Pros:
cheap rent, nearby trains, and other places
Cons:
This year was by far the most stressful year living in this apartment #2F. From being told the landlord is giving us a chance cause we are young and I was black, to being blamed for things that obliviously were not our fault and that need to be repaired entirely, and being yelled at, belittled, and harassed since the first month of moving in.
First, it started with the water leaking downstairs. The landlord defended herself by saying this issue had never happened before and that it started when we moved in, later knowing that the cracks in the shower tile walls at the bottom caused water to slip behind and go downstairs. She would tell us that we were not being blamed for the leak but were not being careful or doing something wrong when taking a shower. She would have the walls regrouted on two different occasions, and two days after, the grout would erode and fall into the bathtub causing the water to leak downstairs again. The second she got her handyman to grout the walls again, she had put a plastic garbage bag all over the bathroom tile wall just so the grout would dry. We did not want to take any chances, so we did not take a shower for three days and four nights so the grout could fully dry. After three days of taking showers, the grout erodes from the wall again. We were stressed out and harassed every time water leaked from our apartment when we took a shower that we could only take showers at night after the shop downstairs closed. One time the water was leaking downstairs when we were not even home or did we take a shower the previous night or that morning. 7 months later, she then explained they had a hole in the shower wall before we moved in the apartment and that it was "patched" and they added the new tiles.
And if you thought requesting repairs would not be a problem, think again. Last month we had a mouse problem, which was not a big deal. But that was not the issue. It's the mice droppings falling from the ceiling that I had to clean every day and the hole hidden behind the cabinet that allowed the mice into the cabinets and lay droppings all over my kitchenware. When I texted her and sent photos to inform her of the repairs, she called back, yelling at me through the phone with an annoyed tone of voice and saying, "you guys always have an issue, its always something, like you say this thing and then that thing. What is the problem". When I explained the problem to her again after she finished, she responded with, "oh my gosh, stop talking. I am tired of you guys always bringing up issues. Just write me a letter, goodbye". My issue did not seem to be her, the same woman who said that if anything needs repairs need to be made to text/call her about repairs and that she wants us to be just as comfortable as herself.
She even put her hands in my wife's face when she was trying to speak to her and said, "do not speak to me. you are not a tenant of this apartment. Your name is not on the lease, do not speak to me". That was the last stray for me, disrespecting my wife and talking to us like children that she speak to us however she wanted to, and still now.
And the list goes on for what we had to endure, but my main takeaway is don't rent here and spend your hard-earned money to live under this woman's roof cause she lives on-site and is unreasonable.
P.S she has a dog that makes the hallway smell like piss and wet dog. she only cleaned that hallway once the smell got so bad I could smell it in my apartment.
Advice to owner:
Learn how to speak to people and address them like your tenants not like children especially when there doing there best to keep the apartment clean and undamaged.