Merp Mansion

[jmnoq]

Merp Mansion

Hello Hello. I would like to start a thread about place TO stay in Miami. During March MERP 2008 I stayed at the MERP MAnsion. I want to share my experience thus far. I am not being payed to do this, however it was a request. Otherwise I would normally be to lazy to post something like this.
I love living here. It is a little bit of a party house. We also get a lot of studying done. We are still in the middle of the program, but everyone here has passed the first mini, one of the guys here got the class high score. We normally study together before exams which are every wednesday and friday. When we first got here we would do everything together. It was fun. As time passed we all became more independent and now we study with a variety of people from the program, but we still review before the quizzes. Okay enough about school. One last thing MERP is no joke. They tell us from the get go to study in groups and study hard.

Okay about the pad. The house is a four bedroom house. Two of the rooms are shared two are singles. There is a pool and a hot tube. To be honest we don't use the hot tube too often I think I have used it twice in the last month, but we swim every week. The house is kept in great condition. If anything goes wrong I call the landlord and she is always willing to take care of any issues. (ie the internet wasn't working she went out and bought a new router, shower head broke she had a new one..) The furniture isn't great, but it is a place to rest your rump. I heard one of the guys taking about how she wants to improve the furniture. Other then that no major complaints. Oh the water pressure is low, ice machine in fridge no work no big deal though enough said about that.

Usually during the weekend everyone goes out together. There is like 30 of us for dinner. We all meet at the MM and go out together. Bring cash otherwise the waiters get upset. Some of us drink some don't. People come over to study all the time. The neighbor hood is beautiful. It is close to everything. I have a bicycle and ride to the grocery store sometimes, but usually we go shopping together some of the guys have a car.

Price, the truth about the price is it is pretty competitive. You could probably save a couple hundo, but to live this nice no way. The singles are about thousand more, but you get the privacy of your own room.

Pretty much everything is included and as long as your not wasteful I don't assume you will break the budget, which is what ever the people spent the program before.

For me one of the best reasons for staying here is it was easy. Took the pressure out of having to find a place and rent furniture set up accounts for the internet.....

What else. Not much. Like I said before I love living here. Recommend it.

[stangkillin99ss]

As a reply to jmnoq’s post I will post the flipside to the MERP MANSION which I too stayed in 2 semesters ago. The house initially started off as an OK place to stay, then things got messy….really messy. First off newbie’s DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT ever pay upfront. The merp mansion goes for nearly $30,000/ semester...Do you know how long it takes someone to save 30k!!! Its your money guys be careful with it cause the landlords in Miami are shady (not just this one) once they have your money, well that’s it they have your money and most of the time are not willing to help ..case and point..my stay at merp mansion.
This is what I experienced while staying at the Merp Mansion.

1.) There are enormous amounts of BUGS that invade the home. True we werent the cleanest people on earth, were college kids but I'm talking ants, cockroaches, millipedes, HUGE grasshoppers, everything...if don't believe me, scroll down to look at the pictures!!
2.) The fridge constantly gets hot and spoils our food.
3.) She advertised bi-weekly cleaning and then after we signed our leases, she claims it was never advertised. We have the flyer to prove it was!
4.) Our internet frequently goes out, and at one point it was out for a week, the owner was notified the first day.
5.) One night the plumbing had a clog, the owner made us pay for it stating it was our fault. We paid and the Roto Rooter man told us, if this happens again its because of the septic tank being full. 2 days later it clogged again, we still have not recieved our refund of 250.00 for the first unclogging.
6.) The owner has offered more than one, but there may be more, of my housemates money (100 dollars) to "reccomend" the MERP MANSION to others coming to MERP. DESPITE, the problems listed. I dont belive they have reccomended it.
7.) She claims the house comes with cable, which is true, however whats not told is it is the MOST BASIC cable with pretty much only local channels and many spanish channels. NO FX (house) No MTV No movie channels nothing so when your trying to relax you pretty much dont have tv as an option. That's not even expanded basic cable
8.) For the past month I have complained that I have NO water pressure in my shower. The water drips from my shower head onto my head. Finally today, L* decided that maybe she would fix it. I have had to rent a hotel room 3 times due to either the shower not working, or the house flooding due to the septic tank overflowing, and L made no effort to help us. She did finally fix this problem and it works fine now.
9.) In mine and my roomates room, there are two french doors that are completely rotted away. L* claimed she was going to have them fixed because when it rains, water and bugs come right into our room. The doors are still not fixed! She did make an attempt to fix them recently but none the less there is still a huge gap allowing pests in.
10.) No one in the house was notified that we do not have ANY type of city sewage or city water. Yes, that means every drop of water that runs through our pipes comes from a well in the ground. I figured out why it is sometimes yellow

