iAdult: Student Housing edition

Everyone always talks about how crappy their student housing is. Either the property is old and a little run down,  the management sucks at listening to their residences, or it's on campus housing which has strict limitations on what you can keep or do in your room. These fears haunted me as I was gearing up to move out of my parents house and into one of these possible satan stain student hell holes. I was worried because even though I knew I could make my place look feel and nice and cozy thanks to Pinterest I didn't know what to actually look for to avoid feeling like I've been cheated by apartment. Here are some out of the ordinary tips for finding student housing:

This a night view of my apartments pool

Make a list of the amenities you'll actually use

Let's face it, if you're not already in to virtual golf as an active participant, you're a lot less likely to pick up this hobby while trying to balance school work and living on your own for the first time. Most student housing has the same basic amenities, a pool, rec room, gym; it's up to you to figure out the quality of each of these basics. For instance, my apartment's gym is located in two buildings, one for the machines and the other for yoga and dance on demand video lessons. 

Distance to campus

My school is the second largest schools in the nation. We have two major campuses in Orlando. The university runs a shuttle service between the two campuses, and most of the apartments run a shuttle service to the main campus. This service is a great benifit because we have over 60,000 students, but only 9,000 parking spots. See if your complex will have services like this and how it works with your school.

Tour the property

You don't want to be surprised by any broken gates or lights. Preferably take a tour in the off season, most apartment complexs will address any aesetic issues during "leasing season" (March-May) but leave things broken and a mess the rest of the year. 

Surprise! People lie

The majority of people who take you on tours or even just work at the residence are your college peers. They know only a handful more than you do about the property. They just want you to sign, and be happy you got a room. When I signed my first lease the complex was still being built, so the company had high expectations of what they wanted to build, not what was actually built. When everything was said and done several things that were 'promised' when I signed weren't never fulfilled. Unlike some of my neighbors, I'm not that bothered by that. I was ready for only half of the things promised to actually be there.