Fountains at River Oaks

I love this place. It’s beautifully maintained with mature landscaping. There is an active street life. The apartments are comfortable, and the staff is quick to respond to maintenance requests.
Most important, there is a justified feeling of security. We moved here after a decade near the Rose Garden – a beautiful neighborhood where we, and most of our neighbors were burglarized on a recurring basis, and where an unobtainable security from crime was a shared obsession.

Love it here at Fountains at River Oaks!!! It’s clean, cozy, affordable and the staff is attentive and available. The other place I lived was hard to access and hard for my daughter to visit me but her at Fountains she can knock on my front door. The neighborhood is quiet with easy access to montage expressway and other major freeways but you would never know how close because of the way it’s tucked away. I feel at home here and so glad I found it. Knowing we have to be in this area I thought I was doomed to live in one of the «people warehouses» that caused me a lot of stress. I would recommend it to anyone.

I like the neighborhood, very good landscape. The buildings are a bit old. Overall, it’s very good. Better than the other apartments nearby

I found Fountains At River Oaks 7 years ago on a
search because it had all the features I was looking for — semi-​private or private garages for my car, in-​apartment laundry washer/​dryer, a dishwasher, and air conditioning in a studio or one-​bedroom apartment close to my new job on DeLaCruz Blvd. I have been living here happily ever since. The property manager is Victor, and the office assistants are Martin and Hannah. Of the 3 of them Hannah is the most beautiful. They are all 3 fantastic friendly people and very helpful. Tim is the maintenance manager and he gets things done either immediately or within a day at the longest. The rents are not cheap but you get a lot of amenities for what you pay for. The pool is small but perfect for children although not very good for laps. The party area around the pool and Jacuzzi is nice and great for outdoor bbq’s. There is an excellent exercise room and a computer business center. The property is wired for either AT&T or Comcast cable. I work from home a lot so the AT&T cable works perfectly for me to get on the Internet. The best apartments are those bordering several grassy green areas so if you are picking one that is what you should ask for. There is good roadway access via Montague or Zanker to Hwys 880, 101, or 237. If you are a bicyclist then there are several bike lanes to get you over to the Guadalupe River Bike Trail which leads north to the Baylands Wildlife Refuge or south to San Jose and beyond. If you see a white kitty here that one is mine. Pets are welcome, both dogs and cats. There is a beautiful dog walking path that borders the east end of the property between us and the condo’s next door. From here it crosses the road to the north of the property and goes through the condo’s across that street and up onto the Coyote Creek levee. You can walk your dog, ride your mountain bike, or jog from there for miles and mile northwards. Welcome to the neighborhood!

This was a first apartment move for my husband and I and we have not regretted it! The front office is amazing! They’re very kind and attentive. The complex is more in the smaller side but it doesn’t have any effect on noise or crowds. Our upstairs neighbors have 2 small children and our neighbor across from us has 2 and we RARELY hear anything. I think today was probably the only day we heard them out on their porch. But other than that, the community is very quiet and cozy.
Parking was horrendous when we first moved in but since they implemented the parking permit policy, we haven’t had any problems. YAY! I do have to say that I feel bad for maintenance because of the trash. Neighbors are to shove their trash down the chute and then start up the compactor, unfortunately for maintenance a lot of people just leave it outside the compactor or just leave it near the top of the chute for maintenance to do, which I feel is not their responsibility. But it never ceases to amaze me how quickly Maintenance responds to it because everyday it’s clean.
All in all, this is a great place to live! I feel blessed to be here!!!

This is a great apartment complex. It is quiet and the staff is very helpful. When something breaks the maintenance people usually respond in a reasonable amount of time and make sure it is fixed. The rent is also cheap compared to the area and I feel it is the most bang for your buck. You have to share a two car garage, but its not a big deal. Some of the older comments that bring the rating down are from some Bourgeoisie people who are work at Google or Facebook and have everything handed to them on a silver platter.

