Estates of Richardson — Attraction in Richardson

I'm not one to usually post Google reviews - but I think I have more to offer here than many of the other reviewers, who have mostly complained about the high move-out fees. I had a pretty exhaustive array of experiences regarding a variety of issues with the leasing associates and maintenance staff during my 2 years of stay, so let me point out the various facets of my experience:

PROS: The leasing office is open every day and the associates have always been very proactive in answering the phone and responding to emails. Additionally, the new leasing staff (Celeste, Tre, Brenda, Monica etc.) are all very cooperative - they helped me with urgent issues like important missing packages very promptly. Maintenance is very active and resolves issues to perfection, often within the same business day. Very quiet community, and dog owners are usually careful about leashing their pets outside of the dog park.

NEUTRALS: Move-out fees were not that bad for us. During our stay we always tried to always keep our apartment clean and free of damages. We also tried to clean it thoroughly before move-out, but couldn't get professional carpet cleaning done due to the ice storm. We initially did receive a statement with a $650 move-out charge, but out of that $400 was for prior damages left by the previous resident. After talking to the account resolution specialist about this, that $400 charge was removed immediately; the move-in and move-out photos taken by EOR actually helped us present our appeal with transparency. So we were finally left with a statement of $250, which was entirely cancelled out by our $250 security deposit. Out of that amount, $50 was unavoidable fees (city inspection at move-out) and $150 was for carpet cleaning - still cheaper than getting it professionally done! The last $50 bit was for the paint, which was justified considering some paint chips we had caused due to wall hangings and unintended scratches. So overall, we felt that it was not too hard to avoid hefty move-out fees. Sometimes the gates and package lockers stop working, but the leasing office makes sure to get them fixed without too much delay. There are lots of gates to enter the community - ordinarily this would be in the list of pros, but the lack of proper signage makes it confusing for visitors, especially since the part containing buildings 9-12 is internally inaccessible by car to the rest of the community. No community portal: Other similar communities (especially luxury ones) usually have an online portal where all residents can have discussions about a variety of issues/interests etc. EOR doesn't have it.

CONS: The biggest con is that the experience of resolving non-maintenance issues is largely dependent on the personalities of the leasing associates staffed at a particular time. We got water bills worth $300 and $200 in our first two months (despite the actual usage corresponding to 1/10th of that amount). But despite multiple complaints, the leasing office associates in early 2021 were very uncooperative (albeit very responsive over email/phone) - they were not ready to accept that the water meter could be at fault. We had to log our faulty meter readings over multiple days and then convince them for several hours, before they even considered that our meter could have been faulty. After all this stress of trying to convince them, they said they did us the 'one-time courtesy' of installing a new water meter for free (which they apparently don't usually do for faulty meters?) and temporarily adjusting our high bill to equal the community average. Once the new meter was installed, our water bill indeed never crossed $30 over the next 20 months. Also, I'm not sure how, but the good thing is that these awfully uncooperative leasing associates were replaced by much better ones later. Pest control is not good. We only had mild roach problems to begin with, but they never went away despite multiple visits by pest control. Ultimately we realized it was futile to keep calling them and just dealt with...

First off, I want to say that I understand that apartments by nature are going to be bit noisy due to having other people around. But after living here for damn near 2 years I have to say this is the noisiest place I have ever lived. The upstairs neighbors let their children jump off of the furniture at all hours including late into the night. It is so severe it will literally rattle the walls and floors. We have attempted to address this several times with the front office but nothing seems to ever be done. You can also hear pretty much everything they do (of course that could be the screaming or the stomping around). We are told to call a "courtesy officer" who never seems to pick up or be around to do anything about it.

People also let their dogs bark all day, every day, rain or shine. It's just plain loud here. They also had an issue not too long ago where the gate was broken and for an entire week it would screech when opening and closing, causing many nights of 3 hours of sleep. We are also once again told that they would work on it as soon as possible but not until several complaints did they actually do something about it. You can also hear the wonderful noise of a major interstate and all of the thrills it provides late into the evening.