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_0723.jpg
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http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/Picture029.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/Picture028.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/Picture026.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/Picture020.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/Picture018.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_2460.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_2456.jpg



This is just a SMALL list of events that went down when i lived at the merp mansion.


After making a post here on value MD I was threatened by my landlord, the same one that is currently renting the place who I must keep anonymous but am allowed to use her Initials LK so that is what she will be referred to during the rest of this post.
After making an initial post about the merp mansion LK threatened me with 2 attorney’s. The first one was a Mr. Spiegal who consistently harassed me during school hours and the 2nd was Martin Saenz of Saenz law firm in Miami. I received a “Cease and desist” order from him. (which can be posted in word format if needed as proof) Now we all know that we came to med school to learn medicine not law but you and I also both know in something called “Freedom Of Speech”…LK soon found out about this also. Just as anyone is allowed to post good information im allowed to show the flipside which is what I did. When I attempted to talk to LK she told me “I should have never posted on ValueMD and that if I wanted to make it up to her I would get on and post ONLY GOOD THINGS.” On more than one occasion when I was living there LK had many of my roomates post up on valueMD how “great” the merp mansion was. She offered one of my roommates who is a real estate agent in California 100/person he could get to stay at our place. Every time someone came we told them the truth and for that reason after our class left the next class LK only had 3 tennates which she blamed on me. She attempted to sue me for 15.000 (the cost of losing 3 tennates) because I told THE TRUTH on value MD. After leaving merp LK then sent our refund checks as promised, unfortunately mine got destroyed and needed to be replaced, this is where a problem arose. LK refused to send me a replacement check for my deposit (nearly $1000) unless my MOM, yes I said my mom, posted something nice on valueMD about her Merp Mansion. Well that didn’t happen and I NEVER I repeat NEVER received my refund from LK. I had to personally go to Miami (I live in texas) to LK’s bank and sign and notarize a form saying the last check was destroyed and LK would not be held responsible. LK refused to help me in this situation. I don’t think any of you would just throw away 1000 dollars and her not helping made it even harder to get my money back.
I want everyone to be aware of the TROUBLE I went through during MERP so it doesn’t happen to you. Medical school we do not need outside influences getting in our way. As a result of always having my landlord and her lawyers down my back my grades began to suffer, something I want to keep from happening to the next class. I barley made it onto the island but now am doing very well.

The furniture is wicker 1970 and very uncomfortable to sit on. For the nearly 30,000 LK makes per semester at merp, it NEEDS to be upgraded which obviously hasn't been done since i was there.

This post is my opinion and should only be used as reference. I want to tell everyone the TRUTH whether it be good or bad about any places in Miami or on the island. I believe im still entitled to my opinion and take it for what its worth. Feel free to PM me with ANY questions you have. I have many more pictures and even recorded conversations between my landlord and I. PLEASE BEWARE OF MERP MANSION AND SPEND YOUR MONEY WISLEY!!

[sghoward744]

If you are looking for housing, the MERP mansion is fine. There are no infestations of any kind. The house is in good shape. It is actually a very nice place to stay. It has a well-kept pool. It is cleaned every Wednesday and the yard is taken care of as well. A washer and dryer are in the house. If you want a nice neighborhood and a quiet place to study, I suggest the MERP Mansion. Also, if you choose to live here find other MERP students that are in the same frame of mind as you. Currently we have 5 MERPers and we are all doing well in the program. The best thing to do once you get to MERP is find a study group. This house provides that opportunity. I suggest giving the landlord, Linda a call at 305-665-7575 if you want more details concerning the house. Good luck finding housing for MERP.

