An empty room painted white, no furniture and painted over outlets mark the look of a new apartment, a college student’s first apartment. A goal of every young adult is to find a place of their own away from their parents, but that process is becoming more selective, and the costs are rising.
As a student, you are presented with three options: stay at home with your parents, go to the dorms, or find a place of your own. The first and second can work but dorms can be expensive and apartments themselves are becoming increasingly difficult.
The housing market is becoming increasingly difficult across America and this especially is true in Sarasota.
“The September data shows that while median prices are well above their year-ago levels for both single-family and condo-townhouse properties, the rate of price growth month-to-month has slowed down quite a bit over the past few months.” (Mortgage Professional America).
A shortage of homes and an increase in demand have created a tough and competitive market for students that pushes students back into the dorms, a practice that can hinder schools that are not prepared to offer dorms for a majority of the student population. This puts pressure on students to find their own places quickly.
Ringling has emergency student housing in the form of community style apartments that can be rented month to month, but even those had been filled completely according to the Facebook page of the emergency housing location.
The dorms also aren’t for everyone. I asked a few students what they thought of student housing and dorm quality.
“Living in dorms is hard, there is very little privacy. The dorms also don’t necessarily have the best maintenance as they have maintenance for all the dorms.” Says Alaina Marks, a Sophomore.
Colleges must oversee the maintenance and preparation of all dorms and as such some questionable practices can take place. Poor paint jobs, plumbing, and maintenance on stairways and elevators are an issue common in dorms.
“Dorms are so expensive, colleges overcharge for dorms and you don’t get really that great of quality.” Says Crystal Blattman, also a Sophomore.
This was the same for me. I’m a sophomore at Ringling College in Sarasota. Freshman years the dorms were my home, and with dorms there are a unique set of
I didn’t like the dorms, it was a good experience but not for everyone. To me it felt like two steps forward, one step back as I was living far away from my family and was on my own but I was always at school this way. I needed a space of my own.
The search for a new home began with my parents, they had suggested moving down as my sister had suggested also applying to Ringling herself. I met with my parents and a local realtor to look at apartments to rent or houses to lease. It was a lengthy process until we found the one, a two bedroom condo in great shape close to Ringling. We decided to put in an offer and the realtor had to run to his car and speed back to his office to put our offer in. He explained to us that lately he had to hurry back in order to actually put in offers, sometimes the offers would expire in the half hour it took for him to get from locations to his office. The market in Sarasota is moving fast and hard to get.
We never did get that condo as another offer came in about 50 thousand dollars over the asking price and in cash. This was apparently standard now too. My family decided not to move down to Sarasota but I was able to find myself an apartment, this also came in an unorthodox way.
I had put in for the apartment in early June and was notified that I was accepted for the apartment but it did come with a catch. The previous tenant had said they were moving out and didn’t renew their lease but they still technically still would have the apartment until October 31st. I did not have other options that I could afford so I had to make do until then. Despite the unorthodox way of getting an apartment I did end up finding a place in my price limit per month. The process was rough and I did get lucky, but if the trend continues and housing costs rise luck may not be enough.
(Photo Credits: Northwest Philadelphia Apartments for Rent)
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