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Pros: Good location, good maintenance, nice view from lake-facing units

Cons: Flea infestation problem, thin walls, ugly unit, high rent, noisy neighbors

Overall: Only live here if you really need something close to NSU

Rating: 3/10

The housing crash has led to rents being quite high in South Florida, unsurprisingly. When my wife (then girlfriend) began medical school in ‘07, she needed an apartment close to Nova Southeastern. Because she was moving out for the first time, I believe that her eye was obviously not as discerning of what would make a good apartment. Location and convenience being the dominant factor, she ended up signing a lease for around $950/mo. in rent for a roughly 650 sq. ft unit.

I obviously spent a lot of time there over the course of a 2-year lease, and we both shared the pains of the unforeseen poor factors that can plague an apartment. For one, her unit was just downright ugly. The fixtures and walls were so plain and motel-y that I ended up nicknaming the apartment “(Every)Days Inn.” Rough walls, popcorn ceiling, no central lighting in bedroom or living room, and bad thermostat (though to be fair the A/C was free and did blow cold like Siberia even in the summer). Moreover, the walls were very thin – we could hear our neighbors shouting, playing loud music, and even having sex. In so many ways, the experience was a lot like a cheap motel (the rent even averages out to $32/night!).

The kitchen almost deserves its own entire paragraph. It was a essentially a cramped space set off from the connection between the living room and bedroom. One thing that struck me about the unit was how low everything was, but I believe in retrospect that it’s because we got a handicap-accessible unit of some sort. The crappy laminate counter was really low and uncomfortable to sit at. The fridge was also annoyingly low and difficult to access comfortably, and didn’t even have an icemaker. The caulking and laminate on the sink-top began to come apart as moisture from the kitchen sink set in. The bathroom has somewhat the same story. Cramped, ugly fixtures, all around not a very fun bathroom. The faucet had this absolutely horrible squeak that I could not fix even after several attempts to access the squeak-zone with WD-40. The one saving grace was that when something did break, maintenance was usually pretty prompt.

Laundry was obviously conducted in a couple of laundry rooms nearby. The machines were ok but there were a couple of periods in which half the machines or more in a room would be out and you wouldn’t be able to do your laundry. In general, though, the only real bad part about laundry was hauling a 50+ pound basket up and down 3 stories.

On-property amenities included a pool, jacuzzi, volleyball court, and tennis court. The chief problem with the pool was that there was so much fauna around that the wind would constantly blow leaves, bugs, twigs, and dirt into the pool, so the pool was never quite clean. Generally, the amenities would also be occupied by large groups of annoying people, also precluding use by normal folks who want a quiet day.

That said, the one thing I did enjoy about the property were the walkways across it and the great West-facing view of a really nice golf course. Last I checked, the course was completely destroyed, so I don’t know what the future of the view is.

About a year into living there, my wife decided to get a dog. All was dandy and we and the dog enjoyed several walks across the property, until the dog hit about 6 months old and we were suddenly struck with a serious flea infestation. These were some of the most robust fleas in existence, completely immune to frontline and a LOT of the treatments that were used. The simple fact is that you can not stop a flea infestation in your house unless the source is treated, something that the management clearly did not do. No matter what we did – vacuum multiple times a day, treat the carpet with the most terrible poisons, put all kinds of treatments on the dog – the fleas kept coming relentlessly. Understandably, there’s a flea population boom, especially in the Spring-Summer seasons, but with a well-treated lawn an infestation can be controlled.

In closing, I would definitely recommend shopping around the area and even possibly considering a 5-10 minute commute before signing a lease at Cameron Cove. I understand that economic conditions drive rent up, but you can truly do much better for your money.