On Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 Housing Services hosted an event at the Highlander Union Building (HUB) to help students navigate the process of hunting for housing. They acknowledged the difficulty finding housing and the planning it takes to find the best fit for you. Here are some questions they came up with to ask yourself when planning where you’re going to live next quarter or year.
Planning
The first step toward finding housing for the next school year is to be prepared by planning ahead. Ask yourself important questions such as where you would ideally want to live and what price ranges are in or out of your budget. Planning ahead of time can also prepare you for the difficulties that many University of California, Riverside (UCR) students face when looking for housing if they are scrambling at the last minute. Giving yourself enough time to think about where you want to live is vital when planning ahead; it lets you take your time in deciding about important factors rather than being rushed to accept an offer because you’re desperate. Here are some questions that may be helpful to consider:
- What is the amount of miles you are willing to travel according to your class schedule?
- What will your transportation to campus look like in the future? What kind of parking is in your budget to purchase?
- Does your financial status allow you to consider living without a roommate?
- Do you want to have roommates?
- How many roommates will you have if your budget can not afford you to live alone?
That brings us to an equally important step two, determining your budget. Figuring out how to come up with a financial plan can be overwhelming, so here are some steps on how to break down your monthly or quarterly budget. For starters, list your income and how often you get paid (ex: biweekly, monthly, etc.) If you receive a refund from financial aid, also add that to your income. The amount of money you receive each quarter divided by the months will determine how much your monthly income will be. For example, if your quarterly refund is $3,000 divided by three, you receive a monthly income of $1,000. If you have any family or friends contributing toward your finances, add that amount to your income as well. Any side hustles that bring in profit (ex: photography for friends, etsy shops, etc.), add that to your income as well.
The next step in the budgeting process will be to make a list of your current and anticipated expenses. Think about what you spend your money on daily and any recurring charges. If you are unsure, take a look at your bank statements. It may feel overwhelming at first, so try to think of expenses that you normally will spend before diving deeper into your miscellaneous expenses. This will help you determine your bills that are fixed, such as rent and utilities, from your variable expenses that fluctuate between months, like items such as personal care and groceries. A tip that can help you differentiate between fixed and variable expenses is to determine what are needs and what are wants. Food and housing should be your top priority and your wants will be things you can eliminate if your budget requires you to. Saving money by doing things like making coffee at home rather than buying one before class, buying store brand name items rather than name brands and cutting back on nights out with friends can help accumulate money into your savings.
After figuring out your monthly budget, decide if you would like to live on campus or off campus. The application process will greatly depend on whether you’ll be submitting a housing application with UCR or with an outside party. If you are applying within UCR, keep in mind that you will have to pay a $200 security deposit. If you apply outside of UCR, additional expenses like moving expenses and property taxes will need to be added to your budget. Some rentals and leases may have rental insurance included in their monthly rent, whereas some will have it as an option.
But don’t feel overwhelmed by the extra expenses! UCR’s Financial Wellness Program has a general monthly budget template that is accessible for students to use. Once you’ve accessed the template you’ll be able to create your budget more accurately. This is an estimated budget for what UCR projects will cost for one academic year (September – June) for one student. It’s based on what your living situation is whether that be on-campus or off-campus, direct cost and indirect cost, so the amount will vary depending on your living situation. For example, housing and food for a student on campus was $18,925 for the year 2023-2024 which was roughly $2,057 a month while off-campus housing was $13,800, which meant the rent budget was up to $1,500. Living with family was less than half the cost of living on campus: $7,725. Now that you have an idea of how much your fixed monthly expenses are, you can evaluate a plan. Take your income and subtract it from your monthly expenses. If your budget is over, cut some of your variable expenses.
