Best Pepperdine Housing Options
Where you live in college may be the most important decision during your college career. For the first time in life, you will get to decide who you surround yourself with and who influences the person you become in aspects such as personality, community, and productivity. Cost is obviously an important consideration as well--room and board makes up at least 30% of overall college expenses for college juniors and seniors. In this article, I bring you the secrets of where to live around Malibu as someone with 25 years of combined experience as both a university dean at Pepperdine and across the nation as well as a parent to college alum. Read below to get some pro tips and explore our website to see why Pepperdine students’ rate Calamigos as the best off-campus housing option!
Most of you will pay rent, and the most important factor to know is that the cheapest options come with the most risk. The cheapest housing option is to find a landlord who will rent a large house out to one of your parents. This way you can cram a bunch of students in and lower the price per person. But, whomever signs the lease will need to have $15,000 to $20,000 saved in the bank to put down as first and last month’s rent and a deposit. While you may be able to collect this from your roommates ahead of time, one student’s parent will be ultimately responsible for all rents and utilities in their name. The bigger the house, the more risk you take on because college students are not the best for paying promptly. Know that you will have your credit checked about 3-5 times by the landlord and agencies as you set up all the utilities which will have a drain on your credit score. Make sure to also factor that on average, 5 - 10% of students each year will have an emergency arise at home or with campus that requires them to take a semester or more off. Renting an apartment with only 2 or 3 other roommates lessens the risk of this, but someone will still have to put their name on the lease as it is rare to find a landlord who will give individual leases. This is because there is more cost with filing court and credit bureaus per person rather than going after one individual if there are payment problems.
Here are 7 important factors you should consider when shopping for a lease in the Malibu/LA area:
Term of the lease: Over 95% of landlords in the area require a 12-month lease. If you or roommates are planning on going home, IP, or internships over the summer – then you end up paying for 12 months and only living there for 9 months and this costs you thousands of dollars. Try to find a 6-month lease, but generally only the bad apartment complexes that are desperate to fill offer these - so be careful. If you are planning on leaving for the summer – you should seriously consider living on campus.
Penalty for breaking lease: In CA, the law states that the renter is responsible to pay the rent to the full term of the lease unless the landlord can re-lease the space earlier. Plus, the renter will have to pay for the landlord’s advertising costs and any discounts they offer the new renter. Typically, this costs the equivalent of 2-3 month’s cost of the lease. The question to ask is “what is the typical turnover time to fill apartments if for some emergency I have to break the lease before full term?” If they have a good track record of having waiting lists and filling them quickly – this means it is likely that you may only have to pay for an extra 20-45 days of rent month if you need to break your lease early.
What is included? Ask what is included in the lease. Typically, in a house, you will have to pay for all utilities including trash, gas, electric, water, sewage, and Wi-Fi – which for a typical LA house is about $150 for the first person and about $50 for each additional person in the house. Most apartment complexes will provide some of these, but depending on what direction you head – some apartment complexes in high-density areas like Santa Monica may charge for parking especially if you have multiple roommates.
Laundry – having laundry in the unit will save 4 roommates about $50 a month overpaying for a complex laundry room or taking it out to a laundromat.
Furniture – even if you take into account shopping at thrift stores, IKEA, and craigslist, a student will still spend $300-$500 on furniture per person to furnish an apartment. It is also important to take into account the prospect of transporting large furniture after it is purchased. I know you are used to sleeping on residence hall mattresses, but your sleep in college is critical! Therefore, it is worth spending a few extra dollars on a higher quality mattress.
Safety – Do your homework to look up crime rates in the area you are looking to rent – there are several great websites out there that can help you look up this information for free.
Livability – consider what you are looking for in your neighborhood. Walking trails, proximity to businesses and shopping, distance to Pepperdine during traffic, and features like pools or gyms in your housing area. Make a list of what is important to you.
What about living on campus? First- and second-year students are required to live on campus at Pepperdine. About 35% of juniors, 25% of seniors, and 5% of graduate students continue to live on campus. Reasons they stay include the fact that they don’t have to drive and find parking, the library, and other study resources are close by, there is a health center on campus, and there are always fun programs and events to keep busy. Yes, there are more rules on campus, but there is a lot more structure and support staff to help you along the way. Plus, it is a beautiful campus, and hard to beat the view. If any of the following situations apply to you, living on campus may be your best option:
Those without a car (most save about $3K a year without one)
Those with a campus job or internship
Those on scholarship that requires you to live on campus
Those receiving a high percentage of financial aid – some off-campus options won’t wait for your housing aid to come in which is often about the 3rd to 4th week of school
Those planning on being away for summer or away for a semester on an internship or travel / IP program
For those who are looking for the best way to save money – get a job! The best college jobs are the ones that include room and board tax-free, and about 10% of the 2500 Pepperdine students shopping for housing find one of these gems. They take hard work and require a considerable amount of dedication, but the average payout is about $40 an hour tax-free. These jobs include campus Resident Advisors, nannies, on-site security, and estate caretakers. Start preparing for these while you are a freshman. If you want to be an RA, get involved in your house programs, shadow your RA while they are on duty and get to know your campus Resident Directors by first name. If you want to be a nanny or caretaker, find weekend gigs where you can learn from someone doing these jobs and learn how to get your foot in the door.
While you navigate your housing options, I encourage you to look at Calamigos Living. We have been voted the best off-campus housing by Pepperdine students and I would encourage you to read the student quotes about why juniors, seniors, and graduates love it here. Calamigos is an upscale resort in the Malibu mountains only 15 minutes away from campus. We have over 300 acres of beautiful park-like lands that are surrounded by National Recreation parks. As a community of 75 Pepperdine students, many say the fellowship resembles that of Pepperdine International Programs. Our RDs and owners invest into our students and go the extra mile to make them feel at home. Of the variety of housing options we offer, we include 12 months in a private room for a lower cost than two semesters at Pepperdine. Our leases are designed for what I would want my own children to have-- this includes individual leases and 9-month periods. Students can use meal plans in our upscale resort restaurants, enjoy resort pools and other amenities, and be surrounded by the best of Malibu outdoor recreation all with the security of student-oriented leases at a lower price than on-campus.
Explore our website and come take a tour with us to find out more!