Villas of Waterford Apartments — Local services in Wichita

Moved here in 2020, just moved out last month. Had a 1 bedroom apartment on the first floor, no garage or fireplace (so the most basic unit floorplan they offer). Case Associates apartments are for the most part always pretty good, and Villas of Waterford was the same. Great location, nice looking community, pretty good sized units, they take care of the grounds, and the amenities are pretty nice. I loved living in the back of the complex where there was less traffic, less noise, and I was right next to the back pool (which tends to be fairly empty, except on the weekends).

For anyone considering signing a lease here, these are my pro's and con's:

Pros: Huge pantry space (for an apartment) Walk-in closets Nice sized rooms, bathroom, and balcony (or patio in my case since I was first floor) First floor patios are slightly elevated so even if someone is walking near them you still have privacy with that half-wall Pools are regularly maintained Maintenance is pretty quick to respond and help (plus they have that 24/7 emergency maintenance line) I felt like the walls were well insulated, so I didn't hear my neighbors too often unless they were REALLY making some noise like moving furniture or slamming doors I LOVED the windows, especially in my unit where I didn't have a fireplace taking up one window. Perfect for my plant collection, always had great natural lighting, and helped the place feel really airy and big Pretty safe community (despite the two concerns I list down in my con's list). Never heard of anyone getting robbed in their apartment or while walking around the complex. I always felt safe taking my dog out at night. I never heard police sirens or anything, and only saw a police officer handling something once in the 2 years I lived there, and I think it was just a welfare check-in And more, but some are also pretty specific to my unit since I felt like I had an amazing location on the complex

Cons: Rent kept going up. Went up around $200 since I moved there (and yes, I did move when the housing market was low from COVID and now it's high so inflation of rents is happening everywhere). But I feel like $200 might be a bit much. Pretty bad brown recluse problem on the first floor (my friend in another unit across the complex also had the same issue, and many residents say it's just a constant problem). They do spray, but three months in a row I was home when they were supposed to come and yet no one actually came to my unit. If you're a pet owner: around my building, there were quite a few people who didn't pick up after their dogs, even with the bag and trash station right there. Not much the complex can do about that except catch and fine those people, but just know some neighbors are just not ideal neighbors. Also, there were a handful who constantly let their dogs run around off leash, and they would start fights with other dogs. They kept getting warnings about it but never any actual punishments that I knew of. Again, just know some neighbors aren't going to be amazing neighbors. The gates were closed maybe 2 months total of the 2 years I lived there. At least one, if not all, gates are broken for months. Then they finally get them fixed, and a week in someone hits them with their car again, and they're open for months again. Adds to the whole raising rents con. Why am I paying for a gated community when anyone can just drive in through the 3 different gates at any time? Car theft seems fairly common. They do have security that patrols the complex, as well as other Case complexes and other communities, but somehow some cars get broken into. I will say though that this has ALWAYS (from the cases I've heard) been because someone didn't lock their car, I've never heard of anyone's windows getting smashed or something more damaging. And I always wondered if the break ins were done by members of the community, especially since we have security patrolling at night.

Honestly, I'd say this is a great place to live if you can afford it. I...

