Apartment hunting with a furry friend is difficult in Columbia. Finding an affordable place to live that won’t break the bank is almost impossible, especially if proximity to campus is important. I live at the Providence Hill Apartments, owned by DBC Rentals. This two-bedroom townhouse is in a nice, woodsy area located right off the South Providence access road. It’s a short, five-minute drive to campus, a two-minute walk to the commuter lot and a quick drive from Hyvee and Walmart. Another unique feature of DBC Rentals is that the owners are animal lovers and don’t make you jump through hoops to bring your dog or cat. All of their properties are pet-friendly. There’s a one-time pet fee but no pet rent.
When looking at apartments in Columbia, the owners of DBC Rentals were friendly and extremely informative. They answered all my questions, allowed me to make payments on my deposit, and professionally cleaned my bedroom and bathroom along with the common areas of the apartment at no extra cost — DBC usually only cleans out the duplexes between each set of tenants because the tenant signs a joint lease with your roommate versus an individual one. DBC Rentals covers all utilities on their properties, so the rent covers everything from electric and lawn care to expanded cable and Internet at no additional cost.
Another of my favorite things about DBC Rentals is that the owners are involved in the day-to-day operations. When you call the office, most of the time you speak to one of the owners directly. In my experience, maintenance issues usually occur during non-business hours. For example, our heater stopped working during one of the first cold nights of winter. With the temperature rapidly dropping in our apartment, my roommate and I called the emergency number, and a maintenance employee responded back promptly. A few minutes later, we got an unexpected call from one of the owners reassuring us that they were aware of the situation and that someone would be at our place first thing in the morning. The service people showed up at 7 a.m. to fix the issue.
Even though I’ve only lived at the Providence Hill Apartments a short period of time, I’ve never felt unsafe at our property. Over the summer, there were issues with some of the tenants living here, and the landlords took it upon themselves to have increased patrol of the complex by the Columbia Police Department. The landlords also posted flyers alerting the residents that the owners were cooperating with the police and that the tenants causing the trouble would be removed promptly from the complex. This ensured a safe and quiet living environment for all residents here — pets included.