These are nice looking town homes and I was excited to move here. Unfortunately they are poorly managed and deceptive. If you are considering moving in, please read through the reviews and be cautious of overly positive ratings. I do not see how anyone could be thrilled about their time here.
Insulation is poor for heating, cooling and sound. Keeping the bottom level warm in the winter is impossible.
The water pipe to our unit froze in the winter. This was a common problem for other units as well. We weren't out of town and the heat was on, but we were left without water for over 24 hours while we had to turn up the thermostat to 80 degrees and put a space heater under the kitchen sink.
Noise from the street comes through the windows and you can hear neighbors going up and down the stairs in adjacent units.
The mandatory media package is $100 per month, which includes terribly slow internet and direct tv. We were lied to about the speed of the Internet when we moved in. The Internet speed was confirmed verbally when the unit was shown to us, and in writing on our promotional flyer. When we moved in the Internet was basically unusable, testing at 2mbps. When we called Bella Grace they deflected us to the Internet company. We later found out that our Internet had been throttled in order to give more bandwidth to the more expensive units (the ones in the photos on the website). This was obviously not told to us by Belle Grace, another resident found out after getting legal help.
I was told in an email from Bella Grace that the more expensive have "legit businesses" in them, and that's why they throttled our Internet. They acknowledged the verbal and written promise of Internet speed but because the contract doesn't specifically define high speed Internet, they aren't giving us any type of credit. This problem is ongoing (months later) and still not resolved.
The appliances that come with the units are far from luxury, despite the units' name. The dish washer, and washer/dryer units are definitely budget.
The balcony comfortably stands two adults, and a small child might be able to squeeze aboard if you're feeling snuggly.
Water sewer and garbage utilities are added to rent each month with a complicated formula based on usage from other units, (not just yours), as well as number of occupants. This, along with their tricky promotional, first-year rent price, makes paying rent each month extremely confusing and shady. It leaves you feeling that they are nickel-and-diming you as much as they can.
Despite the response to this review from the owner, I only found these things out after reading the contract myself. No attempt was made to explain these things to us before signing. I never dreamed of how confusing it would be, but I encourage you to ask about it to get a taste of how complex it is.
You can't have an automatic check sent to pay rent because the amount is always changing. You end up having to pay online, which has extra fees and is still quite confusing. The balance due is not actually your balance due. On one occasion I paid rent on time, but because it was the wrong amount they taped a "3-day notice to vacate" on my front door and charged me $200 in late fees and a service charge for taping the notice on my door.
It's ironic how quickly they put that notice on my door (even when I had paid my rent) because they often take weeks to reply to emails.
The other residents are great neighbors and the garage is spacious. The location is central and close to the freeway. I do love the area. I believe these could be great units if management were more straight forward and honest.
I've finally moved away from Bella Grace after 13 months of issues and unfortunately, even moving out was a bad experience. I was hit with tons of fees after moving out. I asked for a move out checklist to avoid extra fees but they didn't have one, they just said I should leave the apartment "move-in ready". We cleaned baseboards, behind the stove, mopped, washed walls, scrubbed tubs, the whole 9 yards but still got charged.
Mike Misbach
January 29, 2018
