I've been sitting on this review for a few years n...

I've been sitting on this review for a few years now, thinking that my AWFUL experience with 512 Realty (now 512 Living) was just how apartment rental went in Austin. From the beginning, there were nothing but issues. After signing a lease for an apartment with a specific move in date allowing for overlap between my old and new place, I got a phone call saying that they had overlooked a lease extension on the unit I wanted to live in. I told them I needed to move in that date as I had not set up anything for storage or living arrangements in between places, that I specifically signed a lease for the unit based on the move in date. I was treated as though this was somehow my fault, and really was passively ignored until I threatened to have a lawyer brought in. They found a different unit in the same building, and told me the rent would be more. Mind you my roommate and I had already signed a lease with an agreed upon price. Once again, no real response until I threatened to involve a lawyer.

After moving in, it was clear the apartment had issues, nothing unmanageable though. They present the apartments as clean, newly remodeled, etc. when often it's just the one you walk through that's had any actual update besides a fresh coat of paint. One night my roommate called me into the living room to show me water literally pouring down from the ceiling where the light fixture hung onto the kitchen table. I spent hours trying to get into contact with anyone, which is a hassle after hours. I got through to someone and was told this wasn't considered an emergency..... uhhhhhh okay. After months of more and more leaks, more and more maintenance requests and calls to the office, management brought in a de-humidifier and a fan. Lol. It took 7 months before any repairs were made to the leaky roof and once again no progress was made until I threatened to hire a lawyer. Going into the office doesn't even help, as they often stick poor college kids up front who can't help you while the management hides in the upstairs office.

It's not just me, every single person I know that has leased with them has some similar issue, whether it be a ridiculous rat infestation to insane repairs to nickel and diming you in as much as possible so they can keep your deposit.

Long story short, 512 Living/Realty only cares about you for you money. They're somewhat unavoidable in the campus area, so just be prepared and have a lawyer (or pretend to have one) ready to go when something goes South.