Pointe at Harden Ranch

Maybe I did something wrong but these guys played a bait and switch on me. They said they had studios available. When I got there I was pressured to take one that was now available. When I told them I needed one closer out they suddenly said it would be 1600. I have read the UDR reviews. Glad I can’t and won’t live there. They sound awful.

Like many Unilocalers, I wish Unilocal had a «minus» point system, this place does not deserve one «star» even if it does say «eek! methinks not.» I am, very unfortunately, a current resident at The Point, and am «stuck» here due to the lease. (I’m not willing to do the buy-​out, this place will not get one additional penny from me, why pay for being tortured?) I would never in my lifetime recommend anyone move in here and tell everyone I know that’s looking to look elsewhere if they value their sanity.
A friend is looking to move, and asked about the Point — I told her she’d be better of in a homeless shelter. At least there you get rest, compassion, understanding and cooperation. After spending the weekend with me she left asking how in the world I could put up with all the racket from the neanderthals upstairs. The answer is because I have to — but only until May! Which can’t arrive soon enough for me!
My daughter came to visit for Christmas and would only stay 2 days before moving over to my sister’s house — we couldn’t bake cookies, enjoy a Christmas movie, or hold a conversation due to the tenants upstairs. We call them «The Stompers», and their apartment «home of the future track stars» — trying in our odd way to find a little humor in a quite humorless situation. I’m paying for an apartment that I can’t even have a peaceful family Christmas dinner in. We ended up renting a really nice cottage, but I certainly begrudged having to pay for it when I’m paying exorbitant rent already.
The Stompers do laundry service for folks that don’t even live here, and I get the privilege of paying for the water they use. (The Point thought this was solved by changing the way we are billed — by the number of folks living in the apt. That sounds good on paper, until I see several loads of laundry leaving the building weekly for people that don’t live here that I do end up paying for.) They either run a daycare or provide daycare, and I guess they think the apartment is their playground. Running, stomping running, stomping, running all day and half the night. I haven’t figured out some of the obnoxious noise — sounds like they are bowling and rolling marbles down the stairs. I talked to one of the tenants — who’s response to the running was «well, she’s only 3» — great! past time to start teaching manners — like being considerate of your neighbors!
I get awakened at 5:30 am as they run and stomp down the stairs, if I’m lucky I go back to sleep — until 6:30 am when all the kids show up. Then the noise level ramps up for the day and rarely if ever ends. They walk like elephants — shaking the pictures on my walls. My poor dog is convinced the ceiling is about to fall on his head.
I’ve talked to management, I’ve called security, I’ve talked to corporate. Don’t let «nice» fool you as it did me. Leticia and William in particular are incredibly nice folks, but bottom line — my experience is they ultimately don’t care and won’t do anything to address the horrific living conditions here. I am still amazed by the lack of response, or more specifically the response I got — «In regards to our security, they have been dispatched on multiple occasions to address the noise issue however they have not been able to confirm that the residents above you are the ones causing the noise». And «In addition there have been no other complaints from the adjacent neighbors regarding noise» –what? How is anyone next door going to hear what’s above MY head, not theirs! If it wasn’t so sad I’d laugh. First I pointed out that the other upstairs apartment is empty, only one family living upstairs — granted it’s a family of 7 – 12 stompers, but still only directly above me — which oddly is where the noise I’m complaining about comes from — go figure. As I told management — I’m not complaining about the ghosts in an empty apartment — I’m complaining about the Stompers DIRECTLY over my head! I’ve invited management and security to come spend a few minutes in my apartment anytime of the day or night so they can hear what I put up with — they don’t want to take me up on that offer. I guess because if they did they’d have to do something?
I’ve decided it must be a Hispanic and 3 bdrm thing. I’m Caucasian and definitely in the minority here. Maybe if you are Hispanic you get heard and treated respectfully? I’ll never know since I’m not. I understand there is no way the Point is going to lose the income from a 3-​bdrm vs. my measly $ 1500 a month 1-​bdrm. I never wanted them evicted anyway — I just wanted a peaceful place to live. And this apartment is far from peaceful! I know it’s not managements job to teach manners, maybe that’s why they do nothing, then again, maybe they just want me gone due to all my calls & are choosing not to act appropriately with the Stompers since they are hispanic.
I’ll be moving in May and I will bad mouth the Point until then and beyond for what I’ve been forced to live through. RUN, don’t walk, away from The Point!

