<p>OK - thanks for those cost comparisons. Good to know that it’s no great savings or extra cost and thus shouldn’t be a factor. I’ll let my son decide and won’t influence him. I’m not sure he’s mature enough for an apt just yet so I’m OK with a second year in the dorm. But that’ll be it, as I agree that it’s important to have that responsibility and learn those lessons prior to graduation.</p>
<p>Im transferring in the spring and found a sublease opportunity through the university housing website. Its a 1 bedroom apartment on Jefferson Street, and the rent is $600/mo. This includes everything, including internet, except for electricity. </p>
<p>For those that are looking to sublet for the summer, I really wouldnt count on it. Expect to swallow the cost right now before youre dissapointed. TONS of people try to sublet over the summer and their offers are rarely accepted. Lots of students going out, not many coming in. </p>
<p>I decided I would just stay and take some summer classes rather than biting the bullet. </p>
<p>This is the opinion of a student paying for college with no contribution from parents… I am going to have to live pretty tight off loans, grants, and savings. I didnt purchase a meal plan seeing as the meals are roughly $7.50 each, and the food isnt really that great. You can find something at a bar, at the pedmall, or nearby that tastes better and is probably cheaper.</p>
<p>edit: just thought i would add that i dont know anyone that pays 100-150 for onsite parking… my landlord offers onsite parking for $40 a month.</p>
<p>I found a small family owned rental business, and he seems to really care about his units and his leasers. I would recommend the same to anyone finding something off-campus. </p>
<p>I have heard a lot of bad things about Apartments Downtown and all the other IC rental business. I think the reasons why have already been mentioned… along the lines of safety deposits never being returned.</p>
<p>I also plan to live off campus next year and have found several units right in the center of downtown, above stores etc… though have notice that many have already booked units for fall 2010, I expected this knowing that nearly 75% of students live off campus. I doubt many would want to sublease a place during the summer, those who will be living in Iowa City during the summer likely already have a rental that will cover the summer period as generally renting goes from Aug to Jun.
As for most places in Iowa City electricity and cooking gas is not included along with parking. Though for myself specifically I have found several units where the price for a twelve month rental equals 9 months in a tiny dorm.</p>
<p>I thought I’d revive this helpful thread as it’s now apt-finding time and my son (currently a sophomore) is definitely on his way out of the dorms.</p>
<p>He has one roommate lined up, possibly two but no more. Anyone have any general tips on apartment dwelling for 2-3 kids? Anyone have any particular experience with a property or situation that would be helpful to us?</p>
<p>Ideally, I’d like the cost to remain under $10k for the 12mo period (crikey that’s a huge number). I’m not interested in furnishing the place and it doesn’t have to be brand new. If it’s inclusive of internet and utilities, all the better. The fewer of these things my not-so-organized kid has to navigate on his own, the better.</p>
<p>Beast, good idea to revive this thread. Our D has been renting a house about 5 blocks off campus this year – when I first saw it, it was scary, but between some work the owner did and the girls decorating, it has turned out pretty well (and less expensive than a nice apt). Not sure if they will continue with the house or look elsewhere, so interested to hear what others have to say about their experiences and suggestions. </p>
<p>Furnishing her bedroom was not as bad as I expected being way OOS (and everyone pitched furnishing the LR/kitchen) – it did take a few days and several trips to Coralville mall, but now she is (hopefully) set with all her stuff for a few years. Costs have been pretty low…~$450/person/month incl rent, utilities, internet, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t have any suggestions as to where to look - my son has thankfully decided to stay in the same apartment next year. They have have numerous people knocking on their door asking if they can rent the place next year so I think he will be able to eventually recoup the money that he spent paying off the last month’s rent of the last kids that lived there. I will say he loves apartment living. He has one roommate who pays all the bills and keeps track of all the food expenses so at the end of the month he writes him one check which ranges between $650 and $700. They cook for each other and eat together almost every night which I think is pretty unusual for college boys.</p>
<p>Furnishing the apartment wasn’t a huge deal with four of them. The living room is decorated in early american black futon and flat screen tv. We bought a full size bed and a cheap desk for him and I did buy quite a bit of kitchen stuff for them because I like a well-equipped kitchen and they have used it all. I also sent a sofa and one of the boys brought a table and chairs. They wheel the dining room chairs out to the balcony when they want to sit out there. I wouldn’t call it tastefully furnished but they have what they need.</p>
<p>Beast - our D and her three Burge buddies moved off campus this past fall. They live in a larger apt building close to the downtown mall and a 5-minute walk to the Pentacrest and the new Rec Center. They got the apartment through word-of-mouth and have renewed their lease again for the same place next year.</p>
<p>The apartment runs $575/person/month for a 4-bedroom place and includes all utilities (cable and internet too). This does not include parking which I think runs another $75-100/month/space. Her place was unfurnished but, like RWE, the gals got together over the summer to figure out who’d bring what for furniture, electronic gear, kitchen stuff, etc. Each girl brought or purchased their own bed.</p>
<p>The real estate agency required one check/month from the tenants so the kids had to get together and decide who the “Banker” was going to be. One item to consider, all of the kids are jointly liable on the apartment lease for the rent, so, if one doesn’t pay or drops out of school due to grades or whatever, the remaining tenants will all have to kick in or have to find a new, replacement roommate. Your S and his roommates may have already discussed this, but, if not, it is certainly worth the conversation - i.e. “Know Thy Roommates”.</p>
