Living in a House
Though renting a house may seem more like the high life, with a house, comes a lot of responsibility, and, for some students, that may be too much of a commitment. Some owners are open to doing leases on a month to month basis, but the majority of leases last an entire year, or even two years. Double check with your roommates on how long they want to live there, so you don’t get stuck paying double what you bargained for. If one of you is thinking about going abroad, a month to month lease may be more realistic, unless you want to pay for housing in Davis while your basking in the glory of your favorite exotic landscape.
Houses have backyards, side yards and front yards, all which need to be taken care of. Are you planning on living with a group of girls, who haven’t mowed a lawn before and aren’t willing to pitch out money for a gardener? Although the idea of relying on the cutie next door to mow your lawn shirtless during those hot summer months can paint a pretty picture, it may not be realistic. The property manager is generally in charge of ensuring that housing codes are not violated, but, in most rental agreements, the responsibility is often placed on the tenant (for those of you really behind, the tenant is you). According to the city of Davis, the most common code violation is the presence of “Uncontrolled grass or weeds in public view lacking regular maintenance.” (1) Your first offense is a fix it ticket in which you will be charged $100 if the problem is not under control in the stated amount of days. Your later offenses are a little more costly and may place your shopping days in the past, $200 for the second, and $500 each offense after!
Code Violations, code violations, code violations! Davis does a great job keeping up with these, which isn’t good news for us college students. Besides, the violation mentioned above, the following are some of the other hall of famers:
- Cars parked on the lawn on other unimproved surfaces
- Dry grass and weeds that present a fire hazard
- Garbage/trash scattered around the property
- Indoor furniture in the front of the property in public view
- Loud noise from parties!
Renting a house is packed full of responsibility, but hand in hand come a fair share of benefits. A house gives you a nice noise buffer zone, and a lot more room for free expression. You may also save yourself a lot of money! Property Managers for houses tend to be more lenient in how many people they allow to live in the house. Many may even allow you to get creative and put up curtains to create makeshift rooms. In doing so, it saves you money and earns them more money. A win, win situation!
If you do decide a house is right for you, don’t hesitate to ask questions. See the house and double check with the city of Davis that the house you’re going to visit is actually owned by the person you’re in contact with. Don’t pay any money until you confirm who owns the house. Yes, we are in college but getting your parents involved and in contact with the owner is a great idea because you don’t want to be taken advantage of. Make sure you ask what utilities are included and which ones you are going to have to deal with on your own. Budget for groceries, cleaning supplies (this is not a fraternity house after all) and those extra utilities not included in your rent. Make sure to double check with the property manager on what protocol is if something breaks down. It’s much easier to have a property manager that lives in Davis than one that lives elsewhere. It will make getting repairs much easier!
Living in an Apartment
First and foremost, with an apartment the bar of responsibility is lowered considerably, which allows you to breathe a sigh of relief. Most apartment complexes in Davis include all of your utilities except for internet and cable, more or less, but what is included does vary by complex, so make sure to ask. With more utilities included in the cost of housing, you don’t have to worry as much about how many checks you write per month, but be careful, that one check is probably going to be fairly large. Another thing to watch out for is the point at which your water is capped off. Most complexes that include water, only include it to a certain point and all the excess water you use that past this point will be included in your rent. Rent is generally done on a September through September basis, with the occasional month to month option. The amount of people allowed to be in a room is limited, and some places only allow one tenant per room to decrease the wear and tear, but this little stipulation may cause you more money than it’s worth. But one of the major flaws of living in an apartment is the extra money you have to fork out if you want to be in some of the newer complexes.
In an apartment, your buffer zone is gone. You are wall to wall and ceiling to floor with neighbors, which makes noise complaints much more common. This is where your responsibilities as a neighbor come into play. Be courteous and let your neighbors know when you are going to have a larger amount of people over so they are not surprised when the bass of your music starts shaking their walls. The most ideal apartment complexes are those where you are mixed in more with students than with families because students are more likely to understand your blasting music at one in the morning on a Thursday night. Just as in the dorms, there are quiet hours in apartments that vary from work week to weekend. In signing your lease, you will be notified of these constraints, so make sure to keep those in mind. Police can give you a ticket at your apartment as easily as they can at a house.
Extra amenities! This is the best part. The major plus about apartment complexes is what they call extra amenities. These can range from workout rooms to study areas to pools! Some places are even known to offer free printing in study rooms, and who can turn down that? These amenities allow for more of a community feeling. You tend to know your neighbors better because you are in closer quarters and have a sort of “shared backyard”. The best part about these amenities is that they don’t require your upkeep, so you can cross buying a lawn mower off your list.
Your best resource for finding out more about apartment living is the Housing Guide which you can find outside classrooms around campus. In this guide it, all the apartment complexes and their rates and amenities are listed along with some snazzy photos. Figure out how many people you will be living with and if you want to do shared rooms or not. Try to take into account the situation in which each resident has one guest over. If at that point you’ve practically got a party going on, you may want to think of doing two apartments side by side instead. Just as in searching for a house ask TONS of questions. Be sure to inquire about move in and out fees, as well as, how much parking is. You don’t want any extra costs to creep up on you after you’ve budgeted everything out.
Check out these places to get the ball rolling on your house/apartment search!
- sacramento.craigslist.org
- apartmentfinder.com
- apartmentratings.com
- davisrent.com
- theaggie.org
- chl.udavis.edu
- davishousing.com
- check bulletin boards around campus!
Remember to go over all of your options carefully and diligently! If you’re still having trouble deciding between a house or an apartment, check out both, but do so in a timely manner. You don’t want to be left paying to live somewhere you don’t want to live. It’s a complex procedure and there really is a lot that goes into it. The best thing you can do is to think ahead, plan and be realistic with your expectations. Happy hunting!