Huntington Meadows Apartments Review in Austin, TX: Why the Same 848 Square Feet Costs Three Different Prices

Three renters can sign leases at Huntington Meadows for the exact same two bedroom floor plan and pay $1,415, $1,468, or $1,524 a month. Same 848 square feet. Same building. Same appliances. The only thing separating them is which pricing tier they qualified for, and whether anyone in the leasing office told them to ask.

I’m Ross Quade, a licensed Texas REALTOR® (TX #679806), and I track live pricing across Austin communities daily. Huntington Meadows is a tax credit property. Part of the building is rent restricted and part of it isn’t. Most renters don’t know that’s even a thing. They see one price on a listing site, apply, and never find out they could have paid $109 less a month for an identical apartment.

Here’s what the listing sites won’t tell you: right now one major rental site is publishing rents for this property between $2,571 and $3,020. The real range is $1,225 to $1,674. That’s not a small error. That’s a thousand dollars a month of wrong, and it’s scaring people away from a property they could afford.

So what’s the catch? There is one, and it’s in the income math.

Quick Facts

Two things in that table deserve a flag. The property runs two separate Google Business Profiles with different ratings, so the 4.1 you see first isn’t the whole record. And the deposit sits at roughly a full month of rent. That’s high for a place built in the late 90s. I’ll get to what that tells you.

Who This Property Actually Works For

You need three or four bedrooms and you’re not made of money. Huntington Meadows runs 1,039 square foot three bedrooms from $1,475 and 1,239 square foot four bedrooms from $1,650. Four bedroom apartments in Austin barely exist. When they do, it’s usually a house listing. Over a dozen units across those larger plans were showing available when I checked.

Your income hits the right range. A 60% AMI one bedroom needs $45,000 a year to pass the 3x test and caps out at $54,480 for a single renter. That’s a workable window. If you’re earning $22 to $26 an hour and keep getting squeezed out of market rate buildings, this property was built for exactly that gap.

You want solid amenities without paying through the nose. Pool, fitness center, basketball court, playground, clubhouse, business center, gated entry, courtyards, grills. Parking is free, guests included, which is uncommon. No monthly amenity fee, no technology fee.

Spanish is your first language. The property advertises a bilingual leasing team and you can see it in the reviews: roughly 29 of the written reviews were posted in Spanish, and most got responses in Spanish too. If you’ve ever tried to sort out a lease question through a language barrier, that matters.

Who Should Skip It

You’re a single renter chasing the 50% AMI units. The math doesn’t work and I want you to know before you apply. A 50% two bedroom at $1,415 needs $50,940 in annual income to clear 3x rent. The 50% income cap for a single person is around $45,400. You’d need to earn more than the program allows you to earn. That unit is not available to you as a solo applicant no matter how the ad reads.

You don’t have a car. Walk Score here is 6 out of 100. The nearest full grocery store is an HEB at 1801 E 51st Street, 4.09 miles out, roughly 8 minutes by car. There is no version of living here without driving.

You might need to break the lease. Sixty days notice, plus a fee equal to two months of rent, plus repayment of every dollar of concession you received. Take the two months free and leave early and you’re looking at north of $6,000 in penalties on a $1,524 unit. If your job or your situation is unstable, that’s a bad bet.

You need in unit laundry. Connections come in select units only. There are no shared laundry rooms on site, so if your unit doesn’t have hookups, you’re going to a laundromat.

Ready to See If Huntington Meadows Fits Your Situation?

Before you pay an application fee, I can tell you which pricing tier your household size and income actually qualify for. That one question is worth $1,300 to $2,100 over a lease term. If the numbers don’t line up here, I know which properties in 78724 and the rest of East Austin will work instead.

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Location: What Decker Lane Is Really Like

The property sits on Decker Lane next to the Travis County Expo Center, home of Rodeo Austin, with Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park and the lake just past it. There’s a boat ramp. There’s open space. It’s quiet out there. The noise scores confirm it: almost nothing around here generates sound.

That quiet comes at a cost, and the cost is everything you’d walk to.

Loma Vista shopping center is 0.87 miles up Decker, about 2 minutes driving. The Collective East on Johnny Morris Road is 1.01 miles. Springdale Shopping Center is 2.23 miles. Those cover convenience runs. For an actual grocery trip you’re going 4 miles to the HEB on East 51st, or 5.4 miles to La Michoacana on North I-35.

