Looking for a place to stay off-campus this fall? While the end of the spring semester may seem far off, the time is now to start looking for a house to secure for you and your friends.
For the professional and amateur house hunter alike, finding a place to stay can be quite challenging – especially when the hunt is for a home off-campus. Often times, it’s hard to find that perfect house, or at least one that doesn’t seem too sketchy. When you do find that house, maybe not everyone in your search party is on board and you have to start from square one again. It can be a long, arduous process, but it is one that’s worth it in the end.
There are many perks to living off-campus like saving money, a shorter walk to class and more privacy to name a few.
At Hofstra, housing prices per term are as follows:
Graduate singles $8,360
Graduate doubles $7,345
Super single $7,290
Suite single $6,920
Single room $6,490
Suite with lounge $6,180
Suite without lounge $5,110
Suite triple $4,815
Towers double $5,010
Towers triple $4,425
Towers quad $4,220[AE1]
On Hofstra’s off-campus housing website, the average monthly price with shared rental for a four bedroom, one bathroom house is about $2,217. For a five bedroom, two bathroom house with shared rental, the average is about $4,000. This means that in a school year, students can save a couple of thousand dollars living off campus depending on the house, number of rooms, bathrooms, etc.
Hofstra sophomore Madison Dietrich is an advocate of living off-campus. Although she currently lives on campus in Colonial Square, she plans on moving into an apartment next year.
“It’s cheaper than on-campus housing,” she said. “It also gives students more freedom to do what they want to do as adults. There are little to no restrictions as to how you want to decorate your room [compared to] on-campus housing [having] several ridiculous guidelines.”
In order to have a chance at finding a reliable off-campus house, it’s important to start the search for off-campus housing as early as possible. At Hofstra, housing deposits of $300 are typically due in early March to secure a dorm on campus. The housing selection process is a few weeks after the payment is due, and is based on what year you are. The later you start looking off-campus, the more stressful it becomes because deadline to actually select on-campus housing approaches soon after—you wouldn’t want to be caught without a dorm if you’re off-campus plans don’t work out.
If you are still searching for a house when the on-campus housing deposit is due, put down the $300 as a backup plan – it is refundable.
Most students start looking for their off-campus home as early as the end of the fall semester. All of the best houses are snagged by other students who were ahead of the game, so if you start looking too late and get lucky enough to find a house, your group may be left with a place that is less than ideal.
If you do manage to find a house that everyone likes, make sure you read the lease in its completion. Speak with your family about the details and ensure that you are putting yourself in a comfortable and reasonable financial situation. Triple check to be sure nothing seems shady or out of the norm.
Lastly, if house after house continually falls through, it is best just to opt for on-campus housing
for another year. This is typically the case if you start house hunting too late. Never settle for a house out of desperation. Off-campus housing is intended to be cost-effective and convenient.
Good luck and happy hunting!
