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Apartment-hunting Tips for Michiana Students

There is a dizzying assortment of rental units available, from beachfront cottages to downtown walk-up flats to the more typical suburban apartment complexes. But seasonal changes in availability and, more importantly, in cost, are common,

Get an early start.

There is a dizzying assortment of rental units available, from beachfront cottages to downtown walk-up flats to the more typical suburban apartment complexes. But seasonal changes in availability and, more importantly, in cost, are common. A waterfront two-room unit may rent for $500 a month in winter, but you'll rarely be able to obtain a full-year's lease on beachside apartment. Even the most rudimentary dwelling near the water hits $1,500 a week - or more - after Memorial Day. Even if you can afford the cost, you may not find what you want if you wait, especially in St. Joseph, New Buffalo, Bridgman, Chikaming or Michigan City.

Check out the neighborhood.

Even in our small little towns and villages, it's a fact of life that some neighborhoods are safer than others for students and young people moving in. Before you lease anywhere, always call the local police for an update on crime stats, and proceed accordingly. Berrien County Sheriff's Department has a busy schedule of Rape-Aggression Defense (RAD) classes designed for girls and women; check it out. Also, do a few drive-bys during the day and the night to get a feel for what's up after the sun goes down. Don't rely on the word of the rental agent, who may or may not live nearby. If you can, ask a few neighbors or other tenants what the neighborhood is like.

Try getting there from there.

If you don't have a car, or you car isn't dependable, you need to know there are dramatic differences in bus and cab access. The Indiana side of the Michiana border offers the really excellent and inexpensive Transpo bus system that will get you to and from just about anywhere you need to go. In Michigan, there's just the "shoe-leather express" for folks without cars, or whose cars are out of commission.

Translation: Virtually no mass transit, and what is available through Berrien Bus is incredibly inconvenient (you need to call several days ahead) and prohibitively expensive. It'll cost you 80 bucks to take a "cab" from northern Buchanan Township into St. Joseph city, and back again. That's about 34 miles round trip. Niles, however, offers Dial-A-Ride, as does Benton Harbor. and St. Joseph. But the buses won't cross the city lines, so you'll be walking if your job or appointment is outside the city limits. And you'll likely be walking on the side of a busy road, since bike paths and sidewalks are few and far between in southwestern Michigan.

At Your Service ... Maybe

Apartments and rental units in the bigger cities, such as South Bend and Mishawaka, virtually all offer full city services, as well as access to cable TV and dependable signals for cellular service. Some spots even have wireless Internet. If that's your thing, you'll want to limit your apartment searches to the bigger communities, because most of the small towns and villages can't offer that. Some of the older neighborhoods along Lake Michigan aren't hooked up to municipal water or sewer, so you'll likely be dealing with a septic system and well water. Ditto regarding cell service and cable access. Only the most populated areas have cable, and cell service everywhere is spotty. In many locations, residents have to contract for their own trash pick-up service. On the bright side, the services that are available, and those you have to contract for, are typically very affordable compared to big-city costs.

Cost It Out

Don't fail to know what you're getting into when you rent an apartment or duplex, and cost everything out in advance to make sure you've covered all the hidden costs. And make sure you obtain insurance! Several major apartment fires in the past two years revealed that hundreds of apartment dwellers were completely uninsured. They lost everything in the fires and had no recourse without insurance. Apartment owners typically only insure the premises for the owner's losses, not the renters' losses.

For more information about renting apartments in Michiana, contact Priority One Properties LLC, a Niles-based apartment-finding and rental service, at 269-687-7189.
Or contact the area chambers of commerce for information on their apartment-owner members:

- Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce (Niles area) at 269-683-3720;
- Buchanan Area Chamber of Commerce at 269-695-3291;
- Cornerstone Chamber (St. Joseph-Benton Harbor-Lakeshore area) at 269-925-6100
- Harbor Country Chamber (all eight waterfront communities south of Bridgman) at 269-469-2257
- Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County (South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana area) at 574-234-0051.