Tacara at Weiss Ranch Apartments Austin Review: New Construction That Accepts Broken Leases, Felonies, and Misdemeanors (Honest Review)

Ten weeks free on a 2023 building that accepts broken leases, felonies, and misdemeanors. That combination doesn’t show up often. I track pricing across 1,000+ Austin-area apartments, and Tacara at Weiss Ranch in Pflugerville keeps landing on my radar because the math is hard to ignore. A studio here drops to roughly $970/month net effective with the current special. That’s new construction pricing that undercuts older Class B properties across the 78660 ZIP code.

But here’s what the listing sites won’t tell you: 230+ reviews across Google, ModernMsg, Apartments.com, and ForRent tell two completely different stories about this property. The 5-star crowd talks about Lake Pflugerville views and a gym that rivals a commercial fitness center. The 1-star crowd talks about noise traveling through floors, build quality issues, and a leasing office that doesn’t always pick up the phone. Both groups are right.

This review breaks down the real costs, screening criteria, and uncomfortable truths so you can decide for yourself.

Quick Facts

The 4.4 Google rating tells part of the story, but not all of it. You’ve got mostly 5-stars and then a handful of 1s and 2s that are pretty loud about it. I’ll break down what’s behind those numbers below.

Best For / Skip If

Best For

You’ve got something on your background and you’re tired of getting denied at new construction. This is the big one. Most 2023-built, Greystar-managed properties will auto-decline you if you’ve got a broken lease or felony. Tacara at Weiss Ranch doesn’t. They accept broken leases, review felonies on an individual basis, and work with misdemeanors. If you’ve been getting denied at every newer property in Pflugerville, this might be the one that says yes. I wrote a full breakdown of how that works in Austin.

You want to live across the street from a lake without paying downtown prices. Lake Pflugerville is literally across E Pflugerville Parkway. Walking trails, kayaking, fishing. Residents mention the lake in about 15 of the 230+ combined reviews. It’s the #1 thing people bring up about the location.

You need W/D in unit and don’t want to compromise on build year. Every unit comes with a washer and dryer. Sounds basic, right? But try finding that in an older Pflugerville property. A lot of the Class B inventory out here still runs on shared laundry rooms.

You want the concession math to work in your favor. Ten weeks free is aggressive for this submarket. On a $1,200/month studio, that’s roughly $230/month in savings over the lease term. On a 1BR around $1,275, that’s about $245/month off.

Skip If

Noise from neighbors is a dealbreaker for you. This comes up repeatedly. At least 8 of the 230+ reviews mention hearing upstairs neighbors, noise coming through the ceilings, or loud hallway doors. One reviewer said they could hear what music their upstairs neighbor was listening to. If you’re a light sleeper or work from home, test the unit before signing.

You need to be able to reach the leasing office by phone. People keep saying the office doesn’t pick up. One Google reviewer put it bluntly: “They never answer the phone!” If you’re the type who needs to get someone on the line quickly, that’s worth knowing upfront.

You’re looking for a walkable neighborhood. Walk Score is 2 out of 100. You need a car here. There’s an H-E-B nearby and shopping centers within a short drive, but nothing is walkable from the front door.

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Location Deep Dive

What’s Actually Nearby

Tacara at Weiss Ranch sits on E Pflugerville Parkway at the eastern edge of Pflugerville, right across from Lake Pflugerville. And I mean right across. The lake has a 3-mile crushed granite trail loop, a swim beach, kayak and paddleboard rentals, and fishing piers.

Grocery runs go to H-E-B, about 2 miles south on Kelly Lane (5-minute drive). There’s a shopping center about a mile away with a few restaurants. You’ve got fast food and chain places along Pflugerville Parkway and FM 685, but sit-down dining options thin out fast.

You’re zoned for Carpenter Elementary (GreatSchools 8/10), Bohls Middle (5/10), and Weiss High School (6/10), all within about 2 miles.

Transit access basically doesn’t exist out here. The nearest Capital Metro rail station (Howard Station) is over 10 miles away. This is a drive-everywhere location.

Commute Math

Rush hour heading south toward Austin on I-35 or SH 130 is where you’ll feel it. If you work at Dell in Round Rock or Apple on Parmer, the commute stays reasonable. Downtown during rush hour is a grind.

What the Area Actually Feels Like

This part of Pflugerville is still filling in. Suburban. Quiet. Residents like that, but don’t expect a neighborhood scene. The area around Weiss Ranch is newer development: other apartment communities, single-family neighborhoods, and commercial lots that are still getting built out.

