IAC Renters. Check the prices before you renew your Lease.

<p>Thanks for the tips guys. I did a bunch of research in the last 2 hours and found that 5 new non IAC communities are going up in Irvine just blocks from my complex in the next few months so there is going to be very aggressive competition in this area. Also, I see a ton of craiglists ads from my community so I am sure they are having vacancy issues.</p>

<p>I am going to go in tomorrow morning and request a decrease in rent and tell them I am prepared to move. I will let you guys know how it goes.</p>

<p>By the way, for any one curious, these are the non IAC communities I found:





1) Calypso by Shea


2) Avalon Irvine


3) Camden Jamboree & Main


4) Main Street Village


5) Alta Court


6) The Charter - not new but recently remodeled and very aggressive on rents </p>
 
rkp its all about demand with IAC. How many are available of your unit? If none then its hard to negoiate. I just work the system by moving. I love new carpet!!
 
I had a lease renewal notification for the 3bed/2bath West Park IAC townhome - one roommate was going to move out, so we looked for a 2bed/2bath floor plan. Decided to stay with the same community (easier move, and same location).



Just HATED how the rep handled the situation and used scare tactics on getting us to put a hold on the unit. Too much rent overlap between the two places. Also rep pretended to not know anything and acted as if they were DOING US a favor.



*On-special (rental price from 1775 to 1680) - hold for two weeks.

Scare tactic: Only this week! Don't know if it'll be available next week! Renting picks up at this time of the year! (What?? Mid-Feb?) I folded and they won. A week later, the 2nd floor plan ($1645) was LOWER than the 1st floor unit I was stuck with.

*200 off move-in: We understand that you have to pay for two places at once, here's 200. (Ha! IAC offers that everytime and everywhere, ranging from 200 to even 400 larger floor plans). It's nothing special.

*Another rental application and $35 fee. (As opposed to renewing the lease, in which we wouldn't need to re-do the app)



Everytime I move into an IAC place, the cable wiring is messed up. What does "wired for Cox" means? Everytime I have to fight with management to get them to pay for it - all the Cox tech did was change out a splitter inside the panel. I don't understand how the wiring could change from the previous tenant to me - most likely the previous tenant had cable tv or internet of some sort and it worked.





At one point, we were considering renewing the townhome lease if were able to find a 3rd person. The leasing office person wanted ALL FOUR OF US to come in AT THE SAME TIME to go over paperwork, lease, etc. She said "it'd be easier to go over the info at ONCE so everyone's on the same page" --- It's not complicated, one person is moving out, another person is moving in, sign XXX. Excuse me??? Who's working for who? I've done all sorts of roommate removal/addition before, we never had to all come in at the same time. How can she expect four people with different schedules to come in. We just need to have the papers signed before the new lease starts - that's the only POLICY. It's NOT in the policy to have everyone in AT THE SAME TIME. It seemed like if we didnt come in at the same time, she was not going to accept our stuff.



As for the old place, I'll wonder how much of the security deposit we get back or OWE.



I'm trying to think of ways to get back at IAC, or get the most out of IAC. I do think their properties and "ammenities" are fair, but when it comes to appreciation to their good renters, there's NOTHING. Renter appreciation day? Here's 5% for this month? Happy Birthday w/ Actual signatures from the staff and a free car wash coupon?



Most of the staff seems poorly trained, unfriendly (personally I feel scared when I walk in the office), and non-responsive or professional. I guess I could understand that the job satisfaction would be low (who actually dreamed of having a career as a leasing office person), so why would they care to provide good service? I find that the "nicer" the community, the faker the person, but professionalism and quality of service does not improve!
 
<p>I went in earlier today and the best I could do was $45 increase per month. The property manager started at $75 yesterday and dropped down to $50 on the phone so I was hoping to get her down to no rent increase. After showing her my research and how other IAC communities were offering similar rentals in the area for $150-200 less, she offered $5 further reduction and a free carpet cleaning.</p>

<p>And I did take everyone's advice and really played hardball. I told her I was prepared to move and even showed her that I had visited a few properties today, which I really did do. Unfortunately, there aren't any vacant units of my floorplan in the community so I guess they don't have the vacancy issues that other communities do. </p>
 
<p>Also, I found some great deals at other communities near westpark. 1 had a larger 2b/2b with garage for $150 less than mine! However, all of these require immiedate move in and my lease doesn't end until April 30.</p>

<p>I hate moving but the idea of saving $2000 a year is pretty compelling. </p>

<p> </p>
 
anteatersci,



sounds like you're a uci a student. Think about it, a pretentious uci student with 3 other roommates trying to play hardball with a leasing agent? To top it off, add an arrogant sense of entitlement, and you sound like the exact renter profile any intelligent landlord would automatically deny. They only speak to you due to FHA laws.



