How is Zaragon Place

kmcmom13
Sat, 08 Jun 2013 07:35:48 +0000

Beechwood, while I agree that the overall inflated cost of apartments near the university make Zaragon seem less inflated than it is compared to any other square footage in the state of Michigan, and while the amenities are nice if it makes sense and one can afford it, and while I also agree that $500 a month is a rare find, Zaragon rents between $1350 and $1850 A BED under normal circumstances and if that’s not targeting upper upper middle earners from urban centers with high cost of living, I don’t know what is Yes, it’s market-driven. In this case that only means that the dense population and propensity of wealth ensures that such pricing is possible.

(I am also a landlord in Michigan and have a client who manages executive leases and I am quite familiar with “what you can get” :))

I also consider Umich’s dorms “overpriced” compared to regular real estate anywhere in Michigan, but at least for that 1,000/mo to $1300/mo for a single (rates range between 8 - 11k) you’re getting a meal plan included.

The takeaway is that young students – many of whom are taking on debt even if their parents are paying the lionshare – are essentially being exploited by both the university housing system AND entities such as Zaragon because the students themselves and often their parents buy into the notion of what the college experience should be like, what kind of setting they should be housed in, etc. it’s part of this “edifice complex” that is pretty much precluding a universally educated society in the US, and is pretty much stratifying our society further into the haves and have-nots, to the point where effective public policy is no longer possible because folks are pretty much from different planets to each other.

I hate the though of a student on a limited budget receiving any kind of financial aid or whose parents strugle to pay their own mortgages somehow feeling Zaragon is a reasonable or normal housing option. The differential for such a student between a bed at Northwood with no meal plan ($5600 to $7600 a year) and a bed at Zaragon at $12,150 is roughly the ENTIRE amount of stafford loans available.

While 60% of UM families make over $200k a year, the other 40% are faced with costs for student living that exceed their own housing costs, and are often borne at the expense of their retirement savings, or worse, creditworthiness and debt.

So I think it’s good to point out that there are in fact options that represent a savvier fiscal choice particularly for those without means, who are living on borrowed money, and who understand that there really is nowhere else in Michigan that commands those kinds of prices.

(My tenants, for example, get a 2600 sf home with hardwood throughout for less than a single bed at Zaragon But hey, that’s my bad luck for not owning property close to a university, or more particularly, the university of Michigan!

So, for perusing students…stay organized on housing, get over the north campus nonsense, investigate coops, and don’t be afraid to look at off-campus options if finances are remotely concerning to you.

And vlad, nice work on demonstrating fiscal practicality and not being afraid to walk a few minutes a day to save some cash We need more kids in the world with a bit of sense of proportion as opposed to sense of entitlement.