Renting in Woodbury.

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
R

rob._IHB

New member
<p>Hi. I started another discussion about the Solana complex but was looking around more and really liked the Woodybury area. I went and looked through some models and have this place first on my list.</p>

<p>I am leaning towards Woodbury <strong>Lane</strong>. Does anyone here currently live there? What do you think of the place? parking? are there lots of kids around? and additional info you care to share?</p>

<p>Also, when do IAC deal incentives end OR start? Has anyone noticed when they give more incentives during a certain time period? Right now, they are offering about 100 off the monthly rent but it ends at the end of January. My current lease is not up until end of Feb OR end of March. I don't know if I should hold out to see if they can offer better deals. I could possibly have them hold an available unit at the end of January for two weeks, but then for half the month I would end up paying more (but saving in the long run). Anyone know if they lower monthly rent if you sign on a longer lease? I plan on asking them this question, but thought someone on here might know some insight.</p>

<p>I searched the past discussions and saw one posting where they had a great incentive deal (save 1000 off moving costs) last year around March 2007. I am wondering if this time period is where they offer better deals, or maybe its just completely random based on demand. I would imagine some trend though...</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>
 
We rent at Woodbury Place. From what little information I was able to attain, the regional manager sets the rules for the incentives... like the place we moved into had a really sweet deal on it that ended 24 hours after I saw the place (bad timing, and they held firm) as it was the only unit that had been empty for 60 days... at that point there were more units with that qualification so they were adjusting their offers. It seems to be based on inventory. We ended up taking the 2% off monthly rent and honestly, I love it here. It's so QUIET. (so far.)



No, they don't lower rent for a longer lease, no, they don't give you a discount for paying in advance (as they don't allow it in the first place), but locking in your rental rate may not be a bad idea if you plan to stay there (I think they go up to 24 months). When your lease ends, you do have the option to go month-to-month but there is a premium.



As a sidenote: If you have been in your IAC place for at least 12 months and you're moving to another IAC property where the rent is at least $1 more, there is no leasebreak fee. Came in handy for us.



If you know what floorplan you want and this is an issue of said floorplan in the desired location within the community, it might be worth it to you to get the one you want. Though really... your comparison... save 1k off moving costs... is less than the offer of 100/month off rent, esp as you could extend that 100/month off for a 24 month lease. And no, I don't work for them, I just "love where I live." ha ha.



Best of luck.
 
i also live in woodbury place and have to agree with badcandy, it is very quiet, ive lived there for three months now and have yet to hear a neighbor. woodbury in general seems to be a very nice place.
 
Like most places it depends on your neighbors. We were driven out of Woodbury Place by a horrible neighbor living below. Before moving into an individual owner rental condo in Woodbury we lived in a one room apartment in Woodbury Place and had our stuff in storage. Most of the neighbors were fine but we had a horrible neighbor below that would play his video games (he was probably close to 30) really loud with his friends although not past 10 or 11pm. My fiance talked to him about it a few times and he'd lower the volume somewhat that day or two but then he'd go back to being a jerk. Also his equally considerate girlfriend was prone to what I can only describe as "porn screams" in the middle of the night. It was like being back in a college dorm, only not as fun. We were looking for more space anyway but this definitely speeded us along. Also while we had a great view of the pool that meant we heard people sneaking into the pool and being loud at all hours too. The problem is that without on-site management at night you are often put in the position of having to confront inconsiderate people or call the police which I don't want to do paying the IAC premium.
 
<p>In todays housing market, would you think it's better to lock in the monthly rate for 24 months, or do 12 months and hope that rent will drop if we decide to renew? From what I see, rent seems to always increase? What do you think? </p>

<p>We do plan on renting for about 3 or so years until somewhere in 2011 when we will buy.</p>
 
I just took out an IAC lease. I went with the shortest lease they had - 10 months. I did this for two reasons. First, I am betting that rent won't go up as I expect this year to be really, really bad for real estate. Second, and most important to me, if I don't like where I am, I can leave that much sooner. I may even like it now but then have a bad neighbor move in. My theory with any transaction is that the longer the contract I sign, the less incentive the company has to provide me with good service and the harder it is for me to leave if I want.
 
Anyone renting in the townhome apts in Woodbury? We are interested in renting a townhome in Woodbury until it is the right time to buy for us. I toured a unit and it seemed kind of cramped and very close to adjoining townhomes (conseq. dark inside). Any thoughts/input by a current/former resident?
 
