It’s that time of year when hundreds of college students frantically rush to lock down housing for the next school year…. 6 months in advance. It can be overwhelming to suddenly be expected to handle such a large task, but it’s part of becoming an adult. When you’re nestled in an apartment with your best friends, you’ll be glad you stuck it out. Looking for housing as a college student can be especially challenging because of competition from other students, landlords taking advantage of your inexperience, expensive pricing near campus, and committing so in advance. To help make the process as smooth as possible, we’ve put together a guide to getting started with your apartment and house hunt.
- Decide on a budget
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Different people have different maximum rent prices they are willing to pay. Look at your finances, have an honest talk with your parents, and figure out what price is yours. This will help you narrow down the search for places.
Your friend may be willing to spend more on housing, and you should figure out what your priorities are. It’s ok to say no to living with a friend because the rent is too expensive. You can still be friends regardless of whether or not you two are roommates
- Prioritize
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Decide what is most important to you: housemates, rent/utilities, distance from campus/work, number of rooms, etc.
- Decide on roommates
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Make a list of people that you’d be interested in living with. Make this list bigger than the amount of people you want to live with because people might flake on you. Start working housing plans into conversations to see if anyone is in need of a roommate.
Remember that best friends don’t necessarily make for best roommates. Pick someone who’s lifestyle aligns with yours.
- Only commit if you know you can follow through, and be clear about where you’re at
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There will be many times when people you’re interested in living with will flake on you and find other housing plans. It sucks, yes, but also realize that you might find yourself in that position. Don’t promise to live with anyone if you could see something else come along that you would rather want.
- Research
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This is where Her Campus is here to help! We’ve compiled a list of common off campus apartments in San Luis Obispo.
– Cedar Creek Village aka the Jungle
– 60 Casa
– Valencia
Find more by googling and asking around school. Zillow and aparments.com are good starting points to identify apartment complexes
Looking for a house? The best approach to finding a house is befriending someone who currently lives in a house and is planning on moving or filling their house with new people. While Zillow is a great resource for house listings, I find that they normally don’t get listed at the times you need to secure housing.
- Go to a showing
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Showings are often the only way to apply to an apartment. The biggest thing is to prepare some well-thought out questions and take note of any important dates (deadlines for deposit, start of the lease, etc.) or rent amounts. Finding out which utilities are included is also key.
- Get your money in order
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So you finally found somewhere to live next year! Now comes the money. You will need first and last month’s rent, a security deposit, and sometimes an application fee or renter’s insurance. Make sure that if you don’t have local bank branches in SLO, you start this process early because you might need to get a check in the mail.
Whew! that was a lot! But you got it. The most important thing to remember in finding housing is to be persistent and stay positive.