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Five College Apartment Must-Haves

By Kylie Exline Uloop When searching for an apartment, there are numerous factors that are considered a must. Before signing a lease, we have to know the specifics and prepare ourselves with what to expect.

In other words, we want to know what we are getting ourselves into, and what things the apartment complex will be offering us. Will free Wi-Fi be included? Are pets allowed? Can we request a hot neighbor? All legitimate questions.

Pricing As mentioned before, we are in college. Therefore, we are always ballin’ on a budget. We already spend way too much money on alcohol, food, and anything else we claim we need right this minute. This leaves us with not that much money to spend on rent per month.

We need an apartment complex that will maybe have a low security deposit, allow us a few (seven?) warnings before late rent is a thing, and include cable in the monthly bill.

It is a lot to ask for, I know, but you would be surprised to find that some complexes are actually lenient and understand the never-ending college struggle. So look for an apartment that is relatively cheap, as well as somewhat sympathetic toward our economical ways.

Furnished No one aspires to sleep on a mattress on a floor, or to have sheets as curtains, unless you are in a rock band of some sorts. What this means is that we need a furnished place.

I am not talking about a free shower rod or “Welcome Home” mat, which are nice nonetheless, but rather actual furniture. This includes a

couch (couches if you are ever so lucky), a bed with a headboard, and a few, readyto-use appliances.

This still grants us the freedom of decorating our apartment with framed photos and placing a beer pong table in the center of our living room, all while providing us with some drawers and a T.V. stand. Basically getting the best of both worlds.

Quality Although in college, we still should be getting what we pay for. And what we deserve is quality. We want a decent enough apartment so that when the ‘rents come to visit, they will not be completely disappointed with what we chose to live in.

A nice exterior makes for a nice interior, or something like that. Plus, if you have better appliances and whatnot, it will be less likely to break and easier to fix if something does end up going

awry. The last thing we want are there to be prevalent issues such as a high crime rate, a tendency of mold, and a dishwasher that will not stop leaking.

To avoid, sign with an apartment that is known for its quality. If anything, knock on random doors and interview the inhabitants on their time there and their overall experience. Might sound slightly creepy, but it is legit, guys.

Amenities This is a bonus, but also very important for our wellbeing. What in the world would we do after a bad day and having a hot tub to escape to was not an option?

Life is stressful. A way to cope with that is to have a pool to dive into, or a gym to release pent-up anger. Having to go to another apartment is just too out of the way at times.

These luxuries will make

our living experience better, but also enhance the overall appeal of the complex.

Plus, it is easier to befriend your neighbors when you are all chilling by the pool and drinking some beer. Yay for amenities.

Searching for an apartment can be tough, but also worth it in the end if you find a nice one. Being close to campus and work is a huge must-have, as is the price you are paying. And don’t forget the convenience of it being furnished, and certain amenities that it comes with.

Basically, you want an apartment that will offer you deals, as well as zero complaints (we can wish). Throw in a few hot neighbors and we have found ourselves a winner. Now go out there and sign that lease, people!

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***HOUSING GUIDE SUMMER 2016***

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Best Parties To Throw In Your New Apartment

By Kylie Exline Uloop

When you move into a new apartment, there are various ways to bless it, per se. You know, burning some incense, or taking some shots with friends … or your new neighbors.

An even more popular way is to throw a party … err parties.

They can be random, themed, or small get-togethers. Regardless, they celebrate your new and hopefully improved living space, as well as a new start that you are being given. Basically, it is just another excuse to throw a party, as if we needed one.

Read below for the best parties to throw in your new pad.

Housewarming These are extremely typical and may remind you of marriage.

When you think about it, it is sort of like a wedding given you are marrying your house — especially if you have a mortgage now. Yikes.

They tend to be more on the casual side and a tad smaller than if you threw a rager. You can expect others to bring gifts, so a bottle of wine should do it or a door mat that reads “Welcome Home.” Sometimes typical is nice.

Food will most likely include pigs-in-blankets, glasses of cheapbut-gets-the-job-done-wine, and cheese and crackers. You cannot go wrong with cheese and crackers, people.

Themed These specific parties are not only fun to host, but fun in the sense that everyone partakes in the ridiculousness of it all. And if they do not, simply un-invite them. Themes can include ’80s, flappers, togas, pirates, and the list goes on.

