It’s time Aggies, to start thinking about roommates, leases and housing for the upcoming year. No idea how to start? Have no fear, for Housing Day’s here!
More than 40 apartment complexes will be present in Freeborn Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today with information regarding off-campus housing.
Housing Day is an annual event organized by ASUCD for the sole purpose of bringing apartment complexes from all over Davis to one centralized and convenient location so that students can easily shop around for off-campus housing.
Over 800 students attended the event last year, and more are expected this time around.
Students can pick up brochures and flyers about the complexes as well as speak to staff members about prices, floor plans and other concerns.
“I really recommend that students ask as many questions as possible and not rush into making any decisions,” said Steven D. Lee, the ASUCD director of city and county affairs for fall quarter in an e-mail interview.
Lee encourages students to take the time to think about what they are looking for in an apartment, whether it’s location, cost or other factors.
“Students especially need to figure out who they want to live with,” Lee said.
“A lot of renting problems I see involve students finding out that the people they think they can live with are actually not good matches,” he said.
Meilin Luh, a second-year linguistics major who lives in a four-bedroom apartment with four other girls, advises house-hunters to know who they’re going to live with.
“When you live with [roommates] in the dorms versus an apartment, it’s completely different,” Luh said. “Sometimes you get to know someone too much. In the dorms you know everybody [equally]. Just know that when you live in an apartment, you’re going to find out some things that you didn’t know ahead of time.”
Karina Summers, a senior economics major, who shares a two-bedroom apartment with two others, believes flexibility is essential to maintaining a cordial relationship among housemates.
“Understand that there are days when you’re not going to be able to do the dishes and there are days when your roommates are not going to be able to do the dishes. So as long as you can tolerate people, you’re fine,” she said.
Brian Brown, a junior political science major, who lives with three others, looks at housing in college as a temporary thing.
“It’s not going to be forever,” Brown said. “People are people. The more you try to change somebody else, the more you end up changing in the opposite direction.”
“Students need to feel comfortable with where they are living and if at any time something just does not feel right, I would discourage them from living there,” he said.
Summers also emphasizes the importance of considering location, as opposed to amenities.
“You don’t spend as much time at your apartment as you think you would because you’re at school a lot, you might have other activities – so one of the big things [to consider] is that you’re going to have to sleep there and manage commuting to campus,” Summers said. “So if you’re living at a place that doesn’t have any bus lines, that’s probably not a good place.”
Arushi Kapoor, a senior neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, suggests establishing priorities and looking for housing close to campus to make use of on-campus dining if cooking will be an issue.
“Once the year starts, you are not really going to The Grad every single night – but you do need to eat every single day,” she said.
Lee advises students to pay careful attention to the terms of the leases they sign.
Once a lease is signed, the terms are binding – so a careful read can go a long way, he said. Lee encourages students to seek out leases such as the Davis Model Lease, which was negotiated by ASUCD to protect the interests of Davis students.
In addition to getting information, Housing Day is a wonderful source for “free swag.” Complexes are known to entice students with candy, Jamba Juice, pens, Frisbees and bags.
Housing Day is sponsored by Sequoia Equities, a local property management company.
POOJA DEOPURA can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
