Avana San Clemente

The grounds are over run with dogs, multiple pit bulls even though they have a dangerous bred restriction, tons of dog poop cover every grassy area and multiple barking dogs are left out daily on balconies. The «heated pool» is ice cold and the spa is a percolating Petri dish of filth. Our washer/​dryer is a Euro model. So small I can’t wash a set of king size sheets in one load and it has chronic leaks. The cheap faux wood laminate flooring is buckling from moisture. Don’t call maintenance if your mini sized apt refrig ice maker doesn’t make ice, the built in ice makers are not hooked to a water supply. The complex is super noisy and the mgt staff in the office could care less. Big aha moment: our utility bills are running double from the bills from our 3500 sq ft house with a pool. Our current months water bill is $ 95??? How can 2 people use that much water in a 600 Sq ft 1 bedroom apt? I think the units are paying for the complex common area water and the exterior lights are billed to the individual units electric bill. Glad we have a 6 month lease. Shady development who count on military transients who need a place quickly and move frequently. Avana does not deserve one star. DON’T RENT HERE!

We lived here for 15 months and recently moved out upon my husbands completion of the military. I honestly do not have anything bad to say about this place. Our neighbors were quiet and respectful and the community was calm for the most part. For the location being so close to the ocean and all of the local shops I couldn’t have asked for much more especially being one of the cheapest places around.
The pool was probably my favorite part, only downside being that it was pretty cold most of the time, it was a nice spot to hangout and have friends over. Pretty busy on the weekends though so get there early.
Maintenance was amazing! Two super nice guys that came over within a couple hours of being called. The staff at the office was always pleasant and helpful and took care of things very quickly.
Overall, I have lived in many apartments and I found this to be one of my favorites. I truly loved it and have nothing but positive memories. I would most definitely recommend to a friend

This place isn’t bad it’s pretty nice. Your pretty close to the beach and I feel like I’m in a safe area. The people that live here are pretty laid back.
What I don’t like the flooring is very cheap and most of the stuff that is in the apt is pretty cheap. I’m haven a problem with the flooring pealing if water is on the floor n u move a chair on it comes up. Also the washer and dryer are so small. You can’t put more than 5 pieces of clothing in it.
Staff is great there always nice and they say hello and ask how I’m doing. The pool area is nice I never use it.

I currently live here. Layouts are nice and location is great, but management is lazy and unorganized and maintenance is out of line when it comes to boundaries. It’s a hit or miss when it comes to neighbors, given at least half of the people here are loud, messy, drunk marines and cops are here constantly for calls about parties, or even worse and far too often, domestic abuse. I’ve gotten used to the screaming in the streets and that’s sad. That being said, I’ve gotten calls from the office about people complaining about me singing in my own apartment at 3 in the afternoon. That doesn’t make any sense to me. Management lost my lease agreement with my record of deposit on it, and threatened ME with not returning my deposit if I didn’t get in to sign a new one by the weekend even though I work during all of the hours that they are open. They NEVER answer the phone or call me back about maintenance (or honestly anything at all), and when maintenance does come over, it has ALWAYS been unannounced and they have walked in on me half naked on THREE separate occasions. WHAT?! SUPER inappropriate. Is that even legal? I am very unhappy with the way things work here, but I love the apartment its self. Such a bummer.

