Media Center Villas

My wife and I have lived here for 3 months (we’re on the 1730 side, not 1731 — this matters when it comes to TV/​Internet). I have read the other reviews and can agree with some aspects. However, I’m not basing my review off management alone.
Here’s what I think…
RENT PRICE. You won’t find anything this decent, in this area, for this price. It’s about $ 1,300 for a one bed/​one bath. $ 1,700 for a two bed/(not sure # of baths). Our one bedroom apartment is about 660 sq. ft.
PET FRIENDLY. There is a monthly pet fee of $ 35 but this can be completely waived by registering your animal as an Emotional Service Animal. Check out this site for more info:
FREEWAY SOUND. The freeway is literally across the street but because of the cinder block wall, the sound isn’t very noticeable. I mean, you can hear cars driving by but it’s much quieter than you’d expect.
LOCATION. You’re 5 minutes from the Burbank Town Center and about 7 minutes from Costco, Target, Best Buy (to name a few). However, if you use the 134W, 405, or 101 freeways much… get used to driving a LOT. The only close freeway entrance (within minutes of here) is the 5 freeway. The 5 South ONLY connects to the 134 E from this location.
GRASS AREA. There really isn’t «that» much area for your pet to do its business on. Most of the time it’s muddy and wet.
LAUNDRY FACILITIES. They have 2 laundry rooms, each with 2 washers and 2 dryers. You’ll spend $ 1.50 per wash and $ 1.50 per dry. I’ve only had 1 problem with bleach getting on my dark load. A previous wash session (from a different tenant) apparently didn’t remove the previous load’s bleach. I now have dark clothing with bleach stains. Yay!
PARKING. I get home from work after 5PM most days and while people complain about «lack of parking», I haven’t had any problems finding an empty space. Sure, you may have to find a spot around the corner and actually WALK 100 extra feet, but it’s not a big deal. Bonus: The street parking in front doesn’t have limitations so if you’re prone to getting $ 40 street-​sweeper tickets, you’ll love it here!
TV/​INTERNET. You only have two choices: AT&T (Internet only — no Uverse or DirecTV) and Charter (TV, Internet, Phone). AT&T offers download speeds of up to 12 Mbps. for $ 45/​mo. Charter internet is $ 44/​mo but the download speed is up to 60 Mbps! TV, Internet, or Phone will always add up to $ 114/​mo no matter what kind of «deal» they say you’re getting. Internet only is the cheapest option with Charter.
MANAGEMENT ACCESSIBILITY. Their original hours (before Nov. 2014) were Tuesday-​Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Need something Monday morning? Too bad. No one’s there. Then, they changed their work days to Monday-​Friday, same hours. However, no matter how many times I call on Mondays NO ONE is ever there! I’ve called multiple times, on multiple Mondays, for service requests, questions about my bill, etc, but no one ever picks up. I would be fine with this if my needs were met, but no one ever seems to return my calls either. It has gotten very frustrating, very fast.
APARTMENT LAYOUT. The management team is new (as of August 2014) and weren’t given any apartment layout records. You can’t see the apartment you’re moving into unless the tenant has moved out already. But with these prices, chances are you won’t see the apartment layout before hand.
LANDSCAPING. Apparently the landscapers only come on Tuesdays? This would be fine unless you have an issue with the sprinklers on Tuesday night and have to wait a week (and HOPE they remember — because you can’t get a hold of anyone in the office) to get it fixed. Sprinkler problems, you ask? Read below…
BEDROOM A/​C UNIT. During the first few nights in our new apt., we ran our A/​C unit which is conveniently placed above my side of the bed. Sprinklers go on around 1am. Do you enjoy getting sprayed with water through your A/​C vent at 1am? I don’t.
RENT PAYMENT WEBSITE. You can set up auto payments but with the inclusion of utilities, your balance changes each month and there’s NO «pay my balance» feature.
MAINTENANCE. The maintenance guy could be suffering from Congenital Anosmia (can’t smell anything). The day we moved in, we noticed a terrible odor coming from below the kitchen sink. We immediately called maintenance and… after a few days, the guy came out to check the smell. He says he didn’t smell anything which is odd because it smells really bad! Friends and family have even said they could smell «it» too. There is only so much I can do to fix the smell myself like: pull out the dishwasher, vacuum underneath, check for dead animals, take apart all kitchen sink pipes, etc. I found nothing. The smell is still there and odor eliminators don’t seem to work either.
Overall, it only works for us because of the price. We would much rather work around certain issues (especially if it saves us $ 500 a month on rent) than to live in a slightly better apartment complex

The truth is the truth and karma is a bi##h.
Have a nice day.