In anticipation of moving off campus next year, junior Kim Starbuck and her friends have been searching for an off-campus six-bedroom house since classes began, with virtually no luck. So far, their efforts have turned up houses too expensive for their price range, which has caused "huge, huge stress" in Starbuck's life.
"It's been really frustrating. All of [the houses] are ridiculously expensive," she said.
On the other hand, last spring junior Rachel Richards signed the lease for the house she currently rents, which turned out to be a smart move on her part - her low lottery number would have forced her off campus. She found her house through word-of-mouth; it's close to campus and she admits that she pays a decent price, though many other students may not be so fortunate.
"We pay the lowest amount that I have heard of in this area," Richards said, who pays under $500. "Had I not signed the lease early in spring semester [last year], I would have probably ended up living three or four miles away, paying $500 to $600 a month."
The prices for off-campus housing have been steadily increasing in recent years, due in large part to the rising student demand. According to a survey conducted by the Office of Off-Campus Housing, the average rent per month per bedroom is $594.
So far, Starbuck has found that most prices hover around $650 - an amount that is unacceptable and practically unfeasible for her and her potential housemates. "A lot of my housemates can't afford to pay $650 a month, as I can't, but we're left with no other option," she said.
Though Richards isn't content with the appearance of her less-expensive house, she has decided to stick it out, due to limited choices. "Our house can't make the neighbors happy because it looks [bad], but we don't have a choice about it - we have to live here due to the cost and availability of off-campus housing," she said.
Suzi Solomon, the coordinator of the Office of Off-Campus Housing, confirms the lack of available housing in the area. Her economic analysis is simple but still difficult to swallow. "There are fewer and fewer apartments available - one percent of apartments are vacant. There is very little supply and a lot of demand," she said. "When supply is down and demand goes up, prices will rise."
One landlord, who wished to remain anonymous, contended that his prices have to counteract other expenses. "When you pay $400,000 for a house and $5,000 taxes and $700 to $800 every three months for the water bill, you have to charge in order to cover your expenses," he said. "Whatever other [landlords] charge, I charge the same thing, too," adding that he charges about $400 per person, per bedroom.
The University's Director of Community Relations, Barbara Rubel, said that Tufts situation is not unique. In the current housing trend, rents are going up almost everywhere.
"I think generally it's believed that we're enjoying a very strong economy and that has driven up prices. People who have services to sell capitalize on that," she said. "It's just a very desirable area to live in - if you know your economy, that makes it a seller's market."
Rubel said that the elimination of rent control also drove up prices in the Boston area, which caused "a sort of ripple effect out of Cambridge" that increased rents.
Landlords may feel that they can increase rents because students have demonstrated that they will pay. This works to the disadvantage of students who are not willing or cannot afford to pay high prices. "More people can afford to pay higher prices, which forces people who can't pay to leave the area," Solomon said.
A junior who is currently paying $500 for her off-campus house recently discovered that staying in her house next year will cost her an extra $100 a month. Her landlord justified the rent increase by claiming that she must keep up with current prices. "[For rents] for college, it's too much," she said. "It's annoying - I wish I didn't have to pay, but if I move to a new place, it's going to be more expensive."
Senior Mark Vitale, who lives off campus, agrees that landlords are well aware of the fact that many students can afford to pay the prices, no matter how unreasonable they may be. "I really feel that the prices we pay are absurd. Especially since we go to a school where the tuition is so high, landlords know that they can get whatever price they're asking for from the students around here," he said.
According to Starbuck, the school also knows this, and takes advantage of the fact that its students can afford to pay the rents. "It's obvious that Tufts doesn't have enough housing for every senior, so at least some of us have to pay $650 a month, which is ridiculous," she said. "If all the landlords raise their rents, we're stuck with nothing else to do but pay it."
One student who lives off campus contends that landlords also gain the upper hand since students are in competition with each other for housing. "It's like a bidding war" to find off-campus housing, the student said. "It works in the landlord's favor [that students] compete with each other to pay higher rents. Every person is trying to get an edge up on somebody."
The student added that she did not find that the University was in any way helpful with her housing search. "I think Tufts is really poor in its efforts. Tufts has no way of really helping upperclassmen to get housing, even though they don't guarantee [on-campus housing]," she said, adding that even with the creation of the off-campus housing office, that "the places through Tufts are really expensive."
According to some students, adding more on-campus housing might alleviate the demand and costs for off-campus houses. "I feel that if there was more on-campus housing, the prices wouldn't be as high because there wouldn't be as much demand," Richards said.
One student also brought up the possibility of converting off-campus houses to on-campus housing facilities, since the University cannot expand into Medford or Somerville at this time. "[Tufts] could look into purchasing some off-campus housing and make those prices the same as on-campus housing," she said.
In the meantime, Starbuck will have to keep searching. "We've found a couple [of houses] that are $400 to $450 a month, but they're in such high demand that we're not sure we can get them," she said. "We might have to pay $600 [a month], which is not cool."
And although Richards can definitely find room for improvement with her temporary home, she also admits that her landlord has no incentive to clean it up. That is, if she and her roommates did move out, then "it would be no problem for him to get anyone else to live here," she said.
