Camden Gaines Ranch

theloftfishing

Resident • 2003 - 2011

how staff can affect a five star facility

First, if you read the reviews on their web-site you will notice the same person wrote them. Second, I lived there when it was run by the original staff so that made the new staff transition worse. The first thing camden did was to replace all staff with their own, which I surmised came from east of I-35 the attitudes made me feel like I had been moved to a rent controlled complex.The staff had no experience and used attitude to make up for it. If you want a great facility and don't care about interaction you'll love otherwise you will hate the place. If you check out camdens other properties you will see the same throughout the country.

Brie2010

Resident • 2009 - 2010

not a good experience

Nice location is about the only positive I can come up with. Management was focused on short term cost control, not proper maintenance. When my 14 month lease was about to expire I was hit with a 29% rent increase, with no apologies. I had rodents in the attic and scorpions in my bedroom. When my neighbor's A/C was running my kitchen vibrated and rattled. There were septic tank problems and the compactor area reeked.

Current Resident 378070

Resident • 2009 - 2010

DO NOT MOVE HERE...NOT TENANT FRIENDLY!

I have lived here for 15 months and all was good until my lease expired. The new rate was almost $200 more a month and they did not do anything to work with with me or to keep me as a tenant, it was a "take it or leave it" attitude. They will give you two weeks window to give them a 30 days notice before your lease expires in which if you don't do it in time you either renew or go month-to-month at a rate of over $2500 a month. Definitely crooks and money hungry business. I have lost total loyalty to Camden and would not recommend any of their properties regardless of location.

Current Resident 169973

Resident • 2009 - 2010

This place sucks!

This place is the worst ever. Closets never worked, never had ice because of a broken freezer...ants EVERYWHERE. Over priced!!!! The only thing this place has going for them is the greenbelt. My car was broken into here (by the drug dealers in building 9). In addition, when the lease ended, they gave me the lovely option to renew with a RATE INCREASE! what kind of apt complex increases rent?? I cannot wait to get out of this hell hole! Not only that, to rent a washer/ dryer is $45 a month (its cheaper to rent from a company!) and $50 for "included" cable. RIP OFF! LaTonia (the manager) only cares about $$$$ and NOT about her tenants!

ezego1

Resident • 2008 - 2010

if you are looking for an expensive place to die, make camden gaines ranch your home.

i have been leaving here for 15 months, i don't stay home alot, i have never ask for much until i saw a big snake inside the stove in my apartment. i called the apartment office for help but they snob me. they wouldn't help me. so, i went to live with my family. 3 days after the incident i didn't hear from them. so, i decided to call the office and talk with the manager. the manager told me not to disturb them with the sitaution. her words were " you know that our property is close to the wilderness,it was in your contract". i have to call pest control myself and get the snake out of my apartment after 3days. my lease expired the following month so i'm so glad to be getting out of here. they have a way of deceiving people with thier free occasional breakfast and so on. but when you really need them, they are not there for you. if that snake have killed me or my girlfriend, the apartment would have said he knew that our property is close to the wilderness,it was in his contract. if you are looking for an expensive place to die, make camden gaines ranch your home. Read more: http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate?a=r&complex_id=512464260078735#ixzz0cGABTqwR

joshuadc82

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Crooks!

Initially I loved this place. I loved the trees and the pool and the management seemed great. I moved in and had few problems but after the lease I found the management to be CROOKS! They more than doubled my rent ($960 to $2015) so I decided to move. After I moved out they sent me a bill for the carpet for over $1,000. The carpet I had when I moved in wasn t new, though they claimed that it was. It wasn t even completely connected to the walls in some areas and was curling up in others. I have a dog so I also have a steamer and anytime something happened (which wasn t often) I steamed it and the stain came out completely. They said that they came in with a black-light and found stains so they had to replace it. Gaines Ranch management supports unethical business practices BEWARE!

Current Resident 864356

Resident • 2008 - 2009

Not bad, not great either

I've been living here for a year now, and I plan on renewing my lease - if for no other reason than I don't want to have to move again so soon. I love the trees, scenery, etc. I have to agree that the "condo spec" spiel has to be a crock: I can hear my neighbor snoring. Details like fixtures, doorknobs are CHEAP and half the doorknobs have come off. If you get home after 7 or 8 pm, finding a parking spot is torture.

sakl

Resident • 2008 - 2009

eh...

