Waters at Barton Creek Apartments - Austin, Texas

Cream

I don't know how this place is still inhabited. The owner is prickly and rude, which I suspect is a driver of their need to change management companies several times a year. Nobody seems to know what's going on and that rolls down to the residents to deal with.

They can't keep their billing straight so it's very challenging to make payments. Erroneous notices of late or missing payments are common. They seem to have lost everyone's lease paperwork so who knows how much they're just improvising and making up charges.

The water changes from hot to cold on its own. It makes showering hazardous and a bidet dangerous. They regularly turn the water off to attempt repairs but the problem persists.

There is a cockroach infestation (the huge ones) with an ever increasing population. The monthly pest control fee is apparently used to buy them food and shelter.

The swimming pool was closed for an extended period due to some contamination and I have doubts about the safety and health of the water.

The provided community recycling bins are woefully undersized which results in weekly overflow.

Miguel the maintenance guy is a gem and should be given a massive raise.

Lauren

Do not rent here!!! I’ve lived here wayyy longer than I should. Roof has leaked for over 3 years and they will not fix it (the entire roof probably needs to be replaced). They keep shutting off the water for repairs for days at a time - sometimes it’s shut off with no warning. Laundry room constantly has broken machines and is dirty. Parking is a joke and a mess. It looks like there’s mold in my air vents (harmless or not it’s still mold or dirt - I’m not a dirty person). Had a problem with bugs and I had to take self-help measures to seal off areas of my kitchen where they were getting in because the apartment wouldn’t do anything. They keep changing management companies and I don’t even want to begin to guess why - I think it’s up to 7-8 changes in the last three years. You cannot make payments online like a normal, modern apartment complex (even if that’s what’s written in your lease). Apparently they haven’t kept lease information on file at all from the change from the last management company. The buildings/infrastructure are too old and basically this complex should probably not even have tenants. There is maintenance staff and they are prompt/professional but that’s about the only good thing about living here. No matter what your financial situation is just take your money elsewhere - this is a very poorly managed complex and by far the worst I have ever lived in. Moving out can’t come soon enough!!

Melroy Pinto

Do not move in here. It was a nightmare for me. Pests and cockroaches all over the apartment. Shown a different apartment and made us move into a different apartment which was damaged by the 2021 winter storm. The landlady is rude and the management changed like 3 times within a year that I was living there. Even met with a bike accident within the premises since the lamps break down every few weeks. The whole apartment structure is old and there hasnt been much redevelopment done. One poor maintenance guy used to come in to help us since most appliances and inhouse lights used to break down. If you have kids and pets, please avoid at all costs.

Austin Harris

Don’t live here. The owner is on site all the time and makes it tough for residents. I was there from 2022 to 2024 and in two years went through 5 management changes.
The constant headache of THEIR poor bookkeeping (WHICH IS THEIR MAIN JOB) should be more than enough reason to not sign here.
Trust ALL of the negative reviews on this one.

Alejandro Ortiz Chávez

Looking for a taste of the 1990s with a dash of frustration? Look no further than Waters at Barton Creek!

Forget the convenience of online payments or automatic transfers. Here, you'll be treated to a delightful monthly ritual of being rejected if your payment does not match the balance that the office want to charge you. Visit many times your favourite grocery store to generate multiple money orders that sum your balance.

Do it fast ! Otherwise they will charge you late fees.

The management it's very strict about their policies but does not provide a good service for residents.

Matthew Milone

TLDR: the people who run the place are frauds, and their water system needs repairs.

I completed the application process but never signed a lease with them. After collecting $200 of application and "administrative" fees, they sent me a 12-month contract instead of the 6-month one I applied for. They didn't respond to my request to correct the application, but my need for housing was time-sensitive, so I had pursue housing elsewhere.

I sought a refund, which they initially refused. (They claimed that the discrepancy in the duration was something we could work out *after I signed*.) Upon subsequent calls, they claimed that they would appeal the decision, but they never followed through on their promise to call back, despite a few reminders over a few weeks. Months later, I still haven't gotten my money back.

Even without that, their operation is pretty sketchy. The lease listed 14 monthly fees and 5 one-time fees beyond those I had already paid. (Some of the mentions may have referred to the same fee, but it was impossible to tell for sure.)

Additionally, when I toured an apartment, the "hot" water from the bathroom sink was cold.

It's a shame that the place is run by crooks, because their apartments and amenities are beautiful, pleasantly remote, and relatively inexpensive.

Quinn Falk

DO NOT MOVE INTO THESE APARTMENTS.
I wish I had read the reveiws before signing my lease but this place is falling apart and the owner is not willing to spend the money to make any actual repairs. The roofs are leaking, the boiler is constantly "being fixed", the maintanence staff is down to one person who is not equipped to deal with the detiorating buildings. My bathroom is ceiling is leaking and coming down for the second time in the 9 months I have been here, my car was stolen was from the premises last July and nothing was done to update security measures.

Mimie Li, the owner, is incredibly rude and does not care about the tenants beyond rent payments. She has gone through at least 3 different property management companies while I've been here and will completely dismiss you if any of these issues are brought up.

The location is not worth it at all, just drive to Zilker, but spare yourself the 12 months of headache.

Christopher May

It should be named No Water at Barton Creek because the complex has constant water issues. Not to mention the buildings have major structural issues and are filled with mold. It is really best to avoid this place and let it get bulldozed so a new developer can bring something legitimate here.

The location is great, maintenance works hard with few resources, and the pool is quite nice. In the three year time period that I was there, the owners moved through five or six different management companies. The newest group is the best so far, but that really wasn't a high bar since the last group managed it like a slum.

We had to call the city to have a 311 investigator come out because our water was shut off. They were performing unannounced repairs and left the water shut off to entire buildings for days at a time over the course of a few weeks. There were no responses to emails or phone calls, and no one was in the office when I would go down. That was a stressful period of time.

They would also add random miscellaneous charges to rent payments. You could have them remove it if you were able to get a hold of them to figure out what it was a charge for. That and they'll increase rent a minimum $200 each year.

They may have added a coat of black paint to the stairs to hide the cracks in the concrete. But you can't hide the warped landings, the rails held on by nails, 15 foot high walkways with a single 2x4 as support, and the 8 foot cantilevered balconies which sag. Take a walk through the dog poop landmine of a parking lot and you'll see the parking spots that you share with trees. Good luck during winter storms when all those same trees fall on your cars.

One of the only reasons this place has over a two star rating is that past management companies would give tenants $50 off rent if they left a good review. You can do better than No Water at Barton Creek.