Going off to college for the first time as a Freshman, you’re stoked to live away from home in one of the dorm buildings on campus. While most likely you’ll be sharing a dorm room with either one or two other people, you’re still out of your parents’ house and essentially making your own rules. What could be better than that? Living in a dorm can have its perks, such as low cost, but as you move up the ranks from an underclassman to an upperclassman, you find out about even better housing – having your own apartment.
An apartment is bigger than a dorm, more inclusive in that it has an actual kitchen of sorts and sometimes its own washer/dryer system, and allows you to have your own room while still living with friends. It includes an increased sense of independence, and even does so without costing you a pretty penny (usually). While an apartment may sound like the answer to your housing prayers, the journey to getting one –from initial shopping online all the way to signing a lease and sending in that first round of rent money—can prove to be more problematic than you initially thought. Have no fear, though, here are six tips and facts about the ups and downs of selecting your apartment.
- Pick a location
While you may not want to be directly next to campus, being more than 2 or so miles can get tiresome after a while for most, especially if you don’t have a solid source of transportation between there and your apartment apart from your own two feet. If you don’t mind walking, though, go ahead and search a bit farther out!
- Know how many people you’re living with
This may seem like an obvious one, but you really can’t start shopping for an apartment until you know whether or not you’re going to be living with other people. You’re not going to want to pay for a two to three-person apartment for just yourself, so you better decide if you’re actually going to fill that apartment or would be better off getting a single for just yourself.
- Decide on a price range
While apartment costs may tally up to be more than your dorm, most of the time they are really not that much more expensive. If you want a higher end and nicer apartment and are prepared to pay about $3000-$3500 per semester, go for it. If you want the cheaper end, though, finding an apartment for about $2700 per semester isn’t that unfeasible either.
- Consider the quality
Like it or not, not every apartment that is available is going to be in great quality. Yes, it might be relatively cheap, but is paying $2500/semester worth it when the apartment is in bad shape, the internet always stops working, and there’s roaches? Absolutely not. It’s true that you may not actually be in your apartment all that much between class, work, studying, and extracurricular activities, but you should still have a half-decent place to live. When it comes down to it, quality really does matter, and sometimes paying a little extra is definitely worth it.
- Look at utilities
Apart from the actual apartment, there are other fees that you made need to pay for, such as electricity, cable, and internet. While most of the time the fees for these aren’t super big if you split them up equally amongst your roommates, it may be tiresome to try to coordinate actually paying them every month. Some apartments include utilities in their rent cost, so if you want it easy, look for those that have just a lump sum per month or semester!
- Consider parking options
If you have a car and bring it to school with you, you’re going to need to having parking for it. Most, if not all, apartments and landlords have designated parking for their tenants’ cars, but the question is where and how much is parking. Especially parking downtown, there are some lots that are strictly for a specific building, so you either need to know not to park there or risk getting a ticket or towed. Some lots, on top of your semester’s rent, have an additional fee to get a parking pass, so just be aware of that.