This isn’t the Pflugerville of Pecan Street or downtown Pflugerville with its restaurants and breweries. You’re on the eastern edge out here, closer to open land and the lake than to anything with a patio and a happy hour. That’s either exactly what you want or a total dealbreaker. If you’re after a quiet spot with nature access and no nightlife, it works. But if walking to dinner matters to you, look west.

Pricing and True Cost

Floor Plans

Net effective prices are estimates based on current 10 week concession on a 12-month lease. Base rents vary by unit and availability.

Net Effective Rent: The Math

Let’s use the studio at $1,200/month as the example:

• Base rent: $1,200/month
• Special: 10 weeks free on a 12+ month lease
• 10 weeks = 70 days free
• 12-month lease = 365 days
• Daily multiplier: (365 – 70) / 365 = 0.8082
• Net effective rent: $1,200 x 0.8082 = $970/month
• Monthly savings: $1,200 – $970 = $230/month
• Total savings over the lease: $2,760

That’s real money. But remember: they check your income against the base rent of $1,200, not the net effective of $970. So you’d still need $3,600/month gross income (at 3x) to qualify for that studio.

Required Monthly Fees (Everyone Pays)

The property’s own listing shows $68/month in fees for the studio. Zillow and ApartmentGuide list $81/month. ForRent.com breaks out every line item and totals closer to $91/month when you include the $10 trash hauling fee. The difference comes down to how each site groups the fees (water, electric, and trash hauling are billed separately based on what you use). Plan for $70-$91/month on top of base rent depending on your unit.

Optional Fees

True Monthly Cost: A Real Scenario

Let’s say you’re renting a studio with one dog:

That $1,200 advertised rent is really $1,316/month once you add the fees you can’t opt out of, plus pet rent. And over 12 months, those mandatory fees alone add about $1,092 to your annual housing cost. That’s money you won’t see on the listing page.

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

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Screening Criteria

So what’s the catch? There usually is one when a new construction property accepts broken leases and felonies. But Tacara’s screening is where things actually get interesting compared to most Greystar communities in Austin.

What Gets You In

Here’s what they accept:

• Broken leases (individual review)
• Felonies (individual review)
• Misdemeanors (accepted)

That’s unusual for a 2023-built, Greystar-managed property. Most Class A Greystar communities reject broken leases and felonies through their screening software. Tacara is more flexible than most, which is why it keeps showing up on property lists for renters with background issues in Pflugerville.

Income Requirement

Greystar uses 3x rent as the income bar here. And they’re looking at your base rent, not the lower number after the special. So even though your net effective studio rent drops to $970, you still need $3,600/month in gross income to qualify.

Credit Expectations

Tacara doesn’t publish a credit score minimum anywhere, and neither does Greystar corporate. The qualification form you sign just says your credit and rental history get run through a screening company that scores your overall risk. No hard number on the paperwork. Based on what I know about how Greystar properties screen in practice:

• 600+ credit: Likely smooth approval, standard deposit
• 570-599 credit: Possible approval with higher deposit or conditions
• Below 570: Tougher odds, you’ll probably need a lease guarantor service

The best way to know for sure is to ask me to pre-screen you before you spend the $150 application fee. I can tell you where you’re likely to land based on the full picture, not just the credit number.

What Gets You Denied

Based on how Greystar screens at most of their properties:

• Active property debt (money owed to a previous landlord) without a lease guarantor
• Sex offenses on registry (auto-decline at 95%+ of properties)
• Fraudulent application information
• Not enough income (below 3x rent)
• Multiple issues stacked together (broken lease + felony + low credit) without enough income or time to offset them

The Locator Advantage

Here’s what separates working with a locator from applying blind: I can tell you whether your income, credit, and rental history are likely to pass Tacara’s screening before you spend $150 finding out. If Tacara looks tight for your situation, I know which nearby communities have more flexibility.

Resident Reviews Decoded

I pulled reviews from every major platform before writing this section. Google has 103 reviews (4.4 stars). ModernMsg has 106 (4.5 stars). ForRent and Apartments.com add another 24 (4.3 stars). I also checked HAR, ApartmentHomeLiving, Yelp, ApartmentRatings, and Wheree. Yelp? Zero resident reviews. ApartmentRatings? One tour review. The real data lives on Google and ModernMsg, with the CoStar network filling in some gaps. Altogether, that’s 230+ reviews. Here’s what the patterns look like.

