Keeping your Apartment Clean and Organized

Keep your apartment clean and organized with this simple advice from Apartment Therapy.  

Don't touch something more than once.  In other words, if you have something in your hand, go ahead and put it away, clean it, or make a determination about it while you are holding it.  Every time you touch something again, you've wasted more time.

Procrastination is the enemy.  Finish projects entirely rather than leaving them almost done and hanging over your head.

Clean your kitchen, sewing, or crafting project up as you go.  Otherwise, you'll have a discouraging mess when you are done.

If you are trying to organize a space, take everything out of it and start fresh.  This allows you to visually strategize how to fit everything in its space and easily throw away items you don't need anymore.

When you create an organizational system, be sure it is something that you can maintain.  Otherwise, chaos will invade and reign once again.

Finally, don't leave dishes in the sink.  Load the dishwasher and handwash necessary items as soon as they are used.  Fresh dishes are easier to get food particles off of.  When you are done, go ahead and clean the sink as well.

Ready to find a new apartment you can put your new cleaning and organizing skills to work in?  Give Austin Apartment Specialists a call today at 512-241-1111.

Austin Rents May Increase Even More in 2015

Feel like you're maxed out on rent?  Watch out for 2015.  Despite a large number of new apartments expected to become available in 2015, the forecast is for a 4.5 percent increase in rent this year, the Austin Business Journal reports.

Berkadia, a brokerage and financing firm focusing on the multifamily market, predicts that rent will increase to an average of $1,185 per month in 2015, despite the fact that 10,400 more apartments should be added to the market this year.

9,340 new apartments came online in 2014, and renters absorbed 9,150 of those.  Eastern Travis county has the lowest vacancy rate at 3.4 percent.

Berkadia's newest report also concludes that 10,670 new units will become available in 2015 and that almost 40% of those will be in Central Austin or in the 183 corridor in Northwest Austin, Cedar Park, and Leander. 

Multifamily developers will likely request building permits for 12,340 more units in 2015.  Despite the growth in construction, vacancy rates are expected to drop even lower this year and the lowest vacancy rate is 3.8 percent is in the far north central submarket.  San Marcos has the highest vacancy rate at 6.8 percent.

The highest average monthly rent is in the central submarket at $2,070 and the lowest is in the far north central submarket at 7.2 percent.  North Travis County and far South Austin saw the highest rent increases at 7.2 percent, while San Marcos saw the lowest rent increases at 2.9 percent.

While the Austin rental market can seem scary to an outsider, take advantage of our inside knowledge.  Give Austin Apartment Specialists a call today at 512-241-1111 to take advantage of our up-to-the-minute insight into vacancies, move-in specials, and amenities at all the best Austin addresses!

Finding Your New Place

We have created a new SlideShare to illustrate finding your new place in Austin.  If you'd rather get your information in visual form, check it out on Austin Apartment Specialists Slideshare account, or read on for a more in-depth explanation.

Austin's occupancy rate is 98%.  What does that mean for you?  Finding an apartment is a little bit trickier than before.

Rental rates are going up as an average of 120 people move to Austin each day!

So in a market like this, how do you find a place to call home?  First, figure out what your price range is.  Money determines where you can live. 

Next, pick your location?  What will your budget allow?

If you aren't familiar enough with Austin to know where to live, call an apartment locator for help!  We know all the best Austin areas and the best apartments.  

Some of the benefits of using a locator include:  assistance on finding a location that fits your lifestyle, getting the inside scoop on different management companies, gaining access to unadvertised move-in specials and availability, an agent escort to your top properties, plus help with the paperwork and lease contract.

Ready to get started with an apartment locator?  Give Austin Apartment Specialists a call today at 512-912-8000!

Car Sharing Options in Austin

Car Sharing is another option for an alternative to owning a car in Austin.  In addition to public transportation and ride sharing, Car Sharing allows people to rent a car for short periods of time, often on an hourly basis.  Two car sharing companies operate in Austin, Car 2 Go and Zip Car.

Car 2 Go allows Austinites to pick up a two seat SmartCar near them anytime anywhere.  You just become a member and pay a one time sign up fee of $35 plus tax and then once you receive your membership card, you can start reserving cars either by just getting into an open vehicle or reserving one online 30 minutes ahead of time.  The cars cost $.41 per minute, $14.99 per hour, or $84.99 per day and include fuel costs, insurance, and free parking all over downtown and at many other area locations.  Car 2 Go's service area covers most of Central Austin and you can use it for either one way or two way trips.

Zip Car is the other car sharing company in Austin.  You can reserve a zip car via their app for anywhere from one hour to a week.  Reservations are made for 30 minutes at a time and Zipcars have to be returned to their home location after your trip is over.  Reservations allow you to drive up to 180 miles in a 24 hour period and covers insurance and gas as well.  After 180 miles in that period, you will be charged $.45 miles for each additional mile.  In Austin, Zipcar offers Mazda 3's, Mazda 6's, Nissan Versas and Nissan Sentras for rental and pricing varies depending on how often you plan to drive.  You also need to apply for membership, pay a $25 one-time application fee, and wait for your membership card to arrive by mail before you can start using Zipcar.

Now that you've planned your car-free lifestyle, need help finding an apartment near public transportation and car sharing options?  Give Austin Apartment Specialists a call today at 512-241-1111.