ZERO stars!
Recently moved out after two years and I couldn’t be happier! Only reason we moved there was because they are pet friendly.
First of all, UDR is insane wanting to charge you $ 1700 for a «2 bedroom» apartment. The apartment we were in wasn’t even remodeled! One bedroom is a loft that sits on top of the kitchen. When you’re cooking expect all odors and heat to cloud that «bedroom.» Don’t get me started on parking. We had to park two of our cars outside because they only give you 2 parking stickers. Why rent an apartment to 4 adults with cars of their own if you can’t provide a parking space! The list goes on and on…
Before we moved out they charged us two months for utilities that were «behind.» We just received an account statement for our deposit and it turns out they’re keeping $ 250 for cleaning the carpet and cleaning charges!!! Are they f****** kidding me!!! Prior to moving out we left our unit spotless clean — cleaner than it was when we moved in! When we renewed our lease last year they said we’d get a free carpet cleaning, which NEVER happened.
Simply put, I would not rent for this company again!

The pool will just never be opened and no matter who I ask no one will tell me or call me back about it. Why pay for a pool that can’t be used?

Current Resident — only good thing is they allow pets. The management is trying to upgrade the complex by adding recycling which should have been done years ago. The property is poorly maintained and in disrepair from lack of up keep. I am unsure how long UDR has managed the property but the onsite office staff never answers the phone as mentioned by other reviewers. The maintenance situation has gotten better by the use of online portals and the maintenance staff tries very hard. I would suggest you shop around unless you are willing to be diligent or just need a roof over your head.

Where do I even begin. So to start out I viewed this apartment with someone I knew I did not want to live with, I had somewhere else to live where as the other person didn’t, so the person in the office thought they were being «helpful» by letting the other person sign my name on all of the lease papers (ILLEGAL MUCH?!?) because I would not come in to do so. But since my name was on the lease there was no way I would let someone live there and end up being the responsible party. After living here for a month, the gate shut on my car. An employee saw it happen and told me I was not at fault and the complex would cover my deductible. When I went to the office and spoke to the manager, she said it was fine and just to have my insurance contact them and they would take care of it. Instead she ignored my calls along with my insurance’s and every time I went to the office was either busy or not available. So I ended up paying for the repairs on my car and then all of a sudden signs were put up on the gates saying that the complex wasn’t responsible for gate damage on cars. So after two months I absolutely could not live there and said that my false lease either had to be terminated or that the other occupant would have to find someone to cover the contract. The other person had someone sign to cover the contract and I even had to go in to sign papers to say that I would no longer be responsible and to take the lease out of my name. So within the past week after checking my credit I have come to find out that I am being charged for the damages and cleaning charges from the end of the lease 10 months after I moved out. Over two years from moving from this place it is still managed by the same woman who, go figure, will still not return phone calls. So thanks to everyone at the Pointe at Harden Ranch for your horrible service!

I went to view the apartments for possibly living here. The person was really nice but the apartment that was ready to move in was awful! It smelled of cat pee and the toilet and bathtub were black

Worst place ever! Not well maintained, and office staff are unprofessional and are not friendly. Manager likes to say one thing and do another. The only nice one is Leticia in the office. Hard to find parking and too many kids always running around.

DO NOT MOVE IN HERE. You will deeply regret it.
I moved in and within 2 weeks had a flea problem and it didn’t go away for several months. Wouldn’t let me off of my lease even though I had a pest problem.
Got up to $ 800 fees after moving out because of extraneous charges such as carpet cleaning, paint charges, etc. Didn’t get our security deposit back even though the apartment was clean upon move out.
Not safe at all. An apartment got broken into a few doors down from mine. Stray cats everywhere. Homeless people walk outside the apartment complex and sometimes come into the apartment complex.
Didn’t have a good experience

I’ve lived at Harden Ranch for about a year and I would have to say that I have mixed feelings about these apartment. Most of the apartments I’ve lived in were in Los Angeles where rent is high and the places are small so I really enjoyed having a pretty nice one bedroom at a pretty good rent price.
Some of the good things about these apartments:
Includes washer and dryer, Dish washer, Patio, Fireplace
They do repairs fairly quickly
The property is fairly quite
Now to the bad…
Like mentioned in the other reviews they play major games when it comes to the rent prices. When I was renting my place they quoted me one price and then when it came to me signing the lease it went up about $ 50 bucks more a month because they said «rent prices change everyday» Luckily I saved emails stating the rent promised and fought my way to the original quote for the rent. This was extremely stressful and stress continued every month for about six month since they never changed the rent price in online bill so every month I would have several notices on my door saying my rent wasn’t paid because I was only paying the rent I was promised on my lease.
The way they do the water and garbage is so dumb and if you lived alone like me it is truly a waste of money since most of these apartment are stuffed with like 10 people each so to pay the same amount as those apartment is a crime. They also don’t tell you about this upfront so its a nice little surprise when you move in a pay about an extra $ 80 bucks a month.
I lived on the bottom floor and I have no idea who lived above me, but they ran their washer and dryer all day and night and I couldn’t sleep because of the noise until I bought a sound machine. So be warned the walls are very thin.
Lastly, I ended up moving out early and wanted to end my lease early and they have a pretty dumb way of doing that too. Its about $ 2000 to end your lease no matter how close to end date is so even if you only have two months to go till your lease is up its still $ 2000 and you have to tell them a month in advance in a written letter.
I have tons of other things (crappy «gym,» cold hot tubs, etc.) but for the most part the main review is the following: Nice places for the rent price, but to deal with the idiot staff and dumb policies of the building kills it.

