cryptology droll: Off Campus Student Housing Worries For First Timers

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Off Campus Student Housing Worries For First Timers | Real Estate ...

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Moving off campus can be an anxious experience for students. Off-campus housing provides the closest experience to living in the real world. For many students, this is the first step towards independence. There are no R.A.s to hold their hand throughout the semester, or dinning halls a short walk away.

Learn from the dorms and help ease student?s anxiety about living off campus by addressing these three concerns.

Concern One: Living Off Campus

The primary concern of students is where the house is located in relation to classes and other extracurricular activities. Providing students with honest time estimates to important campus locations is important to solidifying a deal. Slipping this piece of information in while showing off the house is an easy way to give students context. You can even throw in the Zillow Walk Score for a credible number of things to do close by.

Concern Two: Cooking

Many students delight in having a kitchen to perfect their culinary skills. But there remain a select few that are mageirocophobic (fear cooking). Once again you can consult the Zillow Walk Score for close restaurants to the unit, or you can reference other good places for food in the area.

Even for students not afraid of the kitchen, knowing that there are good places to eat nearby is hugely influential in choosing an off campus house.

Concern Three: Paying Bills

Electricity. Gas. Internet. Cable. There are numerous bills for students that have never lived outside of the dorms or their parent?s home. There are two ways to handle bills, each with its own pros and cons.

The first method is to estimate your apartment utility costs and bundle them into the rent for the month. This removes the most anxiety for students because they pay one price every month, directly to you. It?s clean and easy. Leave a buffer to protect yourself from students using more heat or electricity. If you choose this method, also be aware of sticker shock when showing your home because your rent will probably be higher than others around you that do not bundle utilities into the rent.

The other option is to just charge for rent and leave utilities up to the students. While this may not help with the anxious off-campus first timer, it minimizes your work. If this is the route you choose, help students out by letting them know how previous tenants dealt with utilities.

Long story short, ease their anxieties. After all, this will be their home for the next year.