alameda west apartments -AW Management

"We moved here from University Place a few months ago and we are so happy here. The community is clean and quiet. We feel safe. The manager and groundskeeper do a good job keeping loiterers off the property. Everyone seems to look out for the safety of their neighbors. Police drive through to check up on the community. The manager, Sandy, has been lovely since the first time I inquired. She is friendly and she was flexible to accommodate our move-in schedule. She is involved in the community to make sure tenants are happy. She is often available in the cozy office, sometimes accompanied by the owner's dog and cat. So if you have questions or concerns, she is very helpful. The groundskeeper, Mike, is also very friendly and you will get to know him as you become part of the community. He always waves and smiles and he likes to chat when he's available. We haven't needed any repairs since we moved in. The apartment layout is great. There are 2 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths (1 shower/tub, 2 toilets and 2 sinks). The appliances were new when we moved in. Carpets were new. The walls and door frames are a bit dated but satisfactory. Heaters do very well at keeping the apartment warm. Electricity bills have been a bit higher but we've been so much more comfortable with the nicely heated home. Electricity bills come every 2 months. Internet has been excellent; we haven't had any outages or slow service. Floors are not entirely insulated so you must be considerate of the downstairs neighbors. Don't be walking around in heels or listening to loud music late at night if you're on the second story! In the contract, you must agree to be quiet after about 9 pm, although our downstairs neighbor said 10 pm is ok with her. In my opinion, if your a loud person or looking for an apartment to host parties, you won't fit in here. Tenants are quiet and respectful. I don't hear yelling or screaming like we did at our old place in UP. It's unlikely you will hear people blasting music. The views are beautiful, as landscaping is maintained regularly. Lots of trees, plants, and grass. There are dumpsters and recycling conveniently located near buildings. If you recycle, please don't put trash in recycling bins! For the most part, tenants clean up their dog's poop. There is plenty of parking for extra vehicles. One spot is assigned and you'll park your other car(s) in the extra spots. We feel that the rent is fair, as it includes water, sewer, and trash. Plus, you're in Fircrest, the nicest area in Tacoma. The rental agreement was not long. Last apartment complex we were at (The Boulders of Puget Sound) required about 50+ pages of agreements. This is a family-owned complex so you don't have to deal with all the corporate hassle. Read carefully though, as there are higher standards here than some places. That's what keeps this place nice. Our overall experience has been beyond satisfactory. We love being here and we are not feeling bad about not having a house because we love being part of this community."

"The website says 1600 with water, sewer and garbage included but that is wrong. Apparently it’s 1700 so be aware these people seem shady. And the person laughed on the phone when I told her was there anything you can do since your advertising is wrong. Very unprofessional behavior."

"We have lived for six years and have had enough. There is only one overworked maintainable man who can never catch up with work load. We hardly ever get repairs done and have been coping with worn out dishwasher and washing machines for months despite repeated requests for repairs. Property is well maintained outside (landscaping only) but windows are ancient (40+ years old) with leaking seals causing clouding and water staining.Management is spotty at best. Forget about getting prompt maintainable service no matter how severe the problem."

"This place was great when we moved in two years ago but it's gone downhill fast since the owner's son took over management. He is extremely rude, tries to change the rules on us with no notice, then gets attitude when we bring up our lease. He even walked away in the middle of a conversation with my boyfriend regarding one such unnotified rule change. One of the ladies in the office started yelling at us when we tried to speak to her instead, telling us "Why don't we take it up with the owners and see how far that gets us." We moved into a different unit after a year of living here, it was supposed to be fully remodeled but nothing was done. The paint jobs were patchy and see through, really badly covering up damage to the walls. Half the electric sockets didn't work, several lights didn't work, cabinets don't close properly and hang open so we constantly hit our shins on them. We have had ant problems since we moved in and they give us attitude when we ask to have the unit sprayed for bugs. Appliances are old and outdated. We were promised all these things would be fixed and appliances would be replaced and over a year still nothing has been done. We eventually got tired of asking when they keep giving us attitude. We are moving out as soon as we possibly can. They keep changing rules and raising rent but it's only going downhill."

"Things don't seem to have improved much since the last reviewer. The management has become more hands-off in recent months and the old maintenance guy left for a better job and I don't blame him. The yard people still routinely butcher the trees when they trim them and just today the maintenance turned off our water without warning while doing some work outside our particular building. We've heard from neighbors that they do not clean up after they do work in units. It's relatively quiet and our immediate neighbors are quite pleasant but overall, I'm disappointed in how this place is going since we first started renting."