Questions, answered.

The setting. Trailside is four two-story brick buildings on two and a half acres in the middle of Ankeny, with a lawn and a gazebo in the center and trees old enough to shade the buildings. Every apartment has a sliding glass door out to its own patio or balcony, every building has a furnished two-story lounge inside the front door, and the High Trestle Trail is two blocks away. It feels a little like camp, and that is not what most people expect when they pull in off 1st Street.

Trailside sits just north of W 1st Street, Ankeny's main east-west street, with the property's own drive connecting 1st Street and 3rd Street. The High Trestle Trail passes two blocks away and the Prairie Trail district, with its shops, restaurants and the DMACC campus, starts about a quarter mile south. Hy-Vee is a mile away, the John Deere plant is half a mile west, Interstate 35 is under two miles east on 1st Street, and downtown Des Moines is about eleven miles down I-35.

Come through the front door of any of the four buildings and you are in a two-story room with a wood staircase, couches, a dining table and a bookshelf. One of them has a pool table. They are furnished and open to residents, and only eighteen apartments share each one, so it works more like a big shared living room than an amenity you have to book. Have people over, work at the table, or read somewhere that is not your apartment.

Two blocks. The High Trestle Trail is a paved trail for bikes and walking that runs from Ankeny out through Slater, Madrid and Woodward, including the lit half-mile bridge over the Des Moines River. From Trailside you can be on it in a few minutes without putting a bike on a car.

Three plans. Two one bedroom layouts, the Oak and the Maple, are both 680 square feet from $900. The Spruce is a two bedroom of 850 square feet from $1,025. Every plan has a sliding glass door to a private patio or balcony, a kitchen with a dishwasher and a built-in desk, a walk-in closet and a full bath. All three are drawn to scale with real furniture on the Apartments section of the home page, and the listings page always shows what is open right now.

Yes, all seventy-two. Ground floor apartments open onto a patio and upstairs apartments onto a balcony, through a sliding glass door in the living room. Every window and sliding door comes with blinds.

Yes. Every apartment has air conditioning, plus ceiling fans in the living room and the bedroom.

A range, a refrigerator and a dishwasher, with a built-in desk at the end of the counter. The kitchen wraps two walls in the one bedrooms, so there is real counter and cabinet space rather than a galley.

Every apartment has a walk-in closet, and most plans also have a utility room with shelving. The Spruce adds a coat closet by the door. Thirty-two garages are available for $60 a month if you need room for a car, a bike or the things that do not fit inside.

Carpet in the living areas and bedrooms, vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom.

Electricity is in your own name. Water, sewer and trash are covered under current leases, and the utility terms for your apartment are written into your lease, so check yours. Internet service is your own. Parking along the drive is free, and a garage is optional at $60 a month.

Every dollar it takes to get keys, listed before you apply: a $50 application fee per adult applicant, a security deposit equal to one month's rent (refundable at move-out, less any damage), and the first month's rent. There is no administrative fee. On a $900 one bedroom that comes to $1,850. A garage adds $60 a month if you want one, and pet fees apply only if you have a pet.

We publish what we look for, so you know where you stand before you spend anything on an application: monthly income before taxes of two and a half times the rent (about $2,250 a month for a $900 apartment), a credit score of 625 or above, and two years of rental history. Housing Choice vouchers are welcome, and the income test is not applied to the portion of rent your voucher pays. Not sure whether you clear these? Call and ask before you apply. We would rather tell you honestly than take your application fee.

Neither one is automatically a no. If credit or income falls short, a lease guaranty service can stand behind your lease, which often lets us approve an application that would not clear our criteria on its own. It works a lot like a co-signer without needing to ask anyone you know. If the deposit is the problem, a deposit coverage program lets you pay a much smaller fee instead of a full month and keep the difference in your pocket at move-in. Both are priced on your own situation rather than a flat rate, so ask before you apply and we will get you the exact number.

Yes. Dogs are $50 a month and cats are $35 a month, with a $250 non-refundable fee per pet and a maximum of two pets per apartment. Assistance animals are not pets: service animals and support animals are welcome, with no fee, no deposit and no monthly charge, and they do not count against the pet limit.

Free off-street parking runs along the drive that connects 1st Street and 3rd Street through the property. Thirty-two garages are available for $60 a month. Ask which garages are open when you apply.

Yes, a laundry room in each of the four buildings, pay per load. You never carry a basket to another building.

We do. Lawn care, the flower beds, the trees and the gazebo are all maintained by the property, so the two and a half acres are yours to use and not yours to mow.

Call (515) 334-3345, email trailsideankeny@stanbroughrealty.com, or request a showing from any open apartment on the listings page. Showings are by appointment and take about fifteen minutes.

Online, from the apartment's own listing. Every open apartment on the listings page links to its photos, a showing request and the application. The fee is $50 per adult applicant, and applications are reviewed in one to two business days.

Online, through the resident portal. You can pay from a bank account or a card and set up automatic payments so it is never late.

Through the same resident portal. Describe the issue, add a photo if it helps, and the maintenance team schedules the repair. For anything urgent, call the office.

Stanbrough Realty, a Des Moines property management company. Leasing, showings, rent and maintenance all go through their office at (515) 334-3345.