Heads up -- living on campus after freshman year, housing lottery, etc..

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
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Congrats to the newly minted Hokies and those who are admitted but still making your decision! I’m an Old Hokie from 30+ years ago, and my son is a freshman there now. He loves it. Big surprise ;-).

I wanted to post about an issue he’s wrestling with right now, though, as a heads-up for others for next year: finding off-campus housing. He is currently living in Galileo, and does not want to continue living in the community next year (no guarantees he would have been able to stay in the community … that involves an application process too for sophomores, but if you get in, you are guaranteed on-campus housing). He did not get on-campus housing via the lottery (their placement rates are down a bit because they tore down one of the Corps dorms and are building a new one). So, now he has to find off-campus housing; all of his friends are either staying on-campus in their living and learning communities, or have already committed to off-campus arrangements that are full. So he basically has to find space in an apartment somewhere with people he does not know. Yes, freshman room-mate assignment is random, but it is different moving out of the dorms and into a shared space with complete strangers. Do-able, yes … but difficult, nerve-wracking, stressful, and far from ideal. So, I’m posting about his experience to help others avoid it.

The reason for the heads up/warning is that, when he started talking about going in with a group of guys to get an apartment for next year IN OCTOBER we thought he was out of his mind … he’d just gotten there! We really wanted him to try to stay on campus 2 years, and he agreed that being on campus would be best. And, we’d actually heard warnings about being careful to not let new freshmen feel pressured into signing leases in the fall because there are shady characters out there who run some pretty horrid facilities and trap kids into terms they don’t understand, etc… The housing office will assure you that there is plenty of housing in Blacksburg, so there is no need to worry about signing a lease until after the housing lottery. So he didn’t pursue it. But now he’s sort of hanging out there on his own trying to wedge himself in somewhere. There are still apartments for rent (not the ones closest to campus, though, which is important for him because he doesn’t have a car and wants to be able to eat on campus as much as possible), but the key is that all of his friends already have arrangements. It sounds absolutely nuts to say that by December most people have figured out what they are doing for housing next year, but that is the way it works. If you want to stay in an LLC, you have to re-apply in Nov/Dec; if you think you want to stay on-campus, you should have your room-mate nailed down by Nov/Dec so you can enter the lottery together; if you want to move off campus, most groups are formed up and signing leases by Dec…

So, if we had it to do over again, as soon as he decided back in Nov that no, he really did not want to live in Galileo again, and because he was saying everyone else he knew was looking off-campus, we would encourage him to get in with a group of guys looking for close-in, off-campus housing. Live and learn… but his life is a lot more complicated and unsure right now as a result.

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I know this is a relatively minor part of your whole post, but most apartment complexes are close to a bus line so getting back and forth to campus is not difficult. There aren’t many parking spaces on campus, most off campus students take the bus in and don’t bother buying a parking pass.

You are correct that the good places fill up early. They start signing leases in Oct. and complexes run open houses late Oct/early Nov. At that point the remaining spots get filled pretty quickly at the closer in communities.

I’m a little surprised to hear freshmen being pressured into signing leases they don’t understand. Most places I’m aware of require a guarantor sign the lease as well as the student, so parents (or someone acting in that capacity) are part of the process.

Hope he finds a living situation he likes soon!

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Has he looked at The Edge apartments? They’re across Prices Fork from the new engineering building. I’ve been told they will match roommates up. Say you want to rent a 4 bedroom (to keep costs down) leaving room for 3 more. I believe they will find 3 more people to fill the apartment. Don’t know how they go about it but the people I’ve heard that went that way said it worked out fine for a year. These are new apartments, on the upper end of rental prices. But great location. HTH

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Yes, he’s looking at the Edge now – all apartments are leased, so he’s hoping he’ll be able to get a room in an apartment that still has some space. It means in many cases he’ll be going into an apartment of 3 friends, and oh, yeah, you. Doable, and he might make some good friends out of the process, but at this point he just has to take what he can get, and certainly makes everything pretty uncertain. My point was not that there aren’t places he can live … just that trying to find a place to live when everyone else you know is already set makes it much more nerve wracking. And the comment about the car had more to do with the fact that he wants to be where he can easily get to campus for meals and such even on weekends (when busses run less frequently) to cut down on the amount that he has to cook/eat in the apartment … because grocery shopping without a car is a pain. Getting to/from campus for classes via bus is fine.