You can hear the neighbors very well (quality of apartment life killer imo), almost can hear speech clearly through the wall. That line they say about it being built condo spec is BS - I had a condo and the noise was much better. It really is a drag after awhile, even with good earplugs. The good things I can say are the maintenance is very fast, always same day. There is a trail that goes down to the greenbelt. Good luck.

Current Resident 955347

Resident • 2009

Management is awful

Do not rent here. This place has a great location and the trees/views are great, but nothing is worth dealing with the management. LaTonya and her staff are the most uncaring, incompetent people I have ever dealt with. First, the a/c in my apartment wouldn't cool the place lower than 75 degrees during first few months. I filled out several maintenance requests, they could never find anything wrong, and worse yet, LaTonya and her staff acted like there was something wrong with me: It's summer, she kept saying. But my a/c bills were $200 a month, the place was hot all the time, and it is indeed possible to cool an apartment of 800 sq. ft during the summer, even in texas. After maintenance requests and emails for several months, I wrote a formal letter stating I would contact legal counsel to get out of my lease if it wasn't fixed, and only then did they replace it. And guess what, even in the summer months, it cools properly. There have been other instances, but the basics are this: they won't fix anything, they believe the maintenance staff when they say "nothing is wrong" even when it's obvious there is, and the only time they react to helping is when you threaten letters to the head company. I've never been a complainer in a complex or left reviews like this, but please don't put yourself through this. Another thing, they lied about the fees when I signed the lease and assured me there was a wooded view, but I see another building from the balcony. Too expensive to deal with this.

Current Resident 388793

Resident • 2007 - 2009

Management SUCKS! This leads to horrible experience

The apartments are noisey(though they will tell you they are built to condo specs w/3" concrete floors), the management is horrible and lies, the maintanence team is moronic and cause stains on the carpet and breaks things when they are to be replacing items. The manager, LaTanya is the worst manager I have seen in 7 years of renting in different Texas cities as my job requires travel. She is not considerate and will not help you. This negative energy is passed down from her to the rest of the management team. It is like pulling teeth to get them to fix something that is wrong or even not cleaned upon movein. Parking is horrible as well. I have had to park over 400 feet from my apartment at times. I know the distance because I have counted the number of 8.5 foot spaces I passsed to get home. btw the standard size of parking space is 9 feet, the extra space does help in not getting your car dinged. Which happened repeatedly at this place. My cars doors paid the price for my faulty decision. The only pro that this apartment complex has is it's location and views. If these are enough to entice you to the horrible living ahead, then good luck. So.. Pros: -location -possible views and deer/squirrels/coyote Cons: -Horrible and unreasonable management -Rodents and insects enter the apartments -Dirty apartments that have not been properly cleaned or painted. -Maintanence is moronic. -Noisey and most bedrooms face the parking lot. I hope you don't like to sleep late. -Parking is bad. -Counters are easily stained. -Did I mention the management is horrible. -Grounds are unkept -The fire sprinkler rooms are left unlocked and open, thich is a city ordenance violation.

Current Resident 842050

Resident • 2008

Awesome!

I have lived at Camden Gaines Ranch for over 8 months now and couldn t be happier. My place is on the ground floor and I was worried (from previous apartment experience) that I would be able to hear my neighbors every move. I was floored one night when I came home to my neighbors parting up that once inside my apartment it was nice and quite. I couldn t hear a peep!!!! I was totally amazed. Also, the staff has been fantastic. I have placed maintenance requests using their online system and they call me within 24 hours to schedule an appointment, since I like to be home when someone is in my apartment. The property itself is well kept and convenient to all of what South Austin has to offer. I couldn t have found a better home!

Current Resident 214029

Resident • 2007 - 2008

change in management awful!!!