How can you get back at IAC? I know, how about you trash the place? That'll show them....well it'll really show that they had no business even letting you in the door.



"renter appreciation day", nice, as good an idea as guy faukes day or thanksgiving day (canada)
 
i am thinking of moving to IAC since we put off buying a place. hearing all these storys and from what my co-worker tells me.... it is such a hassle. it seems like IAC raise rent every year. and that they are really strict. wanted to say thanks to all for their inputs.
 
<p><a title="Permanent Link: Irvine Co. apartment vacancies steady at 5% to 6%" rel="bookmark" href="http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2008/03/19/irvine-co-apartment-vacancies-steady-at-5-to-6/">Irvine Co. apartment vacancies steady at 5% to 6%</a></p>

<p>http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2008/03/19/irvine-co-apartment-vacancies-steady-at-5-to-6/</p>
 
I started this thread and have been shopping around. Moving is a drag but saving $ 2000.00 a year to move a few blocks

up Sand Canyon looks like a good decision to me. Have not had the time to do the face to face with them yet. As well as my lease runs out in Early May so I am a bit early still.



I sent an E-mail to the IAC Manager at my complex and asked a couple open ended questions about units next to me that have been empty for over a year. Guess what ? No Response whatsoever.



So here is my question for the Smart Legal types here now that someone mentioned FHA Laws.



Is it legal for IAC to Advertise my exact unit or a very similar and larger units for LESS and tell me that because I have lived there 20 months and never been late on my rent and never had a complaint that I should pay more than a new tenant just moving in ? Am I being discriminated against because I am stupid enough not to move ? Should I start drinking the kool aid about how fortunate I am to live here and about rents going up this season. ??????
 
I'm pretty sure it's all legal. From what I recall from my sole law class, illegal discrimination is very narrowly defined (gender, color, religion and other "big hitters"). It's a free market, and they're free to offer any agreements they want. Their ads probably have "new tenant only" disclaimers. But it sounds like they need you more than you need them if there are continual vacancies. I would resolve to leave, then do so if they don't meet your demands. The big cost, aside from the actual move, is in the overlap. If you have to go even 2 weeks of overlap, that blows a big chunk of the annual savings. They know it too.
 
Jcaraway, I'm not a UCI student. That's nice of you to assume though. I work full time as an engineer. The only thing you read was "get back at the IAC"?



I don't smoke, have any pets, kids, parties w/ loud music, or drugs. I pay rent on time. I follow the parking rules. I don't throw things in the trash bin that shouldn't be there and break down card board boxes before putting them in the trash bin. I don't pour fatty oils down the sink drain. Take off my shoes before entering the place. Oh yeah, don't store anything on my patio.
 
<p>Funny you mention the overlap...the property manager mentioned that to me. She was pretty direct about it and said something like you might save on the rent but you will lose overall due to the move costs and overlap. </p>
 
"It's not complicated, one person is moving out, another person is moving in, sign XXX. Excuse me??? Who's working for who?", sounds pretty condescending to me. I'm a little annoyed because there seems to be more of this sense of entitlement and customer is always right attitude now a days that supersedes acting professional or even rational thought. I hate to make this more personal but you're a full time engineer? I don't understand why you're complaining, if there are 4 people in your apartment and your monthly rent is $1700, you would pay $425 a month in rent. Heck as a full time engineer i'm sure you could pay $1700 for yourself alone and have a little privacy to play your MMORPG or whatever. But to each his own.



I think we should all expect a rent increase if we live in a corporately owned apartment complex, if they aren't raising rents, they really are doing their investors a disservice. If you're looking for a good deal, go to santa monica where they have rent control or find your self an old lady to take advantage of on the peninsula, i've heard of some people getting 1/2 market rents by promising to do some "landscaping".