Commute Math

Those rush hour numbers are my estimates for this corridor. The painful direction is westbound into town in the morning, because everything funnels through FM 969 and Ed Bluestein. Going east toward Manor, you’re driving against traffic and it barely registers.

Transit Score is 35. CapMetro runs service on this corridor, but the MetroRail station is a 10 minute drive, not a walk. Treat transit as a backup, not a plan.

The Honest Read on the Area

This is Far East Austin, a different animal than the 78702 people picture when they say East Austin. Flatter, more spread out, more industrial in places, and a lot cheaper. Decker Lane backs up during Rodeo Austin in March and on big Expo Center event days.

On schools: Apartments.com lists this address in Austin ISD attendance zones with Dobie Middle School and LBJ Early College High School. Decker Middle (Manor ISD) is close by but isn’t the assigned school. The property’s own materials say Manor ISD, which doesn’t help. If schools matter to you, run the address through both districts’ boundary lookups before you sign.

Pricing and What You’ll Actually Pay

Here’s what every floor plan costs as of August 13, 2026, with net effective rent based on the current deal.

The Net Effective Math, Worked

Take the market rate two bedroom, since that’s what they’ll show you first.

• Base rent: $1,524
• Special: 2 months free, which is 60 days
• Lease term: 12 months, which is 365 days
• Daily multiplier: (365 − 60) ÷ 365 = 0.8356
• $1,524 × 0.8356 = $1,273 net effective
• Monthly savings: $1,524 − $1,273 = $251
• Over a 12 month term: $3,012 saved

One warning. The banner reads “up to 2 months free on select units,” and both “up to” and “select” are doing work. Your unit might get six weeks, or four. Get the exact free days and required lease term in writing first, because a six week version of that same apartment nets out at $1,349, not $1,273. All the new construction in Austin is what’s driving concessions this deep, and it won’t hold forever.

Required Fees

Optional Fees

No amenity fee and no tech fee. That’s rare, and it saves you $40 to $75 a month against buildings that pile those on. Free parking for residents and guests matters too, in a city where covered spots run $75 and up. Pet costs are also cheaper than most: Corazon in East Austin charges $350 per pet plus $20 monthly, and parking there isn’t free.

True Monthly Cost

Here’s a renter in the market rate two bedroom with one dog:

Advertised rent is $1,524. What you’ll actually pay each month is closer to $1,650 before electric. That’s a $126 gap, which adds up to about $1,515 over the year. The LeaseLock fee alone is $336 over a 12 month lease, and it doesn’t show up on a single listing site. For move in cash, plan on $1,600 deposit plus $300 pet fee plus the application fee. Budget $2,000 or more before your first month’s rent.

Want to Compare This Property’s True Cost to Nearby Options?

Decker Lane has six other communities within a few minutes, several of them income restricted with lower rents than what you’ll be quoted here. I can put the real net effective numbers side by side for all of them, including the concessions that never make it onto listing sites.

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Screening: Will You Actually Get Approved?

Tax credit properties screen differently from everything else, and this is where most applicants get tripped up. You have to clear a floor and a ceiling at the same time.

The Income Floor

Every applicant needs gross monthly household income of at least 3 times the monthly rent. Not net. Gross.

The Income Ceiling

But because these are restricted units, your household also can’t earn more than the program limit. The property’s published income caps for 60% AMI units are $54,480 for one person, $62,220 for two, $70,020 for three, and $77,760 for four. The 50% caps run lower: around $45,400, $51,850, $58,350, and $64,800.

Now put the floor and the ceiling together, and you get the single most useful thing on this page:

Read that last row again. A single renter cannot qualify for the 50% two bedroom, because the income needed to clear 3x rent is more than the program lets you make. No amount of good credit fixes that. People apply for it anyway, pay the fee, and get declined for a reason nobody explained to them upfront.

The 60% units have a lot more room to qualify. That’s the tier most people should be asking about.

Credit and Background

The property doesn’t publish a credit minimum, an eviction lookback, or a criminal background policy anywhere I could find. That’s normal for tax credit communities. They usually handle it on an individual basis instead of posting a hard number.

What the deposit tells me: $1,575 to $1,750 is roughly a full month of rent on a building this old. Communities that charge that usually work with people who have some issues on their record, not just clean applicants. On a comparable building with no screening flexibility you’d expect $500 to $1,200. Bigger deposit usually means there’s some give somewhere. It’s a signal, not a promise. I’d confirm before sending a client with a rough history.