Whoever wrote that couldn't be more right! I didn't live here before the change in management but I can only assume that anything could be better than the service being offered currently. I was almost chased away by the leasing agents rudeness as soon as I came to see the apartment but decided to look at the property because I heard they were nice. The property was beautiful lots of trees, great location, and the unit I looked at was so much more interesting than the cookie cutter box appartments I had been showed at other places. The leasing agent seemed as though she didn't care if I wanted the appartment or not and rushed me. When I came back with a friend for a second oppinion they too were impressed by the combination of the appartment price, location, and the fact that it backs up walking distance to the green belt. The leasing agent this day seemed equally bored and annoyed with her job and was the only thing standing between me and moving into this great space. I decided that I was choosing an appartment and not a leasing team so I moved in thinking I would probably just avoid the office "ladies" as much as possible. I have been living here for 5 months and still have yet to have a good experience with the leasing team. I love the property though and hope that management can find some new leasing agents so that my wonderful neighbors and I can enjoy every aspect of this community. They need to realize that some people buy the staff as well as the appartment. It's not like a bad waitperson in a restraunt who can ruin one experience we live with this staff and see them and pay our rent to them every month. I don't agree with me paying an undeserving individuals salary. I won't go into details of my experiences with them for fear of having a bad stay the rest of my lease, but they will be the only reason for me to want to look at other properties when it is up.

Current Resident 564616

Resident • 2003 - 2005

Nice location/floor plans, steep rent

I rented at Gaines Ranch from 2003-2005 and really enjoyed living there - really nice floor plans, quiet and secluded, very friendly office and maintenance staff. I ended up moving because I bought a house, although I probably would have moved. Once I was told the rent for my small 1-bedroom would have been raised by around $120, I realized I was far better off paying more money on a mortgage for 2-3 times the space. Unfortunately, compared to other Texas cities, the housing market in Austin is overpriced (for the size/kind of city it is), and like many other property owners, the company who owns Gaines Ranch is simply following this trend. It just depends on whether you're willing to pay to rent in southwest Austin and enjoy the beautiful wooded views on the property.

johnwek

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Nice Place.

I lived her for 12 months and enjoyed it. It's a nice place. I really like the wooded feel. Minimal noise. Loved high ceilings. I moved because I needed something bigger.

gilcrm

Resident • 2007 - 2008

great place to live

I have lived here for 6 months and unfortunately have to move to Dallas, otherwise I love to stay here. The maintenance men show up very quickly, within minutes when I had a water leak under the sink. The office staff have all been helpful and nice. The grounds are beautiful but I am glad I dont live in front of the compactor. I love my big porch, the gas fireplace, the valet trash. Downside would be people not picking up after their dogs and people driving too fast in the parking lots. Also, I never could get the gate to open when friends showed up.I can hear my neighbors upstairs sometimes but it is an apartment after all. Otherwise very quiet. Parking is great, my garage is only 2 buildings down.(close enough to walk and get a little exercise.) I would recommend the property to anyone.

jtucker97

Resident • 2007

This apartment is poop -- no heat and no hot water in December!

We are living in Gaines Ranch, because our corporate relocation service placed us there. Trust me, if we can get out, we will. We have lived there for a week and a half with no hot water and no heat. It's supposed to be 31 degrees tonight. They have sent their maintenance person to apartment five times and have yet to fix the problem. They are not willing to compensate us, and they are not willing to provide us with other heating solutions (i.e. space heaters). My husband threatened that we would move out, and they said that was fine. I cannot imagine actually having to pay our own money to live in this place. The view and the location is not worth it!

Current Resident 666837

Resident • 2007

Very satisfied

When I came to this site and read the reviews, I became quite worried, since I had just signed a one year lease here. After three months I'm happy to say I have enjoyed my experience thus far. My apartment is silent - sometimes so quiet I have to turn on a fan in the night for some background noise. Appliances are efficient and the floorplan is great. When I moved in, everything was clean and in working order. Two complaints: When my A/C broke, it took three calls to get maintenance to my apartment. Also I'm not a big fan of being forced to pay for Valet Waste and cable - I think those should be optional. It seems the management here enjoys hiking up the rent when it comes time to renew, and I think that is part of what motivates the bad reviews on this site. When the time comes and if Camden tries to pull that, I will log back on here and update my review.

