<p>I'm considering moving off campus next year to save money and (for now, at least), I'm really looking into getting a house with some friends that would split the lease with me. My school is in a college town and I know that there are owners of rental properties that are used to working with college students. </p>
<p>I just have some general questions about how to get started looking for a house and the business/legal side of renting.</p>
<p>-When should I start looking and talking to people about finding a house to move into next fall?
-Is it possible for owners to write individual leases for each person living in the house instead of just one lease? If not, do you have any suggestions on how to make sure each roommate holds up to their end of the deal?
-I know that in most cases rent won't include utilities, so what might be a good way to divide the utilities between the roommates? Split it on a monthly basis or one person takes care of one bill, another takes care of another? </p>
<p>Also, if you've rented a house with roommates before, please feel free to leave any tips/advice/suggestions/things to consider here! I would love your input.</p>
<p>1) You’d probably wanna start searching next semester. I found my place a month before school started though, lol.</p>
<p>2) This might vary from state to state but my house here is individually leased. Definitely figure that out before you sign.</p>
<p>3) I’d split it, although that question makes me glad my landlord just adds a flat utility charge on top of rent.</p>
<p>Definitely set some ground rules with your mates when y’all move in together, and read your lease agreement with eagle-like focus, because you never know if there’s some clause that can screw you over (for instance, a lot of leases allow the landlord to evict you and still collect rent if your place gets too many noise complaint violations).</p>
<p>When you should start looking depends on your school. In my college town, there is more housing than students looking for it (meaning there is a LOTTTT of housing available, I go to a 40k person school and everyone but freshmen live off-campus), so you can look whenever throughout the year. Here you have to sign a lease early if you want a luxury high-rise, like I have now, but for next year my friends and I want something cheaper so we’ll probably sign in a month or so. </p>
<p>You can start looking for people to live with anytime, just try to pick people you know you’ll get along with (it’s kind of a crapshoot at this stage if you’re a freshman right now though). Just ask what their plans are for where they’re going to live next year. If you have a group together, you can all look for housing together, and you’ll know more about how many bedrooms you want, what everyone’s budget is, etc.</p>
<p>Some landlords will write individual leases, some will not. Here there are a few buildings that do, but they are often kind of expensive. There are a few apartment buildings that are sort of like dorms as well, and they provide individual leases. However, I am on a lease with four other people (one is my best friend and the other two are just people we knew at the beginning of last year and now we don’t really talk to them) and there have never been any issues with anyone not paying rent. Just make sure to live with reliable people - it’s hard to judge that at this point but that’s all you can really do unless you can find somewhere that will give you individual leases.</p>
<p>Depends on your school of course, but in my town many apartments buildings pay at least some utilities - I have everything paid for, even cable and internet. I would split it on a monthly basis if I did have to pay for them, though. Makes everything easier, no resentment about a person turning the thermostat too high, taking long showers, etc. It’s really nice if you can find somewhere that will pay your utilities though.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask any other questions or PM me if you want. I’ve been through the lease-signing process, live in an apartment with three roommates, and am looking for next year’s apartment currently, so I know a little bit about the process :)</p>
<p>To echo previous comments:
DEFINITELY split the utilities evenly. I do that in my apt. However, I have friends that didn’t last year, and some got screwed over while others got a great deal.</p>
<p>Thanks! I guess the hard part now is to find people to live with. I’ve already got one girl who said she would be interested and I totally trust her- we’ve been friends for years and our families are pretty close. I want to find at least two more people, though. </p>
<p>One more question-</p>
<p>Would it be better to lease a house that’s owned by an individual person rather than going through a firm?</p>
<p>Depends. Some landlords royally suck. Actually, a lot of landlords suck. Agencies are usually a little more professional in my experience and don’t try to screw you at the end of a lease. But it could be different where you live…ask around.</p>
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<p>If you’re clean, one of your roomates is bound to be messy…if you’re messy, one of your roomates is gonna be a clean freak. Just decide how you’re gonna handle the situation beforehand instead of letting it fester once you’re in that environment. And have a plan for whose gonna pay more for the bigger bedroom and their own private bathroom if the layout is like that.</p>