Avalon Saugus — Attraction in Saugus

When I first toured Avalon Saugus, everything seemed great. Within the first few days of living here I noticed a lot of issues. To start, the finish work was extremely sloppy and carelessly done. There are full paint brush strokes on EVERY window casing, paint splatter all over the floors, rough patches on the walls, holes in the grout, and air comes through the outlets under the windows. I was willing to put up with this until I realized that the sound proofing between floors is virtually non existent. Before I start on this, let me say that my upstairs neighbors are older, quiet, nice people. Is not their fault that between floors is paper thin. I can hear their home phone ring as if it was in my own apartment. I hear every step they take and I know every time they scoot their chair. The people next to me play extremely loud music with a subwoofer that vibrates the walls.

That's not it. In the 2 weeks I have been here, the police have been here 3 times. Not for noise complaints although after speaking with a hand full of neighbors that's not uncommon. I overheard the police talking about a possible overdose. The 2nd time they come here it was about 10:30pm and they were dealing with an irate women outside who was screaming and going crazy. Yes she lives in the building. The 3rd time was also drug related.

When I reached out to the leasing team about these issues, they sounded very concerned as if they wanted to help. Funny thing is the same women has been notified of most of these same issues by other residents, so why did she sound so surprised? After emailing back and forth a couple of times (with her manager CC'd) she stopped responding. After 2 days of no response I reached out to another person of the leasing office. I was told that I would hear from a manager within the day. Another couple of days go by... Nothing. I emailed the leasing agent and CC'd management again explaining how disappointed I was in the lack of communication. Management reached out to me and took 4 full days to offer me a 4th floor unit. This unit turned out to be a handicap unit. Why would 2 able bodied people take the opportunity away from somebody who may NEED this unit.

At the end of the day, we are taking their 30 day satisfactory guarantee to move out. 4/5 of the residents I spoke to (in different units) said they are also moving as soon as their leases are up.

Update - Now they're telling me to pay them back for the free month they...

Quick Read: Zero renter's remorse! Management is friendly, and transparent. Maintenance crew is quick to respond, and also very friendly. Complex is well maintained with lovely landscaping. Avalon isn't 100% perfect, but they're open to feedback and constantly improving.

More Detailed Read: Moved to Avalon Saugus in June 2020, and so far, it's been everything I was looking for! First, finding an apartment during COVID was a challenge because visiting different listings wasn't an option. Avalon has an amazing online 3D tour for (I believe) every apartment layout. It allowed me to "walk" through the various apartments they have and get a sense of what it'd be like to be in the space. Not only that, but the software they use for the tour allows you to take measurements, so I could check if my furniture would fit where I thought I'd want it to do.

Every apartment has a balcony, and coming from an apartment without one, it's been great having a personal outdoor area to enjoy while quarantining. Speaking of outdoor, over the summer they managed to establish a system that allowed residents to enjoy the pool amenity safely! The pool was an amenity that was a plus, but not a necessity on my list while looking for an apartment. The pictures they have on their website are also pretty accurate. I know some places go to great lengths to make things look better than they really are, but Avalon has yet to deceive me. There's also a cool grilling area that I haven't taken advantage of but look forward to using it next summer.

The Amazon Hub is really convenient, and there's a package room right next to it for larger items. When you get a package in one of the Amazon Hub lockers you get an email with a barcode to scan. However, there currently isn't a system to let you know when you have a package in the package room. You just have to track your package. There is only one package room for the whole complex so it can get a little crowded in there, but most of the residents are really good about promptly picking up their stuff. Your USPS mail goes to a separate mail room that has mailboxes for every apartment in your building (there are 3 buildings in the complex). Those also have smaller lockers for packages delivered through USPS, and the mailperson just puts the key to that locker in your apartment mailbox.

I'm sure I could keep going, but overall, I'm very pleased with living at Avalon Saugus, and would recommend it to anyone looking for...

After living at Avalon Saugus for 3 years, have A LOT to say about this place, so I will address the issues in separate posts. Starting from the beginning...

When we first visited this place, Christine was the person who helped us at the rental office. As you can see in most of the reviews here, people always mention her. This is the truth: at the end, Christine hands people her business card and asks for a positive review mentioning her name. It feels awkward not posting, so you get some pressure to do it and this is how she gets so many reviews. The truth is that there's nothing special, it's just how she goes after these reviews.

When you first visit this place, everything looks great. It's only after you move in that you see the ongoing issues. I recommend looking at the FB communities (official and unofficial) to read to numerous complaints from current residents. This is where you will find the real truthful reviews about this place.

To start mentioning one of the most concerning issues I had, I will address about SECURITY: The police is constantly being called for a variety of issues. The most concerning was when we had even the SWAT team onsite and over 20 police cars surrounding the community. A man was forced out of his apartment arrested and handcuffed to an ambulance gurney. No one ever explained to us what happened and why this man got arrested. There was a recent incident where people broke into the cars in the parking lot and personal items got stollen from the resident's cars Some residents saw a couple of homeless people sleeping in the garage while the garage door was broken for days putting everyone's safety at risk. The security guard on duty at night was constantly sleeping in his car Fire alarm went off numerous times and we never know the reason People constantly leave the building doors open allowing anyone to go in and out - the office never takes any action to stop this from happening. You are not allowed to protect yourself at your home with security cameras at your door

My next review will address hygiene issues. Please note that the office also has an answer or excuse for everything, so they will likely respond to this with excuses, but as I mentioned, the FB communities will confirm all this with real reviews from the residents after...