On-Campus Living Options
Now, deciding where to live! If you opt to live on campus, the residence halls and on-campus apartments are the two categorical options you have for applying through the housing portal. Keep in mind that when you live in resident halls or Glen Mor, you do need to have a dining plan. Let’s break it down beginning with Campus Apartments. North District has its own contract which means you will have to apply separately through the Housing portal. You will see two different contracts, one for the general four campus apartments and one specifically for North District. Also, Stonehaven is through a third party which means they charge for their own separate bills. If you are undecided between The Plaza, Falkirk, Bannockburn Village, Glen Mor and Stonehaven, go on the housing website, housing.ucr.edu, to take a 360-degree tour of each apartment. This will also allow you to see the amenities that each apartment provides like furniture, wifi and on-site washers and dryers. For the Campus apartments, dining plans are optional except for Glen Mor. If you would like to see the rates billing and terms for each apartment, go to the page and look at rates and contracts. You will find individual links for each apartment. Make sure to take the time to read the contracts to understand the cancellation policies. If you have questions about the contracts, please contact housing services. They are more than happy to assist you and answer questions! Deja S. McAlister is the housing contract coordinator and Carla Lopez is the housing specialist and basic needs specialist.
When applying for on-campus housing and off-campus housing, please keep in mind housing deadlines. If you miss the deadline, you are forfeiting the opportunity to apply and will have to reapply again for the next year. Make sure you are following directions and checking your emails daily. If you are confused, please call housing services to ask questions. Be diligent in checking your email for those updates.
If you are living on campus, meal plans will be included. Meal swipes allow you to access Glasgow Residential Restaurant and The Barn. For everything else, you can use dining dollars. If you need to check how much you have, you can go through R’Web or UCR Card Services to figure out how many you have left in your account. For the next academic calendar, Residential Life will be changing its name to Residential Education. Student staff positions like Residential Assistants (RA) are there to help make your transition from home to school easier, so reach out to them with any questions, as they are there to assist you. If you want a job on campus and you don’t want to pay rent, you can apply to be a RA! That will mean taking housing expenses and food out of your budget because rent is free or at a discounted rate and the job comes with a meal plan. An additional benefit to living on campus is the opportunity to not have to consider a long commute.
Off-Campus Living Options
When looking for housing off campus, it may become overwhelming due to the fact that there are many options available in Riverside and the Inland Empire. The recommended time to search for an apartment if you want to move in before the school is around June and July because this is when there are many options available due to graduating seniors and students moving back home. If you apply too early, the apartment you want may not be vacant because people have not ended their leases yet. Be mindful of your lease before moving out if you already live in a rented space by making sure you know how many days your apartment needs to be notified of your moving. When looking at off-housing listing services, make sure to filter your searches like how far do you wanna walk, are utilities included and if there are any on-site amenities.
To avoid scams, please be aware of the red flags during the application process. If you are being asked to wire money or they have a dramatic landlord story, stop the application! If they claim they can’t meet you or won’t meet you in person, stop the application! Never pay an application fee before viewing the unit and a general rule of thumb, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Please make sure to view the unit before the application fee to ensure it’s physically there.
Final Steps
The last step is the application process is finally signing the lease. Remember, if there’s a clause that you don’t understand, ask questions, be proactive and learn what it means. A tip when deciding what apartment to choose is to read some reviews from previous renters online. Additionally, ask about topics such as late fees, renters insurance and billing to your potential landlord before signing. If you are paying rent with your UCR refund, keep in mind financial aid sometimes lags, so also make sure you know what’s the grace period for paying rent. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are two types of leases you can run into: joint and individual. An individual lease means you are responsible for your own half of the rent. If your roommate leaves, that will not affect you. A joint lease means that you will be sharing the rent bill, so if you have roommate struggles or changes, you still have to work out rent with them.
Finally, know your rights and responsibilities. Some affiliations that can help you with any landlord issues or housing problems are ASUCR Legal Clinic, Riverside Legal Aid Fair and Housing Council of Riverside. Another great resource is the The CA Tenants Guide, which can help readers stay updated on their rights. For example, the guide states that as of July 1, 2024, landlords are prohibited from asking for two to three times the rent as a security deposit.
Hopefully, these steps will help you in your hunt for housing — good luck out there Highlanders!
