Yes @bamagirls one of the new properties this year wasn’t ready while another one was (as far as having certificate of occupancy and units ready despite some of outside cosmetics not being done). The property that wasn’t ready - it sounds like management did a good job helping make it all work out - the maintenance crew came through to fix the odds and ends - and apt pics look great!
Most people (like us) just have one student at UA.
And yes, many people choose to move, for many good reasons like you state.
The bigger supply of new properties close to UA is good for students and parents.
Another reason students may move even though you have a great place with a 12 month lease when they will be returning.
After his first year my son signed a lease with 3 other students he’d met in his honor’s dorm (well, actually he signed with 2 and the 3rd got added later without his knowledge, but that’s another story).
During his second year, one of those students dropped out of school and moved back home. After that year another of those students decided to move out.
Son considered moving out since only 1 other of his roommates was staying, but mainly because it was easy, he opted to renew.
2 new random roommates were place in the vacant rooms during his third year. It wound up being a ‘less than positive’ experience. After that year, he said he was OK with renewing again, but it was actually me who said, ‘no way!’, when he had to call in the middle of the year and ask me to step in and help him deal with a roommate issue that was a big warning flag to me that it was not a situation he should be returning to.
So, he is now with a different friend in a 2 bedroom unit. He has one more year left because of his co-op, so I’m hoping he will renew and not have to move again, but I don’t know if his friend will drop out or move out and cause son to rethink his situation.
Unless students are living alone, you don’t have any control over their roommates subleasing, moving out, or just being difficult to live with, which may be reason for students to consider moving even if they are in a great place that’s in their budget.
This is the exact reason my daughter is living alone in a one bedroom apartment. We’re definitely paying a premium for that, but it is worth it to me. Plus I have a place to stay when I come to town for football games; I wouldn’t feel comfortable imposing on roommates by staying in the apartment, but I’m very comfortable imposing on my daughter (and she really doesn’t mind, since it’s not a regular occurrence).
@Nerdyparent - some have done that. I personally would not for 3 years of living. Questions to think about - 1BR or more? Then are you going to lease out the other rooms and be the landlord? Do you have other kids that will be heading to UA making the term longer than 3 years? Will you keep the property after the student graduates for student housing or VRBO? What will the housing market be like in 3 years to sell the condo?
My son is in his 2nd year at The Lofts. 2 new random roommates this year. He has a limited budget and chooses to live in a 4 person to save money. At the time he first signed the lease, he did not have a car and restricted his search to complexes with a shuttle or walking distance. The Lofts also include the living room furniture and bedroom furniture can be rented. We are 900 miles away - not dealing with furniture was a welcome.
I restricted his search to places with individual leases. I did not want to have to deal with being financially tied to others he did not know.
There are so many great choices now! I say, don’t rush it. Plenty of openings were available at the beginning of this month.
I was surprised that at DD’s complex, the 3 BR/3 BA was actually not much more than 4 BR/4 BA on the per person cost (the rates of course are much higher for 2 BR and 1 BR). Her two room-mates are stable. If one decides to move out, will find a compatible gal to be 3rd room-mate. It is convenient location to school. 12 month lease will make the summer move to job/home much less - only will move clothes and toiletries to be used over summer. Has things the way she likes it. The 3 gals are getting along - one has an older brother and one has a younger sister. All have been use to having their own BR, and after sharing a BA in the college suite dorms can enjoy having own BA.
One thing to also consider is look at the kitchen size and great room of 3 BR and 4 BR. Frig is probably the same size, and with 4 boys, I would wonder about restocking frig, rotating food out, etc.
One needs to know their student and hope their student knows and likes the room-mates well enough.
Absolutely yes on individual leases. DD in B’ham has ind’l lease too - but thankfully she also has stability with other family and room-mates.
When it all works well, helps to keep the focus on academic progress and not drama/distractions.
So I am a sophomore at UA. I am currently living in a BRAND NEW one bedroom apartment. I love it, except for the BUGS. I have seen 3 cockroaches in my apartment, two after they sprayed for the first one. There have been two spiders in my shower, one in my bed, another in the sink, and one more in the trash can. I have horrible arachnophobia and I had to get the guy from a few doors down to come tie up the trash bag because I was so scared it would jump on me even after spraying it with Windex from a few feet away. There are cockroaches all over the balcony/walkway area I have to walk on to get to my apartment. I love my apartment, it’s roomy and spacious and pretty and I just got all my artwork hung and I have a 12 mo lease I can renew, but I am looking for another place, because I cannot deal with the bugs. I have been looking all over the place. I don’t want to live anywhere around Bryant Denny (it’s loud and trashy and I don’t drink. I’m studious and the place always seems like party central/a good place to get mugged, which there’s been alot of lately). I don’t want to live at the Lofts, or Alpha or anyplace with individual leases. I want the lease to be all mine, to control it if I have a roommate. I’m fine with bugging someone to pay up on time. I have been looking at places over on Rice Mine, but they’re at least 8-15 years old and there are drastically different interviews on how good management is, what the bug problem is like, and electricity costing more than 300 a mo. If anyone has lived, or has had a kid live in an apartment with a 12 mo lease, not individual, someplace quiet/a place I could feel safe going for a run at 10pm, I would really appreciate any feedback.
Also, if anyone has any info on renting a house that would be nice too. But also, bugs. Please tell me about the bug problems I could encounter in any apartment, old or new.
Also, I’m from VA and I knew there were bugs in the house at some point, but I never really saw anything but ants and spiders. Does the humidity/living near a body of water affect the bug population?
