5 Ways Students Can Be Competitive Finding Off-Campus Housing

By Julia Dunn on April 25, 2016

Many students across California (and the United States) are feeling the effects of a tighter housing market. Students whose on-campus housing guarantees are soon expiring have the looming stress hanging over them of finding off-campus housing when opportunities are scarce.

In Santa Cruz, the rising student population has exacerbated an already-dire housing crisis that leads to students having to pay inordinately high rent for too small of a space that is far from campus. At UC Santa Cruz, students flock to the housing-related Facebook page, knowing they must closely monitor the page all day to be the first to comment on a housing post. Even then, students must devote a portion of their time to finding housing when they should be working on their coursework. It seems bleak to find any solid housing off campus that is optimally-located and free from problems like high crime rates and sub-par plumbing.

Image via Wikipedia Commons

If you are in the midst of a discouraging housing search, there are strategies that can make you look extra appealing to a subletter or landlord looking through a stack of housing applications. Find a great space by doing the following:

1. Join every possible housing-related social media group for houses and apartments in your town.

To increase your chances of finding what you’re looking for, make sure you’ve added yourself to every Facebook group designated for posting house listings. For instance, many UCSC students are members of a group called “Housing,” “Santa Cruz Housing,” and “University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Housing, Sublets & Roommates.”

This may seem excessive or unnecessary, but when you’re in a pinch to find housing, you need to be able to weigh all of your options and jump on anything that looks promising.

2. Mass-produce basic housing applications.

Although every landlord has some sort of variant of a basic renters’ application they want, your university likely has resources for student renters that include a renting packet. This packet contains documents such as a template renters’ resume, letter of parental guarantee, reference release form, and even a link to an online renters’ workshop which explains the basics of renting from a landlord.

For many students, finding off-campus housing is a brand new and scary process after having lived at home or on campus previously. It can be very confusing and intimidating to think about all the factors that go into selecting housing (finances, location, getting along with roommates and housemates, etc). If you prepare several basic rental applications, it will be easier to provide documents quickly as you are talking to renters and competing with other students (or even pairs/groups of students all applying together).

3. Write open houses and apartment showings on your calendar.

When talking to many landlords and renters at once, it can be difficult to keep track of which landlord corresponds to which housing unit. To straighten things out, input open house dates and times into an electronic calendar (such as Google Calendar).

You can color-code the events and even add a note when creating the event so you can list landlord names, contacts and information about the housing. This will reduce the likelihood of mixing up your options and potentially losing an opportunity because of it.

4. If applying with a group or another person, prove you are hassle-free and agreeable.

When presented with several groups of applicants (or several individual applicants), a landlord will usually choose the people they think will be easy to manage. Landlords don’t want to have to worry about their tenants, and tenants can take advantage of this truth by communicating to landlords that they won’t be burdensome on the property owner. This means landlords look for students who are motivated, responsible, respectful and reliable in all circumstances.

If you identify with all of those adjectives, highlight your personality/habits in your application. If a rental application asks why you are the best fit for a certain housing unit, disclose specific qualities you have that would be attractive to a landlord. You will greatly improve your chances at finding housing if you can stand out against a pool of student applicants who haven’t taken the extra steps to make themselves attractive to a property owner.

Image via Pixabay

5. Make sure your information is correct, and be as honest as possible.

As a potential tenant, you want everything on your paperwork to be accurate to your best knowledge. For example, triple-check that your reference’s phone numbers are correct on your forms, and that your employment dates have been written correctly. If extra information is necessary in order to proceed with a landlord, offer it freely and truthfully. If you are a student on financial aid and are planning to use a financial aid refund to pay rent, note that on your applications and explain it to landlords as needed. The clearer you can be with your information, the more likely it is that you’ll be selected for the housing you want.

Finding housing as students is an incredibly difficult endeavor on which to embark, but persistence and efficiency will play in your favor if you keep trying. Good luck!

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