Category Archives: Topics

How To Competitively Set Your Rent Price
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When setting the rates for your rental properties, you have to make sure your rent prices are set high enough so you can cover costs associated with being a landlord (like your mortgage, insurance, taxes (*sigh*), maintenance), but also be low enough to be competitive in the market.

Yeah, we know – that’s a lot easier said than done.

But as a College Pads customer, finding the sweet spot for rent prices is about to get a little easier with Rent Index. Check out how the Rent Index will help you stay competitive in your market!

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5 Tips For An Easy Rental Turnover
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Generally speaking, turning over a rental property takes a landlord or property manager between 9 to 10 days. But with a little planning, you can easily streamline the turnover process and get it ready for the next round of tenants, saving you time and money.

Here are 5 easy tips for streamlining rental turnover:

Tip #1: Communicate With Tenants

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Things To Do To Speed Up Tenant Turnovers
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What To Do Before, During, & After Tenant Turnover

If you were lucky, a majority of your tenants decided to renew their leases and stick around for another year. If you weren’t so lucky, the dreaded tenant turnover process is right around the corner. While the anxiety of getting one group of tenants out, and another group in may be keeping you up at night, there are definitely things you can do to make the process easier on yourself.

Here are a few things you should make sure you’re doing before, during, and after tenant turnover:

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How To Build A Killer Resumé As a College Student
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John Smith's resume. He couldn't even get the language right. Don't make that mistake. | Flickr
John Smith’s resume. He couldn’t even get the language right. Don’t make that mistake. | Flickr

You’re doing it. You’re really doing it. You made it out of high school and now you’re killing it in college. You’re on track to graduate in four years and you’re feeling good about your major… Or you’re on track for a six-year stay at college because you keep switching your major, and you’re not even sure this most recent one suits you. But man, you gotta get out of here eventually, so you’ll settle for any degree at this point. When you’re done with this whole college thing, finding a job will be no problem… Or will it?

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20 Best Part-Time Jobs For College Students
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Your parents called, they wanted to know how your job search is going? Okay, they didn’t call, but with the semester winding down, you should expect to get that question in the not-too-distant future.  If the thought of starting your part-time job search sounds about as much fun as another year of online classes, don’t worry – we ? got ? you!

We made a list of easy part-time jobs for college students, and how to find them – check out our lists below.

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How To Have A College Apartment Not Look Like A College Apartment
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Off-campus housing tends to be a more budget-friendly living option for students than living on-campus. Not only that, but when you choose to live in an apartment or house off-campus, you’ll have more space and freedom than when you lived in the dorms. The drawback to college apartments and houses is that they can be a little run down – by that, we mean that the walls have seen some things. But hey, living in a beat-up rental is kind of a part of the college experience.

Just because you can’t afford to rent a swanky apartment or house near campus doesn’t mean that you can’t find ways to make your rental your own. Without further adieu, here are a few tips on ways you can make your college apartment not look like a college apartment.

Tip #1: Buy a plant (or two)

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Walking Home At Night On Campus? Here’s A Few Safety Tips To Do It Safer.
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Whether you just pulled an allnighter at the library or a bar downtown with your new fake ID (no judgment – we’ve all done it), getting yourself home safely is a must. One of the best ways to get yourself home safely at night is to get someone you trust to escort you home. You can ask a close friend, or get a university escort (most universities offer free safe walk programs to students).

If you can’t find a friend to walk you home and don’t have time to wait for a university escort, follow the tips below to stay safe!

Safety Tips For Walking Home Alone:

Tip #1: Stay Focused

Don’t get distracted or off track. Your goal is to get home safely. If you hear a group nearby, don’t head off-track or see what’s going on. If you think you see something suspicious going on, make a note of what’s happening and where it is and call the police as soon as you get home.

Tip #2: Take Well Lit Routes

Don’t take shortcuts through dark alleys or parks because they’ll get you home quicker. Stay in well-lit areas where you can be more aware of your surroundings.

Tip #3: Don’t Talk On The Phone At Night

It’s important to be aware of your surroundings. Talking on the phone gives us a sense of comfort because it feels like we’re not alone anymore, but it also limits our ability to be aware of what’s going on around us.

Tip #4: Use A Safety App

If you’re going to be walking home from a party or a bar at the end of the night, even if it’s just a short walk, you should use one of the many apps invented to keep you safe in this scenario. These apps allow your friends or family to track your whereabouts until you arrive home safely or they sound alarms if there’s been a change in your walking patterns. They make calling for help easy and give you a little more reason to feel secure. Here are a few safety app suggestions:

Do you have any safety tips or apps that you think should be added to the list? Comment below!

Greek Rankings: Top Schools For Fraternities and Sororities – 2021
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The Sigma Nu Fraternity house at Ole Miss. (Flickr)
The Sigma Nu Fraternity house at Ole Miss. (Flickr)

We’ve all seen movies like Neighbors or the iconic Animal House that instantly has us thinking that the only things sororities and fraternities do are throw wild house parties for hundreds of students to attend. Visions of drunk college kids chugging beers and kids swimming in pools while the DJ spins music loud enough for neighbors down the block to hear dance in our heads, however, these movies aren’t entirely factual. Duh.

The Greek community is way more than what movies have us picturing in our heads. To some universities, maybe, Greek life isn’t much at all, while on other campuses Greek Life plays an integral role in not just a student’s college years but for their entire life. Going Greek is a part of being something bigger than yourself. Your college years build memories that last a lifetime. Belonging in the Greek community gives undergraduates an unforgettable experience where students can work with their brothers and sisters to form lasting impressions on one another and the community. Not for just now, but for the future.

Here at College Pads, we decided to create a list of our top 20 picks for Best Greek Life On Campus. How’d we do it? We took the top Greek lists from Niche, The Princeton Review, University Primetime, and Best College Reviews and compiled a list of all of the universities mentioned in those articles. From that list, we only used schools that had over 10,000 students where at least 15% of the student body were Greek members; then we averaged those out to create our points system.

Best Greek Life Colleges – 2021 Greek Rankings

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7 Practical College Budgeting Tips
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College is already a stressful enough time without having to sweat about every little expense. The biggest thing you can do to make sure you’re not stressed out about money every month is to set up a budget.

Here are 7 tips for setting up a budget in college:

Tip #1: Be Honest With Yourself

Sometimes the hardest part about figuring out your budget is telling yourself the honest truth. Maybe you have the tendency to splurge on something that you probably shouldn’t. Calculate that in because you can tell yourself that you aren’t gonna go for it next time but you can never be certain. It’s best to just know how your budget looks with that expense. If you’re feeling really ambitious, calculate your budget both ways.

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