At the end of this quarter, my third and final year of UCLA-provided housing will sadly come to an end. And after months of searching online listings, calling up landlords and rearranging roommates, I finally put down a deposit for an apartment for next school year.
I can revel in my success now, but I learned that finding the perfect apartment is no easy task. Those of us on the apartment hunt will eventually have to let go of the comforts we dream of, no matter how much we may want them. It isn’t easy, but there will come a time when you realize that when you are dealing with something as crucial as where you live, sacrifices have to be made.
Many students have an idea as to what they want once they are out of the dorms and university apartments. A lot of us want the security of being close to campus or living with people we already know. However, as second-year music student Claire Pettengill found out, that’s easier said than done.
“I wanted to live with good, close friends, but it was hard because they already promised their other friends that they would live with them many years in advance. So I was pretty much on my own,” Pettengill said.
While I was able to figure out roommates early on, it was the search for the actual place that presented a challenge. I had envisioned a spacious two-bedroom apartment with a balcony and included cable, preferably located a block or two from campus. I was shooting to pay only about $500 a month with the rent split between four girls, and I really wanted to find a building with a pool and gated parking.
You can imagine how quickly all those fantasies changed. Each time I tried to locate a place that had every single amenity I could imagine, I started to panic.
If I wanted a place with a pool, they didn’t include gas and electricity. If I needed two parking spots, then rent would cost me more than $800. And because I didn’t want to leave Westwood, my options dwindled even further, leaving me worried that the best option would be to set up a hammock underground in the campus steam tunnels and call it my bachelorette pad.
The more adamant I remained about what I wanted from a new place, the more I saw how complicated I was making the process. I’m not alone either ““ I hear students talk about how they have to begin their search over again after they passed on a perfectly decent apartment just because it wasn’t on Landfair. But other students have already figured out the solution to this reality check: Get over it.
“You really can’t be that picky when choosing a place to live for college,” Pettengill said.
She said she was willing to compromise on anything else about her apartment as long as she stayed close to campus.
“I just tried to keep an open mind. Either way it’ll be an experience. You can make the best of the situation or the worst of it,” Pettengill said.
Once I was able to accept the fact that I was not going to get my dream house, my future roommates and I decided to discuss practicality over extravagance in finding the best apartment. Although we were all sorry to see the buildings with a fitness center or all amenities included left behind, “something cheap” and “close to campus” became our top two priorities.
There’s going to be a little give-and-take in the apartment search.
In fact, if you can let go of what you’re dying to have, you’ll have a much larger selection to choose from. You might even find something that works better than anything you had planned.
Despite the fact that my roommates and I will be in charge of our own Internet and electricity, we found a two-bedroom apartment on Veteran that keeps us close to campus.
We also decided to rent a unit that includes a loft, which allows us to bring in a previously unconsidered fifth roommate and which dramatically lowers the monthly cost for each of us.
Now I tell anyone who’s still searching for their next place to stop dreaming. Keep your options open and become familiar with the term compromise. Know what you need and go get it, without getting caught up in all the possible additions and perks you might want.
It’s what I eventually did, and I’m still getting a parking spot and sauna out of the place.
Still looking for that dream apartment? E-mail Louth at klouth@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.