Headwaters Apartments

My husband and I had been looking at apartments in Portland for almost a year, toured several in Jan, but came across the Headwaters online in Feb/​March and opted to apply. Nice property and it met all our requirements. We did see the income restriction info on the website and reached out to them about it initially to clarify.
* ⁴⁄₂₇: Emailed them to clarify max income requirement. Robert told us we could reference our 2014 tax return for the income requirement and our AGI (which is the number that counts!) did not exceed their limit.
* ⁵⁄₁₅: applied online; included income details for my husband and I (two separate applications and $ 42 each appl fee = $ 84)
* ⁵⁄₁₉: showed «application approved» (see pic), so we assume all is good
* ⁵⁄₂₁: Called them to ask about next steps since we hadn’t heard from anyone (except for the automated emails from their application system). Mentioned we had to give our 30 days’ notice to current our current apartment management on ⁵⁄₂₉. Robert said he had been out for 2 days and was catching up and mentioned having us complete a tenant/​applicant questionnaire and pay security and pet deposit. I told him I’d FedEx deposit check the next day, which was a Friday.
* ⁵⁄₂₁ (later in day): Robert emailed forms
* ⁵⁄₂₁ (evening): Husband and I signed tenant/​applicant questionnaire and agreement to execute forms, scanned and emailed back to Robert
* At this point, their application website showed as «lease approved» (see pic), so again, we assume all is good
* ⁵⁄₂₂: FedEx’d hard copies of forms and check for security and pet deposits for Saturday delivery, with signature required (not risking having a check sit out in the open) = $ 63; no other/​cheaper delivery options available and we are on a 30 days notice deadline per above
* ⁵⁄₂₃: FedEx attempted to deliver at 1:07pm and left a door tag; tracking exception stated office was closed (website stated they are open 10am-​5pm on Saturdays; emailed Robert about it same day (no response)
* ⁵⁄₂₆ (AM): Robert said the office was open on Saturday, but he must have missed FedEx. (waste of my money!) He received the package on 5/​26, said he was going to deposit our check that day and review our questionnaires
* ⁵⁄₂₆ (early evening): Robert said he needed to consult w/​Compliance dept because he thought we might be overqualified. Took until after Noon the following day to get a response confirming we are overqualified.
Their application process is backwards and misleading, and their communication and follow through are slow and disorganized. You should not allow applicants to progress beyond a certain point if their income exceeds your limits for a low income property. Note that this is not HUD or Section 8… prob more the equiv of NYC rent controlled properties.
Suggestion to management:
* Be very clear on the income criteria you take into consideration… annual household income, income from your taxes (AGI), whatever
* Have applicants complete the Tenant/​Applicant questionnaire as part of the initial application process
So all in all, I wasted almost $ 150 to apply for an apartment at the Headwaters.
**Tip to applicants: They look at all gross income, not just your tax return’s adjusted gross income. Don’t bother applying if you exceed the amount noted in the overview tab on their website.

Headwaters was a great place to live. The staff was very friendly and helpful and always there to help you with anything you needed. The repair guy was also great. We only had one problem with our bathroom door not locking all the way and that was fixed very promptly. We loved our apartment. Even though it was a smaller one bedroom it had a great open layout and plenty of storage. The only reason we moved away is to be closer to downtown, since that was our goal moving out to portland!
There was plenty of stuff to do around the apartment, there is a chevron that is open 24 hours just one block away which was very convenient, and there is a bus stop right there also!
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone!

Overall a great place to live. Dog friendly is the rule rather than the exception.
The one bedroom got a bit small for 2 and a dog but it is a very efficient floor plan and certainly can work. Prices are maybe a bit high for the size but you get what you pay for in terms of energy efficiency and cleanliness. The management is terrific and the maintenance (though rarely needed) was spot on. They take care of you when you need it.
There is a nice sized park up the street where dogs are always running around although it is unfortunately not fenced. For the most part street parking is not a problem and I think the reserved spaces are reasonably affordable as well. Walking distance to shopping, drinking, dining, and most importantly the walls and walls of beer at John’s Market.

I have lived here for just under a year and I actually like it. The place is pretty quiet, very few kids, and its expensive enought that you won’t get a lot of partying college kids. The rent is pretty expensive for the space you get. almost 1000 per month for a 1 bedroom apartment that is under 700 sq ft is pretty steep, and you dont get a parking space with that, or outside storage. Parking is pretty rough, too, spaces on the street are full by about 6pm every weekday, and earlier than that on weekends. If you want a reserved spot it is pretty expensive in my opinion, 60 $ for a covered 30 $ for uncovered. I think that if you are going to over-​pay as much as you do to live here you should get an assigned space included.
The management is very personable and responsive, maintenance fixes issues quickly, although if you have a non-​emergency issue after 5 or on weekends you will have to wait there is no on-​call maintenance for after hours.
The apartments are well insulated down to about 35 degrees, beyond that it can get pretty cold, but they are so small they dont cost much to heat, my highest energy bill has been 60 $ and that was doing a lot of laundry and heating the place non-​stop. My average is about 40 in the winter 30 in the summer.
Being that there is no central air (which is ok cause thats the green choice) it can get pretty warm, I would recommend getting an apartment that faces East, this way the sun heats your apartment up early and cools down as it goes over the building. One gripe I have is that there is a lack of available windows to open, the living rooms of the one bedrooms have large windows, but you can only open a little tiny one, which doesnt help much. You can leave the door open, but since there are no screen doors this lets in bugs.
The area is nice and quiet, easy to get to the bus, easy access to downtown (ten minutes outside of rush hour in a car or 20 – 25 min on the bus) Multnomah Village is within walking distance, and you are pretty close to Tigard if you need a big box store.
This place is VERY pet friendly, so if you dont want to see a lot of dogs, and potentially hear dogs barking this may not be a match for you. I have dogs, so I like it, and there is a small quiet «dog» park right down the street, great place to meet your neighbors and let your dogs roam.
I would recommend this place, I considered moving due to the high price, but when I look at cheaper places I can plainly see why they are cheaper, kids running around, old appliances, loud neighbors, crappy locationsm, so I bit the bullet and signed another year lease.
Pros:
New building/​appliances
Pet friendly
Great staff in the management office and maintenance
Close to the city and I-​5
Close to bus
Close to Multnomah Village
Quiet
Energy efficient
***GARBAGE CHUTE YAY NO NASTY DUMPSTERS!!!***
Cons:
Price
Parking

From my experiences thus far the management has been very accommodating and flexible with the move in procedure. The rent is not really that high, around $ 1250 for a two bed/​two bath. Every room in the apartment, except for the bathrooms, has at least one ethernet and cable port. There is a «Smart Box» in one of the closets to help facilitate the distribution of your internet and cable throughout these ports. All the fans in the apartments are remote controlled and all the appliances appear to be very new.
The community is probably 100 yards from the nearest bus stop and using the bus it takes 20 – 30 minutes to get to PCC or PSU and less time for several other community colleges in the area. There is a running park a couple miles away and some malls a couple miles away. Parking is pretty easy to find on the street but I suppose time will tell if it is necessary to get a parking spot inside the garage or private lot.
I am not entirely convinced on the whole «Green-​community» thing. They use solar powered water heating systems, have earth friendly paint, some non-​petroleum base flooring, great insulation and energy efficient light bulbs and they recycle… They did restore a creek which has become the headwaters to some other river body… that is pretty much it… point is they could be more green than they already are and maybe someday they will be but I think it is just too expensive a development for the time being. I think they should try to get Solar Panels in pronto…