Student Apartment Shopping

Student Apartment Shopping

Finding a Place to Live is Not as Hard as Some May Think

(RICHMOND, December 3) Last spring, Cheryl Johnson did what many rising sophomores do each year. She began the search for her first apartment.

Johnson was overwhelmed in the pursuit of her dream apartment. Like many students, she wanted to find the perfect place, at a low cost with a short commute to campus.

“As long as it was walking distance,” said Johnson. “I knew that if it was too far and too cold, I would miss a lot of classes.”

With more than 32,000 students, VCU is currently the largest four-year university in the state of Virginia. With such a large student population, many of Richmond’s residents are college students.

Finding that first apartment can be stressful, but VCU’s Off-Campus Student Services Office can help students and parents take that initial step to independence.

Martha Harper, VCU’s supervisor of Information and Off Campus Student Services, supports off-campus living.

“Students who move off-campus feel a certain sense of freedom,” says Harper. “But people are usually hot or cold to the idea. There are a few that are luke-warm, you either want to live off campus or you want to live on.”

The common misconception with off-campus housing is that students do not want to live off-campus and are only forced to when on-campus housing is not available. Harper says that is usually not the case, and most students who live off-campus choose to do so.

Elizabeth Leatherland, a sophomore at VCU, changed her mind about wanting to live on-campus after experiencing the freedom of moving into her own apartment this year.

“I did apply to [VCU’s] housing lottery my freshman year,” said Elizabeth Leatherland, a sophomore. “But now that I live off-campus, I could never go back to a student apartment.”

Students are not the only ones worried about finding an apartment. Parents can sometimes be more anxious than their child about their well-being.

“My mom was a little hesitant about getting me a place off campus,” Johnson explained. “She wanted to come down and look at whatever place I was considering to make sure it wasn't ground level, to look for where I would park my car, and how close it was to campus.”

According to Harper, off-campus student services got many phone calls from stressed parents so they moved their station from the student commons Information Desk to their own kiosk down the hall.

“Ten percent of our customers are parents,” says Harper. “Ninety percent of them start their conversation off with, ‘I’m really upset my child can’t live in a dorm.’”

When parents call the Off-Campus housing desk, they can speak with student-employees who, Harper boasts, are very knowledgeable of the off-campus housing process. They are able to assure parents. After speaking with a representative, many parent’s nerves are calmed.

Students often pressure one another to find a place too far in advance. They also feel obligated by their parents to hurry up and get housing before it is ‘too late.’ According to Harper, the best time to actively look for an apartment is three months before you want to move in.

“I’ve never known a shortage of off-campus housing,” says Harper. “If you start looking in February, landlords don’t know what’s available yet. It’s just too soon.”

Although VCU’s off-campus student services are very helpful, some students receive help through other means.

“I got a real-estate agent in Fredericksburg at the end of Spring semester last year,” said Leatherland. “She helped me find a place that fit my needs in time.”

Parents will often pay extremely high prices for apartments that are right on campus. They worry about the safety of their children and the commute they will have to make each day. But there are many neighborhoods close to campus where the VCU Escort Service, a free shuttle ride during the night hours, runs.

During the day, students can walk together to and from campus from The Fan and Oregon Hill which are popular neighborhoods just off of the VCU campus.

Harper also runs a program each year called “Moving On, Moving Out” which focuses on the major concerns of finding a place to live.

“We do a lot about safety,” says Harper. “We want to help students find a place and there is plenty of housing. They just don’t need to box themselves in to much by having too many wishes on what their dream apartment will be.”

As for Johnson, it was simply having her own space that was most appealing. “Living off-campus is good because you don’t have to sign people in,” said Johnson. “You can also choose your roommate, and your boyfriend or girlfriend can stay as long as you want. And of course there’s privacy.”