Between Jeffrey H. and Steven P.
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Jeffrey H.
Jeffrey H.
Chula Vista, San Diego, CA
6
1
Your review of Avana San Clemente
1.0 star rating
7÷7÷2015
Renters Beware!!!
I moved out last month. Maintenance illegally entered my apartment and tore out the carpet before my walk through and tried to charge me for damaged carpet. Carpet was not damaged. The property manager, Steven Payne, was of no help, very unprofessional and dishonest. When he realized I still had possession of the apartment for one more day, then he changed his demand for payment of the carpet. Now I am fighting to get my security deposit back. Apparently Avana mailed it without my unit number in the address and now it is lost. They will not help me at all to reissue the check. I am going to file complaints with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Better Business Bureau, California Apartment Association and Greystar.
Read the Reviews… I’m not the first victim and doubtful I’ll be the last.
Steven P.
Steven P.
Owner
Steven P.‘s comment on your review:
Hi Jeffrey, Thank you for your review. I’m sorry you haven’t had a great experience here and that there is a delay in receiving your security deposit check. Once the deposit check is returned we’ll then call you to pick it up. If it’s not returned then we’ll cancel payment and reissue. I’ll let you know as soon as we have it. Steven Payne Property Manager 949.492.3020
Jeffrey H.
Jeffrey H.
Chula Vista, San Diego, CA
6
1
45 minutes ago
So what is Avana’s Policy on replacing checks lost in the mail?
I checked with the post office as you suggested and they informed me that it should have been returned to your offices by now. It has been ²¹⁄₂ weeks since you sent the check.
When can I pick up my new refund check?

Avana — 4.75 out of 5 stars overall.
Safety at complex & surrounding area: The complex includes its own unarmed security that comes around in the evenings. Avana has an emergency maintenance call line for after hour emergent fixes. The location is very safe. The complex is well lit at night which is good for safety & for the dog walkers. Since I’ve been here for past 3 years, I haven’t had a theft incident. The community itself provides for even more security because the community is very dog friendly & the dog owners walk their dogs at all hours, those walkers would see/​hear if anything was going on. Also, a lot of the residents seem to be military and/​or seem family oriented, which implies that they would alert others if anything seemed to be unsafe. I’ve seen sheriffs stop cars in our parking lot several times. I’m unsure if the driver just pulls into our complex because it is a turnoff from the one way street, or if the person being pulled over is in from our complex. I haven’t seen a direct incident where I felt unsafe because of the sheriff visits, in fact, I feel safer because they are in our area and serve to protect.
Grounds & Maintenance: I’d say we have some of the best grounds keepers & facility mechanics. They keep the grounds buildings & walkways well maintained for both the residents & their pets. Avana is very dog friendly & has tons of walkways and paths that include grassy areas, trees & beautiful flowers. The pool and spa is properly chlorinated, kept free of debris, & the spa jets are in good working condition. The pool area is also well maintained, includes grills for barbecuing & is a perfect spot to throw a party. In addition you can use or rent out the club house. You’ll also have access to laundromat machines and gym. I rarely ever use the laundromat though because the apartments come with their own in-​unit stackable washer and dryer. I’ve rented at Seacrest before and Avana’s w/​d is far better than Seacrest’s in-​unit washer. It’s bigger than seacrest’s, dries way better and allows you to do double duty with drying and washing machines running at same time. If you hate going to laundromats… you’ll want to pick Avana over Seacrest for sure.
The community is generally quiet & restful & full of healthy active people. The community is in walking distance to a church, gym, Walmart, Albertsons, Skatepark, baseball field and dog park. I see few smokers at Avana, but if they do smoke they walk out onto pathways & stay within the required 15 ft. away from the buildings so other residents are safe from second hand smoke. We have a diverse group of residents age-​wise. Mainly younger families and singles/​couples in their 30s. We do have some in their 20s too. On weekends you may hear some tenants that get home late or that have social gatherings at the pool, but it’s not too often that a neighbors’ social gathering falls into hours that are past 12am on a wknd. If it does extend past an hour that is disrupting your family, any tenant can make a call to security and ask for assistance to stop the disruptions. This would be very out of the ordinary though because this community is full of residents that typically respect each other’s need for peace and quiet.
Avana has responsive apartment management. Maintenance requests are so easy to make through the online portal. So simple I can do it on my phone while waiting for my morning coffee to brew. They are usually handled that day or on the day I indicate on the request. If there is any delays or questions they’ll usually call me within hours of the request and inform me. The staff is very easy to reach and approachable. The apartment managers Steven & Dameon feel like family to me. Either one of them is usually on-​site & available during the day. They will chat with you if you see them while walking your dog with only the intention to see how you are doing and wish you and your family well. Steven and Dameon are extremely committed to providing a great apartment living experience for the renters at Avana. The staff here has shown me a tremendous amount of reliable, trustworthy, consideration and always find ways to make me & my family feel valued & cared for. During rent renewal negotiations, they go out of their way to make sure they provide me with the best rate in comparison with other choices I have. They take the time to talk and listen to me about any concerns or considerations to the economic situation that I’m currently in. As a long-​time renter, I believe renters have the right to expect a safe environment, fair and honest business practices, and timely reliable maintenance — I’ve lived at Avana for 3 years now because you get that here. I am not sure why there are some bad reviews on here. I don’t agree with them & honestly feel that if you were to walk around the neighborhood here & ask around, everyone you met I bet would tell you they are happy here. :)