<p>From what we saw, rent seems to be related to proximity to downtown / central campus. Our D did check out a couple of similar places 5-6 blocks further from campus and the rent dropped into the $500-$525/person/month range. Not sure if this is true all over. Unfortunately, space seems “tight” downtown. As with Izzie’s son, while we were in IC a couple of weeks ago for Family Weekend, there must of been 6-7 kids who randomly knocked on her door asking her and her roomies if they were renewing their lease for next year. Other kids on her floor in the other apartments said the same thing.</p>
<p>If your Son hasn’t already done so, he may want to check out the “aptsdowntown.com” website. A couple of our D’s friends did find their place using this.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Best of luck.</p>
<p>B10P</p>
<p>My son (a current junior) and 4 of his other Men in Engineering buddies moved into a 5 bedroom apartment southeast of campus this past fall. The apartment management company is also a big one (like Apts Downtown) called “Apartments Near Campus.” They are currently leasing for next fall, I think, or may be soon to the new lessees. Son and buddies just renewed their lease. They seem pleased with the management although there are allegations of problems getting the deposit back, etc. Don’t know if they are true. They pay approximately $450/mo/person, plus a very minimal amount for electric (around $5/mo/person.) It includes cable and internet. Rent levels do seem to vary by location. Son’s apartment is a little farther away, but very close to the East side bus route. Additionally, he has a bicycle there at school. What he has chosen to do, because he doesn’t want the hassle of cooking, and didn’t mind the dorm food too much, plus doesn’t want to bring a lunch to campus, is take the 14 meal food plan and basically eat many of his breakfasts, all lunches, and some dinners there during the week. Also comes in handy because he works in a lab on campus. This does make the whole package a bit more expensive than dorm living due to grocery costs for the weekend sandwiches and frozen pizzas and take out, plus the summer rent. Prior to this year, he had the 20 meal plan, which is not that much different in cost than the 14. However, the experience is valuable and he is happy living there. The guys are not considering subletting, and at least one of the guys may continue to live there during the summer. Furnishing, with 5 guys was really straight-forward, as everyone had something to contribute from home. The only things we actually purchased were a tempur-type knock-off mattress from Amazon (very inexpensive but nice), a foundation for it, and some very inexpensive particle-board furniture from Target - a chest of drawers and a little bookshelf. We were given an old hand me down desk from my parents, which was good timing. No one really has anything fashionable - and that seems to be the case for everyone in the building. I totally agree with “know your roommates” … very important. S knew these guys from living with them the prior two years. All serious students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>Is it safe to say that unfurnished apts are much more common than furnished?</p>
<p>Beast: Yeah - you’re pretty safe to assume that. Our D didn’t look at any furnished apartments in IC. As for furniture - we went to IKEA in Bloomington and loaded up except that assembling the IKEA desk, dresser, book shelves, ent. center, etc was a pain in the rear. A handheld elec. drill with an assorted bit kit is a must. For bedding, we purchased our D’s bed at our local MN Slumberland and then had their Iowa City Store deliver it to the apt. Their delivery guys had the good fortune of lumping the bed up three flights of stairs :). Good luck. B10P</p>
<p>Great. Numbering 4 in my Top 10 List of Things I Want is “adding more of my son’s stuff to buy, transport, assemble, store, repair.”</p>
<p>Ugh.</p>
<p>LOL. Agreed.</p>
<p>Yeah, as mentioned, I was kept pretty busy running back and forth to Coralville Mall and putting furniture together, but it was some good dad/daughter bonding time. After a couple of days in and out, even though I was in a hotel much of the time, and once my wallet and screwdriver had served its purpose, I could tell D and the roomies were happy I was heading out so they could get some serious partying under way. </p>
<p>Was I jealous as I headed out of town remembering back in the day – you betcha!</p>
<p>Well, the lad consumated his apt leasing on Saturday. He and two friends found a place with Apts Near Campus (pls don’t say they’re slumlords!). Sounds like the paperwork went fine. The photos - those little tiny photos - on their website showed fairly new appliances and a lot of space. I think each bedroom is about the size of his current double dorm room. I crunched the numbers and found, like some of you, that the annual cost will be the same or slightly more than the dorm (gosh, I wonder if the landlords have done these calculations?) The wild card will be whether we opt for a meal plan on campus - 5/week.</p>
<p>In any event, glad to have that nailed down! Now if he can survive finals week…</p>
<p>Hey Beast, thanks for the update and glad to hear things are settled for your S for next year! (wish I could say the same…).</p>
<p>I’m set on pre-med, but I also got in Honors. Do you guys think I should live in the Honors House or the Pre-Med community?</p>
<p>You might want to start a new thread because this one is about finding an apartment so people might not see your question. However, I will say that my son lived on a floor freshman year where everyone was in his major (Men in Engineering) and it was very handy to have everyone around you to study with because they are in the same or similar classes. I realize that not all pre-meds have the same major so it would be a different situation but at least they are all taking the same med school pre-reqs. On the other hand, he has no friends that aren’t in his major so if you want to meet a variety of friends, then you should live in honors.</p>
<p>^ thanks!!</p>