<p>Hi all - do you have suggestions for off campus housing (apartments) for sophomores? My son is a freshman in Gilchrist right now (and loves it) but wants to move off campus next year. He is social but not a huge partier...somewhere nice, even if it's 10-15 minutes from campus, with a bus stop. He will probably room with one to two people and wants to start getting something lined up. What apartments do you recommend?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!!</p>
<p>My son and a friend are splitting a 3 BR/3BA townhouse on the free bus route to school. It is a 12-unit condo complex but has no additional amenities. He and his roommate used uloop.com and craigslist.com and tallahassee.com to find places they liked and could afford remembering to take deposits, utilities and cable/Internet into consideration.</p>
<p>If you are willing to move in during the summer, you often can get good deals on subleases or free month's rent.</p>
<p>The SGA offers lists of off campus housing options but the site is temporarily down.
The</a> Florida State University Student Government Association Student Resource Center</p>
<p>You will find that most of the apartments around FSU are very similar. I think their are a total of 3 different packages of furniture, depending on the rental rate you will see one of these at just about every apartment. </p>
<p>That said once you know what range and bedroom/bathroom combination you would like I would recommend just setting a day aside to visit them. Most of them are on Pensacola and Tennessee on the Bus route so it should not take long.</p>
<p>Some of the large more popular ones are: University Club, Beach Club, West 10, Villa Del Lago, and Seminole Suites</p>
<p>Give me the name(s) of the apartment complexes you're interested in and I will tell you what I know about it. If I didn't live there myself, I probably knew (and visited) somebody who did.</p>
<p>In any event, my advice is this: be very thorough. Talk to residents. Read reviews on ratings sites (e.g. apartmentratings.com). Pay very careful attention to the surrounding neighborhood, because people from those neighborhoods can and will wander onto the complex proper for any and all purposes (advice I wish I had known or taken before moving into Seminole Suites). A bad living arrangement can literally ruin an entire year, since you'll be locked in for at least 12 months wherever you sign and the only way out is to eat the remainder of the lease up front. There are decent places to live - just do your due diligence and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Most of them suck, but the one complex I can categorically emphasize that you avoid is Frog Pond (I think it's called Beach Club, now). It's perhaps one step above an inner city public housing project and I wouldn't wish it on any but my worst enemies.</p>
<p>Here's what you can generally expect at any "student oriented" complex:</p>
<p>-Disorganized and/or corrupt management. At Seminole Suites, for instance, the leases that my roommates and I signed were fraudulently altered; I was only able to gain recourse because I had made my own copy of the original lease at the time of signing. Overcharging on utilities is common (maybe $15 here, $20 there - sometimes more - under the assumption that you'll just pay it because taking it small claims court is not worth the hassle), as are illegitimate late fees or towing fines. My car was towed from Seminole Suites once by Hobkirk Towing despite the fact that I was a resident with a valid parking permit; neither the complex nor the towing company would reimburse me despite my threats and I ended up being out $88.</p>
<p>-Student complexes can be loud and obnoxious, especially on weekends. Such complexes are largely populated by younger undergrads and/or people who care more about parties than school. Look - I expected partying in a place like that. I also went to my own share of parties. But honestly, I didn't want to live in a place where it was literally a way of life.</p>
<p>-Because you sign a lease for an individual bedroom, you're out of luck if the management decides to move somebody in or out of your apartment. I had two horrible experiences with a "random" (roommate) - one at the Exchange, and one at Seminole Suites. The one in the Exchange invited ten of his best friends to live in our common room while running drugs out of our apartment (which culminated in a police raid on our unit - thankfully, that occurred after I had moved out). Management ignored our pleas to rectify that situation. The situation at SS was eventually resolved to my satisfaction. Don't think this means that they won't try to hold you liable for damage to the rest of the apartment - the Exchange tried to pin $1100 worth of damage to the rest of the unit on me and me alone (despite the fact that I left my own room in better shape than I found it - they just go after the one they think is most likely to pay). I threatened legal action and they eventually dropped the claim.</p>
<p>-Parking can be heinous. The aforementioned parties don't help.</p>
<p>-Theft and vehicle break-ins are rampant. For example: during my second year at SS, my "random" roommate stumbled in drunk one night and left the front door unlocked in the process. Naturally, somebody walked right in and then stole $220 in cash and some other valuables from his bedroom, which was also unlocked. Without considering the circumstances, he flipped out and accused us of the theft (and so it began)...meanwhile, nobody thinks or looks twice at random people wandering through a student complex in the middle of the night - there are literally thousands of people living there and most people don't even know who their neighbors are. I dodged that bullet somehow, despite the fact that I had a nice car and a nearly endless list of my friends had issues at some point or another. Maybe they thought my car belonged to the local drug czar and avoided it out of fear.</p>
<p>I don't recognize all of the complexes listed above; presumably, these are either new(ish) or are complexes which have been renamed since I lived in Tallahassee.</p>
<p>By the time I went to grad school, I rounded up some good friends and we went out looking for a townhouse to rent. After three years of student apartment hell, getting into a neighborhood with "normal" people in a "normal" house drastically improved my quality of life.</p>
<p>After living in student complexes for several years as well I can echo what akhbhaat says about "student" apartment complexes. The complexes my wife and I lived in the 1970s are still in operation with little external change. You also need to see how well the apartments handle bugs - some students are quite lazy and this sloth allows insects to establish a foothold, which can spread to other apartments.</p>
<p>However, these apartments were better at the time than the on-campus dorms. This is not the case today - FSU's dorms are much better now. I'd suggest looking at the dorms in addition to apartments.</p>
<p>For post-graduate time at FSU we lived in a small complex far from campus that did not have these issues. Of course, then you deal with parking on campus. :eek:</p>
<p>Does anybody have good ideas for an off-campus site for 4 guys where they can also play their music (music majors)?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the helpful comments. My son decided to live in Ragans, on campus, if he can get in. He has a really good priority # -- his roommate now has Fl. Prepaid Dorm for 2 years (he only has it for 1) and they agreed to go this route. He just found out today he was accepted to the honors program (lateral admission) and is very excited! So even though older students will have a better shot at getting in, we're crossing our fingers. They had been thinking about possibly Heritage Grove, but we did not hear anything positive about that complex. The only reason they would have lived there is because it takes Fl. Prepaid. Anyway...if you all know anything about Ragans, let me know. I have heard the rooms are tiny, but that it is decent. They don't need a fancy place! They'll go ahead and have 2 random roommates...hopefully that will be fine. Personally, I think it will be a great way to meet some new people. Thanks again for the comments!</p>
<p>If you are a girl, what is the risk of getting assaulted? The post about break-ins and drug lords was kind of scary.