What You’ll Need to Apply

1. Every applicant 18 or older completes an application
2. Valid government issued photo ID for each applicant
3. Income documentation uploaded as PDF files: two most recent pay stubs, an offer letter, tax statements, or bank statements depending on your income source
4. Additional program eligibility paperwork, since they check your income against the caps
5. Annual recertification after you move in

That PDF requirement catches people. Phone photos of pay stubs get rejected and restart your clock.

Here’s what separates working with a locator from applying blind: I can tell you which tier your household qualifies for and whether your income clears the floor without going over the cap, before you spend a dollar on an application fee. Tax credit screening has two ways to fail, and most renters only know about one of them.

Resident Reviews Decoded

The Pattern That Matters

Every substantive complaint in the current review record is 11 months old or older. Not most. All of them.

The worst ones cluster in that same window. A resident went four days without air conditioning and got an automated notice saying the work was completed. Another described repairs marked done that were never touched, and a manager who yelled. A third called the place a dumpster fire over roaches. A fourth said management was threatening her, only enforcing patio rules on certain residents, and that people were drinking and hanging around outside her window.

Then it stops. Ten months of reviews since, and they’re positive and specific rather than generic. People name Patricia Mendez, the property manager, in 13 separate reviews. Ana in leasing shows up 14 times. Gregory, the maintenance supervisor, gets called out by name for getting work right the first time. Those aren’t the kind of reviews a property buys.

What changed is management. Avenue5 Residential ran this property through roughly that period, and Cushman & Wakefield runs it now. The complaints stop right around when the handoff happened.

The Older Record

Search this property and you’ll also hit ApartmentRatings, where the substantive reviews date to around 2017 and describe a genuinely rough place: pests, broken windows, a closed and dirty pool, crime on site. Those are eight or nine years old and predate multiple owners and managers. One reviewer from that era credits a manager with a full remodel and says it went from a 1.5 to a 5.

I’m not going to pretend that history didn’t happen, and I’m not going to pass off a 2017 review as current. This property has been rebuilt more than once. Weigh the last twelve months heaviest.

Management Response Pattern

They respond to about half of all reviews, and the pattern is obvious. Five star reviews get replies within days, using the same six or seven canned responses. The real complaints I mentioned above? No reply at all. One low rating with no written text got a personalized response with a phone number and email.

Fast on praise, silent on problems. Worth knowing before you need something fixed that doesn’t get fixed.

The Uncomfortable Truth

No listing site will write this section.

The Lease Break Terms Are Brutal, and They Bite Hardest If You Take the Special

Sixty days written notice. A fee equal to two months of rent. Plus repayment of every concession you received. On the market rate two bedroom that’s roughly $3,048 in fees plus about $3,048 in clawed back free rent. Call it $6,000 to walk away early. The bigger the concession you accept, the more expensive leaving becomes. Take the deal with your eyes open.

Year Two Costs About $250 More Per Month

Your first year at $1,273 net effective feels great. Renewal doesn’t come with a concession. Same apartment, same everything, and your real monthly cost goes from about $1,400 all in to about $1,650 all in. That’s roughly an 18% jump for doing nothing except staying. Renewal notices go out about 90 days before your lease ends. That’s your window to push back or start looking. Put a reminder in your phone for month nine.

The Listing Sites Are Getting This Property Badly Wrong Right Now

One major rental platform is publishing rents of $2,571 to $3,020 here and rating the property 59.55% more expensive than the Northeast Austin average. The same site, same method, five months ago rated it 21.23% cheaper. Nothing about the property changed. Their pricing feed broke. Actual base rents are $1,225 to $1,674.

If you’re comparing prices on listing sites right now, you’re looking at numbers that are off by roughly a thousand dollars a month. Check every price against the property directly.

Nobody Is Going to Volunteer the Cheaper Tier

The 50% and 60% units are listed as “contact us for details” and don’t show live availability. The market rate units show availability and have Apply Now buttons. The path of least resistance leads you straight to the most expensive version of the same apartment. You have to ask, by name, for the 50% and 60% units, and you have to ask what the waitlist looks like.

Two Google Listings, Two Different Ratings

The 4.1 star profile with 144 reviews isn’t the only one. A second profile for the same address carries 3.9 across 87 reviews and includes complaints that don’t appear on the first. Neither is hidden. Neither is complete. Check both.

Ready to Move Forward, or Want to See Alternatives?

