When senior Jessica Lisek moves out of her apartment on August 8 she’ll be without a home for almost a week before she can move into her new place.
Lisek, along with many other students living off-campus, is dealing with the transition period from moving to another apartment on a brand new lease. Rental companies use these few weeks before the new tenants move in to clean, maintenance and fix destroyed property.
Lisek has been leasing from Greenbriar Inc. for a year and is moving into another apartment at Campbell Hill, also leased by Greenbriar Inc., and will be moving into her parents home in Columbus during the six day gap. For some, that would be invconvient for such a short period of time, but for Lisek, it doesn’t seem to be a problem.
“Both of my parents work and I’ll need to finish gathering some last minute things for my next place,” Lisek said.
Rental Agent at John Newlove Real Estate Inc. Denise Pickerel said the move-in dates for the rental company is on August 18 for graduate students and on August 22 for undergraduate students. The company doesn’t deal too much with people wanting to move in earlier than the expected date because it has it’s set date and it’s not negotiable, she said.
“They’re given check out and cleaning instructions before they move out, but that doesn’t mean that it’s followed or done,” Pickerel said. “We try to clean everything before people move in.”
Lisek said although it annoys her that she is required to clean her apartment before she moves out, she can understand how the place needs to be empty for a few weeks in order to get things ready for the next people moving in.
“I’ve been living here for a year so I should have to make sure it’s clean,” Lisek said. “With the new attendants they should inspect the entire apartment to make sure it is up to their standards.”
Rental Manager for Rutter and Dudley Rental Properties Kerry Koontz has a system where once people sign a lease, they can request an early move-in date prior to the set date in August. The people who request early move-in are on a first come first serve basis from there.
“We own 28 rental units and our business is relatively small comparatively which makes it easier to accommodate people,” Koontz said. “If you’re a larger place and have hundreds of rental places to take care, it might definitely have some impact. There are many factors and financial obligations that are involved when dealing with this issue.”
For senior Claire Copa, who is now renting from Frobose Rentals, was lucky enough to move in early with her situation.
“I had to move in a few days before my lease was up because my other rental place has us move out pretty early,” Copa said. “I thought I was going to have to move back home for a few days, which would have been pointless since I live in Cleveland.”
Because there are different move in dates for different rental companies, there are options other than moving home for a few days, which could help out with gas and time.
“I probably would have house-hopped to my friends house in Bowling Green, which would have been a lot more convenient than driving all the way to Cleveland,” Copa said. “I think every rental company should be on the same page for students who have to stress about the gap.”
