Living off Campus

[Anonymous]

20 year-old stepson plans to live off campus next year as a Sophomore. He goes to school in a high COL area. From what I can tell, and please correct me if you’ve had a different experience, landlords expect parents to co-sign the lease and most of the leases say each tenent can be responsible for the whole owed amount. We’ve told DSS we can’t pay more than a dorm room would cost, which would necessitate 2-4 housemates.

Assuming he finds a possible rental, do people do any sort of communication with the other parents? It seems very odd to do so for a college student, and yet, we are jointly assuming a $30,000 - $50000 debt with these people (depending on the ultimate size of the rental)

[Anonymous]

Make sure all tenants sign the lease for their portion. Find out what utilities they will be responsible for. Typically, the lease will be for 12 months so be prepared.

[Anonymous]

I am pp. yes, parents are expected to co sign. I still co sign for my son in graduate school.

[Anonymous]

PP, have you checked into off-campus student housing? Many private companies offer apartments near schools specifically catering to students and/or in conjunction with schools to apartment style living for students. In these situations, typically each student signs a separate lease so that they are only responsible for their portion of the rent. Check with student housing. They usually will have info on these types of arrangements. Personally, I would not take on that level of debt with strangers.

[Anonymous]

OP here. That's all good information. I'm not surprised we are expected to cosign - it's the shared responsibility for rent that is making me the most uncomfortable.

And yes, there are a few companies close to his school that specifically cater to students. These seem to be the most affordable options, but the two I looked at specifically stated in the lease that each tenant was responsible for the entire debt. They also had a very detailed list of fees for damage.

I'm not thrilled by DSS moving off campus this soon. But, I get it. The sophomore housing options tend to be bottom of the barrel. We just gave him the total budget (rent, food, utilities) and told him to present us with options that didn't exceed what we currently support with meal plan and dorm.

And yes, I know about the least being 12 months. There is a robust sublet market, and DSS knows he will either have to find a place with a 12 month cost that equals the 9 month cost at the dorm or be responsible for managing a sublet.

[Anonymous]

I understand your concern OP, But statistically your risk probably isn’t that high. If one roommate moves out, the other three would be responsible for that quarter of a payment. That is until they could get another person in.

Now if all three of the other roommates moved out, and before the guest payment is due, and the area is so bad that no one else will move in,..,, then yes you’re going to have A financial obligation.

[Anonymous]

We co-signed but weren’t on the hook for the whole lease. The lease covered DCs 1/4 of the apt. The landlord had the right to fill a vacant room with another student. Never happened of course. We did not talk to the other parents but it was a pretty wealthy group of kids so we weren’t concerned. They lived together for 2 years.

Beware of the robust sublet market. In DCs town there were a glut of summer sublets available so rents were about 1/3 of the actual cost. We never ended up subletting.

DCs apartment was much more expensive than on campus housing. But very few upper classmen lived in dorms so it was what it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We co-signed but weren’t on the hook for the whole lease. The lease covered DCs 1/4 of the apt. The landlord had the right to fill a vacant room with another student. Never happened of course. We did not talk to the other parents but it was a pretty wealthy group of kids so we weren’t concerned. They lived together for 2 years.

Beware of the robust sublet market. In DCs town there were a glut of summer sublets available so rents were about 1/3 of the actual cost. We never ended up subletting.

DCs apartment was much more expensive than on campus housing. But very few upper classmen lived in dorms so it was what it was.

OP again. Again, thanks for info. Was it clear from the beginning that living off campus was more expensive? Or were there unanticipated hidden costs? Right now, when we bundle the dorm cost and full meal plan cost, it looks pretty on par with the student oriented (ie older but geographically well placed) apartments if he includes basic utilities, lunch only meal plan, and realistic grocery budget.

And, by robust, I mean huge demand. DSS really wants to stay in his university town for the summer, and we are working with him on a realistic way to do so. But that's a whole other conversation!

The upperclassman housing at his university actually seems quite nice. However, sophomores get the bottom of the barrel!

[Anonymous]

I would only compare dorm housing to apt housing. Keep meals out of this first decision. Preparing meals off campus is unique to your student. Will he actually go to a grocery store and cook or will he be purchasing at Panara? Some schools offer a a la carte meal plan (7 meals per week). Boys that eat a lot and can be expensive vs girls who only want 1/2 bagel.

Also, typically, a deposit is required for each tenant. First and last month's rent all up front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We co-signed but weren’t on the hook for the whole lease. The lease covered DCs 1/4 of the apt. The landlord had the right to fill a vacant room with another student. Never happened of course. We did not talk to the other parents but it was a pretty wealthy group of kids so we weren’t concerned. They lived together for 2 years.

Beware of the robust sublet market. In DCs town there were a glut of summer sublets available so rents were about 1/3 of the actual cost. We never ended up subletting.

DCs apartment was much more expensive than on campus housing. But very few upper classmen lived in dorms so it was what it was.

OP again. Again, thanks for info. Was it clear from the beginning that living off campus was more expensive? Or were there unanticipated hidden costs? Right now, when we bundle the dorm cost and full meal plan cost, it looks pretty on par with the student oriented (ie older but geographically well placed) apartments if he includes basic utilities, lunch only meal plan, and realistic grocery budget.

And, by robust, I mean huge demand. DSS really wants to stay in his university town for the summer, and we are working with him on a realistic way to do so. But that's a whole other conversation!

The upperclassman housing at his university actually seems quite nice. However, sophomores get the bottom of the barrel!

It was clear from the beginning. Rents were in the $1200-1300/month range for the decent buildings close to campus. Food was about the same because DC did a lot of carry out in addition to cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would only compare dorm housing to apt housing. Keep meals out of this first decision. Preparing meals off campus is unique to your student. Will he actually go to a grocery store and cook or will he be purchasing at Panara? Some schools offer a a la carte meal plan (7 meals per week). Boys that eat a lot and can be expensive vs girls who only want 1/2 bagel.

Also, typically, a deposit is required for each tenant. First and last month's rent all up front.

OP here again. Apt housing is more expensive than the dorm, but saving on the meal plan was part of the conversation. Right now, he has the unlimited meal plan, but he's quite sick of it and is already doing a ton of eating out out of his own earnings. So, yes, if he moves to an apartment, he loses unlimited meal plan (which he isn't utilizing anyhow) and gets enough money for generous groceries or what would cover a portion of a lot of eating out. He's good with that.

We had planned to pay first and last month. He's on the hook for the security deposit. (which is added incentive, hopefully, to take care of the place)

Again, this is great stuff. We are really trying to let him figure this all out, but the more info we have, the better, so we don't set him up (or us!) up to fail. We were kind of surprised at what he assumed he could do (stay in his dorm all summer, for example, so he could stay at school... had to quickly fix that assumption), so I don't want to assume I have this all figured out either! It's been a long time since I lived the student lifestyle!

[Anonymous]

Landlord here. I asked for the lease to be in one person's name with parent co-signing.
There is no way that I will try and hunt down a student for 1/3 of the rent

[Anonymous]

Stepson -- let DH handle this

Op, you ask good questions, important question. But don't the THE ONE who handles this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stepson -- let DH handle this

Op, you ask good questions, important question. But don't the THE ONE who handles this.

Sometimes stepmom's handle it, not Dad.... its ok.

OP, don't forget utilities and transportation to/from school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stepson -- let DH handle this

Op, you ask good questions, important question. But don't the THE ONE who handles this.

OP here. We have a good division of labor. I’m in charge of deadlines, processes, and information gathering. DH does actual decision making and discussions. It works well!