Sonterra Apartment Homes

spiritfairy

Resident • 2003

It´s nice here...

I don´t know where these other people have lived, but trust me, there are problems EVERYWHERE you go...this apartment complex is nice. Maintenance gets things done quickly and properly without calling over and over again to request a repair. The leasing staff will bend over backwards for you. Sure, they have rules but every complex does...I totally recommend Sonterra as your next place to live.

austinmiaux

Resident • 2001

bad office employees

we almost lived there. we toured the apts when they were just finished being built. the manager gave us a sweet deal. when we drove back a few days later to pay the rest of the fees for move in, they told us that manager was no longer working there and we had to pay more. they also refused to refund the first half of our deposit. they told us they would be keeping our check for all the trouble we put them through. huh? all we got was a tour of the complex by the manager who was no longer there! needless to say, i immediately got on my cellphone and canceled the check.

Current Resident 841010

Resident • 2001 - 2003

We like it here (2 yr)!

We are pleased with this complex. We leased here initially because of friends who had a great apt here. <br> <br>We love our apartment, the fact that we live in the country & that we face the wildlife preserve & can hear coyotes in the distance! <br> <br>Half the people in our building have lived here longer than we have. That´s great! <br> <br>Yes the trash builds up on occasion, but many places have it worse. <br> <br>The pool & jaccuzi are first class. <br> <br>Maintainence/landscaping do a great good keeping up with requests and apperances. We are proud of living here at Sonterra II.

Current Resident 445107

Resident • 2001 - 2003

Getting Worse by the day...trailer trash have found their way to Canyon Creek and they feel right at home.

The apartment office closed at the end of 2001 and consolidated with the office on RR 620. The residents unfortunate enough to be stuck in this miserable dump before then had all of the aminities removed that were part of the lease and Fairfield Properties does not care. I am considering suing the Property for breech of contract. <br> <br>The service and maintenance is absolutely the worst I have encountered. The new management team (as of June 2002) is ill-equiped to deal with a property of this size and when a maintenance ticket is setup, they send one of their inexperienced maintenance crew. <br> <br>The inexperienced maintenance providers generally do not repair, fix or service anything, but will leave an official form stating that repairs were made at the precise time that they were creating a mess in your home. <br> <br>I have had a new microwave blowup in my unit and a dishwasher that is rarely used have a motor freeze up. There is no reason for new appliances to perform this way, especially with only light to moderate use. My educated guess is that Fairfield properties bought all the appliances for discount at a close-out auction. <br> <br>The electrical wiring in my unit has shorted out. The sprinkler systems had to be replaced because a resident brought to management´s attention that there was a recall on the particular brand used at Sonterra II. Overall I believe this aparment complex is an extreme fire hazard. <br> <br>Another hazard that exists is that of a soaring crime rate. The management of Sonterra and Sonterra II discovered that vacancy rates were increasing and in order to stem the tide of a half vacant complex, they completely illiminated the screening process for new residents. That said, the number of police and ambulence dispatched calls have skyrocketed as the bad element began to invade what used to be a nice community to live in. <br> <br>There is an extreme amount of vandilism and violence occuring on a regular basis. Sonterra II had to install video cameras to monitor the keypads at the gate points of entry because vandils kept destroying them. The on call officer resigned because of frequent and repeated calls during the night and his vacated position has not been filled since. Sonterra and Sonterra II have become the lawless West. <br> <br>The main reason Sonterra II had to close its office doors was that all the computers in the business center were stollen during office hours. Thieves even walked off with a big-screen TV during the middle of the day. None of these items were replaced, but were avertised as part of the Community amenity package that went with a residential lease. <br> <br>Sonterra and Sonterra II are now revolving doors. As all of the quality residents are moving out, the trash is moving in. There is a humorous note to all of this. Generally speaking, most unscreened trashy residents tend to brake their lease and move out in the middle of the night. This is not the type of night life that most people associate with Austin. Sonterra and Sonterra II might as well be located in East Austin...really no difference these days.

jaxson

Resident • 2003

This is by far the BEST place I´ve ever lived!!!

