Posts about Apartment Living

Luxury Apts WNY Sweeps 2020 Top-Rated Awards

StoneGate Apartment Homes garnered the Elite 1% ORA Power award. The Elite 1% recognition came with some impressive stats including an ORA score of 93 and #3 in all of New York State! The ORA in Elite 1% Power Ranking stands for Online Reputation Assessment and is used in the multifamily industry to measure how you stack up against the competition. All of our Luxury Apts WNY properties; StoneGate, Autumn Creek, Windsong Place, and Renaissance Place all received the 2020 Top-Rated Apartment Rating Award. Less than 5% of all apartment communities nationwide will receive this award. Here are the links to each property’s blog post about the award and the statistics for each property for the Top Rated Apartment Award: StoneGate Apartments — 55 reviews and an A+ resident rating score Renaissance Place — 77 reviews and an A+ resident rating score Autumn Creek — 146 reviews and an A- resident rating score Windsong Place — 101 reviews and an A+ resident rating score Coming Up with the Numbers — How the Rankings Work We would like to thank all of our residents, past and present, for making this possible, as both awards were based on Online Reputation. We’ve broken down the criteria for both of them below. The Elite 1% ORA™ Power Ranking J Turner Research uses a statistical model and assigns an Online Reputation Assessment (ORA™) score on a scale of 0-100, which determines the rank of each apartment community in this ranking. StoneGate scored a 93! This is the 6th consecutive year that StoneGate Apartment Homes has received this prestigious honor. Apartment Ratings ApartmentRatings.com is the largest online rating community for rental housing, reaching approximately 30% of apartment hunters nationwide, and is among the Top 5 most-visited apartment hunting sites in the world. Each year the site recognizes the top-rated apartments in the nation using strict standards, and we’re proud to be among the winners. The criteria for being recognized as a top property includes: 10+ total reviews 5+ reviews in 2020 A- or higher overall epIQ grade Leave a Review We know that our residents are a big part of why people love living with us. Thank you again for sharing your appreciation for our apartment communities online. Do you currently live at one of our properties? Let others know what brought you here, and what keeps you here by leaving a review. Here’s where to leave your reviews for Renaissance Place , Windsong Place , Autumn Creek , and StoneGate .

Apartment Living

With a host of options for apartments for rent available in Western New York, finding the right one for you can seem like an overwhelming task. But it doesn’t have to be if you take the apartment search one step at a time. Try the tips in the blog from Luxury Apts WNY this month for things to keep in mind as you’re looking for the best apartment for you. Determine the scale. Find the general vision of what you’re looking for in a home by thinking about a few different things, like what sort of feel or aesthetic you’re looking for, and how big of a space you need. Measure your furniture, go through your clothes, and donate, sell, or throw away anything you don’t love anymore anything that doesn’t fit well or anything that’s broken and not easily fixable. Sort your criteria. Size isn’t the only aspect you should consider in a new home. List out what other aspects of a home you want and sort them in order of importance. How much do community amenities, such as on-site fitness centers, bike rooms, libraries, or community landscaping, matter to you? Do you need something pet-friendly? What are you looking for in a location? Write it out and make note of which things you need and which you can be more flexible on so you can find a home that matches up with as many of these criteria as possible. Tour smart. Take a tour once you’ve narrowed down the options to a few you could see yourself living in. This is the fun part, as it makes your search feel more real and it gets you even closer to finding your dream apartment. Bring a friend you trust to be an extra set of eyes and to give an objective opinion. They can ensure you ask all the necessary questions (about work done on the home, the culture of the apartment community, noise levels, and navigating the area, for example) and they can validate the opinions you form based on your tours. We hope these tips help with your apartment search! Thanks for taking the time to read our post.

Be a Good WNY Neighbor

A few months ago our blog post was all about getting to know your neighbors . Today we are following up that post with one focused on how to BE a good neighbor in your WNY apartment community. Take a few minutes to a self-evaluation to gauge how you are doing at being a good neighbor. These are some things to keep in mind. Be Friendly. It’s one of the easiest things to do to open the avenues of friendship. A smile and a cheery hello is an easy thing to do that will help create a positive energy and build rapport with your neighbors. Take part in community activities offered in our apartment communities and get to know your neighbors. Be Responsible. If you have a pet, take care of it. Be aware that not everybody loves animals. Minimize potential complaints by promptly scooping the poop, dealing with loud barking, and teaching your dog not to jump on people. This is definitely a case where prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be Clean. Keep shared space clean, and make sure your personal belongings don’t overflow into communal areas. Do your part to make sure trash is bagged and ready for removal. For some additional ideas, check out these 12 Things Good Neighbors Always Do by Apartment Guide, which includes additional ways to be a good neighbor. Being a good neighbor can be a bridge to building friendships. For some people friendships come more naturally, for others it can be more difficult. Doing some of these simple things can help to make it more natural. Let things flow and enjoy the feeling of community between neighbors. Do you know your neighbors? How do you make friends with those who live nearby? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for taking the time to read the Luxury Apts WNY blog post today!

