Alamo Ranch

Unfortunately my strong dislike of the moving process and appreciation to details/​finishes of the new Alamo Ranch Apartments cannot outweigh the crime in the area, dissatisfaction with the apartment community management, dissatisfaction with the common areas maintenance, and the arbitrary nature of a potential rent increase.
My very first online purchase sent to my apartment address via UPS was stolen off of my door step the second week of residency at the Alamo Ranch Apartments. When I approached the management office about my package, they told me I should not order anything of value through UPS because this delivery service refuses to release packages to the management office in the event of a resident not being available when the package arrives. There was no indication of this type of risk in the welcome packet from the management office and gives a good indication of the type of residents permitted to reside at the Alamo Ranch Apartments. Since my one year residency I have received two notices of criminal activity via a note placed in the jamb of the door frame. It is obvious that there was money put into the aesthetics of the buildings at Alamo ranch apartments, but not so much into the entry gates or security of the area. The key fobs for gate entry are cheap and archaic in appearance and functionality.
When I first signed the lease with Alamo Ranch, I was instilled with confidence that the apartment management office has a staff available to tend to their residents. In the time I lived at Alamo Ranch Apartments, I have seldom seen more than 1 – 2 people in the office and most of the times they have to close the office to show new apartments to new renters. It became obvious that the main focus is new renters and that there is not enough staff to answer the phone for current resident needs. In fact, there are so few available to answer the phones that they have an answering/​telephone hotline service which has acted as nothing more than a person mentioning they will forward your call and acting as a live voicemail message introduction.
Before I fully moved in, the A/​C stopped working in my apartment. It took two days before a message was relayed through a telephone hotline for the apartment office for maintenance to come out and fix the problem; this is simply unacceptable for Texas and was a potential life safety issue for myself and my cat. But according to the telephone hotline, there was no one I could be directed to in maintenance for my emergency. All service requests are to be submitted online by the resident. Since I have lived in Alamo Ranch apartments, I have visited the business center over 50 times and intended on using it for many business needs; but of the times I have needed to print anything, I have only printed once from the business office due to issues of lack of maintenance. I have sent in 3 service requests for printer ink refill and paper refill. But more than half the times I tried to print from the business center computers, there was lack of connectivity to the printers. The restrooms near the business center and the swimming pool became very unreliable on weekends for the basic toiletries such as toilet paper and paper towels and as a result became very dirty and trash overflowing. There are no amenities available for residents to refill the paper towels or the toilet paper when they do run out. The Laundromat room is not large enough to attend to the needs of all the people who need it in the complex; usually two of the three washers will be out of order. The washers do not wash well and the dryers hardly dry.
I was very shocked at the rent increase I received in the mail two months before my lease was up. It was nearly $ 250 more than when I first moved in, so I figured there must be some mistake. And yet a month later, I was sent an email showing that my rent would be increased by $ 50 per month. When I called and mentioned I would like to move out before the rent increase would take effect, I was reminded that the apartment complex requires a 2-​month ahead notice before moving out and that I was already automatically signed up for another year for a new lease quote that I never agreed to. As far as I am concerned, a new set of terms (price increase) negates any previous agreement and cannot be automatically signed without consent of the resident. After expressing shock at these terms and relaying that my budget cannot afford to take any higher increase (due to also adding a garage rental fee within that year) they agreed to keep my rent the same. The rental amount is well in excess of other properties that are 2 – 3 years younger than the Alamo Ranch Apartments for the same amount of square-​footage. This is just one example of many in which the apartment management office is not consistent with their fees on any agreement. It is clear that this apartment complex is preying on the military families and their housing allowance.

I love living here! First off, the apartments themselves are beautiful. They have small touches like crown molding and a large built in bookcase that just make it feel so home-​y. Also, the bathroom and kitchen has faux hardwood flooring that looks amazing. The grounds are always clean and the pool area has plenty of seating as well as a beach area. Alamo Ranch Apartments are unique in the fact that they are close to a variety of stores like Walmart, Target and HEB but they still feel tucked away because they are surrounded with a hill country view.