On top of the fabulous floor plan...I have found this complex to be extremely quiet with the most outstanding neighbors. Everyone is soooooooo nice!! <br> <br>The NEW staff is wonderful!! From the smiles on their face to the maintenance crew getting work done faster that I´ve ever seen. I WOULD NOT LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE...EXCEPT HAWAII!!! <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>

HappyH

Resident • 2001 - 2002

We moved into this apartment with out even seeing it first. We were transfered from another state. When we arrived the girl behind the desk had no record of our lease SO they had to do a new one on the spot! She showed us our apartment and it was Ok, it was nice that it faced tall trees and the grounds looked well kept. BUT the carpet looked dirty and we had candle wax on the carpet in the living room. We lived there for about 10 months while we built our own house and over the time when ever a package would come for us the staff wouldn´t be able to find it. At Christmas half of our relatives presents that were sent to us WHERE STILL IN THE OFFICE and no one told us. Our relatives were pissed we didn´t have all the gifts. (We didn´t know they had more). The staff changed over almost monthly. We had nice neighbors and one of them had been there two years. They tried to negociate a lower lease since they were paying top dollar and Sonterra refused so they moved closer to Canyon Glen apartments.

Current Resident 994429

Resident • 2001

Problems: Trash, Workmanship, Mgmt

Here's my laundry list of reasons I'd never go back: <br> <br>-You have to DRIVE your garbage to the front of the complex to the compactor! There are NO dumpsters inside! <br> <br>-We were the 2nd people to ever live in the apartment, when it was just one year old, and the berber carpet was already shredding. The bathroom door didn't even align with the frame properly when it closed. Also, simple things like switchplates and outlets were installed visibly crooked. I guess they were so busy to get things done that they didn't have time to do a decent job. PS - The plastic bathtub was a nightmare to keep clean. <br> <br>-It was only a 3-month short-term lease, so we gave them our move-out date when we moved in. This they promptly lost or forgot, so we had to fight them to avoid paying 2 extra months' rent for not giving them our 60-day move-out notice. <br> <br>-Nearly one fourth of the parking spaces for the four buildings around ours were marked handicapped, so I almost always had to park 3 buildings away to find a normal spot. Our neighbors just gave up and started using the handicapped spaces. <br> <br>Good points: <br>-The floor plan and the high ceilings were nice. <br> <br>-The large utility room was nice, and having a real door on it really kept the washer/dryer quiet. <br> <br>-On the top floor, near the back of the complex, the only neighbors we heard were the screaming kids across the hall, and they were only there on weekends. However, on the balcony, we could still here the noise coming all the way from the pool. <br> <br>-There were lots of hummingbirds at the feeder I put out. <br> <br>-I never died making a left turn onto FM 620 (This issue has since been fixed by a new stoplight, after at least one fatal accident).

Current Resident 930352

Resident • 2000 - 2003

Vehicle Break In Problems

Vehicle breakings are quite common. I have had mine broken into twice withing the past 3 months. The apartment management doesn´t seem to care. I am biding my time until the 60 day notice. If you like your car the way it is, don´t move here. Inspection and vehicle registration stickers get stolen, just so you know.

Current Resident 857564

Resident • 2001 - 2002

Wish We Would Have Seen The Community 1st

When we arrived to Austin, TX from San Diego, CA we were greeted at Sonterra with, "We are running behind on your apartment, it hasn´t been painted or "made-ready" (whatever that means in property management lingo); can you two move-in next week?" (What a great way to make a 1st impression) The original leasing staff when we moved in, minus the one who told us our apartment were friendly and courteous, but all of those girls seemed to have disappeared and left Fairfield Properties for other careers. When we moved out after 11 months of residency we did not recognize one person in the office. One of the managers, Tracy I believe is her name, was fantastic and was the one person we always asked for when we had a service request. My wife and I both found this new leasing staff (after about 4 months of residency) to act "bothered" when we would come in to get a UPS or FEDEX package. Often we would stand in the doorway to the leasing office while they finished their sales pitch to a new customer. <br> <br>The maintenance team would arrive quickly for service requests (we only had 3 the entire year we were here), but took numerous attempts to fix a leaky a/c unit in the guest bathroom. It left a horrible rusty stain in the shower area. <br><br> <br><br>We had a handful of neighbors that were truly great people, but residents in other parts of the community were quite rude by driving through the front gates at 50mph. Then on the way out they´d punch the gas lay some rubber!!! Lucky for us, all of our building neighbors were mature, career oriented people, and were friendly. I cannot say the same for the building across the parking lot from us. The noise that came from that building was unbelieveable. (Coming through the main gate, it´s the second building on the left by itself. It was as though U-Haul trucks were there every weekend as the turnver rate seemed incredible!) <br><br> <br><br>The review about "trailer park trash" from Sonterra II is a bit harsh, but there have been noticeable demographic changes in this community as well; with the generous discounted rents now offered in this area I guess qualifying criteria has been diminished. We rented Sonterra long distance and were never able to make it to Austin to see the community before moving in. Had we known that two "Jefferson" communities were just around the corner by the Starbucks (we have them in San Diego and lived at Jefferson Carmel Mountain Ranch), we would have rented from them as they seem to train their employees better. <br><br> <br><br>We cannot recommend this community as there is nothing here that is special. We have heard since we moved out that this community is the bargain on RR620, now we know why.

