Overall good apartment with some flaws, bad management company
Pros
Our apartment was relatively newly renovated and was truly a home for two years. The apartment had in-unit laundry which was a major plus and was pretty clean when we moved in. The apartment always had heat and hot water, the lobby was cleaned at least once a week, and the trash rarely piled up in the alley (although there were many rats that called the alley home). As far as location -- close to the express subway, surrounded by grocery stores, there are parks nearby, and the neighborhood is close-knit.
Cons
The apartment was very small, which is pretty par-for-the-course in NYC, but there was virtually no common area and there was only one closet in the whole apartment. The apartment was pretty loud, due to partying neighbors and people coming in and out of the building at all hours of the night, which didn't really bother us but I can see it bothering some people. By far the worst thing about the apartment was the pest problem -- granted it was near the trash alley, but there were LOTS of little German roaches and during the second winter there was a mouse. And my roommate and I were super clean, so we managed the situation but it was pretty icky. Also the bathroom grew mold, probably due to the lack of ventilation. Also we found the apartment through a broker (mistake) and I'm not exaggerating when I say that in two years we communicated with the management company only two times -- when we moved in we called to figure out how to pay rent and when we moved out we called to figure out the procedure to move out. Oh and we got confirmation emails when we paid the rent, so we know they had our emails. The super seemed competent but the management company is terrible. We shouldn't need to call to figure that stuff out and it really prevented us from bringing any of our pest and mold concerns to their attention.
Advice to the owners
Have more transparent communication with your tenants
Bed Bug City
Pros
Location, it is one block away from the three train
Cons
Nonresponsive to bed bug complaints and once responsive, very poor plan for execution. Actually, no plan for execution.
Advice to the owners
Properly exterminate for bed bugs in entire building as it is an old building that has 2 apartments with a 10 year history of bed bug infestation.
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