Finding off-campus housing in San Luis Obispo is a time-consuming affair and finding cheap housing is even more tiresome and a task that seems to be increasingly impossible. Yet over the years, students have figured out some tricks to finding cheap places to live. These tricks can help to save money in the long run, but may require some sacrificing of personal space or comforts along the way.
Being a Resident Advisor
Remember dorm life and living under the rules of resident advisors? Contrary to popular belief, RAs are not there to ruin the lives of freshmen but rather to benefit from a free single dorm room, a meal plan, and to gain leadership experience that looks good on a résumé.
“I think an advisor job is an excellent opportunity to learn professional skills, leadership skills and it’s a fun job,” said Suzanne Fritz, associate director of residential life and education. “The monetary benefits are a lot for students and I certainly encourage students to apply, but they should really want to learn those skills.”
Students interested in becoming a RA should be aware that the position requires approximately 20 hours of on-duty work each week as well as maintaining a full-time class schedule. The application process begins in November and candidates are chosen early in winter quarter.
Renting a Single Room
An option that students may look into is responding to room advertisements on the Cal Poly housing Web site or Craigslist. There are rooms available in houses with other students as well as homes of local families and other non-students who have a spare room.
The majority of ads all call for the same characteristics in a potential roommate: responsible, clean and respectful. The median price for a private room is between $500 and $600, and if the room is shared, the prices are lower. This living situation is especially appealing for students who are only a quarter or two away from graduation and don’t want to commit to a 12-month lease.
Civil engineering senior Jack Montgomery found his room by responding to a Craigslist ad. Since he is going to be done with school after March, the ad’s month-to-month lease made it an appealing option.
“Since I was only going to be here for a short time, I wanted a living situation that was more of just a room rather than a place where I felt responsible to hang out with roommates,”he said. “I knew that a month-to-month lease could save me money since I would only have to pay for the time that I’d actually be living there.”
Living in a RV
For students who have access to a recreational vehicle or are interested in investing in one, there are a number of mobile home parks in San Luis Obispo who rent out spaces for a relatively low price. Instead of paying thousands of dollars to rent a house, a space of land only costs a couple hundred dollars a month.
Laguna Lake Mobile Estates, located on Prefumo Canyon Road, has 10 spaces that they rent out to R.V. Owners. According to the park’s manager, Cal Poly students have rented out these spaces in the past to live at while going to school. Rent and utilities at the park is $500 and includes access to a pool, billiard room and laundry facilities.
Subsidized Ag. Housing
Located sporadically on the agricultural units on campus are various subsidized housing opportunities for students who agree to take care of Cal Poly’s land or livestock. Students pay minimal monthly rent to live in these houses in exchange for the service they provide to the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES).
CAFES has 52 beds available for students that are split between the dairy, beef, swine, poultry and equine units, and also for tending to the different fields on campus. Students living on these properties are relied heavily upon by faulty and staff to take proper care of the facilities and the animals that also live there. Students are “on-call” 30 hours a month, including nights and weekends, to take care of everyday chores and respond to emergencies, animal science department head Andy Thulin said.
“What the students pay to live in these houses is less than what you would pay to live in the dorms or apartments,” he said.
Couch Surfing
The most unconventional of housing options is to couch surf. These individuals, some of which belong to a networking Web site called couchsurfing.com, enlist the hospitality of others and in turn, offer up their couch for strangers to sleep on while in San Luis Obispo. For responsible students who are comfortable living with minimal personal space, renting a couch is something worth looking into.
Cal Poly industrial engineering alumnus Eric Veium traveled throughout Europe by sleeping on people’s couches.
To give back to the site that offered him such great opportunities, Veium has offered his home to travelers passing through San Luis Obispo. Although he did not rent out couches while attending Cal Poly, he still said it was an easy way to get by.
“Couch-surfing pretty much changed my life,” he said.