DAVID KOB
Staff Writer
Do you have housing for next year yet? No? Good luck finding something at the last minute. Everyone has housing but you. Look forward to another crummy dorm bed and all your clothes getting ruined or stolen in the community wash. Not to mention prohibited candles. Candles are evil.
It is never too early to start looking for next year’s housing. Why? Because finding off-campus housing is harder than sneaking a double order of steak past Cindy in the Caf. Malibu is not exactly a low-income area, meaning property, including apartments, are valued much higher than normal college areas. Go figure. The only “official” off-campus housing Pepperdine offers is Oakwood Apartments in “nearby” Woodland Hills, wherever that is. Regardless, about a thousand students scramble around Malibu and Calabasas for a place to live every year.
Landlords are the worst. The minute you mention the word Pepperdine, most hang up on you. “Nothing personal,” said Lenny Goldsmith, realtor for Prichett-Rapf Inc., “But property owners in Malibu don’t nickel and dime. Students are just too risky.” Years ago, Pepperdine students almost completely occupied the “Villas,” located on Rey De Copes Lane, but historic rowdiness has caused many landlords to stop renting to students. I can not blame property landowners for that, but regardless, we all need a place to live. I spent most of the summer looking for a house my three friends with catastrophic results. Every time we closed in, the landowner got cold feet, citing the same two words: “Male” and “Pepperdine.” Technically, that is discrimination, and if I had the time I would probably sue. If you are looking to move off campus next year, here are some tips to land a good place.
1. Start now. I was just kidding earlier about everyone having housing already. Find the people you want to live with and make three decisions: Who will sign the lease, who wants the master bedroom, and who is going to be here this summer to search for a place.
2. Living with your best friends is not always the best idea. You are more inclined to do all the weird things you do and soon enough everyone hates each other and the friendship never recovers. Live with people who are busy. The less you see your roommates when you do not want to, the better.
3. Let your parents or your realtor do the talking. As smart or responsible you think you are, landlords do not want to close a deal with a punk.
4. Do not mention Pepperdine. All that should matter is the credit report.
5. Give the landlord references. Make sure they know you are active to prove your responsibility.
6. Buy a place instead of renting it. If your parents buy a house and put you on its title, they get a tax break. The profit from selling in a couple years may even cover tuition.
7. Find a place that has cell phone service. No service is the biggest annoyance on the planet.
Malibu house-hunting is stressful to say the least. But even after countless rejections that left me homeless for most of August, the payoff was worth the struggle. Hey, anything beats a dorm bed.
10-26-2006