Majority of students living off-campus

About 60 percent of JMU undergraduates live off campus, according to the 2005 Housing Guide released by the Office of Off Campus Life.

When considering living off campus, there are several resources available to students, including the Office of Off Campus Life, located in Taylor Hall, room 102, which offers pamphlets and a housing guide.

Students also can go to the offices of the properties in which they have interest. Most places have a reservation list where students signup on a first-come, first-serve basis. To get on these lists, most places require an application fee, which is usually between $20 to $30 and varies from complex to complex.

Although no property requires four people (or whatever the occupancy) at sign-up, four people usually are preferred when leasing an off-campus apartment or house.

"I don’t rent rooms, I rent homes," said Stephanie Furr, the property manager at Foxhill Townhomes.

Ryan Gray, a leasing agent for South View (which is run by the same company as Stone Gate and the Commons), said groups of four get preference at their properties.

Many properties have some system to bring together one, two or three people to complete an apartment. South View, Stone Gate and the Commons have each student fill out a roommate profile upon signing up for the reservation list, and these profiles help to match students based on living styles, roommate preferences, Gray said. Fox Hill offers a place to post roommate want ads in its main office.

Now is the time for students to start thinking about their plans for next year. Fox Hill has been taking applications since school started, Furr said.

Ron Turner, community manager at The Mill, said that places are filling up fast this year — he has been receiving applications, a large number of them since school started, which was not the case last year.

SunChase began signing leases Oct. 1, said Kerry Brown, Regional Marketing Director for SunChase. She said they are still taking names, but that students are now being placed on a waiting list.

South View, the Commons and Stone Gate still are taking applications to be placed on reservation lists, according to Gray. He added that none of their lists are full, and they will not be placing students in apartments until winter break.