Camden Crest

This place is like dating a pretty girl with an awful personality, fun at first but then you get to know her better and look for ways to bail! Camden has a poor reputation for how cheap they construct their buildings and this reflects on how paper thin the walls/​floors are. You will NOT get a good night’s sleep while living hear, from slamming doors, to loud music, general walking sounds like a stampede. The worst has been the maintenance crew for an on-​going issue that has not been resolved since last year. Every time the AC turns on at night it sounds like a woodpecker is going to town on the pipes in my bedroom. They have come by a few times, walk through out my apartment with their filthy work shoes, do absolutely NOTHING to resolve the issue, wash their paint brushes in my kitchen sink leaving paint behind and still haven’t figured it out. They will however raise their rates roughly 20% to renew your lease and offer much better rates to new customers, who get caught up in the looks-​which are nice and pool is as well. The reality is you will regret every day spent here and surely can find just something better!

Pros — dog friendly
Cons — when leasing from them… document and photograph the crap out of everything. However even when you state the carpets look worn and matted when you moved in… if you have a pet… expect them to produce carpet invoices that show carpet was only a few months old when you began your lease and needed to be replaced when you left. We got stuck with a plus $ 1300 carpet bill and $ 85 cleaning fee when we left for pet damages. Basically paid for new tenants carpeting. Basically pd for the «sparkle» that we did not get when leased.
Appliances are old and rickety… Circa 1990s… no microwave. Refrigerators barely hold anything.
Also, never complained while there but upstairs tenants sounded like bowling balls sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning!!! Almost every night. And daytime too when their kids were home from school!!!
Even though pet friendly and pet waste receptacles everywhere expect to see dog poo everywhere. And receptacles, if full sometimes went unemptied for weeks!
Garbage and recycle piles up on weekends too.
So why did we rent there… see pros… They allow large breed dogs that most other complexes in the area wouldn’t.
Would never rent there again!!!

PROS: I feel safe here and it’s a dog-​friendly place with well-​kept grounds. The area is also a good location for general shopping and entertainment. CONS: #1 The office doesn’t accept packages (which means you have to drive 4 – 5 miles to the post office during post office hours to pick up your packages that don’t fit in the mailbox). #2 The walls are SUPER thin. You hear your upstairs and next-​door neighbors EASILY. Also, if you live near the AC units, it is not the pleasant humming for sleep. I straight-​up wear ear plugs to sleep now. #3 You’re forced to use Time Warner Cable for Internet and cable TV. I prefer AT&T.

I have been a resident at Camden (Summit) Crest for eleven years. I’ve seen many changes when the property changed hands eight years ago (loss of security gates and guards, pool open year around, no charge for amenities, 24 hr laundrymat, etc.) Let’s evaluate Camden Crest as it is today, right now, in pro’s and con’s.
Pros —
Location — Camden Crest is strategically located in an ideal spot north of Raleigh while benefiting from Raleigh Police and Fire Departments, along with Wake Country School System. Two of the county’s best malls are less than two miles away. A large movie theater, a fine restaurant, Food Lion grocery, Target and Lowes Home Improvement are just two blocks away.
The grounds — Camden has spent a great deal of money creating and maintaining its garden atmosphere. The grounds are sumptuous and well kept.
An elevator in each of the four-​story buildings for those unable to climb stairs.
Handicap accessibility.
Two swimming pools (more on those later).
A luxurious movie theater that seats about sixteen people in big leather lazy-​boy chairs.
A large beautiful club house and a 24-​hour work-​out room with flat panel TV’s for each treadmill.
A dog park
A car wash and vacuum (only open in the summer)
A child’s play area (near the back of the complex)
Rent can be payed online. The Camden website is well organized and helpful.
Friendly knowledgeable staff — Shannon, Ty, and Summer are very nice people.
Cons —
Woodframe buildings are 16 years old and beginning to show their age, especially in stairwells and inside the apartments. Fires have plagued the site of three buildings in the past. If fire safety is a concern, the two main buildings are the safest with concrete stairwells and fire safety walls.
Appliances are minimal compared to those being offered by other complexes nearby. At these monthly prices (not teaser rates, but long term rates that rise rapidly), you’d expect something other than the most minimal smallest GE stove and refrigerator.
Washer and dryer rental is mandatory and non-​negotiable.
Cable TV, wireless, and water are part of the monthly rent whether you want them or not.
Security — There is no security. Police and Fire can take up to twenty minutes in response to a call even though both are less than a mile away!
Speed limit — there is no posted speed limit in the parking lot and only one speed bump on either hill. Some residents speed around curves at very dangerous speeds. Accidents have occurred.
Noise — level of noise at times is very intrusive, especially between floors. Upstairs neighbors can sound like elephants walking across your ceiling. Noise in the halls is amplified when people walk up and down stairs as they are attached to the side walls of those adjacent apartments.
Pool — the pools are only open from May to September, that includes the grill area, too. You cannot layout in March, April, October or November when there is a hot southern day. The gates are high and locked. The pool’s filters are not adequate for numbers of people that use the pool over the weekend. By Monday, the pool water can become very dirty.
Use of the theater and the clubhouse must be accompanied by a deposit check. If you clean after yourself (very thoroughly) the check is returned to you. If you do not, some or all of that can be used for a cleaning fee.
Parking is on first come, first serve basis. Unless you park during the day, most spaces are gone by early evening, forcing you to walk longer than normal distances to your apartment. If someone has guests, the parking lot can fill almost completely, making it difficult.
Insects — while Camden does employ pest control, I’ve found ants, spiders and other creatures spread throughout every building. With valet trash in the hall (many people just dump their bags in the hall), insects are common along with stains from leaking bags.
Rent — the one reason I’m leaving Camden is due to the rise in rent without a reciprocal change in our level of accommodation. For the past two years, our rent has increased at 17% a year. We cannot absorb that raise with no change in benefit. That said, for its benefits, Camden Crest is not competitive. We found apartments with more luxurious amenities in the same area for about the same price or less. Take away the pool and movie theater, Camden is no different than a hundred other apartment complexes around it.
Conclusion — Camden Crest is a beautiful apartment complex in an excellent location that charges a little too much money for the level of lifestyle it offers. However, the proof is in the pudding. I would suggest you come to Camden Crest, see an apartment, and make up your own mind. I will miss certain aspects of our life here. Sixteen years ago, once considered luxury living, time has caught up to Camden Crest apartments. While the grounds are pretty, you don’t live on them. For the higher prices being charged, the apartments themselves are standard at best.

