As leases are signed for next academic year, there comes a time when you need to sit down and think about what you will need in order to move from the dorms into your own place. While getting out of the dorms may be a nice reprieve, there are some “behind the scenes” costs and ideas that you need to consider before making the decision as to where to live and with whom to live.
The biggest thing to consider whether or not you are prepared to handle a multitude of new responsibilities by yourself. No one is going to be there to clean up after you anymore, which means that you need to start doing it yourself. While cleaning the bathroom is not the most fun task in the world, it is a necessary step to help ensure your own personal hygiene.
Another major thing to know/consider is the structure of your lease. If your lease states that you and your roommate(s) are in a separate tenancy agreement, that means that each of you signs a contract with the landlord so if one person needs to move out or does not pay rent on time, the others are not effected. The other way that your lease can be structured is as a joint tenancy agreement. If someone is late on rent or wants to move out, all those listed on the lease can be affected.
A final thing to consider is an agreement with your roommates. It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy, but write up a set of rules and have all people living with you sign it with someone not on the lease as a witness. This way, if someone is not pulling their weight, or refuses to pay rent, you can have some legal recourse against them. This is especially important if you have a lease with joint tenancy. You do not want to be on the hook for your roommate’s part of the rent if they are delinquent in their payment, and a signed agreement with your roommates might help to alleviate your potential financial burden.
All of these things are ideas to consider before deciding where to move to and who you want to live with. You will have to deal with those other students every single day, so make sure you choose wisely. Moving off campus can be an excellent experience, just make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row so you can enjoy your time as much as possible.
