Austin Apartment Ratings, the TRUTH about Ratings on Austin Apartments & Austin Apartment Locators!

Austin Apartment Ratings Explained on Austin Apartments, Apartment Ratings, Apartments in Austin Texas, Round Rock, Leander, Cedar Park & Pflugerville Texas. Many apartments are having move in specials and will work with NO CREDIT or bad credit. Bankruptcy and foreclosure have become more common and will not prevent you from finding a nice place to live. A broken lease or eviction will make the search more difficult, but a good apartment locator can help! Some even have no credit check!

Before you judge a apartment property by its online ratings, remember that people who are happy seldom go online to tell the world how much they love their apartment, they may tell the friends and co-workers...but why would they take the time to find a place online to post how nice their apartment is? Most do not, while there may be some validity to negative post, many posters simply may have a beef with management, the the fault does not always lie with the management.

Sometimes management is at fault, and many properties may have had a management company change since the post, how would you know? Call and ask a reputable license apartment locator and discuss your concerns, if they are unable to answer your questions in a satisfactory manner, or if they have no clue...call another one.

Austin Apartment locators are always free to you, they are paid by the apartment communities to bring them qualified clients, there is absolutely no charge to you, most of them should be able to work with up to 98% of the apartment communities. Experience is a factor and so is being local to the Austin Area. Many national companies may dangle a "rebate" carrot out there to you and can show you a data base of many Apartment communities (but NOT ALL!) and ask you to write their company name on the application when you lease.

The allure of the "rebate carrot" or free move, or whatever they offer is usually dulled by the reality of the number of apartment properties you are able to look at or rent. Its true that they offer a lot to look at...but not all, you will miss many great deals if you use one of these "carrot dangler" sites. Why you ask?

These "NATIONAL OR REBATE OFFERING" Apartment locating sites may only show you apartments that have agreed to pay them if you show up on your own and write their name on the application as the reason you visited them. Many Nicer Apartment Communities may REQUIRE that your apartment locator actually escort you to their property in order to earn their commission, do you really think that the national locating sites or the "rebate if you put my name on the application sites" will show you ALL THE APARTMENTS?

That brings up another issue, "rebate or free move offering sites" do not always pay out what they advertise! They may say they rebate $200...WARNING! Check the fine print...IF YOU CAN FIND IT, if you even get $50 you are more fortunate than most, however, you may have traded seeing the BEST APARTMENTS Available, or the best deal available, for $50...wow, not a real good deal! Again, these rebate sites may not work with ALL APARTMENT PROPERTIES! Do not limit where you will live for the next year for a less that up front promise. What about the move for free sites? It sounds good at first. have you heard of smoke and mirrors? well.... that will be extra! Come to find out MANY NORMAL ITEMS are extra! They start out with offering you a couple hours of a move, IF THE APARTMENTS pay them how they hope...if not, SORRY! You will soon learn that many normal items require and extra charge! How far do you need to go? What Floor ARE YOU ON? How big of a bed?, you want a couch moved too? Again, using one of these sites will limit the available properties you have to look at.

Many Apartment hunters can not see the forest for the tree's when it comes to picking a good apartment locating company, if you want a great place that will make you happy, then look past the national or rebate sites, Austin Texas is full of LOCAL Apartment Locating companies.

(512) 704-RENT

The Best way to find great specials is to contact one of the apartment locators that advertise here. They do provide a FREE service and can save you time, money and frustration...and gas too!

Apartment locators are TOTALY FREE FOR YOU!

And they save you $$$ and find you great deals!

One of Austin Apartment Ratings missions is to explain some of the pitfalls of frequently used apartment ratings sites. While its nice to have a general feel about the apartments that interest you, people that are happy with their apartments seldom go to rating sites to share their joy with the world! Many of the people interested in posting are upset. While there can be very good reasons for being upset, there are also those who post negative responses because they have been evicted, or perhaps they may have been late and are upset about late fees. Those that do not comply with the Apartment communities rules are seldom happy renters.

Think about it, it makes sense.

Then there is one possible negative poster that people do not think about....

The COMPETITORS!!!

After all, a competing Apartment community or anyone else can continually post negative comments, and when this is done over a period of time, it has an effect!

Many of the negative postings about Apartments in Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville & Leander may have had a real reason at the time of the post, but there also may be a good explanation of the situation. Another thing that many apartment seekers may not be aware of is that many Apartments have changed owners recently, perhaps a recent management company change, recent upgrades, change in staff or policies may make all the ranting & raving you read on other apartment rating sites, not worth the time it takes you to read them.

