The Bluffs at Pacifica Apartamentos

Farallon Islands on a clear day. Multiple Samtrans bus routes stop just across the street and there are several BART stations and shopping areas within a 15 minute drive. The problems with this property lie with the corporate landlord. I've been here almost four years and have seen the local office staff turn over regularly every 12-15 months. To me, there seems to be some problems on the employment side if the staff keeps leaving. There used to be three full-time maintenance people I knew by name, now there is one regular maintenance guy and a couple of floaters who also cover other nearby properties owned by the same corporation. This is an old building and being by the sea it needs a lot of attention yet it feels like the owners are allowing only just enough work to be done to keep it functional. Another problem is that rent in the bay area is absolutely absurd and this place is no different, demanding $3,000/mo. or more for a studio apartment. The building I am in only has one gas meter so the landlord uses a formula to determine what your gas fee will be every month based on the size of the unit and the number of occupants. You will not be charged for how much gas you actually use, instead you will be subsidizing your neighbors gas bill if you are out of town frequently. Also, you won't pay a flat rate for garbage service, that seems to be determined by the number of occupied units and it fluctuates sometimes more than 10-12% from on month to the next. The landlord also charges residents pest control fees. I've never heard of a building owner passing along pest control fees to residents. Overall, I've been pretty happy here even with the nuisance billing practices, staffing issues and outrageous free market rental rates.