Living on campus may provide the ideal environment for studying, but off-campus housing can give the college student a much-needed financial break. Students are looking for rental housing at this time of year.
Here’s how both students and homeowners can make the most of the rental arrangement.
Looking through the listings
Looking for rental housing takes time and patience. College students can be preoccupied with application deadlines and financial decisions. Still, choosing a place to live is an important decision that can have a significant impact on your academic success. It’s one more job for students to take on right now.
You should try to learn from the experience of those in the field. A local Realtor with rental listings can help you find the right house. The realty will screen its listings and help you make the right choices.
Following through
Never rent a place sight unseen. The listing may sound ideal, but cozy for some is small to others. Kitchen privileges can be generous or restrictive.
A college student who is always on campus may not care for more than refrigerator space. But if you study at home and like to cook, you’re more apt to care about access to cooking.
When you go to check out a house, you’ll also get a chance to see the neighborhood. Is it safe? Is it close to campus?
If you don’t have a car, you’ll probably want to find a neighborhood with good public transportation and maybe a local deli or market.
Choosing furnished vs. unfurnished rooms
If you take a furnished room, that solves the problems of moving and decorating. It’s possible to furnish cheaply, though, and moving into an unfurnished house or room will usually save on rent.
Parents and family may have extra furniture to lend. Milk crates, pallets, and bricks-and-boards bookcases stack up to make nomadic living comfortable. There’s even a start-up project on Kickstarter for an ex-student who plans to sell his corrugated cardboard furniture online.
His furniture silhouettes resemble dinosaurs. Whimsy and a sense of humor can make temporary housing a lot more bearable.
Getting spring breaks for home improvements
Homeowners who are planning to rent to college students can take advantage of the spring home improvement season. Some credit cards offer rewards for DIY home-improvement purchases at this time of year.
During the spring, Discover awards five percent back at home-center retail outlets. Over the same period, Citi Dividend offers five percent on home-improvement purchases at contractor retail outlets and consumer stores. Chase Freedom gives a discount for Lowe’s. The home-improvement chains schedule their own sales at this time of year.
College students may get involved as well. A landlord may be willing to reduce rent in exchange for some sweat equity. This can be especially the case if the landlords are the parents. Working on the rooms their parent are offering can give students a boost toward feeling more independent.
Off-campus housing is a trending solution to crowded campuses. Matching homeowners to college student renters can produce a solution that benefits everyone.