Uh… Maintanence just walked in on me half naked on my couch… are they even supposed to try to open your door when you’re not answering? I feel like that was really wrong. I was sleeping. Atleast call or leave a note if I’m not answering.

Get ready to complain to the city… A lot! When discussing the manner of avana apartments the local residents will tell you that the management DOES NOT care.
Steve is a rude disrespectful prick.
Every year I’ve lived there they have raised the rent by $ 110 for 4 straight years.
I’ve had a roach infestation in my building, water leakage from the ceiling, and theft in the parking lot.
You will get harassed constantly about anything you have on your patio or front door/​window.
And no one picks up their dog shit. Everywhere you walk people leave their dog shit.
They’ve raised the trash bill 3 times since I’ve lived here and still don’t have enough dumpsters for all of the buildings.
And the upgrades are laughable.
You’re going to pay $ 500-​$ 1000 more just to live here where the floors are a plastic cover of wood. The counters are made with particle wood and the cabinet is painted brown… because it «looks pretty» you’re paying out of your ass for it.
Oh and parking? Good luck. I’ve had my car scratched, severely, I’ve had my car broken into. And they use Iso containers, trailers and even a gate to store excessive trash that raccoons and coyotes keep getting into but they do nothing about.
Garbage! Broken glass… broken water heaters, old washers and dryers, carpet, pieces of dry wall… just sitting in the sun all day and I swear to God its been there for at least 2 years. This place and their management team are GARBAGE.
DO NOT MOVE HERE… YOU WILL REGRET IT

We lived here before Greystar bought out Whispering Winds and turned it into Avana. They did a lot of work fixing up the roofing and new paint. While some of those changes were great some were not. The pool we were told was now heated only to find out that it really wasn’t and would literally freeze being in the water even on a hot sunny day. The pool guys didn’t even know it was a heated pool. The did finally refinish the pool area and actually heat the pool but the filth was still there from the palm trees. The «updated» apartments were only new faux would flooring and they just painted over the old cabinets. The paint all over the apartment from the cabinets to the walls were so cheap the pain ran. The place is full of obnoxious people partying on the weekends and it not only the young marines. I called security numerous times and nothing chamged. I finally stopped and called the cops and those reports are supposed to go to the property manager. Still the same behavior continued. So many people speeding through the parking lot as well. The garbage on days would pile so high there wasn’t anywhere else to put it. All the garbage bins full as well so you didn’t have much option but to sit it next to the bin. The staff were nice but they didn’t seem to be all on the same page as far as to what was going on with anything. The rent of course like any other place increased but it became not worth the money for what you would get out of it.

The apartment complex has been extremely accommodating in these past few months. At first, We had terrible neighbors and the apartment unit we were in was falling apart, and extremely hot from being surrounded by parking lot, we were at the point were we were just going to break our lease and leave. Thank goodness for Bri :) she was there for us and helped us move to a more beautiful, less stressful side of the apartment complex! She was there for us when things were just not right. The maintenance staff are also very sweet people, who we take pleasure in calling our friends. Avana, keep up the good work! Excited to see the remodeled pool and spa this summer!