Look, I don't want to be the IAC troll here, but it seems to me that at this time, maybe renting from IAC or some other REIT is a bit safer than renting from a guy who's real estate education consisted of reading "rich dad poor dad. Personally, i'd pay a premium to know that the property will be maintained, there is someone who will come and address maintenance problems (someday), and most importantly, i won't wake up one day with a red sticker on my door.



If you think IAC is strict, try living in one of these new HOAs.



I doubt any leasing agent will be allowed to grant concessions if you threaten to leave, if they do it once, they are going to have to do it for every resident once word gets out.
 
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking for their best offer, even if it means threatening to leave. People do it all the time to get the best deal possible when negotiating. When was the last time you walk into a car dealership and paid the asking price for a car? I expect to pay for the car, but I do whatever it takes to obtain the best pricing possible for that vehicle. You would do no less. I would agree that renting from the IAC is safer, but I did not waive my right to negotiate for the best possible price just because I am a current renter in IAC. </p>
 
Jcaraway, thanks for the clarification. My fustration came out of the fact that the IAC rep wanted all four people in the leasing office at the same time for the paperwok. That would not be possible for four people who barely see each other on a daily basis - how can four people find a time to all go together? Yes, it'd be a hassle for the rep to bring out the paperwork four times to collect signatures. I was suprised when the IAC rep required us to be there at the same time - I've never had that before (I was even out of state the last time I did this). Four people going out of their way so that ONE person doesn't need to go out of his/her way makes me wonder. Perhaps the IAC rep thought we'd ask a million questions regarding the move and didn't know that we done this procedure many of times and are familiar with the requirements. I should've clarified that with the rep. The rep was refusing to do anything if all four people were not present.



Customer is always right? I wasn't telling the rep how to do his/her job.



I wasn't complaining about rent increase. I did say IAC properties and "ammenities" are fair - but it lacks quality people service. IAC strengths are their properties, etc.. but the people service is just not there and they're all inconsistent. One person tells me they can't give me the keys until everyone has signed (despite having paid at move-in), yet someone else did the move-in and gave me my set of keys.



One time bees decided to make a beehive nest in the kitchen fan ventilation - we had bees coming into the apartment. Management handled it by having someone come in with a can of RAID and spray the heck of out it and swapping the bees with towel. Resulted in various stings. The mist ended up coming back down and just contaminating the whole place. We should've known better and handled the situation on our own. The first time we had bees, we let them be and vacuumed the dead ones. Didn't think they'd come back.



The rep told the mailman for some reason I was a former resident.. so then I stopped receiving mail (despite having my last name was in the box)... Mailman blamed the leasing office and leasing office denied it and blamed the mailman.



The "security" company the IAC hires to ticket unpermitted cars. I only see them out once in awhile, when the weather is favorable. Never seem them in the rain or cold early mornings.



It'd be nice if IAC could invest in training their people a little bit more professional and consistent.



I guess IAC does not care to boost their image of being a good management company to deal with, since they are so large. I would recommend their properties to others, but def tell others to watch out for the people. There are risks with the IAC too.



What's MMPORG?

I only have one roommate, not three.
 
IAC is not the evil empire. I've rented from at least 6 or 7 different management companies and a few private, and IAC was the best. I'm not a shill for IAC, but I did happen to work as a leasing consultant for them several years ago and I'm now a renter, so I get to see both sides. What a thankless job that was. Nearly every renter had this absurd sense of entitlement, like they owned the place. No regard for rules, or other tenants. Everyone thinks they are the perfect renter but in reality nobody is. The rules are in place for a reason. You think the communities are bad now, imagine if the rules lessened. You might shrug off the insistence of the leasing agent to have all people present to sign the lease and not give out keys but it is a necessity for this reason, every single time I let someone slack on that I had an incomplete lease. After they were allowed to have keys and move in, forget it, I was never getting a signature on that lease. I know, you're a great renter and would never do that. Please, every renter took their own liberties with what they thought was reasonable. You have no idea what a leasing consultant goes through. I would rather have one of those "dirty jobs" you see on cable than to ever work in a leasing office again. It's hell.
 
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