Last fall semester, a record-breaking 4,441 first-year students began their college careers at Ohio University. As OU staff and students welcomed a new freshman class, they also welcomed a new problem: a housing crisis.
According to a previous Post report, last year, OU accepted more than 100 student housing contracts over capacity. In an effort to accommodate an overabundance of students, the university increased housing options. They converted expanded-capacity doubles to triples and offered 119 beds at River Park Apartments.
Now, the same students who faced a housing crisis as freshmen are rushing to find off-campus housing as sophomores.
Mya Frame, a sophomore studying English literature made the decision to sign a lease a year ahead of her junior year in the beginning of August.
“We decided to start on it really early,” Frame said. “We signed our lease before anyone came back, so we'd get top pickings.”
Bob Prebe is the owner of Uptown Realty Group and has 20 years of experience as a real estate professional. He explained that signing a lease over a year in advance is abnormal for non-student residents.
“That's not customary to sign a residential lease a year in advance,” Prebe said. “Athens is very unique that way, but little college towns are probably all very unique that way and it makes it really difficult for students to navigate.”
He explained that in years past, undergraduate students could come back to campus and get settled in. By September, they began their search for houses or apartments, but with the housing crisis of 2022, underclassmen feel more pressure than ever to quickly find a rental for next year.
Prebe noticed the correlation between the OU housing crisis and a rush to find off-campus housing last spring.
“I know it's on the students' minds, this enrollment thing,” Prebe said. “It's evident by the fact that last spring, I was getting calls in April. I kept telling people that I understand that you're really trying to get on top of things, but I'm not ready.”
Prebe tries his best not to pressure students into re-signing too far ahead of time. Even so, he expects to run out of spaces to lease uptown by this week with only about 5 bedroom units left to rent out. At one point this semester, Prebe found himself showing a single apartment to six different groups of students in one day.
“Everybody thinks that there's a big push, and that's kind of perpetuated by landlords in this town,” Prebe said. “There always has been a big push to try to get students to sign early.”
Even when students sign leases early, challenges arise.
Frame explained that finding affordable housing that fit all her needs was hard. On top of that, she described navigating a legal lease for the first time as “daunting.”
Grace Brierley, a sophomore studying art therapy, had a similar experience after signing a lease with her roommates in late June. Despite starting the search early, Brierley toured nearly 10 residences before signing.
“It was definitely a process,” Brierley said. “It was definitely difficult to find a house.”
As students navigate finding housing and signing a lease, Brierley advises her peers to get a group together and do research on properties and rental agencies.
“I've heard some horror stories and I've also heard some really good things, so you just have to find the sweet spot with your knowledge,” Brierley said.
As Prebe finalizes leases for the 2024-25 school year, he looks forward to a future where students and rental agencies alike do not feel the stress that comes with leasing so far in advance.
“There's a pressure there,” Prebe said. “People feel like I have to do this or I'm gonna lose out on this thing, this opportunity and it's really a shame if that's the case because I don't like people to feel that way.”
Despite the challenges she faced, Brierley said she looks forward to the new experience of being a tenant and renting a place she can call ‘home.’
“We signed it and I think we're all excited,” Brierley said. “So that's all that really matters.”
