East Howe Steps

The units are nice and the onsite management + maintenance staff (Victoria and Jason) are incredibly kind and responsive (5 stars for them!!) but beware of hidden fees & costs. You have to participate in their Valet trash service, which is another $25/month on top of the garbage utilities you already pay. The service is inconsistent and sometimes they just don’t pick up your trash (even if you follow all of their many rules). After living there for 2 years with no missed/late rent payments, they raised my rent by $300 with the explanation being “we don’t have any control over what your rent increase is. With MFTE units, the increases and rent rates are all determined by the City of Seattle.” Annoying but understandable. However, when I gave my notice to vacate, they suddenly had a new offer that would only be a $200 rent increase. I thought they had no control over that?….They also took $160 out of my security deposit for professional cleaning, but the lease doesn’t specify cleaning instructions for move out (every other place i’ve lived has very clearly stated whether cleaning was up to the tenant or if professionals would be hired in the case the unit wasn’t satisfactory). If it had, I would’ve ensured the unit was fully deep cleaned prior to move out. Considering I had a 500sqft unit with no carpet and kept it very clean during my time there and at move out, the fee seemed steep. Overall okay place to live but you’re definitely living in a big corporate/commercial owned building and it shows. I’m now living in a smaller building in Eastlake and have had a significantly better experience as far as transparency and value, would recommend finding one of those!

Been here only 2 months, but love it so far. Management (Victoria) and maintenance (Jason) are super awesome. I’ve never had an easier move in, it was also the cleanest apartment I’ve ever moved in to and easy to coordinate. Very happy with the place so far.