Estates at Vista Ridge Apartments, Lewisville TX

RUN AWAY!

I have rented an apartment twice under BH Management and the experience was so poor the first time it has taken me 10 years to make a 2nd attempt and they have once again failed miserably. A word to the wise, there are a plethora of open complaints/disputes and on the Better Business Bureau that further showcases the companies inability to take accountability for their shortcomings as a property management team. Based on what I have seen on the BBB website, no change will occur until people start avoiding these properties.

Unfortunately, my husband and I are currently residents at The Estates At Vista Ridge in Lewisville, TX. While I could detail the events that led to our very negative disposition of the management and administrative staff, I am choosing instead to let others know what to be aware of when considering renting with this property in particular.

Staff:
-On the day of our arrival to move in, we were displeased to find our unit had not been cleaned or painted. I was told to direct all of my complaints the the manager only to find that he was in cahoots with the Regional Manager who is also not in the business of addressing the qualms of the tenants on property
-The staff is unwilling to assist you with any of your needs and will NOT answer the phone or emails, if you need to know anything you MUST go to the front office.
-The maintenance staff is just as negligent in tending to work order requests, there have been several instances where a request was placed and no attempt to resolve the situation was made until months later. We have had to fix all of our own problems in our unit.
- The front office staff and maintenance will open and mark your service request as complete without ever actually completing the task or following up

General Problems on property:
-You may or may not have power or water while living on this property as there are often large water leaks and random power outages. Neither of which are addressed by the staff until after the fact via email.
-the pools are never in proper working order/condition, specifically the pool at the back of the property. More often than not, it is green and acts as more of a swamp than a pool
-While valet trash seems to be a service all properties are utilizing in some form or fashion, they tend to be inconsistent
- Dog stations are few and far between and there are copious amounts of fecal matter left behind all over the property. This problem is further exacerbated by the bunny population that frequents the area
-Your unit may not be move in ready upon arrival, at least this was our experience, our unit was in shambles upon arrival and we were not allowed to see the unit until the day of move in
-Beware this property is easily susceptible to flooding and because of this, water sensors are given to tenants to keep in cabinets in case of floods.
- Many have opted for window units because the A/C units cannot keep up with the heat and maintenance is slow to respond
Although the manager has since changed, we have seen no changes and negligence for the needs of the residents persists. This property and staff deserves 0 stars.

Poor quality apartments, management and maintenance. Don't be fooled by the nice exterior, the interior (especially the kitchen) is very poor quality. From the cabinets to the sink, the water hoses/pipes and service, very cheap materials and workmanship was put into this place. I've had frequent A/C issues every summer since 2020 which is super uncomfortable in the Texas heat. I also have had a strong, musty odor come out the A/C vents since Feb. 2022 and it is very frustrating and uncomfortable. My eyes are literally burning right now as I type this review. Current and prior management could totally care less and think vacumming the inside of the vents (twice) was going to get rid of the smell. They also tried to place 2 "new apartment smell" air fresheners in the A/C intake vent and they literally lasted maybe 3 days. Now they want to send their "carpet guy" to try and fix the issue. They are literally bending over backwards to avoid sending an A/C professional who might actually figure out what is causing the odor. I look forward to moving out of this place when I am able to do so.

Kathea and Laura made the renewal process a so easy. I’m great full for their help in this experience, it has made all the difference

8.30.23
I am not happy with the apartment we are in. My move in date at the apartment was supposed to be 8/23/23, but due to my work schedule I moved the date to 8/24/23. I was under the impression that the apartment we were moving in was going to be ready and thoroughly looked at. The apartment was not properly made ready for new residents. I don't care what I was told but this apartment was not cleaned nor looked at prior to our move in date. I understand that we didn't get an upgraded apartment but the condition this apartment was given to us is not acceptable. We are literally stuck in this apartment for the next 13 months and its very upsetting. The apartment has an odor, an unbearable odor. The odor comes from either the vents or the laundry room base boards. The previous tenants had an animal and must of allowed the animal to handle their business in here. The apartment should have been deodorized but I can reassure you it was not. No one seems to smell the odor but my family and I. The breeze way going up to my apartment reeks of liter/garbage and is VERY unsanitary. They are also stained from the amount of garbage build up. The apartment building inside and outside is infested with ants due to the valet trash. My bathroom tub has ants, appearing from where? Not sure. My tub and bathroom sink were clogged, not sure how this was missed. The patio had residue of manure and reeked of it. I advised the office and yet again I was advised that there was no smell to them. The apartment had no running A/C. Our sprinkler heads are cracked and have dust build up. I was advised that a "vendor" should of cleaned or handled them. Well they were not. The front storage to our apartment was filled to the rim on our move in date. How was this missed? The baseboards in the laundry room are rotted and torn up from the previous tenants allowing the animal to do their business in there.

We were shown an upgraded apartment due to me not being happy with the apartment we are in. But I can't afford it. The upgraded apartment you can tell it was cleaned and thoroughly looked at.

I previously lived here back in 2018 and it is not the same.

-12.12.18 Great! The community is kept nice and clean. The apartment is big and spacious! We currently do not have any issues in the apartment. Which is a big plus! Will keep up dates!

**update**
Changing my rating from 5 to 4 stars. I’ve lived here 3 years now and I still stand by my previous review, all except for “Prompt maintenance”. To be fair, I think the maintenance staff does a wonderful job, but maintenance has been chronically understaffed and that has resulted in work orders going MONTHS without being fulfilled. Again, they do their best, and they try to get to emergency work orders, but the smaller ones? They’ll be forgotten unless you call or go into the office.