Dear Avana SC,
I have nothing bad to say about you. You are affordable. The location is a good place (Top of a mile long hill… sunset views… walking trails). The management here is Top-​Notch. I don’t think people understand what Property Management entails. It usually comes with countless complaints of people who are irritable and shy. If you were to mention one problem that you were having. The property management team would have it fixed up immediately. So for all the complaints out there you do have to realize that you CHOSE to live in APARTMENTS… You do not have a choice of picking your neighbors, things break… its called life. If its that bad why don’t you buy a place and than when things break… you try fixing it. The only downside of Apartment living is you do not get the choice of picking your neighbors and you do have to deal with having 100+ neighbors. It is what it is. But all in all, since moving in. Steven has increased the quality and productivity of how to handle situations regarding the apartment lifestyle. I am going to miss Avana.

I had to laugh when I reading the reviews. First thing is that things cannot be fixed if the site Manager is not aware of them. People have a habit of writing after they have already moved out. I have lived here for almost 2 years and yes I have had issues just like the review before me stated with the loud Marines and noisy pool. This is going to happen because people just do not respect each other. I did however speak to Steve the site Manager and those issues were taken care of that day. If it is a late night issue they have Security and there number is 949−214−7900 call them and they will come out and fix the issue as well as make Steve aware of it so that the proper action can be taken. A Community is only as good as the people who are living in it so if you just sit back and take it things will not change. Since Steve has taken over things have greatly improved.

If there was a ¹⁄₁₀^th of a star option that would be my rating! It is loud, with drunk Marines on the weekends, the mangement had a no pitbull policy however there are 3 that I know of that are still there, once I woke up to a crime scene unit outside my apartment because someone got stabbed, the pool was filled with drunk boys trying to hit on you, they promised a 300 $ referral but never pay the referral even after several calls, Last Year we had a bad flood in our apartment from what management caused a freak of nature rain storm, there was 1 foot of rain in my apartment and the way that it was handled was atrocious. They set us up in a nasty hotel with what was suppose to be a suite but wasn’t, they moved our things without us being there when they said they would wait til we were home, they said they got a moving company and a storage space to move our stuff, but it was really the maintenance guys and they put it in a vacant apt. With whom ruined and nicked our very expensive bedroom set, they broke my fish tank and killed my fish, when they moved us back in they promised us that we wouldn’t even feel like a flood happened, and that they would put our place back together, they moved us in and it smelled like mildew for an entire month, they didn’t reimburse us for any of our rent, however my next door neighbor who threatened a lawyer got 500 off, then another neighbor was told about a food reimbursement while another was not, It was an awful experience, I would never even recommend this place to my worst enemy! If your paying more then 1000 $ a month then your over paying! Go to Pinnacle in Talega! It’s gated too!

I wish there could be a NO STAR review!!! This place is the worst, and yes Olympia the manager is horrible! I have been waiting for my deposit check after I was finally able to move out for over a month… Im about to call a laywer. We moved in when it was still whispering winds and after the name change it was non-​stop cnstruction. I heard from new neighbors who got 1000. visa gift cards to move in and i asked the office about getting one and they said they never did that. They also decided to re-​do our balcony, and i asked for a little reduction in my already over priced rent for the inconvience and they refused that too. The last 3 months i had no balcony and workers stareing in my window. No privacy and noise allll day long! We even begged to break our lease and move out early but they wanted to charge us 1600. THE WORST YEAR OF MY LIFE! DO NOT MOVE HERE AND DONT LET YOUR FRIENDS MOVE HERE! THEY ARE SOULESS, MONEY HUNGRY LIARS! UGGHHH

This place is horrible. And Olympia the «manager» is dishonest. Do not live here, don’t even think about it. And don’t let anyone else live here. Everything that is «redone» is done so poorly because when u pay cheap, u get cheap! Families of 10 live in here and is so loud it’s unreal. Can’t wait to move out of this low budget trashy dirty rude apartment complex. They really need new staff! Because everyone in the complex is unhappy. I’m friends with many. It’s a really unfortunate place to live and sad because it has such potential being so close to the ocean. This place belongs in Pomona!