Subleasing provides escape, danger for moving students
Summer subleasing of apartments is an ongoing trend for GCSU students living in various apartment complexes around campus who seek a way to get out of the typical 11-month lease. A sublease is an agreement to lease from one tenant – who already lives and pays rent in the apartment – to another tenant, who is looking to rent that apartment for a given amount of time.
Many students living in apartment complexes such as Magnolia Park, The Grove and The Bellamy have all taken to this trend in order to save money while they either go home for the summer or have made the decision to live somewhere else next year.
Those who don’t wish to inhabit their current place of residence for a variety of reasons reach out to other students who are taking classes during the summer that otherwise wouldn’t have a place to live.
“I want to move into my house for next year while I’m not taking classes in May so that I’ll have plenty of free time to move in,” said Ashley Madden, a sophomore marketing major, about her attempt to sublease her current room in one of Magnolia Park’s apartments. The original lease she agreed to goes through the end of July.
Offering almost $100 under the typical monthly rent for a Magnolia Park apartment, Madden admits she hasn’t had much luck.
“Unfortunately, I’ve found it pretty difficult to find someone who wants to sublease my apartment,” Madden said. “I’ve been advertising it since the beginning of March and still haven’t found anyone.”
While Madden said she hasn’t had much success finding anyone to sublease her apartment, there appear to be plenty of upcoming sophomores who are searching for a place to live while taking Maymester courses this summer.
Freshman pre-nursing major Megan Zefting said using Facebook helped her find a place to live this May after she has to move out of GCSU’s residence halls.
“I posted an inquiry on my status about looking for a sublease during the month of May, and on the same day one of my sorority sisters contacted me saying that I could sublease her apartment,” Zefting said.
Many students looking to sublease have already signed new contracts with either other apartment complexes or houses in the nearby area. With the end of the semester approaching quickly, students who have yet to find someone willing to sublease can be nervous about how they will deal with the added cost of paying for two residences.
Sophomore nursing major Michelle Dinser is currently bound to two leases: one at The Bellamy, where she currently lives, and one with a house where she will be living next year.
“My leases overlap, so for May, June and July, I could potentially be paying two separate rents if I can’t find someone to sublease my apartment at The Bellamy,” Dinser said.
When she signed the lease with The Bellamy at the beginning of last year, Dinser said she thought it would be much easier to find somebody to sublease throughout the summer.
“Be careful about signing a 11-month lease without thinking about it first,” Dinser said. “Or else you might find yourself in a similar predicament.”
Whether it be for the good, bad or the ugly, subleasing is just another way that students seek to be thrifty. Regardless of their individual reasons, GCSU students look to save money and avoid the cost of abiding by their leases as they search for other students willing to sublease their apartments.
Posted by Michelle Burke
on Apr 23 2010. Filed under News.
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