The off-campus housing search is well underway for hundreds of sophomores and juniors looking to leave residence halls behind next year.
In the East Side housing market, the early bird gets the worm, according to several students and local landlords interviewed by The Herald. Some students start looking for apartments as early as 15 months in advance of the school year, according to Stella Herzog, a landlord who operates several properties on Williams Street and elsewhere on the East Side.
Most students begin looking in the fall, and the biggest rush occurs toward the end of October, according to Peter Allen Ph.D.'72, who has been a landlord for the past 30 years and operates several houses on John Street.
Student demand for off-campus housing comes in waves, according to Allen. In one wave, Brown juniors going abroad for their second semester try to secure housing before they leave. Another surge comes when students from the Rhode Island School of Design return to Providence from winter break and snatch up remaining properties before Brown students return, Allen said.
Brown juniors who are not as proactive in their search sometimes find housing after spring semester begins.
Recently there have been a record number of vacancies at the end of each year's off-campus search, according to Allen, who suggested this trend may be attributable to an increase in RISD's on-campus housing.
But choice property still sells quickly, Allen said.
"If you find a place you like, take it, because if you go looking at 10 or 12 different places by the time you go back to the third place you saw, which you really liked, it will be gone," Allen said. "That happens all the time."
Older friends can be valuable in the search for housing, according to both students and landlords. Herzog estimated that 75 percent of her student tenants found their housing through connections with previous tenants. Juniors who go abroad their first semester sometimes rely on friends to find housing for them, according to Ben Veater-Fuchs '07, who lives on Governor Street.
Students offered a number of explanations for why off-campus housing is such a popular option.
"There's a lack of good upperclassmen housing," said Emily Daugherty '07, who lives on Williams Street.
It can be difficult to find on-campus housing that accommodates preferences some upperclassmen might have, including the number of roommates they would like to live with, according to Allison Pappas '08, who plans to live on Power Street next year. By opting to move off campus, students can "find a place with exactly the right number of rooms and not have to worry about finding one more person or having one too many," she said.
Living with friends is a big advantage for some off-campus residents. "The people that you live with are much more like a family," said Nick Renzler '07, who lives on Governor Street. Students living off campus can also move in earlier during summer and winter breaks, Renzler said.
"You don't have to share your bathrooms and hall space," Veater-Fuchs said. Off-campus housing provides additional freedoms as well, as parties and other activities are less restricted and students living off campus are able to cook for themselves, he said.
Daugherty said living off campus can also give students more control over their immediate environment.
"In a normal dorm if the people downstairs are having a party you can't just knock on their door, usually. But I know the people who live downstairs so I can just run and talk to them," Daugherty said.
Living off campus can also be slightly cheaper than on campus residence halls. Brown charges roughly $630 per month for dorms and $750 per month for suites, according to the Web site for the Office of Residential Life. Most off-campus housing costs around $500, depending on whether utilities are included, according to Allen.
However, other landlords reported charging higher rents, some of which are close to $700 per month.
Both students and landlords acknowledged that the decision to move off campus can pose some problems.
Though off-campus housing can be cheaper in some cases, students living on campus pay housing fees for only the nine months of the academic year, while off-campus leases typically last for 12 months.
Students who don't stay at Brown over the summer often sublet their apartments, but these temporary tenants typically pay lower rents than the leaseholders, according to Daugherty.
Also, students often do not realize that "they're responsible for their subletters' damage," Allen said.
Bill payments present another set of responsibilities for off-campus residents. Students make monthly payments for Internet access, cable, heating, electricity and other utilities, unless they are included in monthly rent payments.
"It's a bit of a hassle, paying the bills, writing the checks, and remembering to do all of that, but it's really not that bad," Daugherty said.
Veater-Fuchs said off-campus residents may have to deal with more maintenance problems. For example, his house has had some issues with plumbing, and the windows needed to be replaced.
Off-campus housing can isolate students from the "hub of campus," Daugherty added, noting that the walk to campus can sometimes be prohibitively long.
"I think for extra-curricular night things I probably wouldn't drive all the way over to campus but I probably also wouldn't walk," Daugherty said. "I'd probably just stay in my house."
But Veater-Fuchs said he doesn't mind the distance.
"I think it's nice to be a little bit removed," he said.