-Scott Howard
current MERP mansion tennant.

[jabee_usm]

If you are looking for housing, the MERP mansion is fine. There are no infestations of any kind. The house is in good shape. It is actually a very nice place to stay. It has a well-kept pool. It is cleaned every Wednesday and the yard is taken care of as well. A washer and dryer are in the house. If you want a nice neighborhood and a quiet place to study, I suggest the MERP Mansion. Also, if you choose to live here find other MERP students that are in the same frame of mind as you. Currently we have 5 MERPers and we are all doing well in the program. The best thing to do once you get to MERP is find a study group. This house provides that opportunity. I suggest giving the landlord, Linda a call at 305-665-7575 if you want more details concerning the house. Good luck finding housing for MERP.

-Scott Howard
current MERP mansion tennant.

No thank u! I was considering this place but not anymore!:shock:

[Closter]

hmmm wow???

[papaya]

If you are looking for housing, the MERP mansion is fine. There are no infestations of any kind. The house is in good shape. It is actually a very nice place to stay. It has a well-kept pool. It is cleaned every Wednesday and the yard is taken care of as well. A washer and dryer are in the house. If you want a nice neighborhood and a quiet place to study, I suggest the MERP Mansion. Also, if you choose to live here find other MERP students that are in the same frame of mind as you. Currently we have 5 MERPers and we are all doing well in the program. The best thing to do once you get to MERP is find a study group. This house provides that opportunity. I suggest giving the landlord, Linda a call at 305-665-7575 if you want more details concerning the house. Good luck finding housing for MERP.

-Scott Howard
current MERP mansion tennant.

Did you get $100US or more to post this?

[miyar]

No thank u! I was considering this place but not anymore!:shock:

I am a property owner and I also rent out to MERP students. We have had clean students and not so clean. :) MERP MANSION is a good place and have heard good things about it.

As for the Bugs. Let me just say that we also try to keep a clean house but in defending the MERP Masion... If someone leave things in the sink bugs will come sooner or later. We have had problems like anyone else. Some students have left dirty plates in their rooms and this cause a problem for the entire house. The owners can only do so much... it's also up to the students to keep the house clean.

MERP MANSION is a nice place.

Tony and Sevi Miyar

[islandthrift]

I am a property owner and I also rent out to MERP students. We have had clean students and not so clean. :) MERP MANSION is a good place and have heard good things about it.

As for the Bugs. Let me just say that we also try to keep a clean house but in defending the MERP Masion... If someone leave things in the sink bugs will come sooner or later. We have had problems like anyone else. Some students have left dirty plates in their rooms and this cause a problem for the entire house. The owners can only do so much... it's also up to the students to keep the house clean.

MERP MANSION is a nice place.

Tony and Sevi Miyar

Are you a property owner defending someone else's rental or are you THE property owner defending your own rental? It's hard to tell from your post.

[miyar]

Are you a property owner defending someone else's rental or are you THE property owner defending your own rental? It's hard to tell from your post.


Hope this clears it up...

I do not own merp masion. I do own a property that I rent out to merp students. Yes I am defending Merp Masion.

Tony Miyar

[doc08ihope]

wow, i was thinking about stayin here but sorry i dont think so.....i hope the health and housing department knows about this place....i'll try to forward this to the proper department......

[Miami'sBestHousing]

Yes! Send the Health Department! MERP Mansion is immaculate, and it would be helpful to document that fact. MERP Mansion is a positively terrific place to live. Any of the Merpers who live there now will tell you so. The cost of living there runs $1350-$1450 per month, with two rooms at a slightly higher price. The price includes everything but food, and the house has wonderful amenities. What you get is well worth the extra hundred or two, if you can afford it. It is a well maintained, million dollar house in an upscale, very conveniently located neighborhood. For further info, call the landlord at 305-665-7575. See photos at Picasa Web Albums - Linda - Med Student H... (http://picasaweb.google.com/medstudenthousing/MedStudentHouse)

[Scott1981]

ok, this thread is really creepy.

