I know it seems a little early to be thinking about your living arrangements for the summer or even next fall semester, but some people have already started looking for off-campus housing. The earlier you pick a place to live, the wider variety you will get to choose from. You’ll have more choices of the rooms you might prefer as well. I have lived off campus since the fall 2014 semester, lived in three different apartments and I have come up with some questions that have helped me decide on a place to live. Here are some questions you should ask yourself or the people showing you the housing when you’re looking around:

1. Do you want to live in a house, apartment or a condo/duplex?

2. How many people do you want to live with?

This is good to think about so you can decide how many bedrooms you should look for and how much storage space you think you might need.

3. What is your budget for rent and what is your budget for utilities (electric, gas, water/sewer, internet/wifi, maintenance, etc)?

Some places have these costs bundled in rent, but some don’t. This will be something you need to ask about. You can also ask for a rough estimate of how much utilities will cost, but I would ask people you know that have previously lived there first because their answers will be more truthful.

4. How close to campus do you want to live?

Living far away from campus can be a struggle when commuting because you have to incorporate travel time to get to your classes or organizational meetings and you might get stuck in traffic. Also, if you don’t want to pay for a parking pass (or if you don’t have a car), you might want to consider living within walking distance of campus.

5. Who do you want as a landlord?

There are landlords that have gotten more positive feedback than others, so this is something you should think about when making this decision. However, sometimes, this won’t be as important as the other elements (number of bedrooms, furnishings, overall appearance, location, etc).

6. Do you need it to be furnished or do you want your own furniture?

If you live far away, it might be hard to transport furniture, so you might want a home that already has its own furniture.

7. Do you want your own washer/dryer?

Some places have washers and dryers inside the complex, some have them onsite (close to your building or inside your building, but not in your room – those also usually cost some money to use), and for others you might need to go to the laundromat.

8. If the internet is included in rent, how good is it?

Wifi/internet in some places can be very slow, which can be really frustrating when you’re trying to do classwork or watch Netflix. So, if you know you need fast internet and the internet included in your rent seems to be slow, you might want to get your own internet or pick a different place to live where you can set up your own internet.

9. What floor do you want to live on?

If you have a disability that makes stairs difficult or you’re just lazy, you might want to live on the ground floor. If you don’t like loud people and you don’t want to hear people walking above you, you might want to live on the top floor.

I hope this information is helpful! Good luck searching for an off-campus place and have fun because it’s the next step into real adulthood!