In Oxford, finding a house is not as competitive as students think

By Kerry McFadden, The Miami Student

The same students who wore lanyards around their necks, walked in packs of 15 and went to Brick Street at 10 p.m. just a few weeks ago are now looking for housing for their junior year at Miami.

The Class of 2020 is planning years ahead, making decisions about where they might want to live when they become the ones making fun of first-year students.

According to a survey prepared for the Board of Trustees by Jen O'Brien, Miami's director of off-campus outreach, 34.5 percent of students sign a lease for junior year while they're still in their first year at Miami. O'Brien cites peer pressure as a cause for such early action, not scarcity.

According to O'Brien's report, Oxford's approved rental properties can accommodate over 15,000 people, but Miami's 2015 Fact Book counted only approximately 7,700 juniors and seniors studying at the Oxford campus.

Even now, apartment complexes in town still have spaces available for next academic year. A community assistant at Hawk's Landing, a large complex located north of Sycamore Street, said that 23 percent of their units were still open for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Level 27, the largest apartment complex in Oxford, is currently only 15 percent full, according to its community assistant Erin Smith.

"We're two times the size of any other apartment complex in town," Smith said. "We usually stay pretty open until move-in day. Because we're so large, we kind of serve as the fill-in."

"We're also the same distance from campus as Hawk's Landing," she continued. "People think we're really far but we're only about a mile off of campus."

However, with options as close as a crosswalk away from campus, a mile seems far to some students.

Taylor Moon, a junior, transferred from Miami's Hamilton campus to Oxford for her sophomore year. She has lived in Level 27 since transferring, and says the location can sometimes be an obstacle.

"It's far away from everything and everyone and I had a hard time meeting people because of living out here rather than in a dorm," she said.

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Knowing people and making connections can prove useful when making housing decisions, as in the case of Miami senior Brendan Bower.

A senior who also transferred to Miami, Bower attributes his success finding a place to live to his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. He lived with several fraternity brothers in a conveniently located Uptown apartment last year.

Another popular trend among members of Greek life, as well as other organizations, is the pass-down tradition, which keeps residences within an organization. O'Brien's report to the Board of Trustees showed that students signed pass down houses between Jan. and March of their first year. Such early action may be part of an effort to make sure that the residences aren't opened up to students outside of the previous owners' organization.

However, leases for houses unaffiliated with any student organization were also signed within the same time period.

Once again, peer pressure seems to be the cause.

Sophomore Abigail Wenger just signed the lease for her house next year with three other close friends, and doesn't think that waiting until her second year was an issue.

"Honestly, we didn't really have any problems finding a place our sophomore year," she said. "There is a lot of emphasis and pressure on getting a house for your junior year when you're a freshman, but in reality, there are still plenty of places to live when you're looking as a sophomore."

The first sentence on Miami's website on off-campus lease signing reads:

"Our best piece of advice on the whole housing search and lease signing process is to slow down. The housing market in Oxford is competitive, but not as competitive as students tend to think."