OT: Need central campus apartment advice
Just moved back to Ann Arbor and want an apartment on central campus. I've never had a place on central campus before, but have been checking out a few places since I got back and have read some really bad things about the companies that own what seems like 95% of the apartments/houses on campus. Arch Realty, Prime Student Housing, and Campus Management are all the ones I've read about. Anyone have experience with these companies? Any recommendations on apartment complexes?
Thanks in advance.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
What are you looking for in an apartment/management company besides a desire to be located near central campus?
January 12th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
It all depends on where around central you want to live and how much you are willing to spend. I know that Wilson White Co. is crap. My fav apartments are the LOFTS on by Main St. and W William, modern style design, each apt comes with a 42 inch flat screen.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:12 PM ^
Conveniently located next to... nothing.
From my experience (graduated 3 years ago), you want to live East of State, South of Hill, North of Packard and West of..... I don't remember - something a block or two east of Church. That's the area I would focus on - close to bars, b-school, etc.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:33 PM ^
ummm its one block from downtown, so it's conveniently located next to tons of main street bars and restaurants...and the OP didnt state if he was an undergrad, grad, or even a student. if you were an undergrad, i'd def want to stay much closer to South U area. But if you were a grad or not a student, I'd want something quieter and thats why I like the LOFTS.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:48 PM ^
Does not change the fact that it's not desirable in terms of location to central campus (which was the emphasis of the OP).
January 12th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^
Do you have a link for these lofts?
January 12th, 2010 at 5:05 PM ^
yep, here ya go http://www.4elevenlofts.com ...i wanted to move there but they didnt have any 3 bedrooms available at the time, its pretty damn expensive though
January 12th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
Do you have a price range?
January 12th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
I was with Campus Management for three years and no compliants. They rent you about what you'd expect as a college student and are good with snow removal and upkeep.
A large part of your exprience will come from where you live. Apartments south of campus in the party zone are typically not as nice. You're in the "party district/student ghetto". Landlords expect their places to get trashed by parties and as such as less likely to renovate and put nice things in the aparment.
North of campus is the quieter grad student area. Nice places, but the landlord is more likely to get on your ass over noise, a stain in the carpet, etc.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^
I just signed with Campus Management for next year, also no complaints. Their staff seems helpful and quick to respond should you need something repaired (ie leaky ceiling). Great location, really low rent considering they have free on-premises laundry, weight room, and other assorted goodies.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^
I'll "third" that. It's been a few years, but I remember them being helpful and responsive at least a couple of times. Reasonable, too.
As others have noted, the OP may benefit from providing some more color on his quest.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:30 PM ^
Just don't be tempted to live in U Towers under any circumstances.
Also, check the The Daily Classified Page, which has an interactive map so you can narrow down by location/ price/ need. Much better than Craigslist.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^
I lived there my junior year--on the 19th floor--and the view was beautiful but that's about it.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:30 PM ^
$1000 is about my max in rent, but if its a little more than that, no problem. As far as location goes, in the Hill/Church or E. University area would be good, so would the area between State and Main. Thanks for all the advice.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:42 PM ^
I lived at Hill and Tappan for a summer, right across from the Mormon mission and it was a pretty nice place. It is two houses subdivided into apartments. I forget who the management was, I was subletting at the time. Pretty quiet, aside from the occasional herd of drunk people walking home from the bar (we forgot to lock the door one night and woke up to find a totally naked girl asleep on the couch). On Football Saturdays it will get loud, but shit happens. Only negative I remember was the laundry is in the basement of the house facing Hill, nothing in the other house.
This was four summers ago, so take it with a grain of salt. For any AA landlord I'd advise touring say 3 or 4 of their properties, even if you are only interested in 1 or 2. Gives you a feel for what level of upkeep to expect for the landlord. Bad signs are lots of burned out interior lights, poor snow removal, damaged outer doors, a high percentage of non working machines in the laundry room and really drafty places. Those are the classic signs of the landlord not giving a fuck.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:48 PM ^
In older homes and appts pull back some furniture or look along the base of the moldings for signs of black mold. (Yes, I was stupid enough to rent a house with a black mold problem).
January 12th, 2010 at 3:59 PM ^
Did you pay extra for the naked chick? Or was it just part of the standard lease? Cause that would be cool.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^
If $1000 is your budget, you can pretty much live as upscale as you choose in AA. Maybe try the new Zaragon apt building where Melrose Place used to be?
