivered. The location of the building is excellent, with anything you could ever want in walking distance. The only complaint I have about the building is that the walls and floors are a little thin, so it's not uncommon to hear your neighbors walking around and such.