Review Pattern Analysis

What People Consistently Praise

The gym. I keep hearing about this gym. People call it one of the better apartment gyms they’ve seen, with a yoga/cycling room on top of the main fitness area. The pool gets love too, with cabanas and a TV.

Staff names come up a lot. Marina, Heather, Caleb, and Wade (former community manager) all got called out by name in dozens of reviews. One reviewer pointed out that Heather handles the office alone now that Caleb has left. She still gets back to residents within hours. That kind of individual responsiveness matters.

And then there’s the lake. It’s the single biggest thing residents talk about. Cross the street, walk the 3-mile loop, sit by the water. Most apartment communities in Pflugerville can’t offer that.

What People Consistently Criticize

Noise. Sound traveling between floors is the #1 complaint, and it shows up on every platform that has reviews.

One Google reviewer who’d lived in apartments for 15 years called it the cheapest-built complex she’d ever lived in. She said she could hear every step from the unit above, and their music. A verified renter on ForRent.com (April 2026) wrote that noise is “a major issue” and pointed to Loft Living data backing that up.

This isn’t a handful of picky residents. It’s a pattern across Google, ModernMsg, ForRent, and Apartments.com. And it tracks with what I see at a lot of 2023-era construction: wood-frame buildings where every footstep from the unit above comes right through the ceiling no matter what the builder says about the materials.

Dog waste in common areas. This one’s getting worse, not better. Two of the most recent ModernMsg reviews call out dog owners not picking up after their pets. Broken pool cues. Building hallways that smell on trash days. These are maintenance and resident behavior issues, not design flaws, but they affect your daily life.

Management Response Assessment

Management replies to most reviews. The positive ones get a warm but clearly templated response. The negative ones almost always get the same line: “Please reach out to us at (737) 261-0707.” That’s a redirect, not a resolution. And a recent response from a new community manager named Alex tells me there’s been leadership turnover. Worth keeping an eye on.

The Uncomfortable Truth

No listing site will write this section. And that’s the whole point. I’m not trying to kill the deal. I want you to know what you’re signing up for so you don’t find out the hard way after you’ve already moved in.

The Walls Are Thin for a “New Construction” Property

“New construction” and “quality construction” aren’t the same thing. At least 4 Google reviewers specifically call out build quality. One said the property is “cheaply built” despite being new. Another described hearing every step from upstairs. A third said humidity in their unit got bad enough to cause mold that ruined their personal stuff. Wood-frame construction with three stories means the building flexes, and noise goes right through the floors. If you’re on a lower floor, test the unit during a time when your upstairs neighbor is home.

The 60-Day Notice to Vacate Can Catch You Off Guard

One reviewer learned the hard way that even though your lease has an end date, you still need to give 60 days’ written notice before you move out. This is standard in most Texas apartment leases, but Tacara enforces it. Skip that notice and you’ll get hit with fees. Read your lease before you sign it.

Staff Turnover Is Real

The review timeline shows a pattern. A leasing team gets praised heavily (Marina, Caleb, Wade), then someone leaves, and new names show up. The early reviews mention Wade as community manager. Later reviews reference a new community manager named Alex. Caleb left at some point.

That’s Greystar in Austin. Staff moves around. The team you meet during your tour may not be the team you’re dealing with six months later.

Elevators Were a Problem Early On

Multiple reviews from the property’s first year mention elevators that weren’t working for months after move-in. One resident on ForRent said the elevators were still down three months past the promised fix date. Another called the wait “financially and mentally draining.” Three-story building, no working elevator. That’s a big deal.

They seem to be working now. But ask the leasing office before you sign, especially if you’re on an upper floor.

The Phone Situation

This one’s simple. Same story you see in the Skip If section: the office doesn’t pick up. One reviewer trying to reach the back office called multiple times with no response. If you need to reach someone, try email (tacaraweissranch@greystar.com) or the resident portal. You’ll probably get a faster answer that way.

Move-In Inspection Gaps

At least two people on Google and Apartments.com said they moved into a unit that wasn’t cleaned or inspected. One Google reviewer said their apartment wasn’t cleaned before they moved in and they kept running into quality problems after that. On a building this new, that’s on the leasing office, not the construction.

Fair warning: ask to walk the unit yourself before your lease starts. Write down anything that’s off on your move-in checklist. Don’t skip this step.