January 12th, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^
From my experience the Zaragon building is nice, but probably not worth the amount of money. I think my friend said he and his roommate were paying $2500 for a two bedroom. Even though it is in a good location and there is a on-site gym, I think $1250 is too much for an apartment with a cement ceiling. In my opinion, anyone who lives there is either A) A sucker, or B) Has waaaaaay too much money. Likely, it is a combination of the two.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^
I lived with a roommate in freaking Streeterville in CHICAGO and we didn't even pay that much for a two bedroom. Holy hell.
But your comment about concrete ceilings is a joke. If it's a loft, that is a popular finish. If it's just a regular condo, then yeah - that's not right.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^
They are intended to be lofts, and I used the point about concrete ceilings just to add emphasis.
After being in enough places in Chicago, I have no idea why anyone would pay that much to live in Ann Arbor.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:35 PM ^
I had a really good experience as a grad student living in an apartment near the CCRB. The apartment was managed by this company:
http://aaapartments.org/
It is an anal husband-wife duo who take great care of their apartments. If you like to do beer bongs suspended from the second floor balcony, and then punch holes in the wall, then it's not your type of place. But if you want to be in central campus and not live in a student slum house, this is probably one of your only options.
Considering how much better condition their apartments are in, they don't charge that much more either.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
I lived in Maynard House (it's not a house, its an apartment building) on 400 Maynard for 3 of my undergrad years. It's a bit on the expensive side but it is IMO one of the nicest places any student could live in while in Ann Arbor.
It's VERY close to campus; it's one block from State Street, above Cottage Inn, and it's right across the street from Tower Plaza. Electricity, heating, and water are included in the rent. The landlord and the rest of the building's staff are really nice. They have studios and 1 bedroom apt.s for rent, but demand is high because of location so few apt.s are vacant now.
Check www.postrealtyproperties.com for that property and others they own. Oh, and Tower Plaza isn't that bad either, but as the above poster said, NEVER live in U. Towers.
EDIT: You should also check out Corner House Apts. http://www.cmbmgmt.rentlinx.com/Property.aspx?PropertyID=1628 Not sure about how good the mgmt is but the apts were nice.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:05 PM ^
...Maynard House!
I lived there from '98 to '01, and it was a great place to live. Management was responsive and easy to deal with. Rent was a bit spendy, but you should be able to land a studio there for under $1000/mo. You get central HVAC, and I don't remember the electricity bills being too awful. It's also a well-built structure, so you won't have many noise worries.
You can't beat the location. In addition to the places mentioned above, Scorekeepers and Borders are a block down the street. There is (was?) a FedEx/Kinko's across from Borders. You'll pass by Nickels (sp?) Arcade on your way there. The side entrance to the Michigan Union is a little over a block away. NY Pizza Depot is on the opposite corner, Jimmy John's is down the block, Ashley's is just around the corner, and Amer's is a bit farther down.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:40 PM ^
I used to live directly opposite you guys, in Tower Plaza. OK place except that it has no parking.
January 12th, 2010 at 6:40 PM ^
We had no parking either, but I managed to do all my commuting by bike, foot, or bus.
Thankfully, my job was on-campus and I managed to hold it through the end of my undergrad days.
Somehow I also managed to live out of White Market by NYPD during that period, but I have to say they have improved quite a bit in the decade since.
I usually brought my car down in the summer months and parked in one of the $100/3 months lots.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:37 PM ^
I also did not have a car then. (White Market came up huge for me, too.) The biggest problem about the lack of parking wasn't so much for me, but for other people when they stopped by - they'd have to either park a good distance away and hoof it or park in the tiny 30-minute lot behind the building and live in fear of being towed.
January 12th, 2010 at 10:36 PM ^
I lived in Corner House for a couple years during undergrad and really liked it. However, the walls are super thin and everyone that lives there is an undergrad, so if you want to live somewhere quiet, Corner House is not the place for you. Also, I think they only have 2+ bedrooms and it doesn't sound like you want a roommate. I don't have any complaints about CMB, though.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:04 AM ^
And in more than one of their locations; Geddes-Hill, and 824 McKinley. They were a really nice family run company. They've expanded to properties all over the place, so they may have lost a bit of the personal touch, but I liked the family a lot, fixed things pretty quick when you needed it, and had pretty good rent-control for renewals.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:50 PM ^
don't live with them. i lived for a few summers at my brothers apartment on packard and they were terrible landlords. had to replace our fridge twice in the same year and got charged 140 dollars to replace a couple blinds. from what i've heard arch realty is decent.
