Element Austin Apartments — Local services in Austin

I am on year two now. The first year I was here, I spent only half my time here and the rest in dallas due to my father being diagnosed with cancer right after I moved. I didnt have a lot of interaction with the previous office staff so I can only say they were nice enough. However, there is a new office staff that I can say has saved my sanity more than once.

Right after my father passed, I moved my mother down here with me until we could figure out what to do. The manager here, Andrea, and the assistant manager Tom were amazing to us, working with me and my mom and showing kindness that I wasnt expecting. They found out our situation and immediately started working on helping us. We ended up with her on the lease but right after, her dog passed. They worked with us when getting her a new dog (she was already heart broken about my father and her dog was just too much). I could not have asked for more from them and really had a bad situation much easier due to Tom and Andrea.

I work from home and get packages a lot. Tom has even been so nice as to bring me my packages when they were too heavy for me to carry. Even maintenance brought one to me once. Its things like this that touches me and makes other things worth overlooking. I have lived many places, and never had the office treat me with such respect and courtesy.

The apartment is VERY small, and since I got the apartment before I saw it, I was shocked. So be sure to see the space if you can. Having moved from a large townhome to this apartment, I had to turn my 2nd bedroom into a storage room and my dining into my home office. I only say this to make sure people know to trim down as much as possible before moving.

Other cons would be pests. They come and go, mainly showing up when another apartment is being setup for someone to move in. They do charge pest control, but will come every week if you request it. I am having that issue now due to my upstairs neighbors moving. It can be frustrating, especially since I am horribly frightened by bugs, but again they will come spray. I just dont like that my dogs are exposed to it and wish they would just spray inside the walls or something...I dont know how that all works, but only spraying inside seems to not work. There are also a lot of water bugs outside where people (myself included) walk their dogs.

Speaking of dogs, there is a really nice remodeled dog park and some waste bins around the complex, but none around my building. I am very particular to pick up after mine, and have the amazon receipts for poop bags to prove it, but others do not. I hate having to tell everyone to watch for poop when they visit. But I do love that this community is full of pets, including large breeds which most do not allow. And most of the dogs are friendly, except mine which are older and more cranky. But everyone says hello when walking their dogs. Very Nice. I just, again, wish we had a dog waste bin here.

People have talked about the washer/dryer issues. This place has washer dryer combos and it steams the clothes dry. When you take them out, they feel damp but are dry within minutes. I would prefer a typical setup, but this place is too small for that so I appreciate they offer what they can.

In the beginning, it felt like they were doing something constantly that required them to enter the apartment (often when I was out of town taking care of my dad). That has ended, with only minimal reasons to enter (fire safety inspection, etc). They also will email us all when something needs to happen and will work with you if it causes issues (I work from home with dogs, so that helps).

They also offer lots of community gatherings, which is nice.

Google fiber has been installed, though I havent switched yet.

Neighbors for the most part are very friendly, nice, considerate, etc. Some of them dont want to be bothered, which I understand, but overall its a friendly community and very diverse.

Overall, I like it here. Tom and Andrea make it worth overlooking the issues and enjoying the pros. Just check it out and see...

Before even considering living at The Elements, I read through the previous yelp reviews as well as any other reviews on this place I could find from a simple google search. Just from reading the reviews and looking through the pictures that others posted, it seemed clear that this was not the place to live. I was looking for a studio/efficiency that was less than $800 a month, was on the highest floor, had hardwood floors, had parking, and was within a 15 minute drive to the UT campus. In addition to that, the area had to be relatively safe and have a major grocery store within a 15 minute drive.

After going through an apartment specialist and seeing at least 5 different apartments, this was the best one compared to the others. The leasing person in the front office (who is currently not there anymore) took the time to show me a newly renovated studio. After living here for at least two months now, hopefully I am qualified to give an accurate review of this complex.

