Words from the experienced about apartment-hunting

Every time I go into towers, I can’t help but think how young the freshmen look, all with… Every time I go into towers, I can’t help but think how young the freshmen look, all with their gloves pinned to their jackets, with braces and runny noses. And now, apparently, they are wondering whether to live off campus or not.

Well, the simple answer is, yes. But the more involved and responsible answer is: It depends on your circumstances and expectations. With some careful thought and research, you might be able to turn your off-campus house into an off-campus home.

A good place to start is to look at the facts. Pitt sets up a complete guide, and it is available at http://www.pitt.edu/~property/. This is a good overview of housing in Pittsburgh, both on and off campus, and can answer those factual questions you always wanted to ask. From there, there are specific issues to wrangle with.

The first fact to consider when thinking about where to live, especially if you come from a Jewish family, such as mine, is how much does it cost? What is the bottom line? Most University-run residence halls will run you about $2000-$2500 per semester.

That nice house on Semple I am looking at right now is $275 a month, plus utilities, which will be about $350 total. In other words, I might as well live off campus a whole year on the money it would take to live on campus for eight months. Also, without having to buy any meal plan, you save a load on food. Not to mention you don’t have to deal with laxative-ridden, artery-clogging campus food.

After we consider the cost, we must consider location. Sure, some houses may look like run-down, slumlord-operated rattraps, and they are. But some are located in better parts of town than others.

As a rule, restrict your searches to either North or South Oakland. If you don’t mind living a bit farther away, Squirrel Hill and Shadyside are popular choices too. Don’t listen to anybody else, any other neighborhood is bad. South Side, The Strip, East Liberty, The Hill – I know people who have been shot in all of these areas. Well, maybe not shot, but they did visit there.

This brings up another important issue – safety. Sure, the guards at the door will fine your ass for signing some sweet young thing out at 2:03 a.m., three minutes after the deadline, but they will also prevent Homey McHomeless Guy from coming in and making a shanty town in your lounge.

When living off campus, use your common sense. A good test is to try to think how you would feel walking back home at night. Are there street lamps? How many doors are there into your house? Did someone take a shot at you while the landlord was showing you and your friends around the property? Was the landlord the one who tried to shoot you? See, use your common sense.

Perhaps the most important decision you will have to make about living off campus is the logistics. When do you plan on living in the house? I am staying out here this summer; if you are too, stop on by, we’ll catch a baseball game and grab a beer.

But more importantly, are your prospective roommates staying out here too? Are they going to be good roommates? Living off campus means paying bills and rent every month; you’ve got to have your stuff together or else the landlord will evict your ass out onto the cold street.

Also, you want to make sure that you get everything from your landlord in writing. Additionally it is always best to ask other tenants whether things will get fixed to ensure that your expectations will be met for the place you are living in.

If at all possible, suck it up and find good roommates. Obviously, friends are the best to live with, because they are fun, and you won’t feel bad punching them in the mouth until they produce their share of the gas bill for February.

Finally, another important, though overlooked, aspect are the social advantages.

As a general rule, you meet a lot more people in a residence hall than out of one. If you’ve already got the friends, then feel free to kiss the dorms goodbye and move the hell out. If you could stand to put a few more numbers into your cell, you probably should try to find yourself a nice little pad on campus to operate out of instead.

Overall, you will know when you are ready to take the leap. And when you do, you will find it is one absolutely worth taking.

Other general rules: Don’t spit into the wind. Don’t eat yellow snow. Look both ways before crossing the street. And e-mail Sam Morey at smorey88@hotmail.com.