Three Keys to Organizing your Transition Off-Campus

Photo by: Stephen Buck

Many people can agree that dorm life at the University of Tampa is vastly inferior to living off-campus in a house or apartment. Who wants to deal with RA’s and campus safety breathing down your neck?

As soon as my freshman year came to an end, I could not wait to run out the doors of Morsani Hall. I was falling out of my twin bed, sharing a room was extremely challenging and I could no longer tolerate the campus food. It all seemed so simple. The problems of living on-campus severely outweighed the benefits of off-campus housing for me, or so I thought.

If you are finding yourself in a similar situation you are probably asking, where should you begin? Well, these tips will offer guidance because it is not as easy as you might think.

1. Selecting roommates: If you do not already have potential roommate candidates, line up, and start looking for your group. However, take caution and do not jump into something right away.

I thought I would live with my freshman roommates, but as it turned out all three of my roommates from freshman year went their separate ways and two of them transferred last minute.

Take time to have open and honest communication with the people in your group. Some of the issues discussed should be cleaning, cooking, and house guests. When you are living with someone off-campus, you are still going to run into problems no matter how close you are, or how much you have in common.

My current roommate and good friend, Evan Hoffberg, offered this advice, “A good roommate is one who will respect your privacy. A good roommate will clean up after themselves and will communicate any problems with me”.

2. Type and Location of housing: The next step is to decide where and what type of housing you prefer. In a city like Tampa, where there are many options, setting your priorities is a must! Do you want to be within walking distance to campus, or do you have a car and are willing to drive 15 or 20 minutes?

If you are unsure, do your research and take the time to find what you might like. Zillow is a great tool that I utilized when I was doing my housing search.

3. What is your budget? Many of the apartments close to campus come with a more expensive price tag. Are utilities included in your rent? How many cars will you have? What is your plan for eating and food?

Utilities are costs for electricity, running water, garbage, natural gas, cable, and internet. You need to be aware of if the utilities are already included in the price of rent, or if the utilities are a separate payment. This bill can be expensive and can easily make you go over your budget. In Florida, the average cost of utilities is $300. (Buzec, 2020)

How many of your roommates will have cars? Some of the apartments and townhouses only offer two parking spaces. If you and your roommates have more than 2 cars, you need to plan accordingly.

How will you eat? Budgeting food is an important item. If you like to cook, you will need a grocery budget and plan for all the cooking necessities in a kitchen. If you and your roommates plan on eating out more, this may be more expensive, and you may want to look for places that are closer to eating establishments.

It took some time to find my roommates, but once we aligned, we knew we wanted to live in a house close to campus. This, coupled with our price range and the need for parking narrowed our search and allowed us to focus on houses in a particular area.

All our needs were met and since the neighborhood Walmart is only two minutes down the road, we never go hungry and always get deals, which is essential for any college student on a budget!

Buzec, Mihaela. “How Much Do Apartment Utilities Cost by State?” RENTCafé Rental Blog, 11 Sept. 2020, www.rentcafe.com/blog/apartment-search-2/money/apartment-utili ties-breakdown/