My son is living in an ‘older’ duplex this year (built around 6 years ago, but that’s old by Tuscaloosa student housing standards) and also has a bug issue. He’s paying for an annual contract with an extermination company to come out and spray monthly. You might want to look into hiring an exterminator, it would probably be more affordable than breaking a lease and there’s no guarantee you won’t encounter the same issues in any other location you might move to.
Personally I don’t understand your hesitation about individual leases, you would still be responsible for your own expenses/lease, just wouldn’t be responsible for suing someone for their share if they move out in the middle of the lease and stop paying their bills (which happened to me while I college student, I got my first experience in court at age 19), but if you really have an aversion to that, there’s an easy way around it, rent a 1BR unit. You can look at any of the newer construction and get a 1BR and then you are only responsible for yourself. Of course, 1BR units are more expensive, but still less expensive than paying for a 2 or 3 bedroom unit all on your own if your roommates aren’t reliable and you have a joint lease.
Go to Lowes and get some of the “large roach” baits. They are not large sized, just for large roaches. place them near windows/doors garbage cans etc. Do not leave water standing in your sinks, wipe up with a paper towel. Do not leave dirty dishes around, Do not leave your dishwasher door ajar, always close and lock it. Take out your trash each evening. Unfortunately, bugs are attracted to food/water sources. Replace the bait stations every three to six months.
Don’t be afraid of the spiders, they are helping you get rid of other unwanted bugs, seriously. However, if you can’t deal, perhaps you can get one of these. It is a bug vacuum: http://www.hammacher.com/Product/86575?promo=search
You can buy something like this at other stores (for less money), but for those unfamiliar with Hammacher Schlemmer, their products have a Lifetime Warranty. Yes, really. Just save your receipt. I have returned items, years later, no questions asked.
It also sounds like your complex needs to spray the outside open areas as well. Do they have an exterminating service? You will need to inform management where you are seeing the bugs, stairs, etc. Perhaps they have the dumpsters too close to the stairs, or something like that.
It seems much cheaper to get rid of the bugs than to move.
For anyone considering the Riverfront Village, I would be weary. Across the street from it is what can only be described as a slum. Does not seem safe.
The area around Bryant-Denny is seedy. Loud and party type place with lots of assaults.
I would also advise most to choose an Apt complex instead of a house. Criminals aren’t stupid, they know how to access the online calendar and find out with X-Mas break is. A house is a much easier target for them to come and turn over while no one is there to counterattack.
That satellite view isn’t great so I’ll elaborate. One really needs a 3-D look. Across the street on that little map, look for Jerry’s Cleaners. From there to where the block meets Greensboro ave is the slum. There are apartments there called Riverhill Apartments which look like they belong in Angola, extremely run-down as well as a some ramshackle industrial buildings. On the map the apartments are the large U-shaped White/Green buildings.
Take a look when in town, drive by it. Not a comfortable place for a young student to live so close to.
The area around Bryant-Denny is not "seedy". Yes, there are older houses. It is 99% students living in that area. My D lives in that area this year and I own a condo in that area. We LOVE IT!!!! No problems or issues. Yes, it can be loud sometimes but otherwise, it is a very nice neighborhood where everyone knows each other, recognizes the neighbors walking their dog, etc. There are a lot of brand new small multi family units that have been built in that area. I would not hesitate to live in that area at all. Every off campus student complex has had issues with crime, even the new ones that are further away. It is all about not doing anything stupid and paying attention to your surroundings. I would not shy from that area at all. If it was bad I would not own there nor would I let my daughter live over there.
My D lived at East Edge last year. She looked further away but by the time we added up rent, parking pass, etc. it was not much less than EE. One thing to consider if you go too far off campus, game day parking. Where are you going to park then? The shuttles don't run then nor do they run for later classes.
The Train. There is a lot of road construction going on now in and around campus. Only 2 roads to get to campus without dealing with the train. The further out you go the more issues you will have to deal with.
Deciding early depends on what your needs are. If not needing a car is a priority and means getting walking distance to campus then you will need to book early. If the mega complexes further away are good for you and you don't mind the shuttles and dealing with commuter parking, then you can wait and see what specials are offered.
Buying. We have a 2nd child that is a senior in HS. She has already been accepted to UA. Will know in a month or 2 if that is her pick. If she says UA is it, then we will be buying a second place in the same vicinty as our present condo and that is right around Bryant-Denny Stadium. I will not go south of Bryant. I'll go ahead and commit to stay in the place she is now with College Station Properties. If we buy, then I'll deal with that. We will have DD1 move into whatever we buy for her senior year then DD2 and a roomie can move into it her sophopmore year.
Real estate around that area is NOT CHEAP! Def not for the faint of heart! On the one we already own we have for game day, we stay there and then rent it out. Not making money but we have a place to stay. Because of where our location is, our DD1 preferred that side of campus vs over at East Edge. It's more convenient for her for classes, sorority, etc. She does not care to have all of the "fluff" the newer big places have. Works for me! Saving me money :)
Riverfront Village....... what slums? There are no slums across the street from there. There are a few older commercial buildings that are for sale for a HUGE price tag. That area is developing and very "hot" as far as real estate is concerned.
I can’t believe your posts in reference these apartments. It is perfectly safe. Just spent four days at the Embassy Suites and had no problem walking by these apartments as did students that we watched. Yes, it was even at night. Must be nice being from the right side of the tracks. Try visiting the other side sometime, you might realize it’s not Angola.
Look, we all come from different backgrounds and one person’s “earthy” may be another’s “slum,” but to describe anything in Tuscaloosa as resembling something that belongs in Angola is just sheer hyperbole.
I grew up in Philadelphia. Even our most blighted neighborhoods bear NO resemblance to an Angolan slum.