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This from the VT parents fb page in October, “This is a bit early, but while I am thinking of it, your students, especially first years, may be hit by a wave of impulse “buying” when off campus housing places create an artificial sense of urgency this fall to sign leases for next school year. We know students who signed in October of 2013 for August 2014…and ended up signing with a well know slum lord whose properties are in disgusting condition when the students move in. Students were excited to exercise their adulthood and sign leases without any experienced oversight and end up locked in to messy contracts and even, possibly, stressful lawsuits. The school sends out a notice in January letting folks know not to feel pressured…but for some, it is already too late. So…have the conversation with your students before they spring the news on you over winter break.”

This is not any sort of dig against VT or B-burg, but we did not expect to be dealing with plans for next year in the fall. It was not like this 30 years ago, when there was less off-campus housing than there is now; not sure why everything is so accelerated now. I lived on-campus all 4 years, so him not getting housing was a pretty big shock; one of those things that is possible, but just doesn’t seem probable. Just a heads up to the new Hokies and their parents that just when you’re catching your breath and feeling like things are settling in next fall, don’t be surprised to have to start thinking about housing for the following year. This is one area to not buck the friend-trend on … if everyone you know seems to be moving off campus, and you want to stay on campus, go on and find a room-mate who also wants to stay – don’t figure you’ll find someone later or just take whoever you randomly get, because if you don’t get on-campus housing, then you’re going it alone.

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I went through last-minute housing issues twice during my time at Tech and went to housing fairs every year, so here’s my two cents on housing and such:

-There will always be a room available somewhere, even if you look in August, but the later you look the more likely you will have to live with strangers or in less desirable apartment/complex

-The big complexes are Terrace View, Foxridge, the Village, Collegiate Suites, Hunter’s Ridge, Maple Ridge, Tech Terrace, and the Edge. The smaller complexes are Stonegate/Carlton Scott, Shawnee, Chasewood Downs, Sturbridge Square, Smith’s Landing.

-The complexes generally have apartments and rooms available, but run out of 3 bedrooms very fast. Hunter’s Ridge and Collegiate tend to also lease out most of their apartments in the fall as well.

-The major apartment management companies are Raines, Townside, Burnettes, and TNT. They’re all hit-or-miss and generally not great. They manage mostly privately owned apartments at University Terrace, University Place Clover Valley, Pheasant Run, Pheasant Run Crossing, Hunter’s Ridge, Rutherford Townhomes, Shenandoah Townhomes, and some houses in the Blacksburg area.

-The “slumlord” experience is more likely to happen through the property management companies listed above than the major complexes since each of their apartments is different in terms of size, location, and quality. Most of the owners don’t live in Blacksburg, and the property management companies don’t have explicit

-Some of the property management companies will physically show you the apartment you are going to rent (I was shown two of mine with different companies). The major complexes will show a model apartment.

-There is a housing fair both in the Fall and Spring semesters. Although the apartment complexes create some urgency in signing a lease/getting a special deal they are offering, the popular complexes and apartment types (especially 3 bedroom apartments) actually fill up really fast.

-Some privately owned apartments that don’t go through a management company are advertised on the VT Off Campus Housing website and Craigslist, and are generally in better condition. So if a group of friends needs an apartment after the housing lottery, there are still some good options out there.

-A bike is pretty useful (depending on personal athleticism) in getting to campus if you don’t have a car. I know a lot of people who could get to Turner in the same amount of time as the bus could from the Terrace View/Patrick Henry Drive area. It can also be faster than a car when you factor in finding parking and walking to your destination.

Just wanted to put this out there in case it is helpful to anyone!

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My kid has lived in Blacksburg for several years now and lives with Tech kids while he attends other schools (CC etc). He has twice waited until summer to get an apartment and has never had a problem finding a place close to campus. This year he signed up for an apartment in July and found one that is right next to the Stadium.