Current Resident 671285

Resident • 2001 - 2003

!!!LOUD!!!!

The main problem I have with Sonterra is the noise and the lack of concern over the problem. The people above me have a dog and a small child and I hear it all. When I have visitors they always ask, "what are they moving up there?" It has become increasingly disturbing and I am in the process of trying to once again talk to management. I just got off the phone with a rep who asked, "what´s your name, what phase do you live in, what´s your apt.#, what do you want?" when I simply asked to talk with the manager. She came back quickly with, "she´s busy, do you want to leave a message?" I asked to leave a message however; I´d bet money that I don´t get a response. Update: there´s a new manager and she returned my call and was sympathetic to my concerns. She said she would talk to the people upstairs and it seems she has since the noise has dropped dramatically.

thisaptisawful

Resident • 2000 - 2002

Absolutely beyond awful

Previous reviewers have commented on the loudness of the tenants living above. We experienced this problem to the extreme. We complained to the management and we complained often but to no avail. <br> <br>We have people that think nothing of parking their vehicles in front of our garage for hours on end, people that think it´s fun to play with garage doors (up,down,up,down,at 3 a.m.), people that decide to have all night parties in the parking lot. <br> <br>Thinking of having a satellite dish? Forget it. These folks must have an amazing deal with Time Warner. If a satellite is a millimeter over the balcony, a resident WILL get written up. And it´s amazing that the very next day, a TW rep shows up at the door trying to sell you on cable. <br> <br>But yet folks can keep their junky cars in the parking lot to fix on the weekends. Folks can have their overly long boats and trailers parked just any ol´ way. Folks can let their children run loose all day (Once we saw three kids on a roof trying to get a ball down!) Folks can let their dogs run around without leashes. Etc...etc...etc. <br> <br>Don´t rent here. There has to be far better, far cheaper in this town.

Current Resident 125561

Resident • 2000 - 2002

Good but loud

The main problem in Sonterra is that you basically hear every footstep from people that live above you. It is the worst I have ever experienced in any apartment I´ve been in. Lots of dogs barking as well. <br> <br>Other than that, fairly nice place. Nice pricing currently too. <br> <br>

jess91872

Resident • 2002

Good living overall but bad policies

I was told at move in that 60 days notice is required before leaving. I asked if I would be notified at 60 days and was told yes, I would be. Being that 99.9% of all apartments keep a standard 30 day notice it slipped my mind. When I called to give my notice I was told that I hadn´t given 60 days and was required to stay even though no one notified me as they had said they would. Also, rent is late after the second rather than the fourth and after the second, it must be paid with a cashiers check. I never pay late but sometimes I may not be home for a week at a time and if it came down to it, I would be angry about being late and having to go to a bank for paying my rent on the third. It is a quiet community with plenty of parking, but the policies are to stringent.

Current Resident 936740

Resident • 2001 - 2002

Out with the Old, In with the new!!!

Sonterra has a new management staff and they are awesome. They have taken over and are making an effort to go above and beyond for each and every resident. A wonderful change. <br>

