Bankier Apartments — Local services in Champaign

I live in bankier's apt for over three years, and I would like to give a fair review for other UI students. Pro: Location Location Location!: most of their apts locate in the center of Champaign downtown, which is extremely convenient for students work in lab till late night and need food around. Payment option: This company accept check/online bank transfer/ credit card to pay rent, which is convenient. Space: Their room tend to be larger than market average. Rooms available even if you apply late: Better apts generally runs out pretty quick, Hot apts could get out of space for next two to three years!

Con: Obsolete building: Most of their building were really old. They do maintenance, but problems still occur frequently. For example, water heater in upper unit exploded and huge amount of water flood my belongings. You will need to take all these losses by yourself without renter's insurance. (generally cost +$100/Mo.) Heating/Cooling cost is high due to lack of Insulation.

Noise: If you live in their old building, then you will hear every single detail of what your neighbor does. Such as they fart in toilet, close the door, make Love, say something to themselves, & etc...

Overpriced: Bankier's apts generally tend to give slightly higher price compare to others. If your budget is tight, then choice other apts.

Landlord entre your room frequently: Urbana city require landlord give notice at least one day before they enter your room. However, Champaign does not have such law. Although most of the time, landlord will knock the door before they open your door. There are several times that staff open my door without any notice. Live in Urbana if you really care about privacy.

Overcharging: It is quite often that they charge you for problem that exist when you move in. They refuse to fix those problem and then charge $$$$ for that when you move out. The company also refuse renter to steam clean the carpet by themselves. (If you do so they still charge you carpet clean fee) Therefore, you will have hundreds more bill when moving out compare to other companies. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE PHOTO OF EVERYTHING WHEN YOU MOVE IN&OUT!!! PHOTOCOPY THE CONDITION LIST SHEET before you turn it in.

Dishonesty: Their mouths were full of lies toward international student, and I am not the only victim of their lie. It's quite often that they lie about condition of apts when they talk about the room. So you must VISIT THE EXACT ROOM YOU WILL LIVE IN BEFORE YOU SIGN THE LEASE. Misleading information include mail/package/parking. Take your time read the lease documents! Again, you must visit the exact room!

PS: all these cons were true for old apts, if you live in their new building (e.g. Skyline Tower), then the only problem is overprice.

In summary: Live in Bankier's old build will give you an average to below average experience. (3 to 2 star) Their new building should give you a good to excellent experience. (4 to 5 star).

Others: C-U area generally tend to be very safe (compare to Chicago downtown, & etc...), and this area does not have bed bug problem too. Most of apts are roach free (or the pest control work really well). Most of downtown apts are furnished with acceptable price. TAKE THE COURSE GIVEN BY UOFI TENANT UNION BEFORE YOU...

Bankier is really the most top-notch leasing group in Champaign Urbana for us folks who can't afford to live in the brand new high rises that are springing up all over the place. When I was viewing units at the start of their leasing season, Keith showed me a unit that was in the process of being remodeled after I shot down everything else he had to offer. Even though it was half painted and didn't even have cabinets yet, I was enamored with the space. Naturally, I had a million questions for Keith, and I was surprised to find that he confidently had answers for most of them.

Things that he didn't have answers for (will it have a garbage disposal? can I get it unfurnished? do you HAVE to paint these gorgeous hardwood beams or can we leave them exposed?), he made some calls and found out. At most places this probably would have been a weeks-long ordeal to get sorted, and Keith got me the info I needed before we even left the unit.

I signed shortly after, and that was about 8 months before the lease started. During that period, Keith never batted an eye when I hit him with off the wall questions directly via email, and was even so kind as to give me some progress shots of the remodel, as well as a handful of images of the finished product. He was very responsive all the way up until move in day.

The move in process was as smooth as any on campus. There were a few items that needed attention in the unit, which was to be expected. I drafted up my maintenance requests, sent them to Keith, and he submitted them on my behalf shortly afterward. He also helped me get moved in early, which made life so much easier. I've been in the new place a few weeks now, and it's really quite nice. My requests have been taken care of, Keith is still as responsive as ever, and has even offered to drop in and help me with some things like wall mounting my TV. Overall, I'm a very...

I was looking to sublet an apartment on-campus for the spring semester. I was hesitant about the entire process, but Savannah Meneley and Sydney were so kind and welcoming. They were patient with me as I visited multiple apartments. The fact that Bankier helps you connect with the people who post sublets is extremely helpful as I could not get people who had rented from other companies to respond to my emails. Actually, the person I sublet the place from did not respond initially but with their help he responded right away after they made contact, and they even made suggestions for improving my direct contact due to the other party being across the globe. Savannah has made multiple contacts with me since that day including basically walking me through the initial paperwork process. I figured out that she stayed in the office after hours to help me twice, including her and Sydney staying after hours on the day I initially searched for apartments and the “manager” staying with her on the Saturday that I picked up my keys. Furthermore, every time I had questions she made me incredibly comfortable asking them. Once I decided that I was going to look for an apartment on-campus for the ‘21-‘22 academic year, I couldn’t imagine going to anyone else but Savannah and Bankier. Savannah has gotten the right people to help me when I’ve had any sort of “issue,” such as needing a bed removed. And, I feel safe with their locks and key fab system. It was a no-brainer for me to rent from them for the upcoming academic year. Of course, I was completely satisfied with the support I got when choosing my apartment for next year which is why I decided...