Author Archives: Sarah Janz

The 5 Most Popular Houses for Rent in Ames, Iowa

If you’re planning on calling one of the houses for rent in Ames, IA home for the 2020-21 school year, know that we’re here to help you find your next place. We have hundreds of available Ames housing options on our Iowa State off-campus housing page to choose from.

If you’ve only just decided you want to live off-campus next year, you may not know what you’re looking for. To help you out, we did a bit of digging and created a list for the five most popular houses for rent in Ames, IA on College Pads. 

Continue reading
COVID-19’s Impact On Property Management at College Campuses

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few months, you know that literally everything about our day to day life has changed. We are socially distancing ourselves from family and friends, wearing face masks when we need to venture outside, working remotely at home offices, and waiting on daily updates about what the new few months of our lives are going to look like. It’s boring, but it’s what we need to do.

Even though some places are slowly opening businesses back up, it won’t be business as usual. Not for a while anyway, and the off-campus housing market is no different. With some schools announcing they intend to have on-campus classes in the fall and others still holding off, it’s a tumultuous time for property managers.

Continue reading
Should You Rent A House or Apartment Near Ohio State University?

Living in the dorms is a lot of fun … for like the first semester. After a few months of being policed by RAs, sharing a bedroom with a stranger, and hearing literally everything your neighbors are doing next door, you’re going to be jumping at the opportunity to live off-campus in Columbus next year. Once you finally get the chance to live off-campus, you need to ask yourself one very important question: Are you planning on living in a house or an apartment near OSU?

If you’ve never lived off-campus before, you may not know what the big differences are between the types of OSU housing available to you (i.e. houses vs apartments). That’s why we decided to make you a cheat sheet to help you figure out which option is best for you. 

Continue reading
Southern Illinois University: Why Carbondale Rent Prices Are Dirt Cheap

How many times have you been out shopping and found a pair of shoes you were absolutely in L-O-V-E with, only to check the price tag to see that your wallet wasn’t even in L-I-K-E? That’s probably happened to you more often than not, right? Now imagine that you found those same shoes, but this time as you hesitantly flip the price tag over you see that they are on super sale.  That’s what it’s like when you’re searching for your next apartment or house near Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

When the rental prices almost seem too good to be true, you may wonder what’s wrong with the rentals in Carbondale. Are they haunted or something? Nope! The reason that rentals in Carbondale are so inexpensive has less to do with anything supernatural, and more to do with your college enrollment and tuition. 

But how does that affect your rent? Well, when The Great Recession hit back in 2007, colleges across the nation dropped the prices of tuition to influence people to become students at their universities. This worked to reel tons of people to enroll in college for years. The key takeaway here is that when tuition decreased, enrollment increased. When there were more students at these universities, area landlords had their rent prices set just a little bit higher as there were more people in need housing in the area surrounding that college.

As the economy began to recover, colleges started charging obscene amounts for tuition. Which you already know, since you’ve probably signed away your firstborn as a downpayment for your degree. Okay, that was a little dramatic, but not like that off base. Anyway, due to the increased cost of tuition and the diminishing value of a college degree (everyone has one these days), enrollment in colleges has fallen continuously over the last 8 years.

A ton of colleges have felt the sting low enrollment, and Southern Illinois University is no exception. Could it be because the cost of an in-state college education at SIU is more expensive to residents than an out of state college which ends up forcing Illinois residents to neighboring state colleges? Maybe. And by maybe, we mean possibly probably. (Cough, Welcome to Wisconsin)

While paying more for tuition isn’t working in any of the SIU students favor – the low enrollment definitely benefits you since local landlords are continuously underbidding each other to get you to sign with them over another landlord. This is great for you because you can rent a really nice house or apartment with great features and amenities in Carbondale at a price you couldn’t get anywhere else. Unfortunately, landlords in the Carbondale area will continue to go out of business if something doesn’t change with enrollment at SIU.

Ohio State University: 3 Big Reasons Why Rent Is Too Darn High in Columbus

Trying to find the money to pay rent every month feels like you’re competing against Usain Bolt in a 100-meter dash – you just can’t keep up. If you feel this way, know that you’re not alone. A huge chunk of students at Ohio State University are going through the same struggle as you. Without the “help” of financial aid, most students wouldn’t be able to afford their rent since the cost of a rental is rising faster than the cost of wages. Yikes.

But have you ever thought about why rent is the way it is in Columbus? Well, we have. This is why we decided to do a little digging to find out the top 3 reasons rent prices are so high near Ohio State University.

