Southern Living: Finding Your Home Away from Home

Southern Living: Finding Your Home Away from Home

Savannah King

Finding your home away from can be just as stressful as college itself. Here’s how to make that process a little easier.

A lot can go into finding the perfect home away from home, and for most college students, this is their first time having to hunt for somewhere to live on their own.

Whether you’re a freshman thinking about moving off-campus or questioning if you want to resign your lease, there’s no need to worry or stress because Statesboro offers a variety of places for students to live on and off-campus.

On-campus Living

Photo by Noelle Walker

There are a lot of benefits of choosing to live on-campus such as being closer to campus and your classes. Unlike paying monthly rent, living on campus allows you to pay the rent for the whole semester at the beginning of the school year.

The university offers seven residential halls for students, including Centennial Place, Eagle Village, Freedoms Landing, Southern Courtyard, Southern Pines, University Villas and Watson Hall.

Greek Row

If you are a member of a sorority or fraternity, then you also have the option of living in your sorority or fraternity house.

Georgia Southern and Alpha Omicron Pi Alumni Katie Wilson said living in the sorority house “connected her with people that she may have not had a chance to be good friends with.”

Townhouses

There are also a lot of routes you could go down if you chose to want to live off-campus. There is a variety of types of housing that Statesboro offers: everything from townhouses to apartments to rental homes.

If you’re looking for a townhouse-style home, then I recommend checking out Cottage Row, The Hamptons or Copper Beach. The difference between a townhouse and an apartment or house is that it bigger than an apartment, but can be a little smaller than a house.

Cottage Row, The Hamptons and Copper Beach offer a spacious living space for individuals. Each offers individual bathrooms, privacy, neighborhood experience, a pool, workout facility and much more.

The Hamptons is also located right across the street from campus.

“I loved the set up of the apartments and the community of Cottage Row,” said Abby Smith, Cottage Row resident. “I have my own space, and there is such a friendly community between everyone that lives there. It’s definitely become my home away from home.”

The Hamptons also offer apartments to residents who would rather live in an apartment-style home rather than the townhouse style.

Apartments

Statesboro also offers a wide variety of off-campus apartments for students to choose from. Many of the apartments are relatively close and even walking distance from campus.

Monarch 301 is one of the apartments that are very close to campus. They offer modern-styled apartments for their residents.

Other apartments that are perfect for students who want to live closer to campus include Cambridge at Southern, Axis, The George and 111 South.

Some other apartments also in proximity to the Georgia Southern Campus include The Hudson, Greenbriar Apartments, Market 100, The Vault and Chandler Height Apartments.

These can offer amenities such as a gym, pool, activity rooms and even study rooms for residents.

Renting a House

Renting a house can give you a lot more freedom than a dorm or apartment would. It will give you a chance to even have a yard of your own.

Renting a home can have its perks, but it can be more maintenance on your end. It also means that you may not be able to enjoy amenities such as a gym or pools like a townhouse or apartment may provide.

If you’re interested in renting a home, I recommend checking out Hendley Properties and PMG rentals.

Signing The Lease

Signing the lease is one of the last things to do in nailing down your home away from home. A lease can seem like an intimidating, endless amounts of pages that you feel you can’t possibly read.

A tip for making sure you sign the perfect lease is to take each section or page little by little or day by day. This way you can understand it at your own pace so that you know what you’re signing up for. Just make sure you keep your eye on the deadline.

Also whether you are resigning or signing, it is important to know if you can handle the monthly rent or if there is an additional cost each month, such as utilities or a monthly pet fee.

There is a lot more that goes into finding a place to live than one would originally think. It’s important to do your research beforehand to see what option is best for you.