Briarwood Apartment Homes & Townhomes — Attraction in State College

I wish I could leave a better review, but this is the no-nonsense explanation of what you're going to get at this apartment.

Pros:

the apartments are basically soundproof. I couldn't hear my neighbors at all, the exception of the upstairs neighbors. However, since I was on the bottom floor, I only heard them in the living room above me. It wasn't their bedroom or anything.

-I lived in one of the recently renovated efficiencies. Everything in the apartment was spectacular. The carpet was new, the garbage disposal was new, the countertops were new, the bathroom was filled with all sorts of new fixtures. It was a great apartment.

the price was actually not bad relative to what yo get in state college. I lived all over State College and many of the apartments put forth the bare minimum because they know they have a ever rotating cycle of college kids / foreigners who have no idea what their rights are as renters. At other apartments, I've dealt with everything from mice, mold, to leaking plumbing. That did not happen at briarwood. I really love living here and the only reason that I left was because I bought a house.

the amenities provided for the apartment are great. I was surprised to see that almost nobody used the dog park, the free bike rentals, the grill, the gym, and the walking paths. There's also a scenic pond that has ducks wandering around, which is super cute and provides a very inviting atmosphere.

Olivia is the best. I think she works at the front desk and I don't totally remember what her title was, but she was always bending over backwards to help me and was more than helpful. She was extremely personable and was always very patient whenever I had maybe obvious questions.

if you do need to talk to the maintenance staff, they're actually super nice and professional. I loved every single one of those people that I talked to. I remember Mike and there was an ex-marine who speaks fluent Korean there. I don't know if they remember me, but I gave him chocolates. Anyway, those guys were really nice and I was always very comfortable with them coming in and out of my house to work on stuff. They always knocked on the door and we're polite. They were very personable and I remember one time I filed a maintenance request for something that was totally my fault. They were still very professional about it even though they had to come in on a Saturday to look at it.

I had a really good experience,but there's one major drawback:

My only real complaint about this place was the process of checking out. I wound up paying over $5,000 just to leave the apartment. I had to pay I think roughly a month and a half to two months of rent up front in order to break the lease, plus a fee. I thought that was really pricey, but didn't think too much of it until they told me that the condition upon which I love the apartment resulted in me not getting my security deposit back.

I really like you guys but, calling it like it is and being honest to everybody, I left you guys an apartment that was in significantly better condition than whenever I found it. I even vacuumed out all the dead bugs that lived in the large glass doorway - which wasn't done for me whenever I originally moved in. The carpet was also soaking wet whenever I moved into begin with, and I left you guys a freshly steamed vacuumed floor.

When I looked at the itemized list as to why I did not get my security deposit, it was very obvious that a lot of these things on this list were either not accurate or were things that had already been broken whenever I walked into the place to begin with. Out of my entire security deposit, I received $1.96 back. I really only want to say nice things about this place, but I just have to be honest with everybody that that was patently dishonest for the apartment complex to do that. They already got thousands of dollars of my money from breaking the lease early, there really was no need for them to take that security deposit with them as well.

Tl;Dr - nice apartment but expect bogus charges...

