How to Find an Apartment in a College Town

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By Wasatch
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I live in a great college town. I work as a Realtor with apartments and rental homes often. It is a bit more challenging to get a good apartment in a college town. Here are a few tips for finding a good apartment or rental home in a college town.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

When looking for an apartment to rent near a college or university you have a lot of competition from the students. Try to time your looking just before a semester end or best of all before a summer vacancy pops up. Landlords often have a harder time filling vacancies in the summer and will give a discount for those months. That way you are in a nice place and can either sign a long term lease at the move in time or be ready if you want or be first in line to renew your contract before school starts in the fall.
Step 2

Look in classified ads and places like campus bulletin boards or online with Craigslist or a local apartment management service. I tell people to look early in the morning as many college age students sleep in and won't see a new post until mid day. If it is a competitive market with low vacancy rates for apartments be ready to see one as soon as it is posted and have a check book ready for a deposit when you go see it. If the market has high vacancy rates take your time and bargain for utilities paid or a discounted rate or whatever you want. Markets vary. Often my county is completely different every couple years on how easy or hard it is to locate an apartment near campus.
Step 3

Pay attention to the type of rental apartment complex or neighborhood you are in. We have some apartment buildings and condo projects that are geared mainly to you single freshmen and new students under 25. Other complexes may be a pit more expensive but are geared to older graduate students and young newlywed couples. Get a feel for the mix of neighbors a place has before you sing a long term contract. Single student housing tends to have a higher turnover rate, sometimes new students every 6 months. It is also often more geared to loud late social life you may or may not want to be part of. More established graduate students and couples often have longer term goals and plan to stay in an apartment for several years. They have quieter living areas and a different social interaction and environment. We even have a few unofficial areas where most of the renters are in the same college major and will eventually work in the same field. This can be an advantage to you in contacts and friend you can network with throughout your life and boost a future career.

Comments

Ladybugblue said

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on 3/4/2009 Good article! 5*

LisaBud said

on 3/3/2009 Thanks for these tips. I'd love to relocate to a college town where there are lots of activities and great restaurants!

JackLTrades said

on 3/3/2009 I really screwed this up the first time. Lots of great memories and stories, but not a lot of credits. I ended up with roomates that were in a band.