DO NOT LIVE HERE. The mold will make you sick.
Update March 2021... the following have all happened since my last review:
Update January 2021: I have lived here now for nearly 3 years. I love living by the lake but the management astounds me. Policies they've instituted since the beginning of the lockdown include banning children from playing in the north end of parking lot (they were masked, monitored by parents and social distanced), attempting to shut down a food truck stop at the neighboring apartment building (vmfoodtrucks.com) that was stimulating business, and intermittently blocking access to the dock, a place of refuge when we're stuck inside, to tenants (exception for the wealthy boaters) "for our safety." The gym remained closed even though it's small enough for one person to use it at a time. This is another amenity that could have gone a long way during the lockdown. They also refuse to fix anything in your apartment during the pandemic. (Our kitchen faucet has been leaking into our cabinet for months.)
The exterior of the apartments is a nightmare. Tenants regularly leave trash and cigarette butts on the ground. The exterior walls are never cleaned, leaving behind cobwebs and what appears to be mold. Exterior lights were broken for over a year before they were replaced. No one seems to be checking for broken storm drains or lights because they'll regularly break and stay that way for months on end until you report it.
The worst of all is the outside lawn. The vendors that Avalon hires use the worst, most noisy leaf blowers, enough to give you a migraine when you're working from home. Their landscaping work on the grass always looks terrible. The mud that results from their poor maintenance prevents children from being able to play on the grass, which is why they were playing in the (inactive) parking lot.
Also my washer? It's from the early 1990s. I looked it up. It's nearly as old as me. They will never replace it. I could have had a washer and dryer paid off by now if I opted to buy them instead of paying the $100+/mo premium I pay for my washer and dryer. Both the washer and dryer are extremely inefficient, requiring multiple loads to get things clean and dry. The carpet? It gets super muddy from the previously mentioned lawn, especially if you have dogs.
Needless to say, this place needs a lot of help. I've sent countless emails about these issues. Rarely do they ever take my concerns seriously. About half the time they reply with some kind of excuse. It's really too bad because it has potential to be a really pleasant and popular place to live, with the proper management. If they fixed so many of these issues, I don't think so many units would be...
Read moreI lived in this complex for more than 2 years. The community is very good. It's near the lake and near the Microsoft main campus. The apartment managers especially KK and previously Paul were very good and helpful. No complaints about that. Services were responded to within a day. It was almost a 5 star living experience during the 2 years.
My 1-star rating goes because of the move out process. The apartment managers inspected the apartment thoroughly. We were given the option of going ahead with the cleaning service of $165. We opted for it. And lo and behold avalon sends a mail 2 weeks after move out asking for $250 for counter top replacement. There were no cracks and damages on the counter tops. Just some stains which I could have easily removed if I didnt go ahead with their cleaning service option.
They will put some random charge on you once you move out. And whats damning, I FOUND AN EXACT SAME REVIEW HERE FROM ANOTHER PERSON WHO HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE A FEW MONTHS BACK. This is very frustrating.
My suggestion for existing folks, when you leave DON'T go with their cleaning service option. There are much better options out there which will charge a lot less. My suggestion for new folks who are looking at an apartment, your stay will be great but the move out experience will be very bad. So avoid this complex during your...
Read moreLived here for one year, in general the community is ok and no big problem during the stay, i would give 4-star if nothing happens afterwards. However I was so so disappointed when moving out, as we received a 600+ bill for carpet/countertop replacement after evacuation...Before moving out we were suggested to take $135 clean sweep program so they will do all the clean for the apartment. We went through the final inspection with property manager and he confirmed everything was fine all we need to pay is $135 clean fee. However two weeks later Avalon called me and said they found dirty spots on carpet and several stains on kitchen/bathroom countertop which couldn't be cleaned, so they need to replace all of them, that is ridiculous!!!. Those stains should be easily cleaned from my understanding, which is supposed to be done in the clean sweep program(or we could have it done if we're told during the final inspection)... we asked for evidence the stains are non-cleanable or if we can go back to the apartment to see it by ourselves, all requests were refused... So the funny part is, they put random charge on you and didn't even allow you to dispute, the customer representative kept saying all the decisions they made were correct and you have to make the payment before deadline... so...
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