The décor should be on point, as should the food. A photo booth section may be somewhere in the proximity, and yes, the props will consist of oversized sunglasses and cowboy hats.

If you really want to nail this party, you can coordinate your invites to the theme as well. This way, no one can claim they were unaware, and everyone else can have a great time repping their pink poodle skirts or AC/DC concert tees.

Dinner

This is an easy route and pretty much expected, but there is nothing wrong with that. They are easy to throw together, and if anything, people will show because food is definitely involved. Yay for food.

The downfall is that the attire is usually more formal, and heels are pretty much a must. But hey, you may even get that hot neighbor to come in a dapper tux and then we are all winning at life.

There will also be a lot of dirty dishes and cleanup time so keep that in mind. But it is a great bonding experience, and we will all be judging you on your cooking ability, so best bet is to cater.

Definitely cater.

Holiday These are great, especially when it is not a holiday. You know, throwing a Christmas party in July, or a Halloween bash in March.

Makes so much sense.

Guests can bring actual gifts to your new place, and you can have spiked eggnog. Everyone loves spiked eggnog.

Just try to make sure that most people do not have work the following day and that there is a ton of toilet paper located in the bathroom. You do not want the aroma of candy canes leaving your newly furnished apartment for the next two solid months.

College Most of us are either still in college, about to leave and enter the real world, or are even recent graduates. Regardless, the college experience is still running through our veins.

Therefore, we know how to

party and hard at that. This party is probably the cheapest given all of the girls will show up in high waisters and crop tops. Guys will be wearing Sperry’s and Chubbies.

Quite the life.

Selfies will be taken everywhere and there is bound to be pizza and a keg. Make sure all guests know to BYOB. You are about to turn up.

Also, red solo cups will be found literally everywhere in the morning, so trash bags are imperative.

Moving into a new apartment is great. Throwing your first party there is just as great. It gives you a chance to hang with friends, invite new neighbors, and even those coworkers you never really talk to outside of work.

It will be a great time with food, drink and hopefully gifts. Try not to worry too much if there are a few spills on the carpet, or new couch. It is bound to happen and it gives it character. Plus, there are spray bottles for that.

Just relax, make memories, and be ready to throw the biggest party of the year. We can hope.

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The Housing Amenities Students Want This Year

By Emily Plummer Uloop It’s impossible to provide everything students want out of a housing unit.

The dreamy wish list is long: Jacuzzi, free laundry service, room cleaning. Though, of course, many of these demands are illusions conjured up since childhood of our ideal home.

Maybe a water slide that starts at our apartment window and leads all the way down to the pool below!

And then there are the more practical amenities students look for, that would serve to improve our living area, and our happiness there.

The following is a list of amenities students are looking for from their housing units. While every housing site probably cannot provide all of these services, providing any one or two of them would make your hous-

ing a better place for students to live.

it adds up if a student wants to separate their laundry into multiple loads.

Laundry machines that work Parking Sure, most apartment buildings and housing units provide washing machines and dryers for their residents (and we do thank you for this). But all too often those machines are expensive, unreliable, and unavailable.

With only one or two machines for an entire housing complex, it is a difficult affair finding a time when they are not in use.

This is especially true when one of them breaks down and stays “Out of Service” for weeks.

Your residents are looking for machines that will work and be available when they need them to, not a whole lot to ask. If you are looking to make residents even happier, find a way to subsidize the cost of laundry. Two dollars per load per machine may not seem like much, but

Street parking near university campuses is often hard to come by — and when it can be found, there are meters or other time constraints forcing students to move their car from spot to spot every few hours. By offering parking spots to your residents, you allow drivers peace of mind knowing they have a guaranteed place to keep their vehicle.

And, of course, parking free of charge is always a plus! Perhaps instead of charging residents monthly for a parking spot, you could assign them odd jobs around the housing unit for a certain number of hours per month. Speaking as a student, I would gladly clean stairwells, take out trash, etc. for free parking.

Bike racks For those residents who do not drive, bikes are a great alternative. But then, we need a place to store them. We don’t want to have to carry our bikes up the stairs and store them in our apartments, but we also don’t want to leave them chained up down the street where they could be stolen or damaged.

Your bicycling residents are looking for racks to lock their bikes up within the gated housing complex.