Gated Community. Great price for location and sq. footage. Has 2 pools, hot tub, and new fitness area. Compared to Monterey and Pacific Grove, less traffic and accessibility to city plus lower cost. They seem to go quick so jump on an apartment quickly if you like, because it will be gone within days of viewing. Parking of 2 registered vehicles, but should allow more.

Review Edited. Scroll down to read edits…
I’ve been living here for about more than a year and so far my experience has been really good.
We live in a duplex, which is on the second story of one of the buildings. The apartment was remodeled just before we moved in, with new carpeting, paint, cabinets, appliance and counter tops. Its very nice and even came with a big screen tv in the living room.
We also like the gas/​wood burning fireplace, which we used a lot in the winter.
The place has two pools, a kids playground, and a gym. I like the pools, but they are frequently closed in the winter months. Also, the gym has pretty nice treadmills, but the weight machines could use some repair.
Overall, its nice and quiet. Once in a while you hear people socializing or with stereos, but usually it doesn’t bother us. Also, we are on the top floor, so I have no idea how noisy we are to the downstairs neighbors.
The few times we’ve needed repairs, we’ve filled out repair requests on line and they usually get to them next day before noon. Their online system is also used to pay rent, really streamlining things.
Since my wife is a teacher, we get a $ 35 discount of the rent every month, which is really nice.
In terms of pricing, its reasonable although probably on the higher end of Salinas apartment rentals.
I like the neighborhood and its location in North Salinas, away from most of the issues in this town.
My biggest gripe with the place is that they don’t have recycling and that the trash gets somewhat unruly. Also, they should improve the gate. It works by control, but its frequently open, and people get in by trailing other cars. If they had an attendant I’m sure it would add much more security.
— — — — –
Edit: The place started to go downhill a few months after the initital review.
There was a lot of pot smoking with various neighbors, that would seep in to our home and it would reek of it, and the management refused to do much of anything about it. There was also a string of robberies, especially to the lower floor homes. Management refused to let us install an alarm system.
It just started to feel really unsafe. There was gun shots as well. We couldn’t wait for our contract to expire in order to move out.
Lastly, when we did move out, we hired both a cleaning company and a carpet cleaner that did an immaculate job cleaning our gently lived in home. They still billed us a ton of money and took our deposit, and basically did not care at all that we had it professionally cleaned.

There are SO many reasons not to live here. Just a few:
1. A staff that consistently blames others for their mistakes. Case in point: not being able to pay online through «computer error,» yet requiring ALL tenants to do so; notices constantly put on our door accusing us of various things (putting tarps on our balcony, graffiti in the pool area, parking, late payments) that had nothing to do with us (a «new girl» put up the notices).
Most recently, and my personal favorite, is a leaky roof. Any time there’s a heavy storm, our roof leaks. I have reported this to the office 5 times over the course of a year. To their credit, they fixed one of the leaks after the third time I complained. However, every time I went in there, it was the fault of «a company in Arizona that remodeled the roofs last year, but they’re coming next weekend to fix it.» Well, it’s not fixed. Again. And I can’t wait to hear their next excuse.
2. Constant rent increases. Our rent went from $ 1240 (already too much to be paying for such a small apartment in such a bad part of town) to $ 1295, WITHOUT pet rent that we have to pay every month in addition to a large deposit. When they treat us like criminals but will readily acknowledge that they have prostitution rings running out of the complex, and we can walk outside and watch drug deals go down, they really need to reconsider their rates.
3. Did I mention the apartments are small? There’s no dining area; although they claim there’s a «breakfast bar;» if you want to have any kind of living room, there goes that idea. There’s very, very little cabinet space in the kitchen, and our «upstairs bedroom» can’t really function as any such thing because there’s no door!
4. They claim it’s a gated community, but 80% of the time one or both gates don’t work. Also, anyone can just walk in, and they do. Most weekends I see at least one person going through the garbage. I don’t feel safe taking my dog out to the bathroom for five minutes!
This place is ABSOLUTELY terrible, and we can’t wait to move out of this dump. It’s really getting to the point where I want to sit outside the front office and beg people not to move here, they’ll only regret it later.

They don’t like to retain good tenants (they consistent up the rent). And they gates and parking are awful.

Great priced, large, well maintained apartments to be leased here from friendly staff. The gated property has several pools and a gym, and is down the street from 101. If you have to live in Salinas, this is a great way to do it. My only gripe was their registered parking and the tickets that can come with it. Many people find themselves parking outside the premisis because of this whack-​ass system.