Fountains at River Oaks, San Jose, CA
This apartment complex has a lot to be desired. The complex itself seems to be lacking in funds to be kept up properly.
Grounds are not kept clean and tidy — The pine trees here are obnoxious, they drip, they shed pine needles and pine cones… the property is cleaned up maybe every two weeks.
Water Leak — The property had a pipe leak and the leak was not fixed for at least 3 weeks, while California is a heavy draught situation, this leak went on for weeks before it was fixed. I am hoping that this was not included in our water bill.
Smoking — This is supposed to be a non-​smoking community — apparently some of the residents have been raised in the wild as they smoke and throw their cigarette butts on the ground, I am guessing that they think their mother is going to pick up after them.
Garbage — When the trash overflows, people just begin throwing their bags in and around the trash dumpsters; they also throw away furniture ie mattresses, lamps, tables etc which is illegal dumping; they evidently can’t read to operate the trash masher, they just throw their bags in the opening vs into the hole, then don’t turn the machine on to smash the garbage… piles up and smells really bad.
Pet Friendly — Yes, they are pet friendly, however, the property just reduced their grassy areas 50%; they never replenish their doggy sacks to pick up waste, hence people don’t pick up their dog’s waste.
Construction — Across the street on the back side of the property a huge apartment began construction about a year ago. It was explained that construction was not to begin until 8am, but they start usually about 6am. The construction workers constantly park in the resident parking of Fountains. The Management office indicated that they live on the property, but interesting enough, I see them come and go all the time.
Air conditioning — The property does not have central air/​heat; the apartment is equipped with a wall unit in the living room which is noisy and doens’t cool the entire apartment.
Parking at Fountains — Parking is a premium here, if you don’t get home by 5:15pm, you may end up parking on the other side of the complex or out on the street; Residents just leave their cars parked for day on end without moving them with the rule being that they should not sit for more than 48 hours at a time.
Management — I have only seen one or two emails from the management sent out to the community for updates regarding issues that I have raised. The leasing agents are friendly, but when it comes to getting things addressed, the Management is not very responsive.

I moved here and I’m very happy that I did. Very nice location, peace and quiet and great leasing people! Victor, Martin and Jonathan are so helpful ! When I’m home I feel at home — once again peace and quiet!

I have been living here for almost a year. I decided to move because I found a place that offers me what I need. However, I liked this place during my stay here. There are some cons and pros of living here.
Pro: Spacious apartments, great Staff, quiet, price is okay
Cons: High utility bills, sometimes noisy in the early morning (Landscaping people), Landscape still does not look that good, Parking could be an issue if you have the apartment without garage
I had an issue where I think the maintenance team could have fixed the problem more quickly, but I do not think it is worth to deduct a star for that. I deduct a star for the inefficient insulation in these apartments.

We have been living in this community for just under a year and i have been wanting to write this review for some time now.
This is by far the best rental experience we have had in US. The community is great but the leasing staff is even better. Special shout out and the 5+ stars for the Asst. Manager Jonathan.
Extremely courteous and helpful, he makes us feel at home. Amongst all other things, i still remember on the day of our move, we had requested for a wall to be painted in the color of our choice. Since they were short on staff, Jonathan went above and beyond his call of duty and painted it himself.
Jonathan, keep up the awesomeness. You rock !!
In general,
Pros:
— Very responsive and courteous staff (Leasing & Maintenance)
— Reasonable rents (Best value for money in the area)
— Beautifully remodeled apartments
— Very quiet community
— Option to automatically pay rent online (Never pay late fee)
Cons:
— Occasional Spiders, but to their credit, they send the pest control to the rescue
whenever we have requested.

Water issues was addressed by the management. Elizabeth and Ashley were very supportive in this matter. I guess the management just need to request more resources from BRE Properties to maintain the complex. Especially when the rents climb so high.
There are still lots of tiny issues there. You can see them in comments of other tenants. One of them is the spider problem.

I lived in Bre properties for 2 years. The apartment management is good in fixing work orders in time but they will take away almost all your deposit money irrespective of even if you get the apartment professionally cleaned.