[papaya]

Is RentfromJudy (owner or manager of the Merp mansion) perhaps the same person as Miami'sBestHousing?
Can mods check the IP addresses for the 2 accounts?
Look at this thread:
RentFromJudy (http://www.valuemd.com/members/rentfromjudy.html) http://www.valuemd.com/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif
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Need housing for July-October MERP? Call me at 305-665-7575 for a really good place where you won't need a car. For photos and details, go to
Picasa Web Albums - Judy - Med Student H... (http://picasaweb.google.com/medstudenthousing/MedStudentHouse)

[iluvnerds]

Hi Peeps! I've read the thread. The long negative thread has been posted before and properly refuted and deleted. Needless to say sounds like someone has an ax to grind. Besides way more people have had positive things to say about living at MERP Mansion. Hence, I am taking the plung and moving into the Mansion for the July 2008 MERP.

Won't you join me??? :)

[islandthrift]

Is RentfromJudy (owner or manager of the Merp mansion) perhaps the same person as Miami'sBestHousing?
Can mods check the IP addresses for the 2 accounts?
Look at this thread:

I did a check, they are not coming form the same place. The way the owner of MERP Mansion gets around the spamming rule is to have many different people post on their behalf.

[Miami'sBestHousing]

Is RentfromJudy (owner or manager of the Merp mansion) perhaps the same person as Miami'sBestHousing?
Can mods check the IP addresses for the 2 accounts?
Look at this thread:

This situation has already been investigated by Doc (last November) and was found to be in compliance with Value MD's rules.

[Miami'sBestHousing]

I did a check, they are not coming form the same place. The way the owner of MERP Mansion gets around the spamming rule is to have many different people post on their behalf.

When tenants tell me how happy they are to be staying at MERP Mansion, I ask them to let others know. A delighted customer is the best way to sustain one’s livelihood. I am in business to please my customers so that they are happy to recommend me.

Favorable posts about MERP Mansion have also come from people I’ve never met or spoken with, who have apparently heard about MERP Mansion’s well earned reputation for excellence. I was delighted to see that even my “competitor” (who has never communicated with me) posted a comment attesting to the quality of the accommodations at MERP Mansion. I assume he must be a good landlord, too, since he is standing up for truth.

[papaya]

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Miami Housing
JANUARY '07 ROSS 5TH SEMESTER STUDENTS --

Guys, I found a really nice house near campus. I moved in last night, and I'm looking for fellow students to occupy the other bedrooms. The price is great.
The house is amazing. I'm a quiet, studoius guy. You're welcome to join me here if you are like-minded. You can reach my landlord at 305-665-7575.
ART from Michigan

If you are the landlord, then who is Art from Michigan? This thread has really lost me...

[stangkillin99ss]

Rentee's

I am speaking from PERSONAL experience. I LIVED in the house for 4 months. These people who are recommending it that own other places have no room to speak being that they have simply "seen the house" and never actually had to deal with any problems that arose while living there. The place MAY have been upgraded since i was living there almost 2 semesters ago, but i doubt it. In addition to that NO STUDENT NEEDS THE EXTRA HEADACHES!! Save yourself the time and agony and avoid this place all together. Make an informed and wise decision, at the least were talking $5,000!! And that is to SHARE a bedroom with someone else, you wont even get your own room for 5 grand!! Think about if you have a roomate who is drama, at your own complex at least you can go to YOUR ROOM, in this place no because that person may be sleeping right next to you, in the same room. I have MANY more pictures, emails, recorded conversations between me and the owner whos name has already been posted (LK) of how she refuses to refund me my $790 deposit if i didnt post up something nice about her "MERP MANSION"

Im biting the bullet for everyone else, do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY!

