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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 1990)
age 15 Battalion Housing Guide Wednesday, April 4,1990 ets prove expensive for apartment dwellers need By SELINA GONZALEZ 'The Battalion Staff Ca mpus ^ Before owning a pet, Texas A&M students Ve ®°f5l hould consider more than just that pretty dog- ;ie in the window. Off-campus living differs from staying on ampus in that students have the choice in ome apartment complexes to have a pet. But s he luxury of owning and caring for a pet a proil loesn’t come cheaply. Client Schroff, a Creekwood Apartments epresentative, said residents who own a pet s >ay a $150 pet deposit that is returned in full if io fleas, damage or odor are found when rent- rs leave. Residents who don’t alert manage- nent of a pet can be charged $10 a day from he day the pet is discovered until the resident nakes amends, Schroff said. “We haven’t had a problem with residents 111 student mts soma e a _ diffen ‘municaiim Rauscl lss whatbcj I Who n nore 10 us enouji dess the hat main - in d P ets because we pretty much told them the residents) up front,” he said. Phillis Fontenote, a representative from llV/Od lilt fl]|' 1. W. t W A WkTW 1 « i. 1 ▼ V- Lt froiuL kazos House Apartments, said the pet policy illy ser j 0 J ncludes a $100 pet deposit, and $50 of the de posit is returned if no damage is found, such as Jjad odor or tom carpet. There is a 15-pound tes nee C; limit on the weight of a pet, she said. Want to 1* , what with a: ng to : said. The representative from Timber Creek Apartments said a $350 pet deposit is collected for a cat or a dog. There is a 30-pound limit on the weight of the pet. No deposit is collected for birds or fish and $150 of the deposit is non- refundable while the remainder will be re turned if damage is not found. The representative explained that some apartments in Houston have pet rents. For ex ample, a resident might have to pay up to $25 per pet per month, so living at the residence for a year or two could result in an extremely costly pet. James Westbrook, a Casa Blanca Apart ments representative, said although the man agement used to allow pets, their current pol icy doesn’t. “It became such a hassle in the past with people leaving them in their apartments over vacation; they would leave a bunch a food and just leave them there,” Westbrook said. The management had to replace the carpet in many of the units as a result of pets occupy ing the residence, he said. Many of the units at Casa Blanca are furnished and in order to care Pets/Page 16 Battalion File Photo Many students prefer living alone to having roommates many stiii iced id. Infaci lents con s Center ow it s them nesc d oings® a rooi :onflict :s who ifferences : Office of ey is unafci nt-against- ;o expent nblems knew in :ided to ly JULIETTE RIZZO Hhe Battalion Staff * able You can be your own best room- nate. Living alone seems to be an alterna- ive arrangement for many students ho do not want to deal with hassles of sharing living space or splitting bills. Although there are no figures avail- as to how many A&M students actually live alone, a significant num ber do. According to publications released by the Off-Campus Center, the hous ing needs of those students who live alone are met in the off-campus com munity, which offers a variety of one- bedroom and efficiency apartments at comparatively low rates per month. u: A consensus from students who live alone is that personal freedom is worth the extra money it might cost not to have a roommate. Elizabeth Thornton, a senior educa tion major from Mesquite, has lived alone since her junior year and said she wouldn’t want to have it any other way. “There’s nothing like having the freedom to do whatever 1 want, at any time of day, without having to worry about whether or not my roommate would approve,” she said. Several A&M students who chose not to be identified in the interest of safety said they choose to live alone for a number of reasons. Most students agreed the option of living alone offers lifestyle flexibility and independence. When asked why she prefers to live alone, Thornton said she can avoid the arguments that her friends have with their roommates about bills and house rules. “Living by myself, 1 don’t have to worry, for instance, about a roommate wanting to have the air conditioner on full blast or wanting to split the gro cery bill when they eat twice as much as I do,” she said. “Besides, I’ve got too much stuff to have a roommate,” she said. “There’s nowhere in my apartment to put one.” Holly Beeson, a senior journalism major from Houston who has lived by herself for four years, said she recom mends that incoming students live with a roommate until they meet peo ple at A&M. She said living alone is not lonely if you have friends who re spect your privacy but still come over to visit. “I