My husband and I have lived here for 1 year and have been extremely happy with our apartment. Our 2 bd 2 bath is 1026 sq ft and we pay a little over 2300/​month. It is a very peaceful community, and we love all the modern touches they added, especially in the kitchen! I never hear our neighbors and it wasn’t until we saw all the children walking out of the apartment that we actually noticed they had them!
I don’t want to discredit the validity of the complaints below but it seems that they are the type of person who expects 5 star resort-​like service in their everyday life while wanting to pay the bare minimum. This is not a realistic expectation to have if you are looking to pay anything under 3000/​month here in the Silicon Valley. After being a homeowner, I so appreciate all the hard work BRE does to maintain and fix anything in my apartments that breaks.
Some of the low points in staying here are definitely the landscape and amenities. BRE is definitely a management company with money, and they should really think about updating ALL of the landscape, not just the front of the complex that everyone sees from the road. The pine and elm trees drop sap, needles, and little spiked things EVERYWHERE! There grass is so barren and riddled with the above «treasures» that it just looks unkept. They need new sod and to take out the outdated bushes.
The pool area is also a huge lowpoint, It’s time to switch over to a salt water pool/​spa and make the pool area appealing. All of the surrounding complexes have gorgeous landscaping/​pool areas and BRE really falls short in this major attraction. The rent is maybe 200 $ lower than the surrounding areas, but I don’t think that is much of a compromise when you have this much beautiful weather and residents that would actually like the opportunity to bring their friends over for a bbq/​day at the pool.
At the end of the day we have been happy with our apartment, but we have found a new home that has everything thing apartment does + an absolutely gorgeous pool/​landscape for 200 $ cheaper in a very nice area in Santa Clara.

Pros — Good Location. River Oak is residential complex. Good for taking walks. Pretty safe. Maintenance is pretty quick and efficient.
Cons —
1) No assigned parking spot with Angel Falls 1 bedroom apartment. Very difficult to find parking after 7:30 pm. Weekend is worst. Being a resident have to park outside the community on weekends if I come after 7 pm.
2) Community is not gated. Salesman and other people easily access the community and knock the door to sell stuff or for donations etc.
3) Apartment walls are very thin. Can easily hear people talk or taking shower. We can also hear the morning alarm of our neighbors and are woken up in the morning by that.
4) Rent is on the higher side. Community not as good as ones compared to other apartment communities nearby. Higher rent does not justify what you get here.
Considering not a gated community and no assigned parking, better look at other option if you a willing to pay a bit more.

So I lived here for over four years and here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good: The location and the neighborhood is quiet and seems fairly safe. The landscaping is well done and most tenants pick up their dog shit. The neighborhood is a very dog friendly area and the new park at Crescent Village is a nice addition. The decks on the apartments are an amazing size… never seen an apartment deck so big! If you get the unit with vaulted ceilings it makes the apartment look a lot larger than it is. Each unit has a washer and dryer which is godsend. Also maintenance is great, quick to respond and you can submit your requests online.
The Bad: Rent is sky high but I understand that cannot be helped due to the rental market. The old apartments that were not remodeled were really outdated. We had a silverfish infestation and no matter how hard we cleaned and aired out the closets they would keep coming up from under the floor boards. The new fire codes do not allow you to have BBQ’s on the large decks rendering them useless. The new remodeled units are nothing more than a face lift, the actual apartment itself still has old windows (single pane) and the walls are still thin. Spiders could still crawl through the sliding glass doors and the front door… Also, you get vagrants digging through the recycling every weekend. You get a lot of people dumping their trash outside the trash enclosure because they are stupid and can’t read the 8 signs posted about telling them to put the trash inside the compactor. Lots of Middle Eastern families allow their kids to play in the parking lot and a lot of people cannot park and drive and if you don’t have a garage, prepare for some scrapes and dings! Also the water in these buildings, while showering the water will go from cold to scalding hot!!!
The Ugly: BRE is extremely hard to deal with when it comes with rent negotiations. Back when this place was still Avalon at River Oaks, we could negotiate the price of our rent increases as long as we contacted management in advance. Usually they would give us a significant decrease if we renewed. The highest rent increase I ever paid with Avalon was like $ 30 bucks!!! However, BRE would give us a $ 25 break on a $ 225 rent increase… THANKS… that really doesn’t help. Then when we tried to contact them early their leasing agents tell us «oh sorry, your lease doesnt end for another two weeks so I am busy with other leases that expire sooner.» Ok. I understand you are just there for the commission. Then when we tried to renew they told us they were going to charge us $ 20 less than a remodeled unit, their goal was get us to move into a remodeled unit so they could redo our old outdated unit.
If you can afford this place you should really take a walk down the street and look at Crescent Village or Northpark, both charge about $ 200 more than Fountains at River Oaks but they are newer. Elizabeth the community manager is ok, she does her job with a cheerful voice. The rest of her leasing staff, uhg facepalm.
Would I recommend this place? If you really cannot afford Crescent Village and Northpark then yes, I reluctantly would, our apartment was in a good location and was really affordable when we first moved in, but now the prices are exorbitant for what you get compared to the other apartment complexes.

