Miami Quarterly

Issue date: 10/19/09 Section: Scene

First-years and sophomores can’t wait to do it. Juniors and seniors dread the process. Moving off campus comes with a lot of baggage. Finding the right house (that isn’t falling apart), at the right location and at an appropriate price can be a pretty hard thing to do.

"Moving off campus seemed like it would be so much fun," says Miami University junior Lisa Simon, a Park Place Real Estate tenant. "It is now, because my house is set up, but the process of paying rent and utilities and caring for a real house is a shock at first."

Utilities, rent and upkeep are a few of the many changes that come with moving from the residence halls into an off-campus property.

Another change is having a landlord as opposed to a resident advisor (RA). Students living off campus in Oxford answer to either a private landlord or a bigger real estate company like Park Place Real Estate or Oxford Real Estate, Inc.

Usually when students find the house of their dreams, whether or not the property is owned by a private landlord or a larger company isn't a deciding factor.

It's really all about location, location, location.

"My location is prime," says junior Emily Chlan, a Park Place tenant. "I was living in my house no matter who owned it."

But what's better? A private landlord who owns a couple properties or a big real estate company that owns hundreds?

Everyone's experience is different, but there are pluses and minuses for both options.

For example, Park Place charges its tenants for rent that does not include utilities. That means Park Place tenants pay a base price for rent, but pay individual, separate companies for utilities like gas, water, Internet and cable.

Local private realtors like Rick Metz, owner of "First Call" and "Last Call," charge an "all-inclusive" rate that covers rent, utilities and premium parking. So, the question lies in the price.

Park Place tenants will pay up to and sometimes more than $3,400 a semester in rent, according to Park Place's Web site. That price does not include utilities, which can cost thousands of dollars in the winter months due to the price of heating. Metz's tenants pay $3,200 total for the semester.

That's it. "I'm basing the rent for next year on the dorm room rate, $3,515 for a single room in a dorm," Metz says. "I'm just following the dorm rate from the university.

I find that the students do their saving when they're doing their own cooking and laundry." Metz's properties also include 12 premium parking spots in a parking area directly behind his lots, a luxury many Oxford properties don't have.

"I figure students don't use their cars except to go home, and they can use the busses or ride their bikes and not worry about where their car is parked," Metz says.

Another difference between private landlords and larger companies is the relationship tenants develop with their landlords versus a faceless establishment.

"I've never even met my landlord besides when I signed the lease," Chlan says. "The only time I talk to them is when something is wrong with the place, and they're helpful, but never very nice."

Junior Nikki Kozel, a tenant of a privately owned property, feels different about her situation.

"Our landlord is the nicest guy," Kozel says. "He's always around, helping us and giving us tips. He lets us do what we want with the place to make it feel like home. He's become our friend, we even invite him out."

In some instances, private landlords care for their tenants differently than larger companies might.

"We treat the students just like we would if we had a nice family living in our house," Metz says.

These differences in relationship between tenant and landlord come through in many ways. Park Place, for example, requires its tenants to fill out paperwork or call its office to file a maintenance request. When in need of help from Park Place, it's possible for there to be little to no face-to-face contact between tenant and agent, or tenant and maintenance workers.

Metz has no such form. His tenants usually call him directly if there's an issue. In fact, when Metz heard there was a slue of break-ins to students' homes over fall and winter break last year, Metz took it upon himself to install security systems in both of his properties. Perhaps the price was fixed into this year's rents, but at least his tenants can feel their stuff is safe to leave in Oxford when they go home for break.

To install a lock on the door of a tenant's private room in a Park Place property, the student must pay $45, according to Park Place's "Tenant's Questions Answered" handout. This $45 for safety seems reasonable, but to parents and tenants alike, the price of safety seems inherent, not chargeable.

"Safety is a serious thing," Simon says. "If we forget to lock our front door or someone leaves it open on accident, we want our bedroom doors locked. It seems silly that we have to pay for that. It seems so simple. We don't want random people able to get to our things."

Larger real estate companies like Park Place and OXRE, unwilling to comment on this article, own prime property in Oxford, eye candy for juniors and seniors looking for a new place to live. Private landlords own many great properties too and tend to look out for their tenants more than larger companies do.

So, private and personable or big and uniform? With thousands of students looking to move off campus next year, they have big decisions to make.

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