As far as the apartments are laid out, they are nice and I do enjoy the build for the most part. The granite is a little cheap but nothing that you wouldn't find in any other sub 2k a month apartment. They seem to be pretty well insulated (which is why its strange they are so noisy) and generally keep the temperature pretty constant. Other things are pretty status quo including the gym(s) and they are going to be adding some additional activity centers in the near future.

We have had a small issue with bugs coming into the apartment which they have addressed reasonably well. Some other things that are bothersome: We need to have our kitchen sink fixed because the spray nozzle is not attaching anymore. When told about this issue they told us that since it is not Jefferson Center anymore (we moved in when it was Jefferson Center) that they would put a normal faucet in and we would have to occur the additional cost. This is ridiculous in my opinion because we signed a contract based on what was available in the apartment. All of the appliances are mediocre and are neither bad nor good. Their trash policy is a little strange but can see both sides of the arguments on this one. But seriously, put another dumpster somewhere because the one in the back of the apartments gets disgustingly full at times.

The front office staff is ok, nothing special but I do think they had much more involved and nicer staff of people when it was Jefferson Center because at least they picked up the phone when you would call. You can tell they get a little annoyed by people getting packages but it doesn't bother me.

Overall it is a shame that they allow this place to be so damn noisy because we do enjoy the layout but the construction and lack of enforcement have soured my view of this place. I will be moving as soon as my lease is up due to the fact that I cannot stand the constant noise...

July 2017: It's a mandatory $20 charge added to monthly rent to cover trash pick-up service. Two nights in a row this week, my trash was left at my doorstep. Two calls to the office garnered no response -- that includes no call back with an explanation or apology. Since the trash "service" doesn't occur after Thursday nite, I (and my neighbors who also didn't get their trash taken this Thursday) have to pull it back inside our apartments and let it pile up until Sunday nite, when supposedly, the trash pick-up for next week begins.

Last summer when I had a similar problem, I asked if I can take my trash to the dumpster and have the monthly fee waived. I was told, "No." If that's the case, I'm not sure why there aren't reimbursements if/when the team they hire to perform the task don't complete the job.

A few weeks back, a tenant moved out and left a huge television sitting near the bottom of the apartment steps by the curb in the parking lot. I informed the office that it was there, but it remained on the sidewalk for four days.

All of this is such a silly "problem"... None-the-less, poor management practices result in unhappy tenants. Most of my neighbors moved out when their leases ended.

Oct 29: Woohoo -- we finally made some progress! It's so much nicer coming home to clear breezeways. It took almost a year to get enforcement of the trash policy, but I'm glad it finally happened.

Oct 2: Trash bags been sitting out in the hallway since Friday afternoon. Same old news...

Sept 25 Update: Neighbors picked up their trash for about three days -- YAY! The mgt delivered notices about fining for trash violations Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon, two of my neighbors already had their bags of trash outside their front doors. Still there today...

I have become really frustrated by the lack of enforcement about trash/garbage at this community. It's Sunday morning and there are garbage bags piled at my neighbor's entryways. Some of these bags have been out there since yesterday and the breezeway smells like poop.

In another breezeway, there is a broken glass bottle in the middle of the hall.

We have been told numerous times that trash goes out on Sunday thru Thursday evenings only or we will be fined. I don't think the fining is enforced at all. I come home on Fridays sometimes and there are already bags outside the doors. I have asked if I can have the $20 trash fee waived and take my own trash to the dumpster and I was told, "No." The breezeways are all stained up now because people don't use the plastic trash receptacles supplied. If residents would follow this simple rule, it would alleviate the smell issues as well.

Earlier in the week, there were about 7-8 garbage bags and what appeared to be large pieces of move-out trash left by the exit gate. It was there for a couple of days and the security gate remained open the entire time.

For the price paid monthly, I am really disappointed that it so often feels like an upscale slum when I return home. I don't normally write reviews on web sites, but this is warranted as I have mentioned it to the office staff several times and cannot detect...