Element Austin Apartments

Lived here for many months now, and here's what I would say I wish I knew before moving in:

Pros
- Great location - easily on I-35 within 5 min and nearby HEB, gas stations, restaurants, and walking distance to the river
- Fast maintenance (although they don't tell you when to expect them)
- Fees are low, about $10 for pest control monthly, $18 for trash collection, and $13 for renter's insurance.

Cons
- The actual floorplan neither matches their website or the one in their videos.
- The so... called "plank style wood flooring" is poorly-installed vinyl flooring that is peeling up with lots of glue gunk. The filtered water spigot also doesn't exist.
- The units were renovated 8-9 years ago, so lots of wear and tear, and the only energy efficient appliance is the combo washer/dryer.
- They do have a roach problem, and the pest control isn't automatic, so you have to request visits.
- You're billed collectively for water divided based on occupancy and sqft of your unit, so if your neighbor has a leak, you could end up with a hefty bill.
- The water heater is outside the apartment in a non-insulated wood shed, so a 1/3rd of my electricity bill goes to water heating costs.
- The furnace is probably 20 years old, but it does heat the apartment well, just slowly.
- There are over 100 units all sharing a gym with 5(?) machines

- Finally the sound proofing - what I most wish I knew about before moving in, as it's non-existent. I expect sound from my neighbors. However, I suspect given the water stains, the Element flooded at some point, needed to gut the walls and ceilings, and cut costs on re-insulation. Why? Because I know the health status of my upstairs neighbor's prostate, because we have the same floorplan, and I can hear him both walk to the adjacent bathroom due to creaking floor boards, as well as the quality and delays in his stream, followed by the clanking of loose pipes whenever he flushes. I can also hear the words, not simple murmurs, from his television and can easily hear the tune my next door neighbor is singing. Finally, the windows are thin enough to hear normal conversations 10ft away, so if you chose a unit near the dumpster, be aware trash pick up occurs between 12AM-4AM 3x per week, and even my soundproof curtains barely touched the noise levels.

TLDR: Can find better for the current price point, and definitely has some serious sound-proofing issues, but otherwise a good location and fast maintenance.
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This was the first apartment I lived in when I moved out to Austin, it is incredibly close to Downtown where you could easily ride your bike or take a scooter. It is probably the cheapest apartments you'll find that close to downtown, the maintenance comes almost immediately, I did have several issues (ceiling in bathroom collapsing) but they were always resolved timely. I had no issues with bugs my first 1.5yrs, however once COVID hit and they had to stop going into peoples apartments to spray,... ran into quite a few. I still wouldn't hold that against them as they just weren't able to spray every week like they used to, if they are back to spraying each week, you will not see any! While the apartment complex on the outside looks quite bad, once you step into your apartment it is nice looking and pretty modern in some units. This is a great place if you are on a budget and looking to live close to downtown. Read More

They have an annoying policy of handing you a one-week eviction notice within 24 hours of a late payment so make sure you pay before you leave on vacation or set up automatic payment. Otherwise, this is a great place that is affordable for the area. They have made a lot of green efforts in the pool and community areas including a vegetable and herb garden. The staff is friendly and helpful in person but make sure you ask for service requests in person, otherwise the called in requests sometimes... get... Forgotten. Considering how infrequently I've had a service request, it has not been a problem, but it's fair to inform you before signing. Read More