In my ten (10) years as a renter, I have never had a living experience quite like how I was forced to accommodate with Briarwood Apartments & Townhomes (BAT) in State College, PA. This complex cares about as much for its tenants as a loan shark does for its debtors, with callous ambition. My two (2) year subjective experience with BAT is as follows. The apartment itself appears to have been built in the 1970s and has yet to be upgraded. Texture carpet and linoleum comprise of the living areas/bedrooms and kitchen/bathrooms, respectively. The insides of the kitchen cabinets are made of disintegrating particleboard that appear to have been gnawed through by vermin over the many years. You will need to lay down contact paper to prevent your food from spoiling. The walls are torn/marked up from the lack of care over the years, which BAT likely charged the previous tenets upon move-out, but then failed to paint/patch up the marks in order to charge you, the incoming tenet, upon your move-out. There was extensive water damage around the lining of the bathtubs on the second floor that had leaked during a previous tenet’s stay and caused ceiling damage on the first floor, which was haphazardly remedied by BAT. Should you find yourself forced to reside with BAT, ensure you thoroughly inspect every area prior to moving in. For instance, when I moved in and inspected the laundry/storage room, I found wads of hair/lint balled up in the corners next to animal bones. Clearly BAT failed to inspect/clean the apartment prior to the previous tenet’s move-out. The onus will be on you, however, to clean everything beyond reasonable expectation prior to your move-out, otherwise “fixing fees” will be deducted from your $200 security deposit. For instance, for every hole in the wall (e.g. nail holes for hanging pictures), you are required to patch up, otherwise BAT will charge you $1/hole. You also need to wash every window or risk a $10/window cleaning fee, and the hanging vertical blinds that cover the sliding glass doors and are so akin to breaking when you move them, should any of those break or are unclean, be prepared to pay $25/blind. You also need to professionally clean/wash the texture carpet, and provide proof of the cleaning prior to moving out, that may cost you between $250-500/apartment, otherwise BAT will take your entire security deposit and charge you their inflated carpet cleaning fee. Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of BAT is the parking situation. You can procure a parking spot for $25/car/month and receive a parking pass to hang in your rearview mirror, but should you have to leave town, particularly during the winter months, and it snows, BAT threatens to tow your vehicle in order to clear the parking lot. It defies common sense that though you procured a parking spot, you are still not responsible enough to accept the possible risk of not being able to move your vehicle if BAT decides to plow during inclement weather. Additionally, if you have guests, beware of having them temporarily park in the apartment parking lots without a parking pass (e.g. to unload their bags/drop off equipment), BAT has the local towing companies on speed dial and will not hesitate to tow their vehicle within the hour they have arrived that will cost you $295/towed car. BAT does provide temporary parking passes (

TLDR: Terrible place to live. Lived there for one year and promptly moved out. Also interesting to note that in every review they just ask you to email the leasing office.. yet I brought all these up in the moment and they did nothing? But when the complaints are public, they want the appearance that they are proactive and care. (they aren't). Also important to note that the most recent positive review is from a Morgan Properties employee (Anastasia.) Here's a list of things that were awful in this apartment and with this management company: Heating and cooling does NOT work well in the upper floors of the apartment. Third floor bedroom was around 78* in July when the apartment air was set on 68. No good air flow into any of the bedrooms. Had to buy a $300 portable AC to make the summer months livable. The apartments are dated and not in the best shape to begin with. They NEVER answer the phone. EVER. It is always routed to a foreign call center. I would frequently have to call 3 or 4 times throughout the day to get anyone on the phone. And you will only ever get a leasing agent who may or may not know what they are talking about. Never the property manager, Jon. NO guest parking. Huge pain to have anyone come to your apartment. You have to request guest passes from the office. You can have your guest park on the side streets, which depending on where you are in the building, could be a 10 minute walk from the car to the apartment. Not ideal in the winter months and grossly unacceptable for the amount they charge for rent. Walls are PAPER thin. Constant ducks quacking if you have an apartment facing the "pond" and maintenance noise frequently like leaf blowers. There's also a marching band that practices somewhere nearby at 8 or 9pm, which is obnoxious. The parking spots in lot E are SO close together that you can barely get out of your car and you WILL get your door dinged multiple times. My unit had myself and 2 roommates and I did not want to renew. They gave me the run around for over a month and a half saying that I could not get out of the lease and would have to stay in the apartment if the other roommates chose to renew. They asserted I, in my individual capacity, could not be removed from the lease after the lease ended because of the wishes of the other two roommates. This subsequently and mysteriously changed after I had consulted an attorney and had them review the lease agreement. In relation to the above, I was told the property manager was out on vacation for over a week and half. I could not get an answer from the property manager or Morgan Properties general manager even though the leasing agent assured me someone would give me a call back. Took several times reaching out to them (after getting the foreign call center numerous times) before I got a response. The leasing office doesn't enforce their own rules. Both the property manager and MP's general manager were made aware that someone in my unit brought in an unauthorized "pet" that I did not sign a consent form for, which is what is legally required on a joint and several lease. This "pet" was brought to the attention of the leasing staff several times. Ultimately, the "pet" ended up attacking my properly documented cat unprovoked. The management company did not care one single bit and did nothing about it.

Overall, I cannot recommend more that you go literally anywhere else. I had a great experience with Imperial Towers down the road with Caitlin as the property manager. I've also moved into an ARPM property 2 months ago and so far have had a wonderful experience with them, specifically Mary the leasing agent. This place is AWFUL and that is coming from someone who worked in property management for...