Wi-Fi By now, 2016, nearly every college student in the country survives off the Internet. We carry our laptops everywhere, submit assignments online, and use search engines and online books for research. Without Wi-Fi, our schoolwork is pretty

much put on hold. So having Wi-Fi in our homes is invaluable, it allows us to complete assignments at our leisure, from the comfort of our apartment, without running out to the library or nearby coffee shops for Internet access.

Now most of us do have our own Wi-Fi for our apartments, because we set it up and pay for it month to month on our own.

But Wi-Fi is no longer a luxury amenity for most American college students — it has become a necessity of our schooling.

Providing Wi-Fi for all of your residents will save them the hassle of setting it up and move your housing unit forward in the Internet age.

We know housing sites cannot provide all of these amenities, and we don’t expect them to, but these are the ways housing could be improved for students this year.

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Six Things To Look For In Apartment Furniture

By Madison White Uloop

Searching for apartment furniture, whether you’re short on cash or not, is never an easy process. Not only do you want things that look good, but furniture that also fits nicely with your space. When shopping, online shopping, or thrift shopping, there are a few keys for getting the most out of your apartment furniture, regardless of taste and price range.

Make sure that you form a list of qualities you’re searching for before you begin the quest for apartment furniture whether in a store, warehouse, or flea market. Having a list of values may make your search a little longer and deliberate, but when you come home with a solid piece of furniture to add to your apartment, all your hard work will pay off.

Here are six things to look for in apartment furniture.

1. Functionality The most important thing you

should ask yourself when buying furniture is: Does it serve its function well? This means that if you’re buying a chair to lounge in, is it comfortable? Could you see yourself lounging in it for hours? If you’re buying a table, will it fit all your normal friends around it? Does it wobble or stand well? Regardless of unique design or attractiveness, you need furniture that does its job and does it well.

2. Durability Besides functionality, you need some furniture that will also stand the test of time. While you may be in and out of different places and complexes, it is likely that the furniture you buy now will stay with you for some time. Buying furniture of any kind is always an investment.

Unless you love fixing things, be sure to keep to standard and reliable types of furniture that won’t require a whole lot of work (or, just rent your furniture!). Unless you’re planning to live in an apartment long term, don’t splurge and buy

some really ornate items that will become difficult to move and maintain in the future.

3. Color scheme

When buying furniture, you likely won’t be getting it all from one place in a complete set. Don’t freak out if it doesn’t all match perfectly, especially if you’re on a budget. However, if you are looking for an element of cohesion in your furniture, try to look for a similar color scheme. Go for all blacks, dark browns, or light browns, but don’t try to mix all different ones unless you’re going for a mismatched look. If you want to get super fancy, look at the color of the wood on your cabinets and door frames and try to match your new furniture to it.

At the very least, at least get a table and chairs matching set.

4. Size One of the primary concerns in apartment furniture is size.

You’re going to be in a much smaller space than any home

so when debating whether to buy that extended couch set, remember that it might not fit in a tiny living room. It is much better to have a few, mediumsized pieces than some overly large ones that will crowd out all the space you have. Unless you’re extremely social, you probably won’t need as much seating as you think you do, so it’s okay to downsize and just keep some folding chairs in the closet just in case.

5. Practicality

While some fancy woods, fabrics, and designs are tempting to splurge your money on, think of the practical use of your furniture. Especially in lighter colors, furniture can become stained and damaged very easily and make it look old quickly. When looking for nice, long lasting furniture for your apartment and future apartments, look for something practical. Go for classic, solid designs that are easy to clean and take care of though they might not look as flashy.

They’re sure to serve you well.

6. Price

Finding the right price when buying apartment furniture can be tricky. Like all the other things listed above, you don’t want to give up many necessities when it comes to furniture, but you don’t want to break the bank. Ultimately, try and set a reasonable price range before looking around for furniture. Once you’ve found some decent ones in your budget, take another look at them for the above qualities and delete the ones that don’t fit it. Also, look around you. If any of your friends or family are moving recently, they may be looking to get rid of some perfectly good furniture and you won’t have to pay a dime.

Although finding the right furniture for your apartment may seem a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack, it can be done. By making a checklist of priorities and values to look for in your furniture, searching, narrowing down, and eventually buying some will become far less of a hassle.

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