January 2003

Sophomore housing: Search begins this quarter

	Senior Mary Costello, left, seen here grocery shopping with roommate Carly Broaddus, shares some advice regarding roommates. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis Mediaworks photo)

Parent alert! Soon freshmen will seek their living quarters for next year, and even if your student is very independent you'll probably be involved.

Some students can be accommodated on campus, but most move into town. And because few can afford to live alone, this means that your son or daughter has two jobs: finding a home and finding roommates.

Why does the process start now? The answer to this question lies in the Davis housing market, which is tight. Because the apartment vacancy rate is low -- 0.2 percent this year, students start early to get the best pick. This doesn't necessarily mean January, and it doesn't mean a student can't find anything in August. But most students begin looking during winter quarter.

If you'll be paying for housing, your student will want to hear from you soon about how much to spend. A two-bedroom apartment in Davis averages $975 a month; rent for a room in a house ranges from $350 to $500. Prices in surrounding communities, like Dixon, Woodland and Sacramento, are lower.

In general, the further the student lives from campus, the cheaper the rent, but the more time spent commuting by bike, bus or car. The latter involves parking, an important concern because a permit costs $67 or $115 a quarter. And even with a permit, students say it can be challenging to find parking after 9 a.m.

To help students in their search, Student Housing offers workshops in the residence halls beginning in late January. The sessions offer information on the local rental scene; provide search tips; and address topics such as roommates, leases, budgeting and food shopping.

The Associated Students of UC Davis hosts "Housing Day" -- this year on Feb. 10 in Freeborn Hall. Students can meet with representatives from local apartment complexes, and first-time renters can find helpful advice.

The Web also can help students get off to a good start:

• Student Housing offers links to listings and apartment Web sites.
• The student-run Housing Viewpoint which will be updated for February, publishes ratings for apartments on such things as maintenance response time, frequency of problems and study atmosphere. It also will be available in book form.
• The Community Housing Listing, run by the Associated Students, and the sites of property management companies offer additional resources.

Your student also will face some intangible issues. Here are some common ones:

• The roommate hunt could be bumpy. "People advised me not to decide early," reports senior Mary Costello, "but I said, 'I love my new friends; nothing is going to change!'" A few months later, major tension developed between two roommates, and Costello wished she had waited longer. "But it's hard," she explains, "because if you wait too long, you won't get the place you want."
• Compromise is required. Because students have different priorities -- one must have a dishwasher, another a swimming pool and a third wants to live on the bus line, in any group of several roommates no one will be totally satisfied.
• Moves may be frequent. It is unusual for a student to stay put for three years because friendships, needs and tastes change. "In college you mature and change so much, it's easy to end up moving, even though you don't want to," says Costello, who has moved every year.
• An apartment rather than a house may be the best choice for the sophomore year. This advice comes from older students, like senior Huy Nguyen. "You're babied in the dorms, no paying for rent, no paying for food. Second year, in an apartment, you deal with food and rent," he says. "Wait until third year for a house, because there's so much more." An older student is better equipped to communicate with the landlord in the event of a problem.

With all these factors to consider, students frequently become tense about housing. Please share with your son or daughter the wisdom of seniors like Mike Lee, who says, with a reassuring smile: "Not to panic. Everyone gets an apartment somewhere. You will have a roof over your head in Davis."

Top of page

Return to previous page