Verandas at Cupertino

We loved living at the Verandas. The neighbors were lovely and the location is great (schools, Apple campus, shopping, etc). Even though the apartments are old and the walls are thin, they were light and bright and we enjoyed the community a lot.
However, anyone moving in should be prepared for a substantial rent hike after 12 months — like 20%. We simply could not afford that much of an increase, no matter how we tried to re-​budget, and in the end, I’m glad we didn’t, because many of the neighbors we loved so well were similarly being pushed out. We tried to talk to Greystar about it — these apartments are, after all, older, NOT air conditioned, and have their problems. We lived in a downstairs unit and when the people upstairs were home, our windows rattled in their frames and the ceiling fans shook so much there was a shower of dust coming down on us. We could hear conversations, arguments, toilets flushing… they promote the gym and pool, but the gym is not well ventilated at all, so I only used it a few times. The pool was a nice perk but was pretty nasty by mid-​summer. Anyway, we tried talking to Greystar and they agreed to a very small rate increase-​reduction for us, but we still couldn’t rise to it as it was still over 15% and we only had a week to decide. Even then, no one from Greystar actually responded to my very heartfelt letter — they just told one of the managers to say «no» to us. On top of all that, the management started to get very aggressive and condescending with the tenants, particularly in the case of children’s bikes on the premises. One day when my husband was on his way to work, he saw a strange man going up to people’s homes and taking their children’s bikes from the doorways and stair wells, throwing them into the dumpster. He must have rounded up 100 bikes that were hauled away by garbage trucks. It was heartbreaking. Yet, while they took up all this time worrying about kids’ bikes, they neglected to see that the rest of the property was going downhill — when we moved in, there was not a stick or leaf out of place, but when we left 12 months later, there was dirt, bark and garbage all over the walking spaces, the hedges were shaggy and many of the property lamps were out, making it very dark at night.
It’s really just a shame, because we miss living at Verandas and would have gladly stayed there, but the management was not interested in keeping good tenants, and instead became greedy for more cash while letting the place itself slide. But as I said before, it’s probably for the best we left, particularly when we killed ourselves cleaning the place and only got a very tiny fraction of our deposit back. So much for the rule of «normal wear and tear,» eh?

This is a great place to stay. Lots of kids and great community mostly Indians.
The only problem is their gray star manager lady for verandas — Michelle
She is the most inefficient manager and unwelcoming to any issues or complaints. I had several incidents with her where I tried my best to keep my cool but she is so unreasonable. Even without understanding the issue, she will try to find a problem with you. Like for eg. My chimney exhaust was not working… She tells me to stop cooking so much. And believe me we are kind of salad people .
I ask her the kitchen drain got clogged. She asks me to use tissues instead of water.
If I say the blind fell of from the patio door, she says you buy your own.
She is totally not accommodating and argumentative for 99% of times. Be prepared to deal with her.

I contacted the leasing office few weeks ago to inquire about availability in March.
Unlike typical leasing agent, Adriana didn’t forget to check on my current status eventho there wasn’t anything available for my desired move-​in date.
I really felt very pleasant about somebody from the leasing office actually cared about an applicant who did’t even seem to be a potential tenant due to unavailability.
Thank you for the positive experience! :)