Apartment hunting

DD has 2 months before school starts again and she and her 2 roommates still do not have a 3 bedroom apartment lined up.  The one they were all hoping on still has no openings. Tenants have until the 10th of each month to notify moving out the following month. DD doesn't want to wait until August 10th to find out they will have no units available for September. If that happens then they will only have weeks to find something.

There is another complex that told DD yesterday they have 3 bedroom units available. When she told the other girls, one of them said she called on that too, and was told there was a 20 person waiting list, but that it's first come to whoever brings deposits in. This is the complex DD wanted to get locked into back in May. They pre-lease and do 9 month leases. They could have put a deposit down last May and been done with the search. One of the roommates didn't really like the place, so they kept looking.

These 2 girls are driving her crazy. They need to find something and pickings are slim because there aren't that many places that will do a 9 or 10 month lease. DD is graduating in June (as well as I think one of the other girls) and doesn't want a year long lease since she won't be returning.

At this point, if they don't all come to an agreement and find something in the next week, DD is going to look for a place on her own. It will cost about $150 a month more for her to live on her own, but still cheaper or very close to what was spent last year for housing and meal plan. We added up the housing and meal plans for each quarter and divided by 9 months and it came to $1050 a month. She found a great place online today. A one bedroom in a nice complex - $685 a month (even studios she was looking for were all running about $700) that includes cable and internet! She would only have electricity to pay extra over her rent. She tried calling several times and finally left a message yesterday. As of mid day, today, she still hasn't heard back :/  I think if they have a unit available she should take it and let the other 2 girls figure out their own living arrangements.  Most students who live off campus had this lined up before they left school for the summer.

If she gets an apartment on her own, she will need a table and couch. If she rooms with the other girls, one of them was that to bring those. DD has our old coffee and end table stored under her bed here at home. We had an idea on a couch. I want to get a futon for my bedroom turned office (WHEN it ever gets done). But I can buy the futon, let DD use it for 9 months and then I can put in in my office room to use, when she is done with school. For a dining table she will just take our folding table and put a table cloth over it.  That's all she needs to get by.


She wants to get a queen sized bed (rather than take her twin bed from home) so has budgeted some from her savings to get that (and it's something she'll have when she graduates and gets her own place). We went to IKEA last Friday and looked at beds. She found several she liked and I think decided on a pretty cheap one, that didn't have a headboard (to help reduce her cost), for around $180. The mattress will be the most costly part.  Then last night, her BF texted her that he picked up a free queen sized bed frame for her from someone he works with! Turns out it's also an IKEA, but has a headboard. It's white, instead of the dark brown/black she picked, but for free she will take it!

She bought a clearance down alternative comforter from Kohl's for about $25 (reg. $119). It's an ugly color, but no one will see the color inside a duvet cover, right?! She picked up a white duvet cover at IKEA that I think she paid $20 for.She's got throw blankets and pillows she can add to give it all some color.

I just wish someone from the 1 bedroom apartment place would call her back one way or the other.