Birchwood Homes

We lived here for 2 years. It is an older place with older appliances so it's not entirely energy efficient but they're updating when things need to be replaced.

The rent included trash/sewer, water, and heating oil, we paid for electricity, phone, and internet. We had a dog, there was a pet fee and a portion of it is refundable. It was spacious with lots of storage spaces for the amount we were paying, compared to other places nearby. The rent does change all the time depending on specials... they may be having so don't be surprised if you find out after you sign the lease that the rent is cheaper.

The office staff and maintenance staff were always friendly. There are few options to pay your rent, a rent mail slot, an online option and in person. When something broke, we reported it right away and they fixed it timely.

There are little playgrounds everywhere for the kids, dog bag stations, and sidewalks that go around the entire complex. There is also a dog park but lots of poops though since not everyone picked up after their dog. They also have a gardening area where you can grow your veggies if you're inclined.

Our street was nice and quiet. The complex is near all the shops and restaurants.

Issues:
You have to obtain your own washer/dryer and when you move out, you have to get rid of it or take it with you. Our connections were upstairs so lugging those machines up and down was not fun.

We didn't have a fence, they are willing to put up a fence, but we had to pay for it to be put up AND pay extra monthly because the apartment becomes a fenced option. We thought this was unfair. If they paid to put up the fence and charged us monthly or had us pay to put up the fence and not charged us monthly would have been fair. After we move out, it becomes a fenced option which they charge extra for.

Our dishwasher worked but it didn't wash dishes.

When we moved in, the house was not as clean as we expected; in fact, I think it was cleaner when we left. We read that there will be a blacklight inspection so when we moved in, we did a blacklight inspection ourselves and wrote EVERYTHING down in our move-in sheet. So when you move out, they compare what's on the sheet to what they found so we were able to get all our deposit back.

Even with some of the issues, it was a nice place to live. My daughter felt safe while playing in the playground with her friends. I would live here again if I were to come back to Fairbanks. Read More

Birchwood homes is the only apartment I saw so far that uses black light to check every single drop of urine on the carpet, if you have pets or baby that haven’t been perfectly potty trained, and accidentally left some urine on the carpet, it won’t be removed even with rug doctor. Once found any urine, they will make you replace the entire carpet that will cost almost 2000 dollars. Since they constantly take advantages of the tenants and are so familiar with the procedure, they will tell you:... your property insurance will cover $1000, and you only need to pay the rest, not a big deal! Read More

I wanted to share our experience at Birchwood Homes. I wanted to start off by saying that Nickole, one of the managers, is amazing. When moving a family of 6 from the lower 48 complete with the lengthy drive up the ALCAN, there were many moving pieces. It was a huge relief to know that when we arrived in Fairbanks, we could simply collect our keys, unpack the car/kids and move in. Nickole helped us get the home that we wanted/needed (a 4 bedroom with a fence – the fence was extremely... important) well in advance of our arrival. Prior to signing, she sent us pictures of two different townhomes to pick from (she offered a video/facetime/skype walkthrough but because of time and technology on our end, the pictures were easier for us to review).
We have lived in various places over the years, both renting and owned and have had lots of different experiences. We are pleased to report that not only is the office staff both friendly and helpful, the maintenance and grounds staff is as well. All our maintenance requests have been handled immediately.
We have found the neighborhood to be quiet and well kept. Additionally, as well as having a playground, there is also a free community garden and RV/boat storage (both pleasant surprises upon arrival). Additionally, if you want to spruce up your yard (Alaskan winters can be hard on lawns), they will provide you with free grass seed and dirt (a huge savings).
I would recommend Birchwood. Prior to signing our lease, I called around to other folks who live up here and was told that Birchwood would be a wonderful place for us – specifically mentioning the proximity to town, safety for our children as well as how responsive the management is.
Although they are rentals, it feels more like an owner-occupied townhome community which is what we were looking for. Read More

We have lived in birchwood homes for over a year and it has been a great experience! Our neighborhood is so peaceful. The staff is really friendly and if we need something fixed they try and send someone from maintance ASAP. We haven’t had any issues whatsoever, and it’s close to base and it’s close to town as well!

Our 2 year living here. Very good people to have as rental management. Both front desk ladies, Nickole, and Bailey, are awesome, sweet, and very understanding.