Oh and in response to MiamiBest's post about truth...the TRUTH is in the pudding pictures are worth 1,000 words. Heres more:
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_0737.jpg Rotten doors that leak water into the bedroom when the miami rains come in.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_0739.jpg Another rotten door with a piece of wood holding it together.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_0740.jpgAn old trashy water heater that was thrown in the back yard, sat there for 4 months, dunno if it ever got disposed of but made the house look terrible.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l181/stangkillin99ss/IMG_0748.jpg Everyones favorite friends that kept us company while studying in the "Study area"
Iluvnerds- the post was deleted before because LK threatened to not give me my deposit back if i didnt remove it, in MY best interest it was removed NOT for violation of ANY rules. This is what happened to me im just posting my opinion about the MERP MANSION, i believe i still have a right to do that dont i?

papaya- Yes rentfromjudy is the owner/manager of merp mansion. It is two older females (the owner and judy hence the name rentfronjudy) who rent out the house, they live next door to the MERP MANSION.

[Miami'sBestHousing]

If you are the landlord, then who is Art from Michigan? This thread has really lost me...

Art from Michigan was one of the Ross students who stayed at MERP Mansion last year. He especially liked the neighborhood because it is such a pretty and safe area for jogging, an activity he enjoyed on a daily basis.

[stangkillin99ss]

Miamibest,

The post you made previously and this new one sure sounds like you have some hand in the MERP MANSION pot......but what do i know?

[Miami'sBestHousing]

Merp Mansion

Hello Hello. I would like to start a thread about place TO stay in Miami. During March MERP 2008 I stayed at the MERP MAnsion. I want to share my experience thus far. I am not being payed to do this, however it was a request. Otherwise I would normally be to lazy to post something like this.
I love living here. It is a little bit of a party house. We also get a lot of studying done. We are still in the middle of the program, but everyone here has passed the first mini, one of the guys here got the class high score. We normally study together before exams which are every wednesday and friday. When we first got here we would do everything together. It was fun. As time passed we all became more independent and now we study with a variety of people from the program, but we still review before the quizzes. Okay enough about school. One last thing MERP is no joke. They tell us from the get go to study in groups and study hard.

Okay about the pad. The house is a four bedroom house. Two of the rooms are shared two are singles. There is a pool and a hot tube. To be honest we don't use the hot tube too often I think I have used it twice in the last month, but we swim every week. The house is kept in great condition. If anything goes wrong I call the landlord and she is always willing to take care of any issues. (ie the internet wasn't working she went out and bought a new router, shower head broke she had a new one..) The furniture isn't great, but it is a place to rest your rump. I heard one of the guys taking about how she wants to improve the furniture. Other then that no major complaints. Oh the water pressure is low, ice machine in fridge no work no big deal though enough said about that.

Usually during the weekend everyone goes out together. There is like 30 of us for dinner. We all meet at the MM and go out together. Bring cash otherwise the waiters get upset. Some of us drink some don't. People come over to study all the time. The neighbor hood is beautiful. It is close to everything. I have a bicycle and ride to the grocery store sometimes, but usually we go shopping together some of the guys have a car.

Price, the truth about the price is it is pretty competitive. You could probably save a couple hundo, but to live this nice no way. The singles are about thousand more, but you get the privacy of your own room.

Pretty much everything is included and as long as your not wasteful I don't assume you will break the budget, which is what ever the people spent the program before.

For me one of the best reasons for staying here is it was easy. Took the pressure out of having to find a place and rent furniture set up accounts for the internet.....

What else. Not much. Like I said before I love living here. Recommend it.


Thank you, jmnoq, for your many kind words about MERP Mansion. Yesterday, by phone, the parent of one of your house mates expressed similar delight with the accommodations and service at MERP Mansion.

Regarding two points of concern mentioned in your post -- I sent a plumber as soon as I read that the ice machine was not working and the water pressure was low. He found the ice machine blocked by a package of frozen food. He also found some cut-off valves in the house not fully open. He removed the box of frozen food from the ice maker and he increased the water pressure by fully opening all cut-off valves. Everything is now working fine. In the future, please let me know of any problems, even those you consider “no big deal” as stated in your post. Thank you.