First Apartment? We've Got Tips

Welcome back to the Luxury Apts WNY Blog! If you’re new to WNY, this may be your first experience living in or perhaps looking for an apartment. If that’s the case, this post is for you (and even if you are a veteran of apartment living, you, too may benefit from reading this post). We’ve got thoughts about Budget Is Important The general rule of thumb is to only spend about 30% of your income for housing. While you can fudge somewhat on this amount, definitely don’t go anywhere near the 50% mark. It’s possible to make that work, but it means cutting out many of the things that make life enjoyable. So if you don’t already have a budget, take the time to track your spending habits, and figure out where you’re at, and how much you can comfortably spend on housing. Apps like Mint or You Need a Budget can help you with this step. Consider Your Commute Where you live in relationship to where you work, go to school, or spend the majority of your time is important. Take into account the amount of time you will spend commuting from your apartment to the places you need to be. Do a test run, so you know what you’ll be looking at. If public transportation factors into the equation, be sure to understand the logistics. Use the interactive maps on our Luxury Apts WNY property websites to help you figure out your travel times. First Apartment Needs If this is your first apartment, having some basic items on hand will make your experience much better. We like this comprehensive list from rent.com (which you can print out, too) of items for your apartment . Be aware of the apartment rules and guidelines. Take time to read and understand all of the terms in your lease. If you have questions ask in advance. Don’t forget to do a change of address form for mail USPS . Take some time to get to know the amenities and services we provide, and welcome to WNY. We know you’ll enjoy living here.

Getting to Know Your WNY Neighbors

It’s a fact: life is busy — for most of us, extremely so — and it’s hard to fit everything in. That includes getting to know our neighbors. But if we do carve out some time to get to know the people around you, lifelong friendships can be born, goodwill can be created, and problems can be solved before they become an issue. In today’s blog post, we have some tips for being a good neighbor at our apartment communities here in Western New York. Smile and Compliment Make eye contact with neighbors and say hi when you see them. Giving out compliments is also a great way for people to feel comfortable around you. You could compliment them on how cute their dog is or how much you like their shoes. Kindness establishes foundations for good relationships. Help Your Neighbor There’s a pretty good chance that you’ve seen someone moving in or out of your apartment community. Helping is a great way to get to know new neighbors. Help them move boxes inside and talk to them about where they moved from and why they moved here. It’s a great way for them to feel welcome as well an easy way for you to make friends. Be Considerate Being considerate can take on many forms. One of the most appreciated by neighbors is in regard to noise. A good rule of thumb is to keep music, TV, and loud conversations down after 9 pm and to avoid using loud machines or power tools early in the morning (even vacuums can be loud). If you are throwing a party, let your neighbor know in advance as well. Communicate Address problems in person rather than through notes or email. So much gets lost in non-personal communications, and people may take things more personally than if you talk to them in a quiet, courteous manner. Be sure to listen as well as talk when it comes to problems. Work toward a win-win resolution and be willing to compromise. Getting to know your neighbors can be a rewarding experience. What are your favorite ways to get to know the other residents in our apartment communities? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading today’s blog post!

Decorate Your Apartment These Apps Can Help

When it comes to decorating your apartment, the Luxury Apts WNY Blog is sharing some thoughts about effective decoration and what makes it work. We have also found some apps that will help you get the job done. While there are some things that technology just can’t help with like moving couches, for instance, there are plenty of other ways apps can help. Check out these apps and be prepared for the next time you decide to redesign your living space. Decorate to Your Taste Use your own personal design style to turn your apartment into your ideal space. Make it reflect you and your interests. If you like books, maybe consider adding a stylish bookshelf to display your precious book collection. Your style should also reflect your lifestyle , which is a huge part of who you are. Meaningful Items You can decorate your apartment simply to help it look good, but try adding meaning to it as well. Decorate with items that have sentimental meaning to you — things that you love and that you have a deep connection to. Not only will this help to make your space more cozy and personable, but it will also provide great conversation points for when you have guests over. For Buying Furniture and Decorations: Lofty Lofty is an app for buying and selling valuable fine art and antiques. A team of appraisers and auction-house specialists assesses the paintings, prints, furniture, jewelry, and fashion based on sellers’ photos. Chairish Buy and sell pre-owned furniture or decor in a quick way. There are all kinds of fun treasures to discover on this app. For Layouts/Furniture Placement: Ikea Catalog More than a catalog, this app features an augmented reality feature that allows you to virtually place the brand's furniture in your room to see how it will look. Autodesk Homestyler Addressing three common design dilemmas with one app, Homestyler allows users to place high-quality models of furniture, light fixtures, rugs, and other products on an image of a room, browse a photo stream for design inspiration, and connect with design professionals in their area. We love our Western New York apartment communities! We hope this blog post is helpful when you are ready for a change in your apartment decor. Thanks for taking the time to read our post this month!