Grand Oaks Apartments — Attraction in Grand Blanc

When I first moved into the townhouse, the pricing was amazing. It was around 750$ month for a two bedroom townhouse, 1.5 bathroom, three floors (including a basement). I could find nowhere else that could come close to that. After living there for a bit, I realized why. The windows in the upstairs were right out of 1970. Single Pane, uninsulated, and in the winter, I had to seal them with plastic, and put multiple blankets over them to keep the cold air out. It literally would snow on the inside of the window. The furnace was very old and barely out enough forced air to make it to the bedrooms upstairs, so they were constantly freezing. The sliding screen and glass door were so old and broken, and this was never addressed by mgmt. The appliances were ancient, and would just stop working randomly. My unit was supposed to have a dryer in it (I brought my own washing machine) and I was paying X$ per month for the dryer. The one I got initially in the unit never worked. It would power on, but never warmed up. After multiple service calls, I was informed by Maintenance that it was a dryer that the last tenant left behind, and they were ordered to repaint and reuse it. I did end up getting a different one in unit, but it barely worked, and clothes generally took two cycles to dry.

The hot water heater rumbled like there were rocks rolling around in it and we only got about 10-15 minutes of hot water before it went ice cold. Never addressed by mgmt.

So now we get to the worst part of living there. The basement. The basement APPEARED to be fine. It was actually pretty large, and APPEARED to be in good shape. One thing that the mgmt left out of the description was that ALL of the townhouses on site have flooding problems. Not water coming in from outside, although that did happen once to me, no the flooding happens in the sewer pipes. Literally twice a year at least, I would hear my sinks gurgling, and before long, the water would start coming in from the sewer drain in the basement floor. Sometimes, it was only a small pool. Sometimes, it was a massive pool. Sometimes, it got 1 to 2 inches deep all around the basement. EVERY TIME, they drill out or unclog the pipes and then it is good again for a few months. I was fortunate to be in a unit that didn't get the one to two foot water levels as some other buildings got. Now, due to the constant moisture and age of the building, the basements were crawling with bugs. Tons of them. When the sewer backed up, we would get sewer flies and worms crawling out of the drain. It was disgusting.

Do NOT be fooled by the "redone" units with nice floors, cabinets ect. They are literally a covering for the old, decrepit units that have been flooding and have had mold problems for decades. I would never live in this place again. The rest of the reviews are spot on with their complaints. Snow removal, rude office, ect. It is all true. I could write a book on my experiences living there. Do some research on this place, and some of the things that happened here in the past ten years. It is NOT a place you...

One of the most frustrating housing experiences of my life. I went to visit after a friend told me to check it out since they live there. So I did. One of the ladies showed me around and I loved the neighborhood and the size of the apartments. So I got my co-leaser and we came to fill out paperwork. They told us we needed either pay-check stubs or a letter from our employer stating what we made, hours, etc. Totally expected. It took some time getting it from them because their fax machine didn't work right. They also sent the paperwork to my work without a cover sheet or any information about who/what it was about so my boss threw it out (same thing happened with my co-leaser's boss)

After we got that in, I thought it was okay. So we waited. I got a call 2 days later that it wasn't enough and that they needed my W-2's. I am self-employed so I use an I-9 and she said that was fine. I called and they said the lady (Tammie) who did their verification couldn't get in contact with my boss. They gave me this Tammie's phone number and my boss called her. My boss told me after the call that Tammie didn't know who I was when she called about me, that she couldn't find my information at the beginning and that my boss felt that she didn't get what she needed from the call. My boss also said that she didn't answer as if she was a business and that it seemed shady...she didn't want to give my information over.

So I called the apartment complex back and asked if Tammie had said that they needed something else since my boss felt uneasy about the call. They said that Tammie hadn't called them yet, but if they hadn't heard anything by 3pm, they would call her and then call me back. This was a Friday afternoon. I never got a call.

The next Monday, after not getting a call for a majority of the day, I called them to check the status. I was told that they needed a bank statement about my bank account that has substantial savings or an offer letter from a potential full time position I would be starting the next month. The lady thought that was what I would need but she would call Tammie in the morning (since it was 5:15PM) and give me a call the next day to let me know. It is now 3 days later and no call. I am not holding my breath.

Both me and my co-leaser wanted to live in this neighborhood in the apartments and tried very hard, but the lack of customer service has been ridiculous. If this is how they treat every customer, even those living there, how is anything going to get solved if I had an issue after I moved in? makes me worry. Unless you have EVERY SOURCE OF INCOME YOU'D EVER NEED...do not apply...

Lived here 1.5+ years in a townhome. For the area it is the most square footage for the cost, as well as a basement and carport! You also get to enjoy the amenities downtown has to offer, as well as feeling safe in the area. For the outdoor spaces, make sure you visit beforehand! Some spots have zero privacy, making them practically unusable. However, privacy inside is well maintained, the walls seemed to be very thick and we hardly heard our neighbors. The staff is very friendly, prompt and informative. However, not a huge fan of the management company, Group Five. It does not seem many things are fixed in a timely manner, especially for the cost you are paying to live there. We got new windows during the month of our move out, but had to endure pot holes bigger than a tire and eroded carports. When I would enter my vehicle after any rain fall my shoes and socks would be covered in black dirty water; was not the best way to start our days! Some other tips, the employees may try to pick up animals feces every morning to submit it for DNA testing, was a $250 dollar charge for a one time mistake. On top of the $200 pet fee and monthly costs for pets (FYI these costs cannot be used towards ANY damage at the end of your lease). We had to replace the entire carpeting downstairs due to one large stain (which we knew about) and some mediocre less than 3" stains upstairs led to again, a full replacement request at roughly $900 dollars. The carpeting was inspected by being taken out and flipped upside down, not just a walk through and there were NO attempts at professional cleaning made before a full replacement was requested. I would suggest being extremely careful with your carpeting if you are only living there a short amount of time, as it seems they like to replace it after every tenant. We were unaware our move-in Sure Deposits totaling $525 would not be able to be utilized for ANY of these damages, but instead lost to the ether... We would have preferred paying an actual security deposit at that point, but it was not offered. For us, it was a good transition to the area, but it seems to come with a ton of liability for the tenants, as well as a...