Montclair Apartments — Local services in Seattle

tl;dr: 3.5 stars: A solid apartment building to live in, but I'd strongly recommend avoiding unit 101 (which I stayed in).

I stayed here during my senior year at UW. I ended up going with Montclair as it was one of the few studios in this price range that came with an oven. As a nice bonus it also comes with an in-unit washer/dryer.

Pros: Good insulation (sound and heat). I was in one of the cheaper first floor units where the walls/ceiling are concrete. At first that can make it feel prisony, but it actually has the nice advantage of meaning the unit is well insulated (cooler in summer, warmer in winter) and quieter. In exchange the apartment gets very little natural light (especially since Montclair is bordered by two multi-story buildings and is pretty close to them). Generally quiet. I've had some very restful nights here. Good location. It's relatively close to the Ave, and is very close to Trader Joe's and Safeway! No pest issues!

Pro/Con depending on perspective: The first floor units tend to have a constant "whoosh" sound from air rushing between the buildings. I eventually just got used to it, but it's this quiet-to-medium loud sound of howling wind. It actually helps with drowning out other noise imo and I felt like by the end it was a pro (a free + constant white noise generator), but I could see it bothering some people.

As for the negatives: In-unit washer-dryer is less convenient than expected because it's one of those all-in-one units. It takes 5 hours to do a load with drying, and the drying power is pretty weak (and it's pretty noisy that whole time as the washer/dryer is not in a separate closet). The area can be noisy at night sometimes. Especially since I was in the unit closest to the front door, and because it's the ave: there will be people screaming and yelling at midnight/1am sometimes. In my one year there there was this one guy that would always scream "UNCLE" for like 20 minutes walking up and down the ave, always past midnight. If you're further from the front this should be less of an issue. Could often smell cigarette smoke from people who'd smoke outside the front door (not tenants, but neighbors). This was unfortunately once again because of the unit's position: the stove vent exhaust was where cigarette smells could enter. Some mornings it would smell bad. Turns out it was because once again because of unit 101's positioning. To pass fire access water lines to the outside, they just drilled a hole under the sink in unit 101 leading to the outside. This created poor insulation that also leaked smells from the outside, and those smells turned out to be from people pissing on the corner of the building occasionally (saw it one morning when I woke up). Getting hold of an actual human at Tripalink who can help you is very difficult. If you're able to get the actual property manager's number (which Tripalink agents will NOT give you for some reason), be sure to save it. Julie (the property manager) was actually pretty helpful once you can get her contact info. Very little natural light. My one window faced a fence and a 7-story building. Higher floors will get better light, and will cost more.

Overall Thoughts:

Many of these negatives I'm pretty confident were particular to the unit I was in though (the fact that it was neighboring the front door). The unit was 101. I'd strongly recommend avoiding unit 101 if you live here to avoid those problems, but other than those issues I had a solid time at Montclair and would recommend as a place to live close to the ave with good appliances at a solid price. If I could, this review would be a 3.5 (since at least I didn't have to deal with cockroaches like I am at my new place in California).

I hope that this review encourages Tripalink to try and improve some of the issues with unit 101 (exhaust intaking cigarette smoke, and hole in the wall...

As a recent graduate from the University of Washington searching apartments in the Great Seattle area, I had an exceptional experience searching Montclair Seattle Apartments, thanks to the outstanding support provided by leasing agent Jennifer Zhang. Jennifer attentively listened to my requirements, preferences, and budget constraints. She patiently guided me through the various floor plans, amenities, and pricing options, providing thorough explanations and addressing all my questions and concerns. I can always remember that Jennifer responded my messages at late night, her responsiveness and availability were exceptional.

I highly recommend Montclair Seattle Apartments to anyone in search of a new home, knowing that Jennifer will be there to provide...

Avoid Tripalink, they charge unreasonable fees from your security deposit.

I bought professional cleaning supplies and spent around 4 hours with my friend doing the move out cleaning, but they still charged me $100 cleaning fee and $438 painting fee!!

The most unbelievable thing is that I put my light and easily moved-around clothes hanging rack in the garbage room, someone took it to the lobby, then they charged me $35 trash deposal fee just because that hanging rack belongs to me even if I have nothing to do with its presence in the lobby! They just find all ways to deduct from your security deposit. Don’t be fooled by their cheaper rent, count the...