Career Prep 2009 Summer Blog

Ashton Clark, University of Illinois, states that saving is important! As a college student money can be tight at times. One of my largest expenses is housing. I am a firm believer that college was never meant to be luxurious. I make sure that my housing on campus is affordable. In the future, I will have the same mindset. I think a lot of recent college graduates try to buy the nicest apartments, condos, or houses they can. The issue with this is that the payments for such living arrangements will take a large portion of these recent graduates’ incomes. To mitigate this risk, I suggest that you start small and get an apartment that is affordable. Again, it does not have to be luxurious for starters. After you are comfortable and have a steady income, work on purchasing a townhouse or a house. Apartments do not provide equity, houses do.

Camille Beckles, Boston University, adds start your search early to give yourself time to find the best place for you. Determine your budget, what type of place you think you'd like to live in, whether or not you will have roommates, what part of town you might want to live in. Use a variety of search methods--an agent if that suits your needs, Craigslist, classified ads in Newspaper, etc. Be creative, persistent, and flexible--often you can strike a deal with landlord to get a better deal on rent, or you can negotiate to have your apartment furnished or receive some other amenity.