Trying Hard to Find the Off-Campus Advantage
By Max Landau
Staff Writer
To Hofstra students and others: Don’t expect the hunt for off-campus housing in the Hempstead area to get easier.For many students at Hofstra University and college students across the country, off-campus housing may be the better option compared to living on campus.
Staff Writer
To Hofstra students and others: Don’t expect the hunt for off-campus housing in the Hempstead area to get easier.For many students at Hofstra University and college students across the country, off-campus housing may be the better option compared to living on campus.
“I encourage students to venture out and explore their options in off-campus housing, it is a good way to grow and mature, but in Hempstead our current goal is to stabilize and raise the falling home ownership rate,” Tom Suozzi, Nassau County executive, told Nassau News when asked to comment about off-campus student housing.
The village of Hempstead, with nearly 55,000 residents, has a 43.2 percent home-ownership rate, and some 8,630 rentals.
More than half the village's 15,188 households are classified as rental homes/apartments. The median rent is $788. The average number of persons per rental are 3.16, and the average number of rooms in a rental house is 3.41.
Students Can Save By Living Off-Campus
Steve Miller, a Hofstra student, rents space in a three-tenant house just a few blocks from the campus while paying well under the average rent in Hempstead paying only $550 a month.
“I’ve wanted to live off-campus since sophomore year, I’m saving money, and have the freedom to do what I want when I want to -- you just can’t have that kind of freedom in the dorms,” said Miller.
Miller pays $550 a month in rent, compared to Hofstra’s plan for on campus housing for a year, which comes to about $1,000 a month.
Students considering off-campus rentals should also take into consideration whether utilities -- gas, water, and electricity -- are included in the rental agreements. Only 20 percent of the rentals in the Village of Hempstead have utilities included in their contracts.
Whether a house is furnished or not is a consideration in evaluating monthly rent payments.
What a Landlord Says
Gwen Ferguson, a Hempstead landlord, has several rental units occupied by Hofstra students. She said her rental agreements with the college students include stipulations such as “no late-night parties or noises, no animals, and no smoking inside the home.”
As long as the tenants keep this promise, Ferguson said there are no real problems renting to college students -- "as long as they get their rent checks in on time,” she said.
To get more information about housing in Hempstead, please read and contribute to the Hempstead Housing entry in a wikipedia created for this article.