There is yet another often over looked reason that some really good apartments in the Austin area recieve many bad ratings. Have you noticed that many luxury apartments recieve good overall ratings? Did you know that there are many apartments in the Austin and surrounding area that work with "issues"?

Issues can range from bad credit, to broken lease, eviction or criminal history. There are a few select apartments that accept a bankruptcy or will accept a foreclosure, often they are punished for giving renter s a second chance, some have made the point that renters with multiple broken leases (or other issues) are more likely than the average renter to have another broken lease or issue with the apartment that they are currently living at.

It seems a bit ironic that those properties that offer second chance leasing to renters with past issues appear to be more vulnerable to negative attacks from the renters they actually gave a 2nd chance too!

So again, the ratings do not always paint an accurate picture!

So what can you do? Find a reputable apartment locator, (like the ones who advertise on our site!) and ask them, Many times they will be aware of an ownership or management change, these licensed agents are typically full of inside information that will make your next apartment search a lot simpler, and can save you time and money!

Please be aware since we are a new little start up, we may not be fully functional for several months. Please bear with our growing pains and together we can all make Austin a better place to live!

Until we are able to add to our available features, please use our site to find a Free Apartment locator, get a Great deal on movers, obtain School information and find the best way to find utility service, (gas, electric or cable) to your new home!

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July 2011

Its summer, its HOT & so are rent prices!

We have been stating for the past year and a half that the market was changing. In our 7 years of business here in Austin we have never seen anything like this. Availability has decreased and occupancy has increased to as high as 99% in many properties, if a property isn't at 96% you have to wonder why .

A common misconception we have heard time and time again is that it the reason for the Apartments being so full must be because of all the foreclosures, nothing could be farther from the truth. While Austin has had its share of foreclosures. The relative housing market has been quite stable, Austin is the envy of most large cities in the nation... AND THAT...is the problem.

As bad as things seem to Austinites, compared to the rest of the country we are on fire, we have seen a LARGE INCREASE of the number of folks moving to Austin in the past 12 months, and its not slowing down.

The large number of people moving to Austin combines with the lack of new apartments being built is the problem. It is true that there are a number of projects proposed and many are currently being finalized. The problem is once the plans are finalized it may take 18 months before the apartments are ready to be occupied.

AND, many of the project will be HIGHER end Luxury Apartments Homes, with rents averaging $1200 per month. To make matters worse, many Apartments in the Austin area that use to work with credit or rental issues are changing their criteria due to their high occupancy, and are no longer working with many issues such as credit or rental issues.

February 2011

What a difference a year has made!

Last February we forecasted higher rents, and higher rents are here for the next 12 months. This isnt just landlords wanting in increase their revenue, this isnt just new poeple coming to Austin, this isnt just folks that have lost their houses, this isnt just the fact that basically no one is building apartments right now.

THIS IS ALL OF THEM AT ONCE

THE PERFECT RENTAL STORM

Renters that hesitate lose, we dont mean to go rent the first thing you see, we mean WHEN you see an apartment that you really love, and your gripe is that the rent is $50 more than you wanted to spend or that they wont give you a move in special, understand that if YOU DONT RENT THE APARTMENT,

SOMEONE ELSE WILL!

MAY 2011

As we said in our February article

THE PERFECT RENTAL STORM

Rents continue to rise along with occupancy, many apartments have little or NO availability for ASAP, 3 bedrooms are in real short supply. There are a few "planned" apartments, but they will not be coming online till 2013, in the mean time understand that the shortage of apartments effect more than the price, the qualifying criteria usually tightens up. We have had 15 properties that have STOPPED accepting broken leases, now more than ever, an Apartment locator can make your apartment search easier!

(512) 704-RENT

Free Apartment Locator Service

(Read our article exactly 1 year ago below!)

February 2010

There are still Specials but occupancy numbers for February have increased, it is yet to be seen if this is a trend change or a small aberration. We have passed through the usual "slow" time of the year and we look for the apparent trend to possibly continue in increased occupancy rates and expect increased rents could follow, although one unknown is the financial condition of the many Austin area apartment complexes, for many it may be a delicate balance involving income coming in and money going out to pay their bills, now is not the time to raise rents if it means that your renters may go to a competitors property.

This is the time to make that deal, the end of 2009 numbers show the occupancy level has risen to 90.4% from 89.5 %, the first rise in many months. If the economy has indeed begin to recover as experts predict, its possible that we will begin to see less incentives and at some point in the future, higher prices. Average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in December remained the same as in June 2009 at $942, but still down from last December at $962. That may be the average, but various Austin apartment locators can still find 2 bedrooms as low as $599 according to recent price checks.

