Three weeks after University of Wisconsin sophomore Emily Reardon moved into her new house on Mifflin Street, a group of girls came and knocked on her door.
“They wanted to see my place because they were interested in renting it for the next year,” Reardon said. “I could not believe people were already looking.”
According to Greg Suddeth, Reardon’s landlord, students begin searching for places to live earlier each year.
“It seems every year people begin looking two weeks earlier,” Suddeth, who owns property on Mifflin Street, Mills Street, Orchard Street, Marion Street and Bassett Street, said.
However, Ashley Karlin, campus coordinator at the Tenant Resource Center, said there is no need for students to rent as early as they do. She said recently there have been many vacancies in Madison, especially in large apartment complexes, which means better prices and a guaranteed place for students to live.
“Students have said they feel a sense of urgency to rent early,” Karlin said. She added students and landlords alike fuel this. “Renting early can create a lot of problems, and it’s unnecessary. There are tons of great places to live,” she said.
The Tenant Resource Center, located at 1202 Williamson St., offers many services to students, including analyzing leases, teaching students what to look for when touring properties and helping students with landlord and roommate issues. The center also has landlord evaluations from previous tenants.
“I have never used it,” Reardon said. “What we really need is something helping students search for apartments. I am sure everyone would use that.”
Unlike many other college campuses around the country, UW does not have one place, such as a website, listing all available off-campus properties. Many students, like UW student Brigid Harvey, complain that searching for an apartment in Madison is more time-consuming and stressful than it should be.
As of now, Karlin said the resource center has no plans of creating a website listing all the apartments available in Madison. A representative from the Campus Information Center said there is a site where landlords and students can voluntarily list vacancies, but Harvey said it is underutilized by landlords.
“I did not find it very helpful,” Harvey said. “Calling landlords and asking around is what I found most useful.”
Harvey said she called numbers advertised outside houses she was interested in and looked on various sites online. Before leaving for winter break, she signed a lease for a flat one of her friends lives in this year. She added most of her friends used the same searching tactics she did and also signed leases before leaving for break.
Suddeth said all of his property was rented out for the upcoming school year before Christmas.
“Most of my houses are rented by word of mouth,” Suddeth said. “Students either stay where they are or rent places their friends lived in.” According to Suddeth, about one-third of his tenants remain in the same house for more than one year.
“Once you have a nice apartment, it would be tempting to avoid the hassle of searching for another place to live,” Harvey said. “In fact, I may be doing that after next year.”
