Students, parents on a 'stressful' hunt for off-campus housing: Here are some solutions
Students and parents both near and far are experiencing the hunt for housing in Tallahassee, including Long Island, New York native Brianna McLeod, an incoming freshman who plans on attending Florida A&M University this fall.
With FAMU and Florida State University’s on-campus residence halls at capacity, students like McLeod are forced to navigate a tight housing market at the same time many are pointing to an affordable housing crisis.
“I found out the same day I was accepted to FAMU on July 6 that all the housing was at capacity,” McLeod, 17, said. “So, I came down here for orientation with the hopes of trying to find a place to stay off-campus, especially as someone coming from New York who has no idea what it’s like over here.”
While McLeod is going through orientation at FAMU, her mother is helping from Jacksonville and will be coming to Tallahassee to sign her lease whenever she finds housing.
Nakayla Kirkman from Deland, Florida, is another incoming freshman who finds herself in the same predicament of looking for housing off-campus.
"It's very stressful because finding out a month before school starts wasn’t really ideal, so now I’m stuck,” said Kirkman, 18. “I either have to find an apartment here or withdraw and do my AA at a community college.”
Possible off-campus solutions for students
Despite today's market and housing issues, there are solutions that parents and students can turn to during their search as the August 22 fall semester start date approaches. Housing specialists believe options like signing up for waitlists and inquiring about subleases are some of the best bets.
Student Housing Solutions is the largest local management company and oversees the most units in Tallahassee, with about 16 apartment complexes and 300 singlefamily homes. Although their properties are all at capacity, a few spots could possibly become available.
“At the last minute, some people decide they're not coming anymore, so we have started a waitlist,” said Student Housing Solutions Principal Jennifer Pearce, a 2005 FSU graduate. “Anyone looking for housing can go to our website and be placed on our waitlist, and we're going to contact people on a first-come, first-serve basis. Whoever signs up first gets the first call for any openings that we have for fall.”
Students can expect to pay an average of $700 to $800 per bed at the company's units.
With many other properties also reaching capacity, Student Housing Solutions Area Manager Mallory Cumbie, a 2014 FSU graduate, recommends taking a different approach from simply asking if there are spots left when searching for housing.
“People should make sure they're calling properties and asking if anyone has any subleases available,” Cumbie said. “That may be a different way of asking rather than if they have any availability.”
Subleasing allows an original tenant to rent a space to a sub-tenant for a defined period. There are different public groups on Facebook that users can join with tenants looking for someone to take over their lease, according to Cumbie. The Facebook groups include:
Some parents turn to buying property
Besides renting, purchasing property is an option some parents are pursuing. Hinson Realty's owner Terrence Hinson, a 1984 FAMU graduate, has had experience helping clients with this alternative.
“We can assist in a great way by helping parents buy properties to place their students in, and that’s something we focus on regularly,” Hinson said. “In the past, we’ve helped sophomores, juniors and seniors to purchase properties, and those students and their parents can then rent those rooms out to other students.”
Hinson is also making calls to homeowners who have spare bedrooms to see if they may be willing to rent to students.
Areas include the Allen subdivision on the north side of FAMU’s campus, Bond on the west side of campus and the College Terrace neighborhood on the southwest side.
FAMU, FSU housing background
After FAMU's housing reached full capacity, officials created a plan to assist over 500 freshmen, the first 200 interested transfer students and the first 400 interested on-campus upperclassmen with a financial package that includes money for off-campus housing rent and an on-campus meal plan for the fall and spring semesters.
More: With hundreds on the waitlist, FAMU responds to freshman housing crunch with financial aid
During FAMU’s town hall meeting on Tuesday, Office of University Housing Director Jennifer Wilder shared that 93 upperclassmen have accepted to move off-campus so far, providing open spots for freshmen who are on the waitlist to move on-campus. The deadline for interested upperclassmen to make their decision is 5 p.m. Friday.
Parents Alex and Twana Donley from Sarasota, Florida attended FAMU’s parent orientation on Thursday. They were fortunate enough to find off-campus housing for their daughter, incoming freshmen Kirsten Donley, who has been on the university’s housing waitlist. Despite their luck, they still believe being on campus would be a better option for first-time-in-college students.
“With them being freshmen, it would be safer for them to be on campus,” Twana Donley said. “But now, they’re having to come to a new city where they don’t know people, and they just have to be placed in an apartment with someone they don’t even know most of the time.”
At FSU, all of its 6,700 beds are taken. It has almost 100 students on its waitlist. If a student with assigned housing decides to no longer attend FSU this fall, the university will offer that space to a student from the waitlist.
With many students looking for off-campus housing, below are a few student housing complexes with August leasing availabilities as of Wednesday:
Franklin Pointe Apartments: 13 units (1-2 beds, at most $1,340)
Century Capital City: 7 units (1-3 beds, $690-$1,520)
Grove Park Apartments: 6 units (1-3 beds, $700-$1,750)
Rolling Hills: 2 units (1-3 beds, at most $925)
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tips for parents, students searching for off-campus housing at FSU, FAMU
