<p>For those of you who’ve been down this road, what should we look for in an off-campus housing lease, etc? D is determined to live off campus–literally the first home on the edge of campus–in a house that is ‘passed-down’ among those involved in her social circle/sport. The seniors are graduating and she will be a junior. (“It’s tradition, Mom!”) </p>
<p>We told her we wanted to read the lease before she signed it–apparently she doesn’t need us to sign–but we aren’t really sure what to look for. I’m also wondering if we should speak to the landlord, a “nice man” who has several rent houses in their college town (and has rented this house to members of her sport for 15 years), but we aren’t really sure what to ask him. H thinks he might have a better sense about the landlord after talking to him. Some of our concerns are allayed because of the landlord’s history–if he’s too difficult to work with, one would think these kids wouldn’t keep renting from him.</p>
<p>Supposedly there are good records of the utilities, expenses, etc. so we can have an accurate estimate of probable expenditures. It appears the cost will be slightly less than a double dorm room. There will be 4 girls sharing the house. I am insisting that she purchase the meal plan at school. She is so busy and will be tired when she gets home–At least I will know she has access to proper nutrition.</p>
<p>I did a quick CC search and didn’t find much on this topic…Any thought/suggestions about what to look for in a lease or what questions to ask the landlord would be appreciated.</p>
<p>you might want to think again about the meal plan.chances are 4 kids renting together will cook at least some meals, also it might be incovenient for your D to feel tied into a meal plan when she had say, a chance to return “home” to her off campus house at 5:00 but not want to eat until 6:00…what does she do then,return to campus?
Better maybe to give her a food budget maybe equal to the food plan and let her split it up between on campus dining and food prep at home.
S is two year into no food plan (one yr on campus apt,this yr off campus) and his food costs are much lower than they were with a plan in freshman year.
It sounds like the landlord works well with students given the 15 year history.
You may just want to check things like how repairs are handled,safety around the house/location.Is parking a concern?
S is in an off campus student community with seperate leases for each bedroom, meaing if someone leaves/doesnt pay their rent the others arent penalized.It already came in handy as one boy did a semester elsewhere, didnt bother to get a sublessor and the other boys werent responsible for that share of the rent.
Is furniture an issue or does that just get passed down from year to year as well?</p>
<p>Meal plan… S is going off campus next year as a junior. The college offers a non-resident meal plan. He is considering doing that and using the balance of the cost of a full meal plan to fund his own meal preparation.</p>