Grand Oaks at the Lake — Local services in West Melbourne

My husband and I have lived here for a year and a half. We both work from home as employees of a large company. We told the leasing agent that when we moved in and she told us that was wonderful and sent us all the paperwork to join their community. We just had a "mandatory inspection" thrust upon us where my husband nicely asked to please give us a moment and let us each finish with our live customer we were speaking with and lock our computers so no sensitive customer information was viewed. The property manager burst into our apartment and told us she could do whatever she wanted and enter as she pleased because she gave us notice she would be here between 9 am and 5 pm (and this was now 5:05 pm). When we told her that legally our company does not allow others in our "office" while we're working and we just needed to lock our computers, she cut us off, repeating "Come talk to me" SIX times before storming out of the apartment again and slamming our door. She also told us we're not allowed to work from our home and we'll be hearing from her soon. My lease states that we cannot conduct a business from our apartment (understandably) and we're complying to that rule. We are employees of a company that allows us to work from home instead of on it's Austin, TX campus. This complex has known we work from home since before we even applied to live here and has had no issue with it until this incredibly rude individual burst into our home tonight. We have never been late on a payment and we keep to ourselves completely and I feel SICK living here now after how she just talked to both my husband and I while we were in the middle of our scheduled workday. Do yourself a favor and find somewhere that has more respectful employees that value you and your privacy/home. I cannot wait until our lease is up now to get out of here.

** Super interesting update to this situation! The manager realized how awful she was to us and called us the day after this ordeal to apologize and offered either an upgrade to a 3 bedroom unit (though she was offering something that wasn't available at the time) or to leave our lease early without penalty. We expressed interest in both ideas at that time but said we would try to hold out for the 3 bedroom unit she was offering. One JUST became available and in order to move in there, she now wants to extend our lease another 12 months to take advantage of that "apology offer". We are not able to stay in this area another 12 months so we stated we would like to leave our lease early instead per ELIZABETH'S OFFER in late December. Now that offer is "no longer on the table" because they decided we were happy with our current situation while we were waiting for a 3 bedroom unit to come available. This complex and the owners are deceitful and unpleasant to work with. Elizabeth even started an email with "Unfortunately for you..." They'll talk down to you and bully you. Avoid at all costs. Counting the days until we can leave, which sadly is a much longer...

My apartment is beautiful. I read a post from someone else that there is a rooster next door which explains why i thought i was going crazy hearing rooster noises! Doesnt bother me though. The grounds are beautiful. There is a nice size dog park and a playground for kids. I haven't had a chance to take a kayak out yet but it is on my list. Such a cool amenity along with the hammocks.

As far as neighbor noises this is the quietest apartment I've had from my last 3 apartments in the area. I never hear tv noises or yelling. Rarely hear overhead foot traffic. The only noise that gets through is vacuum noise which is expected.

I have the garden tub in my apartment and love it. The trade-off for the awesome tub is a small shower stall. I think the floor plan makes it look like there are 2 doors that would slide so you think its going to be longer than it is but it is just one door that swings out. It was a little claustrophobic at first but im used to it now. If it was something i owned i would look into tiling that whole alcove with a tiled bench at one end and just make the entrance go right into the rest of the bathroom.

The bathroom is huge with storage drawers AND a linen closet! Getting this much storage space in an apartment is an upgrade for me. My closet is so big that i put one of those long hallway rugs in it! The master bedroom has so much room you could put one of those chaise lounges in the corner! The guest room is big enough for a queen bed and nightstands. The shelf in the second bedrooms closet is up too high to really use except to hang things unless you are like 6'4".

The vinyl floors made me nervous at first. I mean, you have to sign a paper saying you will take care of them. But its super easy. They are like mushier than a regular wood or tile floor. Like you can feel that they are a little softer which makes walking on them without shoes more comfortable especially when you are riddled with arthritis. Furniture will leave dents that you will see as you rearrange things but they come back out on their own like it would on a carpet so not to worry.

The kitchen has lots of counter space as well as cabinet space. Fridge has its own ice maker in the freezer.

There is no recycling here so if that's your jam you will have to take your stuff to the recycling center on your own.

In conclusion, i really enjoy how much space i have available both inside and outside the apartment. The office staff are super helpful and maintenance requests are always taken care of.

Update: I moved to Tallahassee and the office staff were very helpful with transferring my lease to another property owned by Aspen so I didn't have to break my lease. It really took a lot of stress out of...

*UPDATE: We were in desperate need of our own house with more space and a yard for our very hyper, very active young dog so we have just recently moved after having lived here for over 18 months. We couldn't have been more thankful to have had the Grand Oaks be our first home in Melbourne. Management really goes above and beyond to schedule holiday events and entertainment. Maintenance is also so helpful and friendly. If you're looking for a beautifully kept apartment complex with lovely staff, I highly recommend this place!

I have lived here for about 6 months now and have absolutely enjoyed the property, apartment size and accommodations. Maintenance and management have been nothing but helpful and nice so far even through our roof leaking from hurricane Irma. We just renewed our lease however after only signing our first contract last year for 8 months, monthly rent already went up for this next year by approximately $40/mo. I understand that's common with apartments everywhere, just wish that it was not the case.

My one COMPLAINT, and it's not even about the Grand Oaks itself, is the trailer park that is RIGHT next door to the apartment complex. We live in the south east corner of the neighborhood around another dozen buildings and less than 100 yards from our apartment is a trailer that has a ROOSTER. Now I love animals, but this rooster crows regularly starting at 4 AM and can go easily until 8 AM. Occasionally if I am home during the day (I am a full-time graduate student so my schedule varies each semester), I can hear this rooster start crowing at 2pm, 4pm, 5pm, or pretty much whenever it feels like signing at the top of its lungs. This isn't just an issue when we want to have the windows open (this is loud enough to wake us up with all the windows closed). I've tried talking to a couple of people about it but it's still an issue (an issue that I understand the Grand Oaks is not in charge of but the city itself). We are heart broken because we love this apartment but it is becoming a serious issue. We have even talked about terminating our contract before the next year is up if we end up finding another apartment that we like as much as this one. If you are someone who is a student, works at odd hours and requires an abnormal sleep schedule, has small children, or any sane person who enjoys sleeping a regular schedule, I would not recommend living here unless you can snag an apartment on the west side of...