River Oaks Apartments

"I moved into River Oaks in July of 2023 and have lived here for 6 months now. This is the first apartment I have rented on my own and the staff at Rainier have made it a super easy experience and been extraordinarily helpful the entire time I have lived here. I am not writing this review for any incentive, but rather because my apartment really feels like a home, and the other reviews do not accurately represent the pleasant experience I have had living here. I was not able to move here until ~1 month after the lease started and they were willing/able to adjust the lease and shorten it by 2 weeks and held onto the keys for the other two weeks. When we were finishing our trip moving across the country they stayed late to help us make sure we had a place to stay as soon we got there. The pool is absurdly nice especially in the summer and because of the retro aesthetic it feels like a set of the movie “Dont worry darling”. The mail is central and easy to access. Parking is free, readily available, and we have never not been able to find a spot. Maintenence request are extremely easy to file and are carried out freakishly quickly. The building is slightly old and I had a slight leak in one of my front window when we had a huge storm a couple weeks ago. I put in the request on the app at roughly 7:30 am and it was fixed at 9:15 am. Similar fixes have been done for small things like air filter replacement, pest control, and lightbulbs. Other reviews have complained about the pest…there are roaches everywhere you go. Any apartment or place on earth really will have a bug/pest or two. Clean your dishes and dont leave out food and youl be good. I think I've seen maybe at max 1 every other month. We had 1 mouse behind a sink cabinet but the complex sent out a pest dude the literally same day with a trap and it was dead 2 nights later. Some of the reviews have talked about homeless people or not feeling safe. Its Austin, there are arguably more homeless people and tweakers next to the 4,000$/month towers downtown. I have only seen 2 seemingly homeless people in 6 months one of which the manager ushered off the property. The other dude was just drunk and left. If you are honestly worried about it, just buy a gun. I sleep safe and sound. The area is by far generally extremely safe/quiet and cops regularly patrol it. The staff in the office are available at very convenient hours and very helpful. The company is very good at communicating and send out multiple text alerts for important information. The payment method is very convenient through the app, I just use apple pay and its no different than paying for a burger. The complex is extremely close the UT. If you go to the LBJ school, the law school, or the music school, there would be few places more convenient to live. I go to the LBJ school and I can walk out my door and be in my class seat in approx ~6 minutes if im walking leisurely. Across the street is a nice little cafe, and a bunch of other shops, restaurants , and bars in close walking/biking distance. One of the best things about it is during game days is it takes me about seven minutes to get to the stadium/tailgate. Additionally, the Moody Center is about a 10 minute walk. If it’s your thing, you can pregame, walk to concert, and still be buzzed halfway through the show, and walk home without ever having to worry about getting a 40 dollar Uber. If the arts are your thing the bass concert hall, is right down the street. My girlfriend and I saw “The book of Mormon” and John Oliver basically in our backyard. It’s a pretty cool feeling. If you are looking for an affordable place to live in Austin I can’t imagine picking a better place than River Oaks."

"Lived here for a year of graduate school, and overall think it’s a good apartment for a grad student. The rooms are big, it’s extremely close to UT’s campus, resident & visitor parking are both included in the price of rent, and the price is one of the best in the areas for a 2 Bedroom/1 bath. That being said, the lower price and old age of the complex do come with many issues. We had something go wrong or break almost every week (i.e., broken dishwasher, some cockroaches here and there, power outages, car broken into), BUT this is all to be expected with the price, the location in Austin, and the building age. One of the biggest complaints we had (and we heard from other residents) was the central AC (read other reviews to learn more), but we were given all the information about this before we ever applied to live here so there were zero surprises. I do want to compliment the maintenance team at the complex. They responded to every issue within hours (even on weekends), and they worked on upkeep of the complex every single day. They were also just genuinely pleasant people to interact with while walking in/out of the complex and when they came to fix something. So if you are a grad student (or are in a similar financial situation as one), have the patience to deal with issues that get resolved quickly, and are okay with opening windows/buying a box fan when the central ac isn’t on your side, I would really recommend this place. If you can afford a newer build or don’t want to deal with an old complex, I’d find somewhere else to live."

"I’ve lived here for about 6 months now. I’ll approach a year here in June. I wanted to leave a review because there’s so many out of pocket negative ones. The management first of all is absolutely fabulous. Any sort of issue I have I just walk over to the office and they take care of it within the day. I’m visiting family at the moment and the leasing manager walked over to my apartment to make sure a late Christmas package wasn’t sitting on my doorstep which I know almost no other complex would have done for me. It’s also very safe. Whenever homeless come onto the property the management is on it and ushers them away. Plus several of our neighbors leave packages on their doorsteps for days and they’re never stolen. We got an updated apartment so everything is redone and very nice especially for the age of the building. If it was mine I would put in new silicone in the bathroom in the shower and such but that’s just me being picky. My other niche complaint is that the kitchen doesn’t have a ton of storage so some sort of shelving storage is definitely necessary if you religiously cook like me and my fiance do. The only real issue I’ve had was our AC condenser line was leaking water but when I talked to the office they took care of it within 24 hours. I did submit it to maintenance and it took a couple of submissions before it was taken care of and I talked to the office but in their defense it only leaked at night and never during the day when they would come (so weird by the way) so to them it didn’t look like there was an issue. Other than that there are cockroaches but I put out some traps and we have a bug guy come which is included in rent and it’s been fine since. It’s an old building and it is Austin so I’m not surprised. Lastly the central AC is quite annoying. The weather in Texas in general is volatile so its hard to know when to switch from AC to heat but we just have the windows open and a fan going so we’ve been comfortable. However they told us about that off the bat before we signed so we were well aware of the potential issue and I’m used to it from living in the dorms. The only thing I’d really change about this complex is the central AC, a ceiling fan in the living room, and exhaust fan in the bathroom. I want to be transparent about things that I wish were different but I truly do love this complex. I love the location to campus as I’m still a student. I love that I feel safe in it. I really appreciate how it’s updated but doesn’t cost an arm and a leg each month. I always tell my friends that are looking for a new place to move into this complex because it’s such a gem for the cost and location."

"I have lived in River Oaks Apartment for a year. The staff are kind and patient, and parking is free. HOWEVER, it's an apartment over 60 years old, so there are lots of problems. We find pests almost every single day, even though the pest control team has already come. Cockroaches are everywhere, not only in the rooms but also in public areas like the mailbox corridor. The AC is very old and is not able to reach the correct temperature sometimes. The apartment is too old, and the insulation and soundproofing are horrible. I am always woken up by the guitar from neighbors, and the apartment gets very cold during the winter, with occasional power failures. I don't think it's an apartment worth around $2000 per month."

"I lived in River Oaks for 2 years and mostly loved my time there! The complex is very charming and the grounds are meticulously kept, thanks to an awesome maintenance crew! The location is the best part about this complex with H‑E‑B 2 mins away, campus walking distance, plethora of bars and restaurants in the surrounding areas. You will not find another apartment with this much square footage, in this location, for this price. It is also extremely calm, quiet, and safe. As a young woman living alone there I never felt in danger and would walk around alone at night with no issues. Now the reason they are getting 3 stars instead of 5 is because of the Central AC and pests. You will not be able to have AC from about November - March. This was a huge issue for me given there are many days in those months when temperatures rise above 80 and your apartment will also be above 80 and hot to the point of it being very uncomfortable. There is also a roach problem BUT we live in Atx and unfortunately they are everywhere and especially in older buildings like this one. They do have a laundromat but the machines are not the best, sometimes my clothes did not dry all the way after I already paid for it. Other than that, will miss this place !"