421-431 W. Barry Avenue Apartments

I think this is easiest if I break it into a pros and cons list.

Pros:
1) Zdenko is the best building engineer ever. Super responsive, I never had to wait to get something fixed/ know that he was working on it. He even came at 8 PM on a friday night once to look at my fridge.
2) Price. For a decently spacious one bedroom in Lakeview East, it is extremely reasonable, they barely raised rent even when other buildings rent were exploding.
3) Location: Right near the bus stop, and 4 minute walk to... Grocery store and a ton of food options

Cons:
1) Walls are paper thin and floors are super squeaky. Be prepared to hear every step your upstairs neighbor takes x10. Lakeview buildings are loud in general but I still haven't been in an apartment as loud as this one.
2) Only 2 washers/dryers. They are well maintained but for building this big would be nice to have at least one more

Overall I lived here 2 years and have a lot of great memories at this place. If you are sound sensitive though, this is not your place. Read More

Zero respect for tenants, these are the workers, unbelievable. They will also rent to anyone, lots of in and out which has caused a lot of disruption while you pay a lot of rent. Don't apply. Not suitable for anyone, you will know by the time you move in to the dirty unit.

I have lived in this building for over 3 years now and I will have to disagree with the one-star review below.

I live in a 1-bedroom unit with my wife and we have no problems with this apartment. I would describe this unit to friends as "the most average apartment ever."

It has your average cheap carpet (that I had the mgmt company wash), cabinets in the kitchen are fine, appliances are fine (nothing broken), my AC units work very well and they are your average window AC unit, my aluminum... closet doors work perfectly fine and I never had problems with them. Also I rarely have trouble securing a washer/dryer in the common area.

If you are looking for a very average apartment at a great price in a great neighborhood then this is your place. I often look at other 1 bedrooms in the same area and this building is consistently one of the lowest prices you're gonna get.

It has an on-site maintenance guy who is very responsive and has always fixed our problems.

My guess, from working 2 years in property management, is the one-star review is a disgruntled tenant who takes to the internet to vent all their frustrations. They often do this in hopes of breaking their lease, or getting a rental credit, or some other selfish endeavor.

I have talked to over 15 different tenants in this building over the past 3 years and have have all had the same experiences I've had. Average place at a good price. Read More

This building is old and run down. The apartments haven't been updated in decades, with 40 year old cabinetry, cheap aluminum closet doors that barely stay in their tracks, two washing machines for a building of at least 60, and the most janky A/C unit you've ever seen, jammed into the wall in the closet and jimmy-rigged to "supply" the entire apartment. JHM seems to think that the rent is justified by only the location. It's not. It's simply their excuse to maintain subpar residences where... they can get away with doing minimal updates.

As for the company itself, there combative and entitled attitude began to show in our first interactions, beginning with the conditions of the apartment before moving in. Stains on the shotty carpet were prevalent throughout, and instead of replacing the aged carpet with something even remotely pleasant, they argued with me that it could be cleaned. Instead, upon moving day, I found where they had cut squares out of the carpet and replaced it with newer patches, leaving it worse looking than I thought possible. Signing a lease for $1145 was a hassle as well, as it wasn't even a month into my stay that they claimed it was actually $1175, arguing that I needed to pay it despite having legally signed for the lower amount. And they have yet to put in place a bike rack, despite having my bike stolen from what was supposedly a secured garage within the first several weeks.

They are a typical management company - cheap, lackadaisical, and antagonistic - always entitled with absolutely no regards for the people they rent to. Come on, are you really that cheap that you can't supply an additional washer and dryer to a building that sorely needs it, or provide a $50 bike rack to residents after multiple thefts, or provide air conditioning (that's right, real air conditioning) that isn't jimmy-rigged with duct tape? Do not rent from JHM until they justify their high rents with more than just location - with updated kitchens (aka post-Cold War era), with new paint jobs (not just another coat on top of the 500 underneath it), with basic amenities like W/Ds and bike racks, etc. They're not worth the headache, and neither are their shotty, crumbling properties. I'm not being harsh - rather, after a year of dealing with a 3rd-world experience in what is otherwise a beautiful neighborhood, I'm simply being honest. Read More