Also, what about cockroach infestations?</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
If you are a girl, what is the risk of getting assaulted? The post about break-ins and drug lords was kind of scary.
Also, what about cockroach infestations?
[/QUOTE]
When I lived in Seminole Suites, my girlfriend at the time (and my roommates' girlfriends, for that matter) would not go to or from her car late at night unless I accompanied her. However, I personally never knew anybody to actually be assaulted or anything of that sort (there were always rumors, of course). Maybe she was paranoid, but better safe than sorry. Like I said, there were some questionable characters wandering around, especially on the weekends. She was perfectly comfortable going through her own complex at night.</p>
<p>Some complexes are undoubtedly worse than others. You'll know them when you see them - that's why it makes so much sense to pay attention to the surrounding neighborhood. If there's a complex you're interested in, I recommend that you drive through it on a Friday night (if you can) just to see what's up. Regardless: no matter where you are, it's always a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings and be prepared. The people who become victims are usually the people who act like victims.</p>
<p>Most of the drug dealers I encountered all seemed to mind their own business for obvious reasons, and there will be a lot more of them around than you would probably ever know. Wherever there's demand, there's almost always a supply - a good number of college kids use drugs of some sort or another. Just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I'm not saying any of this to scare anybody - I just want people to be as well informed as possible.</p>
<p>Oh, and I never had problems with roaches. Ever - even in SS where people would leave trash bags in the hallway for hours or even days (we had door-side trash pickup). I did hear they were an issue in some of the buildings at Boardwalk (which was delayed and then rushed to completion in time for the 2003-2004 school year...) and Frog Pond, but it was never a common talking point. There's no way you could cram that many people into a bunch of buildings (especially messy students) and not have a roach problem by default - so I'm guessing that a lot of complexes spray. You might want to ask them.</p>
<p>
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Does anybody have good ideas for an off-campus site for 4 guys where they can also play their music (music majors)?
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I suppose that depends upon what you play. Strings, guitar, woodwinds? You'll probably be OK wherever you go. Brass or percussion? You're probably going to have to rent a house or make extensive use of the school's practice facilities. :) Virtually every apartment complex I saw or lived in - even the "good" ones - had cheap construction with thin walls.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it isn't too unusual to deal with people blasting bass through your floor or walls, so maybe your instruments will go unnoticed.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Anyway...if you all know anything about Ragans, let me know. I have heard the rooms are tiny, but that it is decent. They don't need a fancy place! They'll go ahead and have 2 random roommates...hopefully that will be fine. Personally, I think it will be a great way to meet some new people. Thanks again for the comments!
[/QUOTE]
Ragans is fairly new. In fact, I didn't even know they had given it a name - I always just knew it as the "new apartment complex." Originally, space was only allocated for students in their second year or beyond, but that has apparently changed. That should give you an idea of how desirable they are - or were.</p>
<p>Yes, the bedrooms are tiny, and two people share each bathroom. However, that's a better ratio than any of the other dorms, where 4:1 is the minimum. The Ragans apartments also have kitchens with stoves and refrigerators, as well as a common area. They're clean and well-maintained. Each unit as a whole is probably half the size of a typical off-campus apartment.</p>
<p>Ragans is basically halfway between a "real" apartment and a dorm. It has a lot of the physical amenities of a typical apartment, less the space, but still offers the convenience of a dorm. On the other hand, you still have an RA, and people tend to stick to their units (rather than hanging out or wandering the hallways) so they aren't nearly as social as the more traditional dorms. That could be good or bad depending upon the person living there.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry so much about randoms in dorms. I've heard of a lot of horror stories, of course - but the difference is that the university housing department will actually try to resolve those problems, unlike most apartment complexes.</p>
<p>Thanks again - this is really helpful.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wouldn't worry so much about randoms in dorms. I've heard of a lot of horror stories, of course - but the difference is that the university housing department will actually try to resolve those problems, unlike most apartment complexes.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is a huge difference compared to a private apartment. In the dorms the university keeps things orderly and maintained (yes, I know there is a range of efficiency here ;)).</p>
<p>akhbhaat, I think you missed something in GaNoleMom's initial statement that her son was trying to find a place for sophomore year. Ragans is still exclusive to those above the FTIC level. However, you did hit the nail on the head about everything else about Ragans (which they officially named in November 2003). Having lived there myself 2 years ago, I highly recommend the complex to anyone who still wanted to live on campus, while (for the most part) having their privacy with their own bedrooms.</p>