Tired of sharing a bathroom with a dozen other strangers? Can’t imagine another year of security guards judging your late-night visitors? Want to throw ragers without getting written up? You, my friend, are ready to move off campus. We spoke with landlords at University City Housing, Campus Apartments and University Enterprises to get all their dirty little secrets on how to score a bangin’ off-campus place.
Jump On It Whatever you do, do not procrastinate. Though the renting rush doesn’t officially begin until November 15th, waiting until then is a very bad call. By that time, most people with off-campus intentions have been flirting with landlords and filling out applications for weeks. Landlords will show houses to prospective tenants on a first come, first served basis.
Get It Together Go into the search knowing with whom you want to live. Rental companies appreciate exact numbers and commitment levels, and may be more willing to show a house once they have this information. Clarify your housing specifics but be flexible; this isn’t Barbie’s dream house and you’re going to have to make compromises.
Forget Everything You Learned About Dating To get the house you want, go ahead and play the field. Submit applications at the major rental companies and other smaller groups. Once you establish those relations, don’t play hard to get – you want to be as available and interested as possible. Academics can wait — duck out of class when they call. If your group can be available at a moment’s notice, you may get the first look at a new house on the market.
Be Prepared To Whip It Out Who gets the house often comes down to who is ready to sign for it first. Have your checkbook ready and sufficient dough in the bank so you can place the security deposit — usually the first month’s rent — the moment you decide. You should be equipped with your social security numbers, previous addresses and other vital information if you want the process to move quickly. With all of this, you should be prepared to seal the deal: the lease goes to the group with the first deposit and submitted applications.
Play the Homewrecker People don’t realize that most of the better houses on campus never actually surface to the market. Instead, they belong to some frat, sorority, or sports team that simply passes it down. Look around — it might require party reconnaissance or serious Facebook stalking, but no one said this would be easy — to find senior houses. From personal experience, we know that landlords may be willing to intervene in a house pass-down if it means their tenants will be innocent-looking girls instead of yet another group of raucous frat boys.
B-E Aggressive! Casually inquire and continue to pester landlords for possible openings. If they do have something, but have to set up a tour time, agree to see it later. However, take the tour into your own hands: sneak in during a party or knock and say the landlord sent you. Bring cookies. And a smile.
Ain’t No Party Like a Campus Apartments Party If the task of house hunting still feels daunting, Campus Apartments is taking on the role of the over-involved mother with their First Annual Harvest Festival on October 25th. Through their “Are You on the List?” marketing campaign, the company will take prospective residents, step-by-step, through the entire process. From 12:00 – 4:00 p.m., students can set up a house tour with a Campus Apartments lease consultant or sign up to receive e-mail updates of listings of available properties.
