Pros:
Super is nice when you can get him to respond (he often doesn’t). Decent kitchen appliances. Renovated apartments look decent. Roof access with decent views.
Cons:
(#1) So. Many. Roaches. You have to be super clean 24/7 if you don’t want these little buggers invading. We also had a mouse enter our apartment once. They had a sign up sheet on the ground floor to list your apartment # for monthly exterminations, but it was obvious management/the super never checked it. You have to call management directly to help set this up, but even the exterminator they sent was probably the cheapest exterminator they could find. Roaches were gone for about 1-2 months, but kept coming back, even when we were keeping things clean. (#2) As for the Super, he doesn’t really respond to anyone unless you’ve like met him in person and connected with him on a personal level. Only responded to one of my roommates. We had small leaks in the ceiling in the kitchen — he came, took a look, and said he’d be back, but never came back until we bothered him. Same for the cracks and gunk dripping through our ceilings in the kitchen/living room — took one look and said he’d be back, but never came back. Also, “improvements/repairs” made to the apartment are often scuffed. They added multiple outlets above one VERY small kitchen counter where only one appliance could be plugged in, when there are other walls that needed additional outlets. Even when installed, you can tell they just broke the tiles and put it in, but you’re just left with a wall with broken tiles. (#3)As for the hallways/stairs in the building, they’re never properly cleaned or maintained. I think Ive only seen them clean it once or twice for the 3 years I’ve been here. It’s not unusual to find dead roaches on the steps. (#4) As for the electrical circuits, you definitely can’t have a microwave AND fridge on the same circuit or it shuts down the power of the whole apartment when the microwave is turned on. And if the microwave is on the same circuit as the AC, you can’t have both running at the same time or the same will happen. (#5) THE BUILDING GETS VERY HOT IN THE WINTER AND YOU CANT CONTROL IT. Like upwards of 87° F. Be prepared to have your windows open all winter, but even that sometimes doesn’t help how hot it is.
Advice to owner:
Please log and keep track of outstanding issues in the units and make sure they’re properly handled. We should have to spam the super to get him to fix something we didn’t even break (I.e. the ceiling leaking). Make sure super responds to all tenants — not just his “favorite.” I don’t expect the super to resolve stuff super fast, just please don’t wait several months to address it. Also, please fix the heating system. It gets unbearably hot inside in the winter where you can even sweat naked.