Current Resident 886325

Resident • 1999

Steer Clear (or How You Say "Gaines Ranch Blows Chunks")

WOW! From reading about all the problems that the reviewers are describing, I can see that nothing has changed since 1999. I lived here in 1999 and am surprised at myself for never getting around to review them. I do still feel pretty strongly that Gaines Ranch SUCKS. I had exactly the SAME ISSUES as the other reviewers are having (OBNOXIOUS staff, slow maintenace response, extremely NOISY, HUGE RENT HIKES, open walk-throughs near bedroom windows on upper floors that invite loud/lazy pet owners loitering day and night, and many other big and small problems). The grounds are very beautiful, along with some unique floor layouts, but that is the ONLY positive thing I can say about it. Also, I must mention cetain design elements that not only are surprisingly unsightly like flimsy mirrored doors of the bedroom closets, clashy kitchen looks/appliances, moldy carpets in the bathrooms, but also unworthy of $$$$ that you would be asked to pay for.

Current Resident 609718

Resident • 2006 - 2007

rip-off place

Everyone will agree that this complex is situated in a nice location among lots of trees. Good access to freeways, and yet very quiet as long as your neighbors don't play the guitar all night on week days. However, the visual attraction is flawed by the fact that management cares little about its tenants. All they are after is your money. This starts with essentially no maintenance of apartments and other building structures, non-functional amenities (that you get charged for, e.g. the dryers in the laundry facility don't work), and lots of hidden fees that they don't tell you about up front. Similar to what other reviews will tell you, management keeps you in the dark about fees that apply to you when it comes down to renewal or moving out. In accord, the representatives are generally rude and anything but cooperative. I encourage Camden to revisit their management policies and replace the current staff with more professional individuals. Please be careful when signing up for a lease!

Current Resident 724149

Resident • 2005 - 2006

-Anonymous-

I moved in to the complex just when Camden took over almost 2 years ago. I loved the girls that worked in the office, the manager is herself is great about talking to you about any issues you have and the prices are reasonable. First of all the apartments have condo spec (thick slabs of concrete between EACH floor level) so there is almost NO noise. When the girl first showed me the apartment she let me stand on the first floor and took my brother up to the apartment directly above and let him jump up and down and walk around to hear the noise level it would make...i barely heard a thing. Most of my neighbors that lived there at the time were working professionals, so you only saw your neighbor at the mailbox. The community is so hidden in the green belt it deters crime on property. The only complaint I really had was the water bills being high. They said that the property had an "allocated" water billing system so all one bedrooms received one waterbill and all the 2 bedrooms receive another...regardless of how many people live in the apartment. Other than that, everything was GREAT!!!!!

almuayyad

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Highly recommended

I lived at Gaines Ranch for 9 months and I had the best time there. The floor plan was amazing, but limited storage areas. It was very quite and peaceful there. However, there are some things to be considered. First, expect to see some scorpions (its a wooded area), but only in the first 3 moths in the summer (ask for the pets control until the problem is over). Second, do not live near the dumpster area. Finally, I highly recommend that you live in the third floor with a view in the green belt area (extremely quite and high privacy).

Current Resident 981436

Resident • 2003 - 2007

Every since Camden took over the ownership and management everything has slipped. The garbage refuse is unacceptable. The garbage spills over the dump and Sacks of garbage are left out all over the place. The dogs do their business anywhere and everywhere. When our lease was up our rent was increased from 1119 to 1480. The gave us a 2 days notice that our rent was going to increase, We have to give a 30 days notice that we are going to move. I had asked 2 month before my lease was up if the rent would increase--I was assured it would only increase $20.00. They lie about every thing. Everything is falling apart. The apartments look good--but beware. They never exterminate We have the very poisonous centipeded, milipedes, and silverfish among other horrible bugs--spiders included scopions<br>The management lies, lies lies. We were not even asked if we wanted our carpets cleaned, or anything painted,we signed a new lease because we were mislead into believing our rent would not be increased. This is awful, awful, horrible.

Current Resident 500847

Resident • 2006 - 2007

Criminals!

