Every fall means a few things to college students: Halloween, colder weather, and homecoming. But to West Chester students, it also means finding your housing for next year.
For some crazy reason, all of the off-campus housing landlords decide that a few months into school, students should be deciding where they are going to live for the following year. It’s the beginning of the new school year, how can you know exactly who you want to live with for the next year and where? For some people, it is easy because they already have a house, but others have no idea where to start. Here are a few tips from someone who has gone through the process a few times now.
When you’re looking to move off-campus for the first time, it can be really scary. There are so many different places and you’re not sure where to start. First, you need to know how many roommates your going to living with, how many bedrooms you want, and how much money you’re willing to spend a month.
One of the best places in West Chester that I personally had a great experience with is Off-Campus Housing. I currently rent from them now and they have been more than helpful. Before signing our lease, one of the people from the office sat down with us and carefully went over the entire lease, which I later learned that a lot of landlords don’t even let you see the lease.
Whenever there is a problem they are always more than eager to help. All of their houses are also very close to campus.
The one bad side about them is that their houses go faster than any other places in town, so if you want to rent from them, you need to get there the day it opens!
This year, I signed a lease for next year for a different house than I am in right now. My roommates and I went to look at countless houses, got up at 6 a.m. to wait outside Jake’s Bar to try to sign a lease that we were too late for and called countless numbers of landlords in the area.
I can’t express to you how hard it is to find a house that you like, fits your budget, and hasn’t already been taken. But we finally found a house that is perfect for our budget and us.
The biggest thing I have learned from all of this is that you can’t delay on finding a house because the good ones will be gone in a second. Girls will wake up at 2 a.m. and camp out outside an office just to sign a lease and be ready to give a security deposit as soon as you find your house.
Lindsey Vernick is a second-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at LV800761@wcupa.edu.