If Huntington Meadows fits, I’ll help you lock down the right tier and get the concession terms in writing before you apply. If the income window doesn’t work for your household, there are six other communities within a few minutes of this address, and I know which ones have open units right now.

Start here

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Huntington Meadows income restricted?

Partly. It’s a tax credit property with 50% AMI units, 60% AMI units, and market rate units all in the same community. The restricted units have income caps; the market rate units don’t. Same floor plans across all three tiers.

What’s the cheapest apartment at Huntington Meadows?

A 672 square foot one bedroom at the 50% AMI tier, starting at $1,225 base rent, which nets to about $1,024 with two months free. You’d need roughly $44,100 in annual income to clear the 3x requirement and under about $45,400 to stay inside the cap for a single person. That’s a tight window.

What credit score do you need for Huntington Meadows?

No minimum is published. What they do publish is 3x gross monthly income plus the tax credit check. Deposits of $1,575 to $1,750 suggest they’ll work with you on some things, but confirm your specific situation before applying. If credit is your obstacle, my second chance apartments guide covers what actually moves the needle.

Does Huntington Meadows allow pets?

Yes. Up to two per home, 75 pound weight limit, breed restrictions apply. A $300 one time fee per pet plus $15 per pet in monthly rent, and a refundable deposit that varies. There’s no dog park, just waste stations. Zillow currently states pets aren’t allowed, which is wrong.

Is parking free at Huntington Meadows?

Yes. Surface lot, first come first served, and guest parking is included at no charge. There are no EV charging stations and no assigned spaces.

Does Huntington Meadows have in unit washer and dryer?

Connections come in select units only, and there are no shared laundry rooms on site. Ask which specific unit you’re being shown, because the answer changes by apartment.

How much is the security deposit at Huntington Meadows?

Between $1,575 and $1,750 depending on the unit, due on your move in date. That’s roughly a full month of rent. High for a place built in the late 90s.

What school district is Huntington Meadows in?

Apartments.com lists it in Austin ISD attendance zones (Dobie Middle School and LBJ Early College High School), but the property itself says Manor ISD. Decker Middle and Decker Elementary (Manor ISD) are also nearby. Run 7000 Decker Lane through both districts’ boundary lookups before deciding.

Is Huntington Meadows a good deal compared to other 78724 apartments?

At the 50% and 60% tiers, yes. At market rate it’s competitive but not a standout, since newer income restricted apartments on the same road charge similar rents. My East Austin apartments guide breaks down how 78724 compares to the rest of the east side.

The Bottom Line

Huntington Meadows gives you 1,039 square foot three bedrooms from $1,475 and 1,239 square foot four bedrooms from $1,650 in a city where that inventory barely exists. Parking is free, there’s no amenity or tech fee, and the concession takes a market rate two bedroom to $1,273 net effective. The last ten months of resident reviews describe a property that got fixed, with three staff members named over and over by people who clearly mean it.

But this property asks more homework than any market rate building would. You have to clear an income floor and an income ceiling at the same time, you have to ask for the tier nobody offers up front, and you have to accept a lease break penalty that gets worse the better your move in deal was.

This property makes sense if: you need three or four bedrooms and can’t afford a house; your household income lands inside a 60% AMI window; you have a car and don’t mind driving for groceries; you’re planning to stay put for at least the full term.

This property doesn’t make sense if: you’re a single renter aiming at the 50% units, because that math is impossible; you need to be able to leave early; you’re carless; you want in unit laundry guaranteed rather than unit by unit.

My honest read: this is one of the better values in 78724 if you qualify for the restricted tiers, and an unremarkable one if you don’t. The whole question is which tier you land in. That gets settled in a five minute conversation about household size and gross income, and nobody at the leasing desk has to start it with you.

Need Help With Huntington Meadows?

Work with me. My service is free. I’m paid a referral fee out of the property’s marketing budget, and your rent is identical either way. I’ll confirm which tier you qualify for, get the concession terms in writing, and tell you honestly if a nearby community fits better. Here’s more about how I work.

Go on your own. Call the leasing office at 512-929-5555 or 737-284-0451. Ask about 50% and 60% AMI availability by name, not just what’s showing online. Just tell them “Ross Quade from Austin Apartment Team” referred you on your tour and application. Text me at 512-360-0852 when you apply so I can make sure everything’s on track.
Office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 to 5:30, Saturday 10 to 5.