I agree! I think the only people that bother going on this site are the ones that are unhappy. And anywhere you go, you're going to have unhappy renters. It's rare to actually read a good review on this site... the majority of reviews I've seen in my ENTIRE city only have around 30% approval or less. It's a little hard to believe that every single apartment in this huge city is horrible

I agree.. I think only the ones who have something bad to say come here and write a review.

I work at an apartment complex that is rated on this site. Most of the complaints are from people who are unhappy, but never gave the staff the opportunity to make the situation right (or they got upset when the rules were enforced). My recommendation is to look not only at the content of the individual reviews, but also at the time frame in which reviews were posted. For example, my property has 256 apartments there have been 13 negative compaints OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS, and I can almost guarantee a few of those were posted by the same person. Those are not bad odds. If you read a series of bad reviews and still want to take a look at the property, ask the staff about what was specifically said. I have found that the middle of the road remarks tend to be the truest. The extremely harsh are generally angry rule breakers and the ones who use what we call "industry terms" (resident, community, etc.) are the property staff defending themselves. This is not always the case, but a good rule of thumb to follow.

I look mostly at the report of crimes, and I will call the Sheriff or the Police department, they will have the stats on crime. I will also go and spend some time at the property when I can.. Usually at night and see what the life is like... going to the property staff who's goal is to rent out the property would be a fools errand. If you go to the property for inspection ask if you can walk around, look to see if there are maintenance issues, trash around the property, are their people hanging around, gates and locks working.

The only way to know for sure is to do your own investigation.

I actually just submitted a question on the same topic. I agree that most reviewers come here to complain, but from what I have read their complaints are serious, and if true, dealbreakers. Is it normal to have a small percentage of tenants get completely screwed? Is it too much to ask that a complex not have rats/crooks/thieves etc?