I am torn between 2 and 3 stars. I lean towards to the 2 stars for the simple fact that when a problem is expressed to management they fail to correct the problem. We have BARKING DOGS below us who bark non-​stop through the nights. We have made numerous complaints to the office who stated they will be contacting the residents. Recently we found out they have not been able to reach the residents though the dogs remain barking. The residents are not home ever to look after these dogs. These dogs are being neglected so I am forced to call animal control which is a lengthy process just to learn they are moving end of the month so until then we suffer with little to no sleep .
Outside of that the community is clean and peaceful. The pool area is lovely and very relaxing. The office staff is generally very nice and helpful. The units are remodeled nicely and offer a great color scheme for our tastes.
I know you can’t choose your neighbors but if that was an option it would be amazing.

The mailbox system has been CONSTANTLY been broken into. Still the management or lack thereof is absolutely not doing anything to fix it. Changing the lock to the gate does not protect peoples’ mailboxes. Mailboxes itself should be changed/​fixed. or install a freaking surveillance camera.
Packages and mail has been stolen and obviously the privacy of this place residents have been compromised. Still the silly management acts as if its not a big deal.
BTW, a nice flat screen TV was installed in the community gym and it to was stolen.

The management has done some good job at renovating the exteriors but they have completely failed to vow the current residents. I recently moved out of the apartment and here is my honest review.
Pro:
–Location is prime (proximity to Cisco campus)
— Good customer service by the service technician and the apartment manager
Cons:
— Exorbitant rents (1900 for 1 bed! and 2250 for 2 bed)
— Most of the apartments are old dungeons
— Extremely noisy after 6:45am when the nearby construction starts every weekday morning
— Apartment lawn mowers begin the lawn mowing at 7am sharp
— Pests and roaches are big problem
— Door, kitchen cabinets are old and wood is falling apart
— Renovated apartments have newer appliances but these are cheap quality appliances and are noisy
— Gym is a 8“x8″ room and is occupied most of the time
— Pool looks good but is too small and badly maintained
— Cheap material used everywhere inside the apartment
— Water bill is like 120+ for a 1 bed apartment!!!
— AC and dishwashers are from 1960s …
— Walls are paper thin, we could hear our neighbor snoring all night!
— There are bunch of students and contractors from India that party till 4am in their patios and talk loudly every night in the parking lots
— THEY CONTINUE TO HAVE WATER OUTAGES FOR 4 – 6 HOURS PRETTY MUCH EVERY WEEK !!! IT IS LIKE LIVING IN A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY !!
When we moved into the apartment we submitted about 40+ workorders to ensure that we can live with basic quality and hygiene but they only committed to finish 5 !!
Overall, living here was a nightmare and when our lease was up they bumped up our rent from 1400 to 1925 for a 1 bed apartment … finally we decided to move out to North Park. it is worth paying 2200 bucks for 2-​bed at North Park

**I would also like to add, that the water bills are $ 90+ per month!
I’m not surprised that more than half of our building is empty, someone moves out everyday… and it’s obvious why.
The one star is for the location of the apartments. It’s in a nice quiet and safe area, you can walk around any time of night and feel safe. However, the apartments may look nice from the outside, but they are very old, the «wood» floors are coming off in the apartment and the appliances are VERY old. If you want a newly updated apartment, be prepared to pay above 2K a month!
Now, for the property managers. They do NOTHING. If you complain about something, or if something happened to you, your car, your dog, etc, their famous words are … «WE DON’T LIKE TO GET INVOLVED.» Now, to my understanding, if something happens on your property and it affects YOUR tennants, you should do something about it. They are nice to your face BEFORE you sign the lease, but once you’re locked in, good luck getting a call back!
I’d rather pay more in a mediocre neighboorhood with property managers that actually do their job. I cannot wait for my lease to end!

Pro:
1.) Location
2.) Finally, a gated mail room
3.) Quiet
4.) Gym is descent.
5.) Pool is clean.
6.) Some cleans up the illegal dumping everyday.
Yes, the tenants will dump anything.
Con:
1.) Increase Rent? Skyrocket for old place… seriously.
2.) Look out people,
Hardwood floors — it’s fake. It’s just tiles that look like it.
I saw the materials.
Marble top… fake too just cheap plastic vel stuff
3.) Water bill is minimum $ 90 and above, shared! horrible
4.) AC unit… made back in the 70’s
My 2 cents…