Ready to Move Forward, or Want to See Alternatives?

If Tacara at Weiss Ranch fits your situation, I can help you get your application in front of the right person. Worried about the noise or build quality? I know other Pflugerville communities with similar pricing and better walls.

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FAQ

Does Tacara at Weiss Ranch accept broken leases?

Yes. The property accepts broken leases and looks at each one individually. Your chances are better if the broken lease is older and you’ve paid off what you owed. If you’re not sure where you stand, a locator can pre-screen you before you spend the $150 application fee.

Does Tacara at Weiss Ranch accept felonies?

Yes, they look at each one individually. Non-violent felonies older than 5 years typically have better odds. Violent crimes and sex offenses face longer lookbacks or auto-declines. Credit score and income strength matter here too.

What’s the income requirement at Tacara at Weiss Ranch?

3x monthly rent in gross household income. For a studio at $1,200/month, that’s $3,600/month or about $43,200/year. They check your income against the base rent, not the lower number after the special.

Are utilities included at Tacara at Weiss Ranch?

No. You pay for electricity, water/sewer, and internet separately. Water is billed based on your actual usage. Mandatory monthly fees ($70-85/month for trash, pest control, amenity fee, package services, and stormwater) are on top of base rent.

Does Tacara at Weiss Ranch allow dogs?

Yes. Two pets max per unit, $25/month pet rent per pet, $250 non-refundable pet fee per pet. There’s a dog park and pet wash station on-site. No weight limit is published anywhere online or on the property’s website. Greystar’s breed restriction list includes Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans, Chows, Presa Canarios, Akitas, Alaskan Malamutes, and wolf hybrids. Other breeds might be restricted at this specific property, so call (737) 261-0707 or work with a locator to confirm before applying.

Is Tacara at Weiss Ranch near Lake Pflugerville?

Yes. It’s right across E Pflugerville Parkway from Lake Pflugerville. The lake has a 3-mile walking/running trail, swim beach, kayaking, and fishing access.

What school district serves Tacara at Weiss Ranch?

Pflugerville ISD. You’re zoned for Carpenter Elementary, Bohls Middle, and Weiss High School.

How far is Tacara at Weiss Ranch from downtown Austin?

About 17-18 miles. Off-peak that’s roughly 25 minutes. Rush hour can push it to 40-55 minutes depending on your route and the day.

Does Tacara at Weiss Ranch have garages?

Yes. Garages run $125-$225/month and storage units are $40/month. Both depend on what’s open when you sign.

The Bottom Line

Here’s what it comes down to. Tacara at Weiss Ranch puts together a combination you don’t find easily in the Austin metro. New construction. W/D in unit. Lake views. A gym and pool that residents actually like. And a screening policy that works with broken leases, felonies, and misdemeanors. The 10 week special drops your real monthly cost well below what you’d pay at a comparable property. The 4.4 Google rating across 103 reviews backs that up.

But the trade-off is build quality. You can hear your neighbors through the walls and ceilings, and the reviews confirm it. The property is car-dependent with a Walk Score of 2. And the leasing office communication is inconsistent, especially by phone.

This property makes sense if:

• You have background issues (broken lease, felony, misdemeanor) and want new construction in Pflugerville
• You want lake access across the street and amenities you’ll actually use (gym, pool, dog park)
• You’re commuting to north Austin, Round Rock, or the Apple/Dell corridor
• You want to lock in the 10-week special while it lasts

This property doesn’t make sense if:

• Noise from neighbors is something you can’t tolerate
• You need walkable access to restaurants, grocery, and daily errands
• You need consistent phone communication with your leasing office

My honest take: if you’ve been getting denied at newer Pflugerville properties because of your background, Tacara should be on your short list. The screening flexibility plus the concession math makes it one of the more interesting options in the 78660 ZIP code right now. Just go in knowing what you’re getting with the walls.

Need Help Deciding?

Want me to pre-screen you for Tacara at Weiss Ranch? My service is free. The property pays my referral fee from their marketing budget. Your rent stays the same whether you use a locator or walk in off the street.

I can tell you whether your credit, income, and rental history will pass their screening before you spend $150 on an application. And if Tacara isn’t the right fit, I track screening criteria at every Greystar property in the Austin market, plus hundreds of other communities in Pflugerville and across the metro.

Going solo? Call the property directly at (737) 261-0707 or visit tacaraweissranch.com. 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.