We are now entering the home stretch in the cycle of rental panic within the student population. The rumors are just going to keep getting more urgent and less informative until winter break, and after that, the roar about renting will quiet to a whisper. Right now is the perfect time for landlords and rental companies to hype up that they are running out of choice units in an attempt to get inexperienced students to go out and take those rentals at whatever cost. Every year, it seems most students have secured their living situations and all the good properties are gone by Thanksgiving break, which is true if your choice of living space happens to be in a property belonging to a company like Tallard or Steve Brown.
Renters at Lucky apartments and some other similarly sized complexes needed to sign a lease for the upcoming year by Oct. 15 to secure a room, which further exacerbates the panic. While this rush may be justified for individual properties to get ready for new renters, the truth is that there is really no need to find a place to live for next year right this instant. The recent development boom has eased the sense of rental panic, but although you will still be able to find a place to live in May, the rumors still persist. Of course, if your dream is to live in the Equinox and nothing can dissuade you, then sign up as soon as possible. But otherwise, the chances of you ending up homeless in Madison come next fall are incredibly small.
The rental rush oftentimes causes poor roommate situations. This happens most frequently with freshmen who are first-time renters, simply because there are so many new experiences going on at once. People are making friends, adapting to living away from home, finding a place to live for next year and dealing with the academic strains of college. Worrying about finding a place to live should be the least important part of that equation. This is why people jump into lease situations that they are unsure of.
If you are hesitant to sign a lease, you should probably take a step back and reflect on the situation. Just because you occasionally have humorous exchanges with the people down the hall doesn't mean you are in a position to live with them. There is plenty of time to find a group of like-minded individuals who want to rent a house, which is far more important than the location. Signing a lease means you are confined to that property for a year and you are living with the people you signed the lease with for better or for worse.
As David Byrne wrote, ""Home will infect whatever you do."" At the end of the day, you still have to go back to the place that you chose to rent, regardless of how you feel about it. A good home environment is integral to keeping a bright outlook on school and life. This is why a decision like renting should not be done hastily, but with pragmatism and regard for the best possible living situation.