January 2010, COLD Temperatures and HOT Prices!

The BOTTOM LINE IS.....RENTERS WANT SPECIALS!

......... and they WILL GET THEM!

Pricing appears stable, many apartment communities have tried raising rents only to see their occupancy numbers decline. Loyalty is out the window, renters want deals! Many renters who are happy with their current apartments are still looking around before their lease expires, and many times they find a much better deal. It look like Cedar Park may become a vacation destination with their upcoming water park.

November 2009 is here, Cooler weather and HOT PRICES !

Many Apartment communities have tried to raise prices, fortunately for you, November still brings low rents! Higher prices have not held and apartment communities have for the most part reversed themselves to avoid seeing their competitors take all the renters.

November is a great time to get a great deal and lock it in!

September 2009 is here,

A few days of cooler weather with temperatures only in the mid 90's is welcome.

Specials are still to be had if you know where to look, but many properties have started testing out higher rates, the question is IF they will stick. There are still a few properties coming online like the Platinum Lakeline which hopes to be open to rent by November the 1st.

August is here, the only thing hotter than the weather are the SPECIALS! This is a great time to grab a hot deal on a great apartment. The overbuilding in Round Rock has lowered the rents for almost everyone. Brand new never lived in luxury apartments start in the low $600 range, nice newer apartments can be found on 620 for the low to mid $500's!

July is HERE, The weather is HOT and so are the specials!

Its a great time to be a renter! Many newer apartment complexes have opened up have put downward pressure on rents, even in the nicest areas! Many nice newer properties start in the mid $500 range for 1 bedrooms, totally unheard of just 6 months ago. Specials are everywhere. If you are looking for a great deal, an Apartment locator is your best ally in your search for the best deals! There is no charge to you in anyway, the properties compensate them for bringing qualified applicants, so EVERYONE WINS!

May 2009, its a great time to be a renter in the Austin Area, rental concessions continue, however many great deals are being offered only until an Apartment community fills up their vacant units. Apartment communities send out unadvertised HOT SPECIALS to Apartment Locators who in turn arrive in droves at the hottest deals with their prospective renters!

Not only is this a good time for renters, experienced Apartment locators find this to be one of their busiest times in years, always interview the prospective Apartment locator before making your choice, not all are equal...and a bad or inexperienced locator may leave you with regrets for the term of your lease...so ASK QUESTIONS and ASK FOR REFERENCES!!

APRIL 2009, The Apartment properties are more willing than ever to LOWER their rents to attract qualified renters! Prices have continued to drop and SPECIALS such as FREE RENT are being offered more and more. Finding the right Apartment locator service in Austin Texas can save you time and money! More properties have expressed a willingness to work with foreclosures, bankruptcy and broken leases, an Austin apt locator can help when you need it Apartments locators in Austin Texas know which property may be willing to work with what ever issue you may have, Austin apt locators can make it easy for you.

As of October 2008 it appears the Apartment market in the Austin and surrounding area is softening, rents are beginning to come down, there are more specials than ever. We look for a continued decrease in rents and increase in specials, for this reason we do not recommend that you sign more than a 12 month lease. Most shorter term leases still come with a premium attached. We expect some of the better deals to be offered by the brand new apartments which seem to be on every corner.The Austin Apartment finders are busy!

March 2009, Prices continue to decline, Apartment occupancy continues to drop, the number of new apartment online continue to rise. Many apartment we have contacted have actually become more willing to work with certain issues such as bankruptcy, foreclosures and broken leases. Apartments may be willing to price match similar properties. This is a great time to be a rent, not so great of a time to be an apartment property owner. Stand your ground and fight for the best deal!

As of January 2009 the SPECIALS ARE HERE! We now think this is the time to find a great deal. Deals available now have not been seen for a long time!

February 2009, How times have changed, DEALS ARE BACK! We have not seen a time favoring the renter for the past 4 years. Many class A properties are not only offering SPECIALS, but also lower rents, this makes now a fine time to get a great deal!

Austin MSA

3rd Quarter 2008

After 15 consecutive quarters of increasing rental rates, third quarter put the brakes on Austin's momentum causing rental rates to stand still and, even more surprising, occupancy to stumble. While not declining a significant amount, down .21%, this is only the second time in our recorded history that occupancy has fallen during a third quarter. Usually, this time frame is bolstered by returning students and in-migration, however an influx of new units left many of the "student-heavy" sectors with little to no gains this time around.

And the new units will keep on coming. Currently there are over 12,000 units already under construction and developers expect to complete over half of these during the next two, historically slow quarters. Expect occupancy and rents to continue to struggle as the new units are added to the inventory.