[Ross-MD]

one thing i dont understand is that if LK is so sure abt the heavenly merp mansion, why cant she just tell us the story behind the pictures. is "original thread starter" posting fake pictures? photoshop perhaps?

[RentFromJudy]

If you are looking for housing, the MERP mansion is fine. There are no infestations of any kind. The house is in good shape. It is actually a very nice place to stay. It has a well-kept pool. It is cleaned every Wednesday and the yard is taken care of as well. A washer and dryer are in the house. If you want a nice neighborhood and a quiet place to study, I suggest the MERP Mansion. Also, if you choose to live here find other MERP students that are in the same frame of mind as you. Currently we have 5 MERPers and we are all doing well in the program. The best thing to do once you get to MERP is find a study group. This house provides that opportunity. I suggest giving the landlord, Linda a call at 305-665-7575 if you want more details concerning the house. Good luck finding housing for MERP.

-[edit]
current MERP mansion tennant.

Ross-MD, there is no need for the landlord of MERP Mansion to sing its praises when Merpers who live there are recommending the place, such as the above post by [edit]. MERP Mansion’s long-standing reputation for quality, service, location and value evolved over time. It is based on the comments of Merpers who lived there and also some who visited there. Because MERP Mansion is such a spacious and attractive house with country-club-like amenities, it has frequently been “The Place” where Merpers gathered to celebrate successful mid-terms. This has helped it to become well known, and there has sometimes been a waiting list for staying at MERP Mansion. The landlord is pretty picky about who gets in, and it’s not for everyone. She wants only studious tenants who will enjoy studying with other like-minded students.

If you are still looking for answers to specific concerns, you may find what you want to know on the ValueMD thread entitled “Places NOT to rent in Miami.” There, you will find the landlord’s response on 10-5-07 to each of the original false allegations posted and then deleted by a former Merper who was seeking attention, who appears now to still be in that rut. Also, proof that the landlord promptly returned security deposits to ALL occupants of MERP Mansion will be made available to any prospective Merper upon request.

[stangkillin99ss]

I too have proof from the LANDLORDS (who rentfromjudy the above poster works for) bank, where she refuses to sign my signed and NOTARIZED form to return my deposit. LK stated to MY MOTHER (yes my mom on the phone can you believe that!!) that if SHE (my mom for goodness sake) didnt post something on ValueMD about how good her place is, i would never see my deposit. My mom doesnt even know HOW to use a dang computer!!LOL

[jabee_usm]

Wow, this Linda lady must be a snake in the grass! Besides all of the scams with this place, it is really too high! She must be money hungry! I was once considering this place, but I will never even think about that again!

[the sheriff]

so.. BESIDES Merp Mansion where else is there to live in Miami?

[jabee_usm]

You should do a search! There are tons of places! You can use craigslist....RUSOM classifieds....Facebook, etc....!

[stangkillin99ss]

Yea no kidding its too high, tell me what house in miami RENTS for over 90k a year?

[miyar]

You should do a search! There are tons of places! You can use craigslist....RUSOM classifieds....Facebook, etc....!
Jambee, did you find a place yet?

Tony and Sevi
About (http://*********.com)

[jabee_usm]

I think I am going to stick with Miami Villas since my deposit is non-refundable! I highly recommend your place though!:)

[Dr.Kim]

It's not easy for newbies who are nowhere near Miami to decide where to stay. Finding an affordable, conveniently located, safe place to live in Miami on a street that doesn't turn in to a canal during the June-September rainy season, is actually quite difficult. Having stayed at Merp Mansion myself, I am appalled by what one individual has been posting about that outstanding place. No student could ever hope to find a better place to stay. I've stayed in a few places during my undergraduate and graduate studies, and I have also visited places where my classmates are staying. Merp Mansion is unequivocally the best place by far, in terms of quality, location, and service provided by the landlord. It runs about $200 per month more than places that don't even come CLOSE by comparison. If you can afford that extra amount, your life in Miami will be much better if you can get a space at Merp Mansion. Good luck!