Need advice - apartments along Far West Blvd (Austin, Smiley: real estate, cheap apartments) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

zhugeliang1 · 10-05-2010, 10:35 PM

Driving through Far West between Doss Elementary to the ARC on the intersection - seems to be a number of apartments - can anyone comment on those apartments - are there one, two, three bedrooms, are they safe, what are the rents generally like. Thanks.

centralaustinite · 10-06-2010, 06:35 AM

Safe, mainly UT grad students, post-college folks, some families. Older complexes, some definitely have 3 bedrooms not all. No specifics about rent, I imagine that they are fairly reasonable.

Trainwreck20 · 10-06-2010, 07:58 AM

That is, imho, a generally nice area if you are going to get an apartment. They do have quite a few UT students, although there are a lot of undergrad (not just grad) students, as well. In my experience (albeit somewhat dated), those students tend not to be as much of the 'party crowd' as closer in to campus. I lived in Savannah Ridge (not sure if the name has changed) many years ago, and there were quite a few snow-birds there during the winter, as well.

The apartments are somewhat older, so don't expect vaulted ceilings, crown molding, balconies, etc., but the quality of construction seemed good enough while I was living there (not terribly noisy, etc).

Again, this was a while back when I lived there - I split a 2/2 apartment with a roomate for a total of $320/month (160 each) when we moved in, although it went up to $500+ before we moved out a couple years later.

atxcio · 10-06-2010, 09:47 AM

Very safe area -- although there are a lot of apartments in that little area (actually, some are condos), the surrounding neighborhoods of single family homes is pretty high-dollar. Very convenient location with easy access to anything in town. Lots of things within walking distance, plus bus access everywhere else.

Based on my experience with condos/duplexes in the area, the price ranges from about $750-$995 for 2BRs, and $1000-$1200 for 3BR. Maybe less with some apt specials. 3BRs are a lot less common.

Plenty of students there, but certain complexes cater more to students than others. Just have to keep your eyes open when touring one of the complexes to see..

zhugeliang1 · 10-06-2010, 11:41 AM

Thanks everyone.

spelrod · 10-06-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Again, this was a while back when I lived there - I split a 2/2 apartment with a roomate for a total of $320/month (160 each) when we moved in, although it went up to $500+ before we moved out a couple years later.

Was that back in the 60's?

orbius · 10-06-2010, 01:57 PM

Could have been the early 90's after the real estate crash. I got an all bills paid 1 bdr apartment in a good area for $320/month back in the mid 90's.

atxcio · 10-06-2010, 02:05 PM

I also remember $375/mo "summer" rent on a 2-1 in Austin in the early 90's...

Trainwreck20 · 10-06-2010, 02:23 PM

The $320/month was in....1988? 89? Anyway, it went up RAPIDLY over the 1.5 years that we live there...at least percent-wise

. AT the time, I was paying abou $100/semester at UT, too, and waiting tables to pay all the bills. It was pretty easy back then when the state universities were so heavily subsidized :P.

thesonofgray · 10-06-2010, 07:31 PM

Safe.
OLD buildings. (with little/no renovations since Trainwreck trashed the place)

Probably 75% college students.
Rent ranges between ~$500 to ~$900 for 1 or 2 bedrooms.

The one thing I HATED when I was looking to rent was the "bedroom sink" - where the sink and counter space is outside of the bathroom. More than half of the units in that area I looked at had the dreaded "bedroom sink". Gross. But it's a great area and there's some good cheap apartments there.