This apartment complex has its ups and downs.
What to expect for non-rent expenses:
*You must use Garland for electrical. You will pay ~$70-90/month in winter, ~$100-120 in summer for a 1 bed/bath.
*Utilities (water, gas, etc) are shared between building residents - meaning each building shares expenses, divided between each apartment. You will pay ~$90/month.
The community seems nice and the neighbors are nice. There's no apparent crime that I have seen. We've not had any bug issues aside
...from a single roach seen during a 6 month stay.
There are a few critical issues we've had with the complex.
When moving in, we noticed that the bedroom ceiling had been previously repaired. About 2 weeks after moving in, we were awakened by water dripping down on us. We contacted maintenance and spoke with the office staff, being told that the issue would be resolved as soon as possible. We moved our furniture, put down buckets, and slept against the opposite wall. It was 3 weeks from the start of the leak to the roof repair. During that time the single leak grew to nearly 5 as the sheet-rock in the ceiling collected gallons of water and began to sag.
2 weeks after the roof repair, the contractor arrived to fix the popcorn and wet sheetrock that had fallen out of the ceiling. Rather than pulling the old sheetrock and insulation, they simply pushed the old pieces back into place, screwed them down, and spread spackling over them before spraying paint over the water stains. This repair was in place for about a week, when the ceiling began to leak again. The leak started while we weren't home, soaking our mattress and the carpet.
Another 2 weeks passed, and the third (second for us) roof repair was finished. Another week and some days after that, the patched ceiling was patched again. We're extra cautious any time it rains, but it hasn't leaked again thus far. Despite the ~8 weeks of inconvenience and a ruined mattress, the staff did nothing other than comment "Sorry about that."
Other nitpick downsides:
*No notification if you've received a package at the office
*It's very difficult to leave the complex because of its two exits (~7 minutes just to pull out during morning rush hours, no left turns onto Jupiter)
*Water is heated off of a central furnace, and we've found it takes anywhere from 5 to 20(!) minutes for water to heat up. One of us just takes cold showers.
