The Harbor at Lake Howell by Cortland

"I had a disappointing leasing experience at this place. Initially, the tour was alright, so I decided to apply. However, throughout the process, I faced difficulty reaching my leasing consultant whenever I had questions. She essentially ghosted me, especially after the tour. I wouldn't recommend this complex for first-time renters. Despite my application being denied, I never received any communication from her or anyone else even a month later. When I finally inquired at the office, nobody could provide a clear answer. It's probably a good thing I got denied; I wouldn't want to live somewhere where communication is so challenging. The 1-star reviews below mine seem to echo my sentiments. It's essential to carefully consider your options before making a decision. Take this as a sign. Update with more about my experience: After submitting my application, I was initially informed of "no specific timeframe" for document submission, given a projected move-in date three months later. However, the submission deadline was later updated to a week from a specified day, eventually changing to a same-day requirement within a few hours. Harbor did not communicate or emphasize the urgency of timely document submission. Despite receiving an initial "acceptance" without a corresponding "welcome email," confusion arose when third-party companies reached out. The revelation about the importance of a "welcome email" occurred only when I called days after the supposed "acceptance." Numerous attempts on my part to inquire about the subsequent steps yielded assurances of a forthcoming welcome email that never materialized. Experiencing acceptance followed by denial was perplexing, especially after confirming the subsequent steps post-"acceptance" via phone communication. Throughout this process, communication from my leasing consultant was limited. For first-time renters, my advice remains: Harbor should provide clearer information, and if not, enhance their communication. A thorough examination of property reviews indicates a focus on maintenance issues rather than the property and services offered. My review is not based on my application outcome; rather, it is rooted in my application experience, which is the focus of my review."

"Let me start out with I have been here at The Harbor at Lake Howell for over three years. The office personnel do care about their residents. They plan and execute community activities and events regularly. This place is a fun place to live. Maintenance is another issue, it used to be very good and well maintained. Now it seems everyone just rides around on the golf carts looking around. If you submit a work request it takes over two to three days to get someone to look at it. There is trash just laying around behind buildings, in the breezeway and in the wooded area by the dog park. The dog park was covered in dog waste and just left there for days. It wasn’t until a resident wrote it up on the internal blog did it get resolved. Another thing, My AC unit isn’t cooling after I changed the thermostat batteries last night, it ran all night long after I set it to 73 degrees. I get up Sunday morning and internally it reads 76 degrees down 2 degrees from when I changed out the batteries. I tried to call the office trying to get the answering service to get emergency after hour support. There apparently isn’t any. The office number that is given in general information tab hangs up. No support there. UPDATE : After digging through my email from the corporate offices for The Harbor they have an after hours maintenance support number in small print. It would help if that was on the internal support pages.Maintenance came out that day (Sunday) and found the cause was a bad capacitor, the maintenance on call DAVID fixed it immediately. The apartment overhead of mine is getting refurbished, the contractors have apparently been throwing everything out from the window on the second floor onto the ground in front of my apartment porch. I have nails, marble, glass everywhere. It also caused a leak to form from the ceiling in the hallway bathroom from a broken toilet in that apartment that are refurbishing. I reported it at 5:45 pm Friday. Maintenance came out right away found the source was the upstairs bathroom and turned off the toilet. That stopped the source of the leak, they said the maintenance supervisor would be in Monday or Tuesday to inspect it. He came by Tuesday to look into a previous work order, not the leak which would to me be a high priority, he didn’t know about the leak, apparently the maintenance guy went on vacation Monday and there wasn’t a follow up message left. The maintenance here used to be great, the office had the ability to be contacted after hours. Now I just don’t know. The entire infrastructure seems to be headed downhill fast."

"Good location with great amenities but nothing more than that. Maintenance people are kind and hard workers but I cannot say the same for many the office staff. They often try to brush off concerns of residents and can be very rude while doing so. My apartment has a roach infestation that has yet to be addressed even though I pay for monthly pest control. A light fixture fell on my head about six months back and no one even reached out to apologize, this has also not been fixed. My washer was broken for about 5 months before it was replaced. The gate to the complex is broken at least twice a week. The entry ways are poorly maintained and pretty disgusting. I have mold growing on my ceiling and near my air vent which is very concerning. I’ve lived here for about two years and had a pretty good experience the first year but it has gone downhill since then. Prices have gone up tremendously on rent. (1800 for a one bedroom before utilities) Please do not be fooled by the five star reviews, office staff often go around and ask you to write a five star review for them. I will let the pictures speak for themselves…"

"This is by far the best apartment complex I have lived in out of the six I have lived in total. I have had very few issues, and those which I have had are standard maintenance issues that were resolved quickly and efficiently within a day. We moved here quickly because the place we originally planned to move to (AT A DIFFERENT COMPLEX!! NEVER rent from The Sapphire) was full of roa ches. Although our things were only in the infe sted apartment for 4 total days, we still ended up bringing some of the roa ches with us. I was desperate to find a new place that was affordable, safe, and high quality and I had to do so within 4 hours of getting the approval to break my lease. Anthony helped us tour and signed our lease within 2 hours, and Dayana helped us with everything else. I cannot recommend either of them enough — they were both extremely kind, understanding, honest, and helpful. Anthony let me know of any potential issues with the unit and helped us be able to move as quickly as possible. After Anthony’s phenomenal help, Dayana has been our wonderful leasing agent since. I told Dayana about our situation and how I was worried about reinfes tation after moving in and she completely understood. She set it so that the day after I moved in the exterminator would come, and he would come on a weekly basis until all potential pes ts were gone. In our first week, we saw a few roa ches a day (again, NOT the Harbor’s fault — these came with us in our boxes). By the 2nd week, we saw maybe 1-2 a day. I have not seen a SINGLE one since our third week moving in. It has been such an incredible blessing to live somewhere that is clean, where I don’t have to worry about bu gs, has updated appliances, and that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The only issue we’ve has was a wasp’s nest outside our patio which the maintenance staff took care of quickly. The staff also does fun things for the guests — regular contests/competitions, food trucks, events, and just the other week they gave a gift basket to all women (supplies permitting) for women’s history month — and it was a GOOD gift basket! Bath and body moisturizers, skin care, wine, margaritas, really lovely! It made my day. Since our move in, Dayana has been consistently communicative and has made sure we are happy and comfortable in our new home. I have always felt confident that we will be happy here and any issues will be resolved quickly. We look forward to renewing our lease here for another year and plan to stay here as long as we can! My only regret is not moving here sooner and wasting so much money, time, and energy on other complexes."

"Great place to live! Any service requests we have put in have been answered so promptly, the staff Anthony and Kay were so helpful and accommodating helping us to secure our apartment and they have continued that in helping my spouse and I with anything that we have needed in our time living here. They also bring in great food trucks on a regular basis, and the trees provide solace and tranquility in busy Orlando. This is a great community for families, students, and older folks alike, we would recommend the Harbor at Lake Howell highly to anyone who is considering renting in the Orlando area. It is so easy to get to great restaurants, downtown Orlando, i-95, and i-4. We have been safe and comfortable to call this community home for the season of life we are in."