Previous review below
——
I've lived here for one year and just renewed for a second year. I've recommended this complex to my friends.

Quick pros & cons

Pros:
Smart home feature
Nice Neighbors / good neighborhood
Open apartment layout
Prompt maintenance
Friendly and personal staff
Good location / near a lot of stores and restaurants

Cons:
Parking
Smoke / weed smell from neighbors
Staff can be difficult to get ahold of

I've loved having a smart home system for my place. It's so nice to be able to control the temperature, lock and unlock the door, and see any activity all from your phone. I'm definitely spoiled now because of it.

Parking is open to most, so it's difficult to find at the end of the day. I have had to park a couple of buildings down from my place, but the neighborhood feels safe, so the walk isn't too bad.

All my neighbors seem nice, but if someone in your building is smoking, you can smell it in your home. There have been a couple of times in the winter when the smoke smell was very strong and uncomfortable.

Overall, I would recommend this complex. The layouts are very open and feel big, but still modern. The staff is very nice and personal, albeit, difficult to get ahold of sometimes. Maintenance is always prompt. And the smart home system will get you hooked.

Looking for a new place move and shout out to Chrystal for helping me find it! From the get-go she has been great with finding the right fit for me and I appreciate that. Looking forward to moving in and being a part of the community.

I don’t even have a maintenance option idk what happened to it and my a/c roof unit leaking water everywhere

Every summer the AC either goes out or your apartment will over heat to 82. They will set your AC to 74 to "Ensure the AC doesn't over load or break" but it will do nothing. You will still have a hot apartment and they will "Replace your AC" but next year when summer comes back around its the same game all over again. Hope you have enough cash for Doordarshan or Uber cause your not cooking in your kitchen till Fall.

Carlos the supervisor of the maintenance team was super helpful.my A/C had recently stopped working and I went to check the A/C unit to make sure it was running and he asked if I needed help with it. He was able to get it fixed after working diligently from around 9 am to 12: 30 or so to get it fixed the same day. A+ service from Carlos. He went above and beyond to get this fixed. Thanks again for the superior and unexpectedly great service.

Went to get some information today around 5ish, and was welcomed by everyone at the office. Thea was amazing! Although I couldn’t physically see the apartment I was interested in, she was able to find ways for me to feel like I was already part of the community! She explained the process in great detail and will for sure ask for her next time I’m at the leasing office!
10/10 recommended:)

Thea was amazing and I love the apartments

Update- I will be joining the Estates at Vista Ridge property. I hope my move in goes smooth since I have been reading all the reviews. Update to come I believe in you deserve what you pay for. Pictures to follow as well.

My tour and my interaction with Chrystal was terrific. Unlike other complexes I have visited I felt absolutely no pressure to answer rapid succession questions. There was no push to move-in date, or other pushy behaviors I have experienced in the past looking at apartments or houses. There was no pushing to make a decision right there and then. She was competent, informative, confidant, and I have to say she made me feel comfortable from the minute I walked in due to her friendliness and welcoming attitude (and sense of humor!) She answered all my questions, mostly before I even thought to ask them! I am grateful for the experience with her and I do so hope somehow this message is given to her to read. We often don't get enough feedback positive feedback in the service industry. And Chrystal deserves it, no matter what the result of my application at Estates at Vista Ridge is. She was great. ~Ann King

Thea is the best:) She always remembers us when we come talk and makes us feel so welcome.

Thea was so helpful and kind! She really went out of her way for us and we couldn’t have asked for a better application process!

The two stars I'm giving are mostly for the actual units themselves (in working condition) and the location/area. When there are no maintenance issues, the apartment is nice overall and has no major issues.

Now if you ever do actually run into any maintenance issues, lord help you. They clearly lost their maintenance team at some point in the last two years and can't hold on to anyone. I even talked to one maintenance person who was the only one on staff and had to work harder since it's a 4 person position to maintain a complex of that size. I think they were gone within a month. I truly have zero issues with any of the actual maintenance work that is done. The issue is actually getting them to actually come to your apartment to fix any issues you have.

The three big issues that I had:
1. We discovered a leak coming from a wall in our garage. Immediately reported to maintenance, and we heard nothing for 2 weeks straight while there was a steady stream running through our garage. They finally came and fixed it and found it was due to a fire room leak. But the real kicker is that it left some nasty water stains on the concrete, which the apartment was happy to deduct $300 from our deposit for strip 'n seal when we moved out for an issue that was not caused by us and was exacerbated by their slow maintenance.
2. We had a leak coming from the A/C unit in the bathroom. We constantly had to empty a large bucket of water every day that would have otherwise pooled in our bathroom. This went on for at least two months before they ever sent maintenance to fix.
3. We opened an A/C request two months before our lease expiration due to the A/C not working and not cooling. They finally "resolved" the issue literally a day before our lease expiration.

For all of these issues we would call the office almost weekly and we'd get the same complacent responses from any of the staff and either get reasons why they can't come out just yet or continuous broken promises where they would never come. I don't think that even once did we call and the issue was resolved after before because we called; it was always seemed to be whenever they decided to get to us.

I've lived in multiple apartments for over a decade and I've never experienced issues like this. I really would not recommend this place to anyone until they actually treat residents with respect and provide the services that we pay them for (which they are all too happy to increase come renewal time!)

I've even tried contacting them after we've moved out at this point and the office always goes to voicemail so it's truly a fool's errand to attempt to contact them with any reliability.