Finding an apartment when you’re a student can be incredibly stressful; as everyone knows pretty well already, students don’t exactly have a lot of extra cash to throw around! Here are a few tips to help you out if you’re currently looking for an apartment:
- Location is key! If you’re trying to save money, make sure to do some research on which neighborhoods are the most expensive and least expensive — you’d be surprised by how much the rent of a standard apartment can change when you move just a few streets over. Make sure to consider other factors, such as how close it is to your classes, how close it is to shopping centers, and whether you’ll be able to get around easily without driving everywhere.
- Speaking of driving, students who have cars often find it difficult to get campus housing at a reasonable rate. If you don’t have to pay for a parking lot permit, then you might end up paying for street parking or private garage parking. It’s important to keep this detail in mind if you plan on taking your car with you, because it can be a big expense if you don’t plan for it.
- Many college students end up looking for apartments that are off campus because of a few good reasons: First, off campus housing is often cheaper than the student housing sponsored by the school. Second, there’s a lot more privacy and control over your living space if you live off campus. Third, it gives you a little more independence and allows you to have a back-up housing arrangement, since on campus housing tends to fill up pretty quickly in colleges these days. Finding an apartment off campus provides more security than you might expect, and it gives you the opportunity to start living on your own so that “entering the real world” after graduation isn’t so much of a shock!
There are plenty of reasons why college students today are interested in finding an apartment off campus — but what really matters is, why are you interested in one?