live alone (with my dog and cat), because 1 like my privacy,” she said. “I had a lot of problems with room mates in dorms, especially with the lack of personal space. “It’s not the same living with a roommate. “I know that when I leave a mess no one will leave one after mine, no one will borrow my clothes and 1 can sprawl out on my couch whenever I want to.” Students can get information about one-bedroom and efficiency apart ments at the Off-Campus Center in Puryear Hall across from the YMCA Building. e 16 Married Student Housing provides good location, activities to tenants WRIGHT PROPERTIES Apartments, duplexes, houses 'affordable housing' 696-2784 DESIGNED FOR ROOMMATES 2 BR/2 BA Split floor plan New frost-free refrigerators and new look coming soon! Preleasing Now! BRAZOS HOUSE APARTMENTS 2401 Welsh, C.S. 693-9957 By ANDY KEHOE Of The Battalion Staff For those Aggies with fami lies, Texas A&M’s Married Student Housing offers a rea sonable alternative. Located across from the polo fields on University Drive, the 651-unit apartment complex is reserved for grad uate students and married peo ple with or without children. MSH offers several benefits to its tenants, making it a pop ular alternative to off-campus housing. Only 700 students are ac cepted each year, and students currently have to wait more than a year to get an apart ment. Sandra Burke, president of the Married Student Apart ment Council, said the first and most obvious advantage to living in MSH is the apart ments’ location to campus. “A lot of people are able to walk or cycle to campus if they live in the apartments,” Burke said. “This allows them to save monej on gas and parking stickers. Living this close to campus also cuts down on the daily wear and tear on your car.” While the University-owned apartments are open to all graduate students, they are ideal for students with fami lies, Burke said. “We have many activities for the families, especially the children,” she said. “Every body is so busy, juggling school with marriage and fam ily life. We try to get them to participate in our activities like the barbecue and volleyball competition.” Several different styles of apartments are available to students. One- See Married/Page 16 '■^ylmbens Crafted by You Arts, Crafts and Flowers Prices Good April 4-8 5 fc n PAPASON CHAIRS • w/cushion $69 95 Chintz Pillows Apartment locators save students time, energy on search for home $4 88 each By CHRIS V AUGHN Of The Battalion Staff Apartment locators were created for stu dents without the time or energy to pore through the yellow pages or drive around Bryan-College Station looking for a new home. Students can save the time and energy by walking into a local apartment locators office, filling out a card, meeting with an agent, say ing on what side of town they wish to live, specifying their price range, and answering a few more easy questions. And it’s free. The leasing agent then assists students in finding several properties that fit their needs and wishes. After narrowing down the possi bilities, students can get a leasing agent to give them a personal tour of the apartment com plexes, duplexes, fourplexes or any other type of residences. “We spend time trying to match property to them,” Charles Ragland, a leasing agent with Finders Keepers, said. “We get a feel for what they want before we jump in the car and start looking.” Shirley O’Brien, management director of Apartments Plus, said there is no time limit for assisting a student in finding a place to live. “The time limit is catered to everyone’s spe cific needs,” O’Brien said. “On an average, we spend three to six hours per rental helping students.” Apartment locators don’t charge a fee to stu dents, but make their money from the apart ment complexes who participate with them. Most locators are paid on a commission basis per apartment by the management companies. “We don’t get a dime until the first month’s rent is paid,” Ragland said. Rose Marie Lindsay of the Bryan-College Station Apartment Association said that be cause not all apartments are listed with the loc ators , students may have to do some looking on their own to cover all the apartments. “It’s entirely up to the apartment owner as to whether to use an apartmentlocatorsor not,”' Lindsay said. “Some of the apartment owners aren’t interested in paying the commission fees.” The apartment locators agents say most stu dents probably don’t take advantage of the service for fear they will have to pay. “A lot of students don’t realize what we do is free,” O’Brien said. “We save them a lot of time, and we know about the availability of apartments faster.” Ragland said students should trust apart- mentlocatorsagents as much as any other leas ing agent. “We’re licensed real estate agents, and we operate under a code of ethics just like they do,” he said. 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