<p>we live in woodbury court and got the $1200 off when we first moved in. but i think this huge of an incentive is only around when the complex is first opened and very empty.. there were only 35 units rented out when we got here. you can try checkin out the village at spectrum, i think its still pretty empty. </p>

<p>and online, the prices does seem to keep going up. but i got word from my community that they were offering renewals at 6% off market rate. that would make it LESS than market last year. if i renewed, i could get a bigger apartment for about the same as i'm paying now. and, in another act of encouragement/desperation, they are doing a free-rent raffle if you renew. first prize, three months of free rent. second prize, 2 months.. third, 1 month... man, imagine winning 3 months of free rent!</p>

<p>rob, if your renewal isnt til the end of march, then you will probably get your renewal letter around mid february? i think thats still a good time for deals. thats mid semester, so students arent renting and families arent moving as much. it usually starts to pick up around springtime.</p>

<p>are you in IAC now? from what ive read/heard, they are usually willing to negotiate on renewals. at the very least, keep the rent the same. i think my place offering the renewal incentive is an exception and not the norm... so i wouldnt count on rent dropping after ur lease expires. i would still do the shorter lease of 12 month than 24 month because what if you hate it, you'll be stuck for two years. if you do one year and decide you like it, its very possible that you can negotiate to renew at the same rate.</p>

<p>btw, another way to make a few bucks when you move in is the "how did you hear" card. if you can, find someone living at the same complex and write them as the referrer before you visit. the referral bonus is around $200 and you guys can split it. some places, like mine is offering $400. if you cant find anyone to write down, list mynewplace.com or rent.com as the referrer. i believe their referral bonus is $100-$125 last time i checked. and it does work, i got my check for $125.</p>
 
I live in Woodbury Lane and love it. I have been there for over a year. I started in a 1 bedroom and upgraded to two bedroom. I had the more open plan with the one bedroom ( wood in dinning room) and felt it had more light. I now have the other plan and it feels like a shoe box. Maybe it would have been better if our apartment had some light. The complex is very quiet and few kids. We only have one child in our building. Parking can be a problem depeding on the builiding. You can usually find a spot somewhere and I know they are going to stickers. Even with the plan I love the kitchen!! So many cabinets. We have been to over 1/2 of IAC and we can't beat this place. If you put me as your refferal we can split the money :)
 
kayochan, qwerty and I are apparently both in Woodbury Place (the rental townhomes). I have really pale skin so me and the "evil day star" are not friends. ;) Depending on what floorplan you're looking at the situation will be different, but I'd tell you to avoid the Plan C unless it's an end unit, and that the uh.. 'side patios' are great if you hate the sun, as the "alley" effect seems to prevent much direct sunlight. Otherwise, it is quite light and bright in here if you open the blinds. I came here looking for a Plan D (apparently the most popular) and ended up taking a Plan E. We moved from a 2 bedroom apartment, so bear that in mind when I say it feels so much bigger. And you can't beat the attached 2 car garage. :)
 
kayochan - i would highly recommend the place. We always keep our blinds closed since like you said, your neighbors are right up on you. When we do open them though, it is bright enough for us. When we looking at the available units we were looking for a plan E since it had about 100 sq ft more than the other floor plans but we ended up going with a plan b since it was fully detached (just in case we had loud neighbors, which we dont, have never heard them) and it has an oversized two car garage which like badcandy said is tough to beat. Since you have a two car garage parking should not be an issue, we park both of our cars inside our garage. a couple of our neighbors use their garage for storage and just park in the visitor parking, but most of the time there appear to be parking spaces available. there are 275 units in woodbury place, they are kind of close to each other, but so is all of the new housing going up in irvine. the rent is probably on the high side (we pay 2,480) for what you get, but we enjoy living there. Having the woodbury center right next door is pretty convenient as well. You can just walk over there to get what you need.
 
Thank you badcandy & qwerty for your input! I will definitely go back to Woodbury Place and check the units out again when our lease is up. :)
 
<p>@mk9: We are currently renting privately. I fear that the current incentive of 100 a month may not be offered in February. The reason I think 24 months sounds like a good idea is that this incentive is cheaper then market rate. For a 12 month lease, I am pretty sure they will try to raise it but to the market rate. It seems unlikely they would keep it the same IF there was a high demand. But you like you say, it would suck to have noisy neighbors and such... but <em>badcandy </em>made a good point that the lease could be changed after 12 months if going to another IAC and costs at least $1 more (I never knew about this). I don't know though... anyone think locking in with 24 months sounds like a bad idea?</p>

<p>@wendyinoc: Whisper your contact info to me. I'll send you an email. We are really considering Woodbury Lane and are planning a 2nd visit to make sure its what we want. We just have to cross our fingers now that a unit becomes available in our time frame, or the one we want to reserve doesn't get taken. We can't reserve now because they can only hold for 2 weeks, and we still have a month and a half left on our lease. We're just hoping for the best.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for your input so far.</p>
 
Not sure if Woodbury is still in its "lease-out" stage when they have the largest incentives.



I looked at Woodbury LN,CT, SQ..etc but ended up at the Village at Spectrum. Speaking from experience there, I was told that the longest IAC contract term is 12 months. Maybe that's different in other communities? I know the community manager gets updated concession and inventory information by Monday morning on a weekly basis, so the leasing incentives change almost weekly depending on the weekly lease out goal. There is no flexibility with negotiating concessions/rates, but the move in or "taking possession" date can be adjusted to work better with your current lease. As state by someone else, rates start to go up around March.



FYI... just got my renewal letter. Rent is up $10 per mo. Just found out that when you stay at the same community and decide to move to a different unit you qualify for 1/2 of the current incentives when signing a new lease, vs. no incentives when just renewing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top