The Birches

My roommate and I, two women in our early twenties, lived here from 2022-2024. The bottom line is, you get what you pay for.

Buildings: the buildings were built in the 80s, and I don't think some of them have been renovated since then, evidenced by carpet in places it definitely shouldn't be, such as the bathroom. There were large unsealed gaps where some of the fixtures were mounted that I think allowed some critters to get in (more on that later).

Pests: We've come to learn that a certain… number of American cockroaches in the house are to be expected in coastal Virginia, but I don't think the shoddy sealing jobs and overall lack of renovation helped anything. In addition, we had an ant problem a few times (coming in the bedroom window and not going for food–it wasn't a matter of our housekeeping). They did send the weekly pest control worker to our apartment specifically to spray, but I'm not sure it made much of a difference.

Organization/Office Staff: as most of the other reviews mention, the office staff were friendly, but not organized. Oftentimes it was not clear what was posted on the online payment portal, and we sometimes missed utility payments. When this happened, they would apply part of our next rent payment to the utility and mark us as late on rent. We only found out about this when they posted a paper notice on our front door.

Maintenance: Maintenance responsiveness varied. If it was a small, easy problem they were generally out right away and had it fixed, and they were always nice. Once when our circuit board burned (?), the head of maintenance came right out and got it fixed. It was a little different when things required in-depth fixes (see below).

Roommate here: it took multiple attempts to get my toilet to stop running, and ultimately the maintenance head honcho was able to fix it. The shower head started leaking water (lots) and they eventually came out and stopped the leak, but the drywall was ruined and mold started to grow, which they did not fix in our time there. Maintenance was always super nice although some were more helpful than others.

Safety: We definitely saw some characters about, but in general we both felt safe and even made friends with some of our neighbors.

All in all, there are probably worse places to live, and there are definitely better places, but maybe not for the same price. If this is your budget, you'll definitely survive. Just pay attention to the payment portal and invest in some bug traps/spray! Read More