After my 12 month lease ended they increased my rent 40% (from $1000 to $1400/month)...or I could go month-to-month for $2800/month. The real problem is that if I moved to a different apartment with the same floor plan, the rent would go back to $1000/month. Gaines Ranch knows you don't want to move so they increase your rent. <br><br>They offer decent deals to lure you in and then hike the rent when your lease is up. I will never do business with them again.

rtruairf

Resident • 2004 - 2006

The Good, The Bad, The VERY UGLY

I've lived at Gaines Ranch for 2 years now. As of today, I gave my intent to leave. First I will tell you why I've been here for 2 years:<br><br>- Beautiful property. Quiet. Can't argue with that.<br>- Like the floorplan of the apartment (we have the 2-2 "triangle").<br>- Rent *used* to be reasonable.<br><br>Living here was never really a problem. I enjoyed it. The amenities are relatively nice and most of my apartment has been functional. So, 2 years later, I am still here. I would even sign a lease for another year. However...let's go over the bad before we get to the ugl.<br><br>The BAD is that I live in front of the dumpster. Make sure you don't end up renting in the apartment building in front of the dumpster (since we'll be vacating soon!). They have some SERIOUS dumpster issues and trash piles up ALL around it. Right now there is a huge dumpster taking up 5 parking spaces in front of my apartment that I see every morning because the brand new compactor is broken for the 4th time or so.<br>The AC breaks annually. Usually this is not a problem unless you catch them on a weekend or if it breaks at night. They won't service AC on weekends or after dark. This is awful in the summer (duh).<br>The people who painted the apartments LIVED in our building for about 6 months. This meant a lot of tejano music blaring on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon. A painter approached me one night and I told him to go to hell. Haven't felt very safe since. I don't know how they get away leasing the apartments to an entire staff of painters (probably 5-6 people in each apartment). This is also probably because no one wants to lease the units in front of the overflowing dumpster.<br>They have forced the "Perfect Connection" on us. This means you HAVE to pay for cable ($45/mo). Now it is included in rent.<br>Maintenance has the right to enter your apartment at any time of the day or night, with or without your permission. They will not come at a scheduled time when you are there even if you ask and are flexible. Just FYI as this bothers some people.<br><br>Now. All of that is not so bad, especially considering it's a great, beautiful location and I hate to move around my stuff.<br><br>But, here's what happened.<br>Our lease is up 1/31/07. We realized last week we hadn't been informed of our new rental rate (we assumed it would go up). So we realized we would need to give 30 days notice if it went up too much and we should go find out how much it would be.<br>We went into the office on a Saturday and the lady told us that she could not give us a price for what we would be paying next year. She said their new policy was to give the new rate 5 days before the 30 day notice period. Over a holiday weekend no less. This is CAMDEN-WIDE -- if you go to other properties, it is the same way. She said that she would give us the price on our unit. We said ok. She said it'd be $1150 and that since we were current residents, it would be LESS than that. Right now we are paying $1025. When I first signed here it was $1000. So last year it only went up $25.<br>My roommate and I went and looked at apartments all weekend, keeping the number in mind (That we would pay somewhere between $1025 and $1150). We decided the difference would not be worth moving for.<br>Last night, I got a letter dated Monday. They MAILED it on Tuesday and it got to my mailbox on Wednesday. Why they didn't just put it on our door, I don't know. So guess how much it says we can renew FOR A YEAR for?<br>$1295.<br>This is a huge increase!!!! Up $270 from what we are paying and nowhere near the number we were given on Saturday! <br>We went in and talked to one of the leasing agents today. Of course Latoia the manager is gone. I've never even seen her actually. Anyway, whatever -- she's gone for the holiday. They won't negotiate the price.<br><br>So we gave our 30 days. I told them good luck renting an apartment in front of the dumpster for $1300 a month. <br>If they don't want a 3rd year resident, then they're just not going to get one.<br><br>Good luck to you all. I know it sucks when you are about to move in somewhere and then you see how crappy the reviews are (we're thinking about the Legacy but it's got terrible reviews too...I just like the location).

Ezpickin

Resident • 2005 - 2006

From a great place to a Nightmare!!!

I live at Gaines Ranch for over 18 Months, When we first moved in my wife and I were glad to see how pet friendly they were and easy to get along with.. Things were great for the first six months, then we re-uped for another year the didn't let us know the lease we were signing would soon be turned over to Camden.. The Managment is the worst I've ever seen, and I've been in Property Managment for years. They seemed to have quit spraying for insects and other creepy crawlers as my wife and I dealt with an not even being able to go out on our back porch without looking around and finding scorpions and even tuarntulas.. I moved out 2 months early on my lease and continued paying rent on two places just to get out, If you have small kids or animals that you dont want to run the ruisk of getting bit by scorpions IN or OUt of the house go somewhere else, the 1200.00 Per month isn't worth The BS you'll put up with for the term of your lease...