We've been thoroughly enjoying this beautiful fall weather, and we hope you are too! This month's post includes-
Daylight Savings Time Ends November 1st!
City of Austin Wastewater Averaging
Voting in the Fall Election – Important Update!
Free Shred Day
USPS Dog Bite Awareness Campaign
Texas Unclaimed Funds
Renter’s, Auto and Flood Insurance
Daylight Savings Time Ends November 1st!
It's that time of year again where the powers that be mess up our sleep cycles. Overnight this Friday into Saturday morning at 2am the clocks fall back one hour to 1am. This is the good adjustment since we get an extra hour of sleep, but we eventually pay for it in the spring!. Most clocks will adjust themselves these days, but make sure you check them all so important things aren't missed. You can use worldtimeserver.com as a reference if you need to confirm the correct time, and check out TimeandDate.com for more info about Daylight Savings Time.
City of Austin Wastewater Averaging
Did you know that between December and March the city water utility uses your water usage data to lock in your rates for the rest of the year? The wastewater averaging is done when households use less water in the winter to lock in the monthly wastewater fee. You can read more about it and watch a video here. The averaging done in this period can end up saving you a lot of money through the rest of the year! If you’re not in the City of Austin water service area check with your provider to see if they use a similar process.
Voter Registration and Fall Election – Important Update!
No politics here, but we do encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote! The fall elections are underway with early voting running through Friday, 10/30/2026, followed by election day on Tuesday, 11/3/2026. The first day early voting turn-out set records, and the polls have been busy ever since. If you can get to the polls for early voting you may have shorter waits than on election day.
If you haven't voted yet and don't know if you're registered then this is a good time to check your voter registration, make sure your address is correct, etc. If you're in Texas, you can go to the Texas.Gov Voter Registration site, and/or you can also search for your local state/county elections website. The deadline to register for the November 3, 2026 election has already passed as of October 5, 2026.
It was recently discovered that the Texas DPS failed to process an unknown number of voter registrations for over a year. When it was discovered they started transmitted the data over where it was eventually discovered that they failed to transfer over 500,000 voter records and got sued for it. Hopefully you weren't impacted by this, but make sure to check your voter registration if needed and read up on provisional ballots in case that applies to you.
Here are some voting related resources:
Vote411.org - See what races will be on your ballot
IWillVote.com - Find your nearest polling location
VoteTexas.gov - List of acceptable forms of photo ID you MUST present at the polls when voting in person
RideShare2Vote.com - Request a FREE ride to and from a polling location
KXAN Voter Guide – Local news station's voter guide (the website is pretty bad!)
League of Women Voters Austin Area Guide (English / Espanol / 中文简体) - non-partisan guide to Austin elections. They can be found in other areas by searching for the local chapter.
Happy voting!
Free Shred Day
We regularly post about scams and want to bring light to another way to protect yourself. If you have sensitive documents, whether business or personal, shredding them is important when it comes time to dispose of them. There are regularly free events around Austin, and likely in your area if you’re not local, that accept documents for free shredding. There are two events coming up in Austin that we wanted to share with you, and we’ll update this list as they come up-
Balcones Shred sponsored by Austin ARMA on Saturday, November 7, 2026
USPS Dog Bite Awareness Campaign
Did you know that there were over 5,200 dog bite incidents with postal workers in 2025? This is a very preventable issue, and that number doesn't include UPS, FedEx, Amazon, or other package delivery services. The US Post office runs a Dog Bite Awareness Campaign every summer, and we'd like to highlight that by including it this month and asking everyone to take a moment to read the tips on their website.
Texas Unclaimed Funds
Did you know that many state governments keep a database of unclaimed funds that belong to the general public? In Texas, there are hundreds of millions of dollars submitted to the state that are unclaimed each year. You never know if you or someone you know might be owed funds. In fact, when writing this post, I came across seven of my family members who are in the database with anywhere from $30 to several hundred dollars that are available to claim.