January 12th, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^
Prime
January 12th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^
Get a place that doesn't make you pay your heating bill. I got ripped off last year when I moved into a place that charged me for heat.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:04 PM ^
I am looking for an apartment in A2, too, along with the OP.
Let me know if you need a good roommate!
January 12th, 2010 at 2:13 PM ^
What's your cup size?
January 12th, 2010 at 2:33 PM ^
If you're looking for just an apartment, there are 3-4 buildings right next to each other on South Forest and Church, the first block south of Hill.
There's also a few nice places on SF north of Hill.
Another place at the corner of Oakland and Tappan, Tappan between Hill and Oakland, and Oakland and Arch. There's a ton of buildings all down Packard, with a few right by hill.
Another few buildings on Vaughn. One on East U across from Greenwood.
I had friends that lived in Crawford house on Willard and the apartments were nice.
As you can see, there are a ton of options south of campus. If I were you I would drive around and take a look to see what you like. All of them have signs with the rental company's info on them.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:41 PM ^
DO NOT rent from Arch, for the love of God, do not rent from Arch. They use your sec. deposit as an excuse to basically renovate their crappy units.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:47 PM ^
They all suck equal. Is Dan's houses still around? They were pricks.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:36 PM ^
Yes. Was thinking of one this year, and the tenant basically waited for Dan's bitchy sister to walk out to tell us to get as far away as possible from those two. Ugh.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:13 PM ^
My landlord for three years was Metro Properties. They had a few houses in the Hill/Church/Forest/E. University area, two of which I lived in. The buildings were typically a bit older, but the company was really good about fixing things and didn't ever take from my security deposit. I liked them because they usually charged the lowest rent in the most desirable areas. Not a very large company though.
Friends generally told me that Wilson-White/Arch was the worst. Six months to fix a leaky sink, etc.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:54 PM ^
FWIW, I leased with Wilson White (which is now Arch Realty) for 3 years in Ann Arbor and never had any serious problems, with one exception. This summer someone managed to break into a groundskeeper's car and stole the master set of keys to everyone's places, which was a bit of a nightmare. People like to complain about them a lot, but I've never had any major issues besides that one. Just avoid Michigan Rental like the plague. The guy that runs that company is dirtier than John Calipari's recruiting.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
Even though it might be a little bit more work to find a place to live, I think you are better off avoiding Varsity, Arch, etc. A lot of times you can find a landlord that owns one or two buildings only and from what I've heard/experienced they are generally easier to deal with.
January 12th, 2010 at 5:46 PM ^
Can't tell from the post, but if you're coming back for Grad school, my wife and I rented a place in the Old West Side on 3rd Street and Liberty. The following year, we rented at Knob Hill which is basically at Hill and Main. Both places allowed us to walk to the pubs/restaurants on Main Street within five minutes. We also could hit the Stadium, Crisler and the IM with a five minute walk. Price was very reasonable at both locales since we weren't in the student "crush".
For what it's worth, I'm a slumlord of one property on Greenwood (aka Party-Central) two blocks south of the B-Scool. I get $3000 a month for a five bedroom house with six students, 2 baths, living room, kitchen and on-site parking. Hopefully, this helps you gauge what is finacially reasonable for your situation.
January 12th, 2010 at 11:44 PM ^
Too bad we don't have prices here like they do at Toledo. My brother has a really nice 800 sqft apartment across the street from campus for $700. It's gotta be 5 years old (or less).
If only I could find a place like that for under $1000. I would love to be at Corner house for that $650 two bedroom deal, but I'd prefer a little control over my roommate. Didn't work in the dorms, don't want to chance it again.
January 13th, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^
Ann Arbor rent is high because property tax on campus is ridiculous.
I think the property tax is high b/c when I was there I was told that the University of Michigan doesn't pay property tax.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
I would suggest seeing what Berkley realty has. I was living in an Arch realty property last year which switched over to Berkley the day before I moved out. Arch kept giving me the run around about getting my security deposit back and eventually Berkley told me even though it wasn't their responsibility, that they would give me my deposit back in full. It was such a relief, especially since I had already moved to New York and couldn't really fight it in person. Realtors who are decent are hard to find in AA, but Berkley seems to be one of them from my experience.
January 13th, 2010 at 6:01 PM ^
I'm living in U Towers right now. Don't do it.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:31 PM ^
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!
January 13th, 2010 at 9:15 PM ^
At least you had a front row seat when the old Pinball Pete's burned down.