Casata Austin — Attraction in Buda

I stayed in a furnished home at Casata in spring 2022 for 2 months. At that time I’d give it a 5 star review despite the generator running loudly as we weren’t hooked up to city power.

That was during the time they offered short term and weekend stays, (which they no longer do.) I found it welcoming and friendly because of the very helpful staff , especially the “campus alchemist” which was intriguing. Jenny did routine check ins and was on the spot about any requests and answered questions. Another staff person was happy to give me a car battery jump when I needed it.

This year I am renting 12 months. The positives: it’s good to have a full time presence in the office (Daniel) when things come up. The amenities are very nice! Pool is always spotless, the common area is great for parties, and the fitness center is available. The community is welcoming and generous with their time and helped me a lot when I first moved in. Also it’s dog friendly and has a big dog park.I enjoy the community garden and working in it. My maintenance work requests were carried out in a timely fashion (except once), The things that need improvement: Property manager when I moved in was stressed and not too helpful, but that has improved with Daniel’s being here. The campus alchemist is no longer here which makes a tremendous difference. She had organized get together and volunteer projects for the people who live here. She was a bridge between management and tenants, Casata advertised occasional live music events and has a beautiful outdoor stage but I’ve yet to hear any musicians there, which seems a shame. It’s seldom used. My main concerns are about the several changes in management companies and the resulting confusion about payments, utilities and trash pickup. The grounds need more attention, specifically the dog park needs new mulch; the plants & shrubs which were lost during the freeze have not been replaced with something that would tolerate the cold, like the lantana; (Fall is an excellent time for planting by the way). I’d like to see a deer fence around the garden because much as I love deer They ate all of our tomatoes. At least they eat well! Last thing, we have residents who are talented in areas(like building a fence) who are willing to help in any of these projects if given the go ahead.

Overall, I like it here very much, and I’d like it even better, if some improvements were made in the community enlisted in order to help. The replacement of the campus alchemist would...

Update they called me while at work then never called back, I’ve reached out multiple times for 2 years, as stated we meet as a community with the owners over issues. Still Nothing Changed. As always the response lacks any responsibility. The utilities are always 300$ plus. The billing is always a mess never updated correctly, no one can explain it who works here. No resolution and I promise to update if there is but doubt there will be. Org post: I moved here 2022at 1325/mo for the Stella and a fixed utilities cost of 150. We were told they wanted to make Austin affordable and build a community, where we knew our neighbors. We heard the calling and came. We were lied to. At renewel without notice my rent rose to 1690 this was not a reduced rate like most places give renews either but I was told the utlities was changing and going to be less. Well that was a lie it doubled I now pay 300 a mo for 605 sq foot 1bed room micro home. The community events stopped the billing issues started and they’ve changed property management 5 times. We as a community met with owners only to be given open answers and zero follow up. This is not luxury. Knock on doors ask anyone no one here is happy with what they’ve done and they know it. But instead of fixing issues they’ve increased the rent again(zero property improvement). I had a long term plan and now will have to uproot my daughter and myself bc of the false advertising and blatant lies and mismanagement and they will point the finger at the other person when it’s all the same people under different company names. The landscaping, trash and actual maintenance is not up kept, we pay 65/mo for internet that doesn’t work and no one can tell us how much electricity kWh we use or how it’s billed. And these are just a few of the surface problems not even all and not ones that effect only me but everyone who lives here across the board. Side note SRG will respond they just took over no they didn’t it’s the same company different name, and it’s thier job to know the constant issues so in responses claiming to not know that; again just a straight out lie. We’ve literally held community meetings. I gave them a chance to make right on their promises before I finally gave my notice and left this review. I’ve been here since day 1 that they opened. Doesn’t matter what company is running it this week there is no excuse. You can find much better properties for way less that actually care and don’t lie...

I’ve lived here since the community became available to residents in the winter of 2021-2022. Originally, I was slated to move in December of 2021, but that ended up being delayed until February of 2022 due to issues with the community even having power.

From there, it was about 3 months until we were off generators and had internet that wasn’t an unreliable mobile hotspot. After that, we’ve had constant foundation issues, bug infestations, car break-ins, someone broke the windows of the clubhouse, and more property management companies than I can keep track of. In the past year, there are at least three separate property management companies that I’m aware of.

Furthermore, there were quite a few amenities promised that never came to fruition, and even with these issues (and for the longest time, difficulties even getting work orders fulfilled, luckily this issue has been resolved by Daniel coming in and actually being a competent property manager), rent was increased substantially for the first renewal, and even more for this next renewal (approx. $300 each year) for substandard units that already are overpriced. The 2-bedroom unit that I’m in will be just shy of $2300 this next year.

I would’ve left after the issues of this past year, but am unable to get out of the lease early due to the property management company being inflexible despite all these issues being voiced by residents, with a penalty of 2 months rent on top of losing the security deposit for breaking the lease.

Not only have we had all these issues which have consistently been ignored by the owners/property management, but in the past few weeks, it has become apparent that important documents have been consistently lost between transfers of property management companies (some lease addendums in my example), and we have even received emails asking us to leave positive reviews despite everything.

TLDR; poor ownership, inconsistent property management (though hopefully upward trend), overpriced, rife with issues and broken promises, and can’t recommend avoiding moving here enough. If I could give it zero...