I am struggling with how I want to present my experience so far… at first glance, the property looks amazing, great location, and friendly outgoing staff. I was very excited to pursue this property, but my experience has very quickly changed after feeling betrayed. I made the decision to apply, which is rather pricey for the application and administrative fee but took the chance because I felt at home with both the location, amenities and, the staff, her name is Sumer. She was vibrant, and seemed attentive and responsive as I asked questions. I must say that I after they took all of the fees for the application/​admin, I was informed totally unexpectedly, that my deposit was due in 24 hours. I am an educated woman that works a full time and a part time job and truly was in shock that this bomb was dropped on me! I am by no means am I questioning or challenging the amount due-​this isn’t about the money-​it is about poor communication. Its about feeling mislead and even disappointed that they are not open and honest about the process/​timeline of the financial requirements. Sumer informed me that she would be off the following day, but suggested that I email her and I did, but with no response, I contacted the office on the following day, wed, ¹⁄₇ and spoke with another staff person who was kind enough to «extend» the due date of my deposit a few additional days with a managers permission. I believe that I presented myself in an appropriate manner, requesting to speak with a supervisor and was not granted that request at that time. I even mentioned that I considered a consultation with an attorney because of they way the matter was being handled. I did feel a sense of relief knowing that I had more time to make a decision but was still very much unhappy about how things unfolded overall. I was pleasantly surprised that Sumer was proactive in reaching out to me on ¹⁄₉ upon her return. Per our phone conversation she even admitted to the over site about not clearly communicating the process. Sumer seemed sincere. I gained respect for her and the ownership she took of her mistake/​over site. She had been given permission to put my deposit towards the cost of my rent if I elected to enroll in NPS program. I made it very clear that i was not interested in we rolling in that particular program. I explained that I would like to meet in person to further discuss additional options as everything was happening very quickly. We had agreed that I would be coming into the office on that same day between 2:30−3pm. Upon returning to the apartment complex for further discussion, I waited to be seen by Sumer from 3 – 3:15pm. She was patient as she helped me «crunch numbers» and identify options with different move in dates. She also advocated with management to put my deposit and admin fees toward the rent without me using the NSP program, to which I am grateful that the assistant manager agreed. A few things really stood out to me on this most recent visit; major lack of professionalism with respect to honest communication and discussion about tenants. I learned that one apartment that I was looking at the woman was being evicted after residing there for only two months! It was also shared that this same tenant had struggled with alcohol use (it is unfortunate that I can’t recall the woman’s name, but her name was spoken). Clearly, privacy is not something they value. In my personal experience, they don’t care about me, or my move in timeline, they were simply after money. I am continuing the game of phone tag/​email tag with the manager, Jessica, and it is my hope that an amicable resolution can be made as I am requesting that at the very least a partial refund be made on the admin/​application fees. I will continue to follow up and I’m prepared to consult with an attorney if needed. I would encourage others to proceed with caution if you are considering calling Camden Crest home.

I had the unfortunate dealing with Camden crest, and this was AFTER I had left the community. They decided to not alert me that I was in debt to them a cleaning 3 months AFTER I had left the community. They then sent it to a collection agency, not bothering ONE TIME to call me and alert me. I would of willingly paid them the amount owed if I had been notified as such. Whats even worse, is I left that community to move to Camden Manor right down the road! This has affected my credit reports, which I was building to purchase a home and this is THE LAST thing I was expecting. Extremely unprofessional and discourteous on their part, as well as lazy.