I should add that his apartments are not the really nice ones that I have seen some of his friends live in. His are so-so

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I went to Virginia Tech and have two children there now. I am commenting because my son lived in Galileo so I’m assuming your son is in engineering. I, too, was shocked that the hunt for housing started so early in the year. My son opted to stay in Galileo a second year because all of his friends were staying in. My daughter stayed in her LLC for two years. This year, they were ready to move off campus. My son and his Galileo friends opted for Foxridge. I call it the “quiet side of Blacksburg”. Many, many engineering students live in Foxridge. It is very convenient to campus by bus, and your son can use a bike to ride the Huckleberry Trail and quickly make it to campus if he’d like. There is also a Food Lion and another little market at the front of the complex. My daughter did not start out in Foxridge. However, she chose to move to Foxridge during the middle of the school year. She subletted her old apartment and went on Foxridge’s “Roommate Finder” site and found some girls looking for a fourth roommate. They all get along very well. In glancing at the roommate finder today, there are already some listings for students who live in Foxridge now looking for another roommate for next year. It is an option he might want to look at. That would give him time to meet and get to know potential roommates instead of just ending up with random students. My son and daughter are both very happy in Foxridge. Good luck to your son. Housing can be very stressful.

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@Hokiefirst‌ – Thanks for that tip about the room-mate finder. DH lived in Foxridge back in the day, but that was before Huckleberry Trail, so it was a long walk back when I missed the bus back to campus! And thanks, @financiallylost‌ for your tips – I’ll pass that info on to him if the Edge doesn’t work out for him. Trying to let him handle it on his own, but quietly gathering resources to pass on if it turns out he needs them…

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@ailinsh1 I know quite a few people who ended up in the same situation with the lottery and it seems to be pretty stressful (for both the student and parents), best of luck to you and your son!

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I may not be the best example, but I will share my housing experience (from 20+ years ago). I was a co-op student, and every time I returned to town I just let my friends know I was looking for a place to live. Invariably, I always found a room in an apartment where another student just left. All I did was pay my share of the rent, never signed a lease. In hindsight, it was a pretty dumb plan on my part to just “wing it”, but it all worked out.

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Update: He was able to get into The Edge. Individuals signing on are randomly assigned to single-gender apartments with an empty room, so he doesn’t know his room-mates yet. Hopefully it will work out to be a compatible situation. It is easier to share an apartment when you have your own room/bathroom than a dorm room, as long as basic courtesies regarding smoking, noise, etc., are observed. He’s relieved to know he has a place to live now, and figures the rest will work itself out over time.

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People start looking for apartments way too early because other people are looking for apartments way too early. This has a few consequences.

First off, not everybody makes it to year 2 of any college, including VT. Although more return now than did a few years ago, the ones that don’t end up being vacancies in apartments. A lot of the time they don’t know that until pretty late in the year.

Second off, people are lazy, including a lot of landlords. The megacomplexes have the institutional impetus to actually fill all those vacancies while their current leases are a couple months old, but most private landlords aren’t nearly that proactive. Many hope/expect the current occupant to lease again, and if they don’t then they won’t know until the summer a lot of the time. The real individual landlords will probably advertise on craigslist and the like.

Third off, if you want to live in a megacomplex, and if you already have a group you want to live with, because everyone else is looking early you’ll have to also. This makes sense if you want something safe, pretty cheap, and stable. It won’t get you the best deal on the best apartment though.

If you don’t mind living a little dangerously, or especially if you are close enough (or know someone in town that you don’t mind owing a few favors to) to visit some places during the summer, you’re going to find the best deals on the best apartments during the summer, a month or two before classes start. These places will probably go fast, and you don’t really know what sort of landlord you’re going to have, but I can get on craigslist right now and find apartments and houses for rent for prices that make my now-acclimated-to-California-prices Hokie heart weep.

Additionally you will be able to find a single room in an apartment pretty much anytime; there are always people dropping out or changing housing plans. A lot of the time you can meet the people you’d be living with beforehand, or at least talk to them and make sure you can co-exist with them.

So basically, if you want to live in a megacomplex, and especially if you want to live with a group of people you know, you’re pretty much stuck looking early. Those are choices you make though, and you can also choose to live in an individual apartment with a group you know, or a megacomplex (or individual apartment) with people you don’t, and then you don’t have to worry about it so far ahead of time.

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Wow. I never, ever would have thought housing would be any kind of issue at VT, especially in the first two years! My DS hasn’t even gotten an admission decision yet, and this subject is stressing me out.

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When we toured UVA in the fall a couple years ago, the student ambassador told us he’d just signed a least for the next fall. Sounds like this scenario plays out the same way at other schools. Add this to the list of things that needs to be investigated sooner rather than later in their freshman year.