Ramen, rent, repeat: Living off campus

At the sixth in a series of eight webinars hosted by Student Financial Support, financial educator Shahar Ziv explained the financial implications of living off campus. Some top insights from the session include:

1. Generally, it’s cheaper to live off campus than to live in university residence halls. A lot depends on individual circumstances and choices, though.
2. When building your off-campus living budget, account for utilities, transportation, furniture, food, and household items. You’ll spend way, way more than you expect on toilet paper if you’re used to getting for free in your on-campus living situation.
3. Your security deposit will usually be the equivalent of one month’s rent, and you have to pay it at the start of the lease. Essentially, you owe two months’ rent for Month 1 of your lease. It’s a big upfront cost, so plan for it in advance, especially if you need to account for a gap between the date when the security deposit is due and the date when your financial aid refund hits your bank account. (Some good news: you will get the security deposit back with interest at the end of the lease if you don’t damage the property during your stay.)
4. Financial aid for cost of attendance (COA) only covers nine months of living expenses. If your lease is for 12 months, you have to budget for how you’ll make up the cost of those three extra months. Some options include:
   • Renting a cheaper place than you otherwise would, so you can afford to spread nine months of rent over 12 months.
   • Negotiating a nine-month lease.
   • Getting a subletter for any part of the year you will not be occupying the space. (Check with your landlord to see if subletting is allowed.)
   • Dipping into your savings or getting a part-time job to cover the extra three months.
   • Staying in Baltimore for the summer and taking classes, which in some cases can increase your financial aid award. (Check with Student Financial Services about this option.)
5. If you’re going to have roommates, talk about money, priorities, and logistics before you sign a lease. What is important to you in an apartment? Does the person with the big bedroom pay a proportionally larger fraction of the rent? Who is responsible for actually paying the rent and the other bills? These questions don’t have right or wrong answers, but it will save your household a lot of friction if you talk about things in advance.
6. Get renter’s insurance. If your residence experiences a catastrophic event (like a fire), renter’s insurance will cover temporary housing and replacement costs for your damaged possessions. It’s not super-expensive and you can usually split it with one other person.
7. Hopkins has resources to support your off-campus housing search. There’s a an off-campus living FAQ page, a housing and rental search, financial aid info, iGrad tutorials on topics related to off-campus living, and specific info for international students.

The full webinar is available below.