Great location, but poorly maintained building
Pros
Great location and nice landlady (though doesn’t maintain building well). Genuinely loved living here, but state of the building has forced me to move.
Cons
Tenants are fine, but the street outside is right by a stoplight and narrow, so expect people double parking and horns blaring frequently. Apartment was given to me in poor condition: lock hanging off the door by a single old screw, mold all over the bathroom ceiling, mouse droppings under kitchen sink and radiators, desiccated dead mouse stuck between the bathroom tiles (it must’ve been stuck there for months), not cleaned or painted. Some of these were taken care of by the landlady, the rest I had to handle myself (hiring a professional cleaner, patching previous tenant holes, painting). Building is roughly 100 years old, and issues continue to pile up: plumbing sometimes acts up resulting in leaks in the walls that require walls to be ripped out, or basement flooding and being told not to use the bathroom for a few days. Wiring is old, the door bell and buzzer now only work 50% of the time, and I once changed an overhead lightbulb that apparently caused a wire to come undone and all the lighting to go out and needed an electrician to fix. Plaster throughout the apartment is old and cracking/crumbling. Biggest issue by far is the water damage from the poorly maintained roof, but instead of fixing the roof there is only superficial work done to cover the damage (which then reappears the next time it rains). Ceiling in the stairwell leaks every time it rains, directly onto the top of the stairs which I have slipped on multiple times. Worsening water damage throughout the apartment, including plaster ceiling falling down in chunks due to the moisture. Living room ceiling was replastered and painted, just for it to get discolored from water damage the next day it rained. And now one of the bedrooms has a leak above the window. I cannot recommend this building in its current state, and unfortunately based on the pattern I’ve seen I do not think it will be resolved. The reality is that the entire building needs to be gut renovated from top to bottom.
Sweet spot, some critters once in a while
Pros
Great location, lots of natural light, kind landlord most of the time
Cons
An occasional cockroach every few months, had a mouse problem last summer, have an ant problem
Advice to the owners
Renovate the inside of the units, especially the floors and all the cracks between the floor and the wall
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