So you are looking for an apartment to live off campus next year? Well good for you it is a good step to self Independence and adulthood. Now where would you start? Well I was a recent college student that decided to start living off campus for my junior year of college in Providence, RI. Here I will go over the steps that I took in order to give some good advice on what you should do next in your college apartment search. So let my experiences and expertize help you in your search!
Step one: Set a Financial Map
When it comes to living off campus during your college years your personal financial situation should be one of the most important priorities. You will more than likely have college loans that you will need to pay off eventually and the last thing you need to do is squander a lot of hard earned cash, or funds in general, on an expensive single person apartment. You will need to save money for the unseen expenses such as food, utilities, parking, etc. The nice thing about an apartment or rental property is that a landlord will cover most broken appliances and incidental repairs. Map out your current financial situation including how much you currently spend on room and board at your current college. Then see how much you can budget towards an apartment for a year. Remember that unlike your college dorm room you rent out an apartment for a whole year and not just 8-10 months. The nice thing about an apartment is that it is usually a lot cheaper than college room and board. Then find out how much you would be willing to budget to overhead costs of renting an apartment such as utilities, furniture, food, parking, etc. Once you have a good idea what you are willing to spend then move on to...
Step Two: Find a Roommate!
More than likely most of the places you will find will cost more than a grand a month. So in order to cut costs for other expenses, and for it to be cheaper than living on campus, ask around for a friend or a few to go in with you on a place for next year. Many colleges offer Off-Campus Living programs to help students find potential roommates. Just keep asking friends if they are interested and if not ask them to ask their other friends. This is how I found my original apartment roommates. Once you have people committed to living with you you can cut apartment costs by easily 50-75%.
Step Three: Find an Area or Neighborhood you like!
If you are like me and went to college in a city take the bus out or just go walking through areas of town in search of a preferred area to live in. It is important to find a nice safe location that you, your roommates, and even parents all approve of. The last thing you want to do is walk out of your front door of the apartment you just blindly rented and get mugged! Get to know the neighborhoods and what type of people live there. search for areas occupied by mostly college students as these areas will generally have lots of listings for apartments and houses to rent that are specifically designed for students. Also if you live in an apartment complex, or at least have neighbors that are college students, then most likely you will live in an environment suited to your needs. Also look for places with "For Rent" or "For Lease" signs. Copy down numbers and addresses of places you liked.
Step Four: Just google it and explore!
Well there is a good chance you found this article by basically doing just what I stated above so you are doing a good job! Now when searching for apartments there are many good sites such as craigslist.com that contain ads for sites. Search for ads in your targeted area. Find many listings with pictures and description of costs and what the apartment comes with. Once you come up with 3-5 possible apartments go and snoop around the outside of these places to see if you would be interested or not. Search the areas to see what amenities are around and what services that can be used. Also look for problems that might arise such as property damage or graffiti. he last thing you want is to move into a property that looked good online but got condemned the week you moved in.
Step Five: Set up A Viewing.
Once you found at least two or three places that seem like they would work contact the landlord using the ads or numbers you found while searching on foot or on the web. Set up a viewing of the apartment. I highly advise you DO NOT go knock on the door without prior notice of the place you wish to view. Most current tenets do not like nosey people snooping around their stuff. Set up a viewing with the property manager or landlord or if possible set up a viewing through the landlord to go look at the place with the current tenets. Now the landlord will always sugar coat the place while a current tenet is more likely to be honest with you about any issue with the place, the landlord, neighbors, or other tenets. You can also find out how much they pay per month to see how utilities will match up with your budget. Also you can find out how much they rent out the property for so you can have a good ballpark for which to negotiate apartment price. Also check for details on the place. Is it furnished? What appliances does it have access to? Does it have laundry services? Also for a landlord to call a room a bedroom it needs to have a window and a closet or similar item. All of these factors can increase or decrease the price.
Step Six: Negotiations
So you decided on which place you want to rent. Now it is important to try and start negotiating ASAP in order to make sure you get the property you desire. If you like a place and never start negotiating you will probably end up losing the place to another apartment seeker, especially in a college town. I do recommend to NEVER give up details of the apartment or what the old tenets pay to the landlord during negotiations as it puts the current tenet and yourself in bad water. Instead seem insightful and smart. In general a price increase is very common from tenet to tenet to match the market but do not let them Mark you up to much.
Step 7: Signing the Lease
Congratulations, if you made this step you are almost the leaser of your first apartment or house. Now unless you have a steady income well above the price of the rental than you will need a co-signer on the lease with you. This will include probably your parent, legal guardian, or family. Make sure you read all of the fine print on the lease. It is always smart to read over legal documents to make sure the deal is fair. Also to get the lease you may have to pay first months rent, security deposits, or reservation fees. These are all normal and help pull the trigger to get the lease signed and are usually due before the move in date. Once signed congratulations and good luck on the new place. I hope this article and my experiences have helped.
