<p>A question for anyone familiar with the off-campus housing scene at UT.</p>
<p>How common are off-campus houses, large apartments, or parts of houses rented to 4, 5, or more college students as a group? So the group signs the lease together, each kid gets their own bedroom, they share a bathroom or two, share a kitchen, etc.</p>
<p>And if these kinds of things are readily available, are they a lot cheaper than the typical 2-person or 3-person apartments? Or are we still talking about $600/month or $700/month per person not including utilities?</p>
<p>Those types of arrangements are very common, especially in north campus and farther out. The close-in leases tend to be expensive (less than the “luxury”/per bed leases though) and only available in 1 yr. leases. The biggest downside to them is that all of the roommates are on the hook for the full amount (plus utilities) if 1 flakes out.
If you are looking to save $ and don’t mind being away from campus, print out the UT shuttle route map and look at housing farther out -rent tends to be lower and the neighborhoods are often nicer (especially on the Far West and PRC routes). [PTS:</a> Shuttles](<a href=“Shuttles | Parking & Transportation”>Shuttles | Parking & Transportation)</p>
<p>My son lived in a 6 bedroom/3 bath duplex (so 12 bedroom overall) with 13 other guys last year (two rooms were doubles). We paid $700 a month for the room (not including utilities).</p>
<p>He enjoyed it, but he lives in the fraternity house now and says that it is more quiet than the duplex, so what does that say about last year! :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Rent was not a problem because the leasing company took separate rent checks from each person (parent) - BUT utilities were!! Try getting money each month from 13 guys for cable/electricity/water…</p>
<p>At least the phone bill isn’t a problem anymore! A girl who was going to be in my dorm room for the summer session one year asked if I would just leave my phone connected and she would reimburse me for the bills (this saved her the hook-up fees). Being naive, I said, “Sure!” That fall, she politely explained that her friend had run up a lot of long-distance charges and she wasn’t able to collect the money from her, so she wouldn’t be paying me for them!! I was so *<strong><em>ed off. She just would not accept the fact that the bill was HER responsibility. My mom or dad finally ended up calling her parents in Houston! Then she was *</em></strong>ed off at me, lol. But at least we got paid.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine the nightmare of collecting from 13 guys every month!</p>
<p>I would check out West Campus, pretty nice area, close to campus, and decently priced. Also if you have a car, south of campus has some pretty decently priced apartment complexes.</p>