Son potentially transfering in January...where can he live?

merechaude
Sun, 02 Nov 2014 04:53:23 +0000

Finding decent Off-Campus housing is a headache. Home Props of Bryn Mawr is more or less the “gold standard” as far as Villanova students are concerned. Despite the negative reviews, it’s actually one of the best/better places to live off-campus. The apartments are nice and come with new finishings, they are a decent size and your son will be living around TONS of other Villanova students. The downside is that it’s more expensive than other options. If cost is not an issue (I think it actually costs more or less the same as living on-campus anyways) then Home Props will actually be a good move.

They also have another Home Props in Devon, which is a bit further, but cheaper.

Your other options are looking for privately owned units, often times apartments on top of stores/restaurants etc. You may want to look at a bunch of places like this, as some of them look like former meth labs.

A general rule of thumb is that if something looks like a bargain, it’s probably poorly maintained/infested with rats and roaches.

To give you an idea of a good price to pay, most people who live off-campus can cover their cost of rent/utilities in around $800/month (i.e: 3 students living in a 2 bedroom home props apartments, or 4 students living in a decent 3 bedroom house).

I know students who pay as low as $500/mo for rent, but that’s for an extremely dilapidated apartment above an art gallery on Lancaster Ave. I personally could not live there.

You don’t realize how expensive off campus housing around Nova is until you find out you can rent an apartment at the Ritz Carlton right across city hall in Center City Philly, for a couple hundred dollars more than what it would cost for a similar sized apartment in home props.

Look into Casa Del Sol, they offer nice studios if your son cannot find a roommate, but it’s about a 10 minute drive from campus.