Current Resident 807873

Resident • 2000 - 2002

Horrible is too light a word

The absolute worst apartment experience I have ever had...and getting worse. <br> <br>Since the number of apartments on FM 620 has increased, the quality of tenants has decreased. I have watched large families being welcomed into 2 bedroom apartments. The number of men moving in sporting mullet hairdos and using their garages for their part-time auto mechanic businesses has increased 10-fold. <br> <br>I also question the building materials. I have never lived in such a loud apartment building. I can hear almost every movement of the people living above me. I feel sorry for those long time tenants who now find themselves living under the newer breed of tenants who have late night parties and feel it is their duty to inform the rest of the complex of their music tastes by opening their patio doors and blaring their music. <br> <br>This is what will greet you at Sonterra. <br>

toryu88

Resident • 2000 - 2002

Trailer Park Living al Austin, Texas

Problems? Where do I start? <br> <br>I moved into Sonterra II while they were <br>still being built the summer of 2000. I payed $1100 for a small one bedroom with a garage. I am currently paying $1200 for a two bedroom with garage. The going rate now appears to be a six pack of beer and a carton of cigarettes. <br> <br>Services? Well you have to drive to Sonterra 1 to even see the staff, and pick up your packages. The pool and jaccuzi area is the local meeting place for all the dogs in the complex. My daughter stepped on a broken beer bottle by the jaccuzi. Did I mention dogs? You can hear them all day, barking from the balconies. Punks racing throught the parking area, you got that too. Don´t let your kids or pets wander too far. <br> <br>Oh and beware of the rip-off when you move out. I changed apartments and got a $900 bill for the apartment I vacated. Why? Well it seems they didn´t want to clean the cheap berber carpet, instead the upgraded to pile and passed on the bill to me. Oh and they tried to charge me for repainting and spackling which they never did inless you call one roller width of paint across the wall a paint job. Oh and the late fees. <br>Pay your rent on the 3rd and you owe about $80 bucks. Need a repair and it takes days. <br>A recent airconditioning repair took 4 days. <br>All the while the outside temp was 90 and the apartment was never under 80. <br> <br>Oh and watch out for the balcony barbequers. <br>You had better definately have renters insurance as Cletus and Rufus will fire up the habachi on the balcony every weekend. <br>Check out the eve on the building to there right of the pool, the paint shade difference is due to them painting over soot stains I reported to the office. <br> <br>The quality of residents has dropped as fast <br>as the rent. Do not live on the ground floor, the floors are paper thin, even a small child sounds like a herd running across the floor. Forget about quiet at the pool after 11am. The kids arrive and you can´t count on the redneck parents to keep them in line, so it´s every man for themselves. <br> <br>Bottom line is if you are educated and making a decent income look elsewhere it will be money well spent. My lease is up in July and I´m history.

Current Resident 802200

Resident • 2001 - 2002

The worst - ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE

My husband and I moved into Sonterra 2 in July 2001 - and have had bad experiences with the complex, the apartment, and the management especially ever since. After a windstorm, tree branches (large ones) lay over cars for 3 days. <br> <br>Don´t expect a response from the staff for ANYTHING - fire code breaches (apartment contents and garbage in the halls, cars parked across stairways, untagged junk pile clunkers parked all over the place. Screaming match domestic violence to listen to at night, mould on the balcony ceilings, you name it, Sonterra 2 has it. <br> <br>When the Sonterra 2 office closed, right about the time they started cashing the rent checks, and lowered rates to trailer park levels, Sonterra 2 went downhill, and it´s still sliding. <br> <br>I would say you get what you pay for, but in our case, because we moved in a year ago, before the rental market lost its momentum, what we pay should buy us the whole building, not a unit. Our apartment rents for a little more than half what we are locked into paying. Apologies, adjustments, forget it. <br> <br>Don´t move here, unless your name is Billy-Bob, or Cletis, and your gross annual income is under 20K (for a family of 5)

lifesgood

Resident • 2001 - 2002

Huge and Quiet

We truly enjoy living at Sonterra II. It is quiet and very, very roomy compared to most apartments in Austin. It is conveniently located in between HEB and Lakeline Mall. Their prices are very competitive and the staff have the ability to work with the going rates. I would highly recommend these apartments. <br> <br>

Current Resident 764535

Resident • 2000 - 2001

ok, but expensive

Staff was relatively nice, but some amenities weren´t available. Apartment living in Austin is not fun and I do not recommend it. Buy a home or rent a trailer first. The people living at Sonterra had that mentality and it cost a lot to live with them.

Current Resident 687717

Resident • 1999 - 2002

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE !!!

Vandalism of vechicles and break-ins to apts are standard fair. Staff appear to be drugged or perhaps "Stepford" graduates. Dogs of all sizes and temperment run loose. Kids play unattended in parking lots all day and all night. Lots of Redneck yahoos here.