Check out ClaimItTexas.gov and search for similar databases in other states you may have lived in or think you might have unclaimed funds in. Beware of scam sites that are designed to steal personal info or charge a fee to help you recover funds because you can do it for free directly through the state’s process without paying a third party. It is not easy to claim funds but may be worth it depending on how much is available for recovery.
Renter’s, Auto, and Flood Insurance
Part of being prepared for life challenges is to have insurance for the things you may not be able to recover from on your own, and some are required to participate in our social contract like auto insurance. Many people don’t know that typical homeowner and renter policies don’t include flood insurance coverage.
Insurance rates change constantly, and your best defense against rising costs is to shop for your policies as often as you see fit. This is typically done at the time of renewal, and we’d like to recommend contacting our partner who has access to many carriers and policy types to get you the best deal for your needs. Our partner can help you get the coverage you need, review existing policies, shop for the best deal, automatically look for better options ahead of renewal, and/or answer questions with no obligation to buy anything from them. More information and contact details can be found by contacting Andor Insurance.
Thank you for being a resident! Please don't hesitate to contact our staff if we can help with anything.
Routine Maintenance Reminders
- Maintenance Requests: We still receive a lot of maintenance requests that state something vague like "washer" or "AC" without any other info about the actual issue. We cannot act on requests like this and will require that you provide more info, so any request like this will only delay a resolution to the issue. Make sure you provide as much info as possible in your request, including pics if possible
- Maintenance Portal: Please make a list of any items you want to submit, and then list all issues together as one request, including as much info as possible, and attach photos if applicable. We will then evaluate whether they should be split up or not.
- Smoke and CO Alarms: As a reminder, don't ever unplug and remove smoke detectors because they are beeping. Change the batteries, and if that doesn't work, please notify us. We find a lot of tenants unplug them and bury them in a closet or drawer instead of replacing batteries
- A/C Filters: Make sure to check and change every month or as required by the type of filter. If any HVAC systems in your home have a reusable filter, you are still required to clean them periodically, so please make sure they are kept clean.
- Toilets: "Flushable" Wipes CANNOT be flushed. Do not put anything down the drains except water, human waste, and regular toilet paper. Food, toys, feminine products, wipes, towels, wrappers, condoms, and other objects do not break apart and go down the drain. Clogs of the plumbing system may be charged back to you, so it is best to avoid this by not putting anything down any of the drains aside from water and human waste.
- Disposal Systems: This includes using the sink disposal as a garbage chute. These appliances are not meant to dispose of large quantities of food and should only be used as a last resort after all food items are scraped off dishes into a compost bin or trash can.
- Drainage: Shower, bath, and sink drains can get clogged up over time with hair and other organic matter. Do not use Draino-type products as they are extremely acidic and will do more harm than good by damaging the pipes while usually failing to fix the drainage issue. The best way to address this is to use a disposable drain snake that can be obtained from any hardware store for a couple of dollars. Please note that if we send out a vendor for this and it turns out to be this very issue, you may be charged back for the cost. Here is a video on how to use those - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOb4MJ6widg
- Emergency Maintenance: this extension should not be called unless you have an issue involving Flood, Blood, or Fire. Do not call the emergency line to follow up on existing work orders or submit a new request that is not an emergency. In case of an emergency, call 911 if needed and then contact us after everyone is safe. Remember that we do not monitor emails after hours, so if you submit something considered an emergency online and do not call we may not know until the next business day.
Other Maintenance Notes:
If you'd like to inquire about or update an existing request, contact your property manager at 512-617-6766.
Please allow at least 5 business days before requesting an update from our team unless it is an emergency.
For basic DIY tips and tricks to solve some issues quickly, visit our DIY rental property maintenance page.
Your Tenant Portal & Electronic Statements
The system will generate a statement even if you're moving out, so there is no need to contact us if you receive this and are moving. All charges, including any prorated rent, will be adjusted as needed when the deposit is processed.
If you are not using the portal app that keeps you logged in please take a look at the linked flyer for more info. This can eliminate forgotten passwords and help with easy updates/access to maintenance requests and all other account details.
