Forest Hills Estates

I saw the negative reviews and thought someone who really liked the place should chime in. We have been here over 2 years and love the place. It’s quiet, safe, and clean. The access to I-​5 and Aurora is unbeatable. The landscaping is well maintained and the maintenence program is great. No matter what breaks they fix it quickly and efficiently. We love Alex the on site manager. He is professional and fair in a difficult and demanding job. Our apartment is a one bedroom and it is the quietest apartment we have ever had. The place has one drawback and that is having guests over is almost impossible due to the lack of parking. Everyone gets one spot with the option to purchase another for a monthly fee. There are about 6 or so 24 hr spots and the same people keep rotating their vehicles so they do not have to buy the extra space. The office tries to keep up with it but it’s a legitimate concern. Other than that this is a great facility and we love living here.

I’m writing this review in response to an tenant email from Forest Hills, asking for reviews on platforms like Unilocal.Most people write reviews only when they have a strong opinion (good or bad). So here’s one from someone in the middle.
I moved into my Forest Hills apartment in 2011. I recently signed a new lease. My new rent is 29% more than my first year’s rent. This increase is clearly not supportable in the long term given my income certainly hasn’t risen 29% in that time. Look anywhere in the greater Seattle area, and rents are increasing at a similar pace. That said, it would be nice if Forest Hills were more loyal to long term tenants. Tenants don’t have any negotiating power. I’ve stayed for over four years because I hate moving and have a decent commute to work. I’d love to live in a place like Ballard, but then I’d be paying even more. I did once receive a lease extension which kept my rent constant for 18 months. That was over two years ago.
Regarding the rate of office staff turnover mentioned by other reviewers, I recently learned that Forest Hills is a Wiedner «training property». So we get the trainee property managers constantly rotating through the main office. That hasn’t given me much headache, but it would certainly be nice to have consistency. They don’t seem empowered to deviate from Weidner policy.
Yes, the parking situation sucks, but tenants should know that before moving in. It’s not changing or getting better. I picked Forest Hills originally because the units are nicer than others, with nice finishes in the kitchens and bathrooms.

If I could give –Stars I would. I moved in a year ago renting from a great gal named Kylee. She recently left. I was awarded $ 100 visa for renewing my lease in Feb for an Apr renewal. On the weekend of May 1^st my identity was stolen and my bank account was drained. I reported it and all my assets were frozen. I could not pay rent or buy lunch. on Monday May 3, I was given a pay or vacate notice from the new manager, Alex. I tried to go online and use a credit card but since my assets were frozen I could not make the payment. Alex, just went by the book like I was a squatter and he was going to get rid of me! When I explained what happened, I got an email where he says. «I understand you are having trouble, but you must pay immediately». He goes on to say I could get a line of credit or I could use a credit card to pay. I was just dumbfounded by this guy’s lack of attention to my emails and my situation.
We met face to face and all he said was he understood but I needed to pay as soon as possible. I tried to educate Alex on the way of the banking world when fraud is involved but he didn’t care. All he was interested in was eviction fees and utility fees and that they would bill me for all the days my unit goes «un-​rented» when I leave. I wonder if he makes commission on extra charges. It was like talking to a wall. Since the money was stolen via an remote ID and my banks transactions appeared to be legitimate I got the police involved and started an investigation. In the end I am out the money. Meanwhile, I have no access to money and Alex is going to proceed with the eviction process and charge me the fees involved. He was doing his job… (kids). On May 14, I was unfrozen and I was allowed to use my credit and paid the rent in full. I was sent an email by Alex’s boss saying thank you and the eviction process was cancelled but we are still going to inspect your apartment for damages. On May 15^th Alex and the maintenance guy came to walk thru my unit. Everything works and there is no damage. I am still moving out on the 30^th. I would rather rent from a stranger who doesn’t know me than to rent from this outfit. I will post again to share all the details of my treatment after I vacate. I am sure they going to charge me for every little tiny thing no matter what I do.
Lesson Learned: No matter how good a tenant you are, it just doesn’t matter.
If you are planning on moving in here, be sure to only have one car. There is no other parking. Tenants with two cars use the visitors and they say they check and ticket but they don’t. There is never any visitor parking. Dog poop is everywhere and the noise is worse than anywhere I have lived. When I can hear my upstairs neighbor’s alarm clock each morning as well as the alarm clock in the adjacent apartment, you know its bad. Hearing your neighbors arguments can give you great insight to how someone really is as well. $ 1150.00 + Utilities for 650sqft is ridiculous. I can’t wait to be done with Weidner Properties. They are crap.

If I could give negative stars, I would. This place is a TOTAL bust. Rent has gone up year after year for no good reason. They claim that the market for rent is going up, which I believe but their facilities are poor. There are newer buildings in the area that charge less for more space that I’ll be moving to once my lease is up. Parking is awful, their «24 hour/​guest spots» are always full with residents with multiple cars rotating them. I pay for my second spot and still have to track down who’s in my spot because some neighbor told them they could use it.
Neighbors are disrespectful not picking up after their dogs, yelling in the parking lot late at night, letting their unattended kids play in the parking lot running into cars/​out in front of cars. The walls are extremely thin, you can hear people having sex, casual conversation, lots of fighting, doing their dishes, and daily alarms going off (who needs 6 alarms?!) … it’s AWFUL!
Laundry/​Dishwasher are cheap and do not clean well. BEWARE if you get a first floor apartment as your storage unit outside will probably get broken into more than once.
The garage only works on occasion. I pay additional to have underground secure parking, but secure is an understatement. There has also been a time when the garage door would not open and I could not get my car out before work… it took them days to fix and they just left the garage door open so anyone off the street can come in. and rummage through your stuff. (Have had all the stuff in the truck bed completely rearranged/​looked through).
And finally, there is no drop box for rent. You have to pay during business hours or pay a nice surcharge to use your debit card online to pay rent.
I’m a little worried about what will happen when I move out and if I’ll receive any of my deposit back, with other reviewers saying the forms are different from move in to move out… guess we will see.
My suggestion is to do your research and look elsewhere. If you do decide to take a tour of the place, do it once everyone is home from work so you can get a real feel of what it’s truly like.

Awful! Poor management team, disgusting buildings, landscaping is awful a blindfolded toddler could do better work than the crew who does it.
You’ve been warned don’t rent from them.

Two words: Parking Sucks.
There are FIVE guest parking spots, which are really never used for guests as they are always full with resident parking from people who actually live there and don’t have a place to park. Each apartment comes with one assigned parking spot, and for those with two bedrooms and two cars, you are basically screwed unless you want to be on a wait list (we were about 20^th in line) for a garage spot. People illegally park in the handicapped spots all the time as well as in the Top Foods parking lot, where you can get towed.
If I had known how bad the parking was before I signed the lease, I would have though twice before signing. It’s bad enough finding parking for the two of us, there is no way we can have guests over for dinner, etc, as there is nowhere for them to park and really no option for close street parking.