Continue reading
How To Stay Productive While Taking Online Classes

When you first were told your courses would be moved to an online forum, you were probably thinking it’d be super great to work from home. You’d be simultaneously listening to a lecture while also rewatching an old episode of The Office on Netflix. 

As Admiral Ackbarr from Return of the Jedi once said: “It’s a trap”.  And that’s because working remotely is … or it can be. There are so many different obstacles to working remotely that will get in the way of your productivity. 

This is why we created a list of steps you can take to stay productive while taking online classes.

Continue reading
10 Campuses With SUPER HIGH Rents for Students

After doing a year or two of hard time in the medium security correctional facility commonly referred to as “on-campus living”, students are itching for the freedom of living off-campus. No rules. No RA’s. No more shuffling down the hall in a towel to your room after a shower. Just freedom. But that freedom comes at a price: Rent.

While living off-campus is traditionally cheaper than living on-campus, that doesn’t mean that by choosing to live off-campus you’ll suddenly be paying thousands less in living expenses and start living like someone from Fancy Living Digest. What it actually means is that you’ll be paying a little less than you would in the dorms, but you’ll have more freedoms (and responsibilities).

Unfortunately for students across the nation, the cost of college is rising 8 times faster than the cost of wages (yikes) which makes paying for rent increasingly more difficult. Sure, there are a ton of ways to make sure you don’t end up having to sell a kidney (or two) to pay for next semester’s rent, like keeping what’s important in mind when you’re looking for your next place – I.e., lazy rivers, 24-hour fitness centers, indoor something-ball courts, and personal masseuses are not necessary amenities to have in your next rental.

However, when you attend any of our 10 campuses with super high rents, you’re going to be stuck.

  1. California State, Long Beach
  2. California State, Fullerton
  3. Rutgers University
  4. University of Michigan
  5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  6. Cornell University
  7. University of Delaware
  8. Western Washington University
  9. University of Arizona
  10. Penn State University 

While there are hundreds of different factors leading up to why these schools have the most expensive average rent prices for student renters, the main factors that affect the cost of rent include: Enrollment, Luxury Apartments, School Prestige, and Vacancy Rate. So let’s dive into the reasons why each campus is so expensive.

Continue reading

4 Cheap On-Campus Date Ideas to Try at Indiana State University

I’ve got too much money and free time to know what to do with … said no Indiana State student ever (except for ones who find their Indiana State off-campus housing via College Pads … hint hint). Being broke goes hand in hand with being a college student. Unfortunately for us, dating someone new can be pretty expensive. Almost every first date idea includes dinner, drinks, or some kind of pricey activity – sure, you can go Dutch on the bill (it’s 2020 after all) but that doesn’t mean that coughing up the dough is going to be any easier.

But, what if we told you that you can still go on fun dates in Terre Haute (dramatic pause) that don’t require you to take out another student loan?

No, we’re not pulling your leg – there are actually fun dates you can go on that won’t break your bank. We’ve created a list of things to do on-campus at Indiana State University that are fun AND budget conscious.

Continue reading

Five of the Most Instagrammable Spots in Tucson

It’s been said that there are three versions of you. We don’t know who said that, but they said it and they are wrong. According to Dr. Dolly Parton and her breakthroughs in human psychology, there are actually four versions of you: The LinkedIn You, Facebook You, The Tinder You, and more importantly – The Instagram You.

The Instagram You is the best version of yourself. It’s the version of you that makes everyone think you’re living your best life 24/7 … when in actuality most of the time you’re as hungover and lost as the rest of us. But in the spirit of keeping the illusion going, we’ve created a list of the best spots in Tucson to snap a few pics for your Gram (when you’re not looking for an apartment near the University of Arizona.)

Continue reading


Switch Up Your Routine with these 5 Fun Fitness Classes at Rutgers University 

Whether you’re new to the fitness scene or consider yourself a gym rat, it’s easy to get stuck repeating the same workout routine over and over and over. Seriously, is anything more intimidating than trying out a new exercise when you have no idea if you’re doing it right? Yeah, we thought not.

While literally any exercise is better than no exercise, doing the same thing over and over can get boring. Check out our list of fitness classes to try at Rutgers University (and we highly recommend getting fitness from these, rather than from running around New Brunswick looking for Rutgers off-campus housing … we can help with that part) that will keep you from falling into a workout rut.

Continue reading