Pricing: I currently pay $765 for the smallest room they offer (420sqft). The pricing now is much higher as shown on the website. With utilities, I pay about $850 a month. This is definitely pricey to me, but apparently that's considered affordable in Austin. Every other apartment complexes I looked at around that price or lower was carpeted (I'm allergic to carpet) and just old looking. Other studios/efficiencies that were similar to what I was looking for were over $1000. With the new pricing that The Element prices are showing, I would definitely hesitate a lot longer before renewing my contract.

Spacing: 420 sqft for one person sounds small, but I love it! I am able to fit a couch, bed, and shelving without feeling cramped. I have a foldable table that I take out and use when needed and fold it back up not needed.

Utilities: The electricity is handled by the city. The water bill is given in a separate bill on top of your rent. The complex takes the total water bill and split it among square-footage as well as residents. Since I am in the smallest sqft and only have 1 person occupied in it, I would get the smallest water bill amount (usually around $40-$50). I don't like this process to much because it does not encourage water conservation. So even if you use a small amount of water, you can still end up with a large bill if everyone else in the complex goes crazy with the water. Also in relation to the water, my water has turned off without warming at least a few times each month.

Location: The Riverside area is not too bad as other people have mentioned. Everytime I tell someone that I live in East Riverside, they give me a "seriously?", "what were you thinking?" kind of response. Honestly, it's not bad for the pricing. There have been a couple of times that someone has tried breaking in. Someone would just go around trying to see who left their doors unlocked. Just lock your doors people. Also, be very vigilant about walking in and out from your apartment. Just make sure there aren't any shady people around! As for the resources around that area, there's an HEB 5 minutes away, gas stations everywhere, as well as fast food places everywhere. The Elements is easily accessible to I-35, so that's always nice. However, I-35 is ALWAYS packed.

So in summary, good place for the price I'm paying for! Hopefully this...

Broken A/C, bugs, water often going off, ignoring MULTIPLE work complaints/requests. I've had to stay with other people to avoid these issues.

The A/C has been an issue that I've had to deal with for over a month since I moved in. My first day here, I noticed that the A/C didn't cool to the temperatures that I set the thermostat to. After my first online work order, someone came by to inspect everything- and said everything was fine, it was normal even though I left it on for 10 HOURS with only a 3 degree drop in temperature from 83 to 80. I sent 2 more, during which they replaced the thermostat. It was the last straw when the outside unit turned OFF, it refused to work no matter what I did to the thermostat. I submit another work order, they get it working for a grand total of 2 days...then it went off again. I sent another work order, threatening to send a complaint. This finally helped to fix the A/C, and it is consistently working for the first time since I moved in. Two months after i moved in.

I've been seeing cockroaches since I first moved in. I've had pest control come by several times, and I STILL see them. I've had to buy my own pest- removal bait and traps, but i keep seeing them no matter what. Pest control told me to use stoppers in all sinks to avoid the bugs. Leasing office neglected to give me any, I had to ask one of the maintenance men to give me some in person after several requests.

Even as I write this, the water randomly shuts off without warning. The office sends out an email after the fact that it's been off - the first time it shut off was when my A/C was out. They never have an exact time for when the water will be turned back on, and all you can do is hope.

When I first moved in, there were no sink stoppers and the water faucet was constantly leaking. I noted this in the move-in checklist, and assumed someone would help me. Nope. I went to the leasing office asking them for help with the leaky faucet and sink stoppers, and they said they'd have someone out by next week at the latest. Nobody came, until I filed another ONLINE order asking for help. They fixed the faucet but ignored my request for stoppers.

My dishwasher has overflowed with water, even though I have never used it. It took TWO work orders to fix it, causing my kitchen to overflow with disgusting water several times. It's baffling why work orders don't seem to be taken seriously the first time. I hate making them as much as they probably hate me.

Honestly, if there were only one or two of these issues I wouldn't mind, and accept it's just part of living in an apartment. But the fact that there are so many issues-especially the A/C which is so important to living in Texas- is unacceptable. I love the location and the price is good, but all the other problems I've been having only in the past two MONTHS are exhausting and have chased me out of my own home for long...