I'm writing this review with five starts because I want my opinion to be viewed and read by those who actually take the time to read reviews. I like my apartment, but the way I've been treated as a resident has been really disappointing. Earlier in December I had a misunderstanding with the flex app that caused an issue with my rent payment. When I went into the office for assistance I was able to show the office manager (I think her name is Audrey) proof that it was just a simple misunderstanding and that things would be sorted in 24-hours. We were rudely interrupted by another office person, Alissa, Who spoke to Audrey as if she were incompetent and spoke to me as if I were brainless. Her condescending tone, and her overbearing demeanor was beyond traumatic due to the magnitude of her arrogance. Fast forward, My toilet needs to be replaced due to an accident. The maintenance person stated that they would be able to fix it Friday Morning, but my maintenance issue wasn't considered pressing enough to actually attend to and by the time he was able to come I wouldn't have been home so I agreed to have it pushed to Monday... I went all weekend without a working toilet. Monday comes and I was ASKED what time of day would work for me on Friday and I requested an early morning time frame. I don't hear anything from the offices of Villas of WAterford until 4 PM Monday afternoon while I am preparing to go teach a class. It's Alissa calling, no apologies, full blown arrogance, asking me if the maintenance man can come replace the toilet now... I reply that I am going to work and cannot. she then says... "well he has to leave in five minutes and can't come anyways..." THEN WHY IN YOUR MIND DID YOU THINK IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO CALL? Then she asks me if he can come the next day. I say "okay but I would prefer he come in the morning." She replies rudely "I can't give you a time but I can request he come BEFORE LUNCH" M'am you were giving me a time to pay rent and talking to me like I was stupid over a minor mistake but you can't tell your maintenance man to prioritize replacing a toilet that should have been replaced this morning? I'm supposed to adhere to deadlines but you can't in your mind see that it is unacceptable for a paying resident to not have a toilet for as long as I've gone without one? Regardless of what caused the issue with the toilet, the way the situation has been handled has been careless, unprofessional, and just lacking all consideration. I literally avoid the office because I don't want to even deal with the POSSIBILITY of seeing that woman, Alissa. Her people skills are horrible. She lacks customer service. She has an us vs them demeanor and I don't appreciate her as working staff or as a person. I have zero respect for anyone who speaks to me as if I'm less than a human being when I'm in the wrong due to a mistake, but when they are in the wrong they can't even apologize and treat the situation with some level of care and consideration... Especially when it is their occupation to do so. This has definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

Not to mention my tub has a rust spot in it and should have been refinished before I moved in. The apartment has electrical issues. It’s just a mess. The gates are always open, but I paid for a remote to open the gate. They are taking money hiking up people’s rent and everything...

We needed a place to stay for 4-5 months because the house we had a contract on wasn’t ready, and we sold our house very quickly and had to be out. Villas of Waterford was one of the only apartment complexes that had a 3 month contract with month to month after. The manager Stacey, and the assistant manager Savannah were great, especially Savannah, she has a great attitude, personal skills, and a willingness to help attitude. Other staff in the office have personal skills challenges, and quite frankly shouldn’t be in the business of dealing with other people, because they have no personal skills. Move in was easy after the normal lease signing etc. The people before us obviously had a dog, because it took quiet a long time to get the smell out, even after the apartment was cleaned before us. There were several problems right off the bat, the oven didn’t work, the sink sprayer didn’t work, and after about 3 days, there was a leak in the garage below us caused by one of our bathrooms. While trying to trouble shoot where the leak was from, the maintenance staff cut holes in the garage ceiling, and tracked drywall dust and debris all up and down our stairs and through the living room, with no apology, or offering to clean it up. While also trying to find the leak, they cut a hole in the wall behind one of the bath tubs and then just screwed the cut out piece back in. About a month into our lease, we found a brown recluse spider, this was after the apartment complex sprayed and I sprayed. They sent someone out to spray again. After the company sprayed, we found 5 more brown recluse spiders over the remainder of our lease. We were there over the winter months. I am very honestly shocked at the lack of insulation and quality of construction on the apartments. We might as well of had the door open, at the entrance of the apartment by the door at the bottom of the stairs, the temperature was 39 degrees. The apartments are all electric, and our electric bill for January was $315, and for February was $510. This was for a 1,000 sq. Ft apartment. All of my utilities combined for my house doesn’t equal that!! I even bought insulation for the doors, put window film on the windows, blankets and towels around doors and walls. You can feel air coming in under the baseboards. All of this, and we only kept the temperature at 67 degrees. We were walking around freezing. Again would like to give a shout out to Savannah, she went above and beyond, and is very good at her job. Overall, if you need a place to stay for a short while, make sure to save up for electricity bills, and bring your...