Once you’ve settled into your new dorm room and prepare to explore campus as an official UT student, consider opening Google and researching “apartments near me.”
With housing on campus and in the surrounding Knoxville area becoming increasingly unavailable in part due to the influx of students brought to campus for the 2022-23 academic year, it’s crucial that you stay ahead of the housing game as much as possible.
While you’ll be able to apply for housing on-campus for your sophomore year and onward, housing won’t be guaranteed like it is for freshmen. There’s a lot of student and non-student housing in close proximity to UT’s campus, but spots will likely fill up sooner than you think.
To make sure Rocky Top remains home sweet home to you throughout the duration of your studies, consider following these tips to stay on top of the Knoxville housing game.
Start your search early
How early is too early? Honestly, there’s no such thing. While you might not be able to submit an application for housing until a little after the fall semester begins, you can still get an idea of what apartments there are around campus and how much rent runs.
You can also tour most apartment complexes before the leasing process officially begins to get a good idea of what your future home might look like. If you wait, however, you might find your options have become more limited because others beat you to signing a lease. In that case, you can join a waitlist in hopes of another unit opening up, but this isn’t a guarantee.
Determine your ideal location
Maybe you would love to be in the heart of campus, which certainly comes with perks such as being able to walk to class. Some options include Aspen Heights, The Commons and The Knox. Although, it’s worth considering that the closer an apartment complex is to campus, the higher rent tends to run. Additionally, noise levels tend to be a lot higher in places like the Fort and the Strip with high volumes of people.
If you’d prefer a more relaxed, secluded apartment complex, there’s plenty of student housing options across the river. These options would likely result in a 10-minute car ride to campus, but many complexes including Quarry Trail, The Woodlands and The Heights offer shuttles that drive residents to and from campus.
Other options across the river including The Orchard and Redpoint allow students to rent entire homes rather than individual apartments but still provide community-style living and amenities.
You can also consider non-student housing in the surrounding Knoxville area. This option means no shuttle and less of a student-life environment, but if that’s what you’re looking for, there’s no shortage of options.
Find your roommates
Unless you’re planning on renting a one-bedroom apartment, you’ll need to start your search for roommates relatively early as well. If you’re not sure who you’d like to live with, many apartment complexes offer roommate matching services in which you fill out a short questionnaire that is used to match you with random roommates based on compatibility.
If you’re starting your search early, you may not know if your current roommate situation is ideal and if you’d like to live with those roommates again. Don’t feel guilty for reaching out to new people to rent with. You should prioritize living in as healthy and happy of a housing environment as possible.
Be prepared for rent increases
Student and non-student housing alike, they know they can raise rent each year due to the competitive Knoxville housing market. And they will.
When selecting an apartment, make sure you set your budget, and if something looks like it’s on the higher end, make sure you consider the possibility of future rent increases before signing your lease.
Being that most leases are 12 months, you can always move if rent increases end up being too high. However, you’d then have to worry about apartment hunting again and moving all of your belongings. This is best to avoid if possible.
Take Google reviews with a grain of salt
Most people leave reviews because they either had a really positive experience or a really negative experience, so don’t put your faith entirely in online reviews of apartment complexes.
It’s obviously a good idea to look at reviews and note things of importance such as the quality of the apartments and how management treats residents. However, just because one person had a horrible experience doesn’t mean you will. Likewise, just because someone had a perfect experience doesn’t mean you will.
While reviews are definitely beneficial to consider in your selection of an apartment, you should always direct any questions or concerns you have to leasing office employees or current residents you come across.
A great blend of an urban city environment with beautiful green spaces and outdoor activities to explore, Knoxville truly is an amazing city to live in. Unfortunately, it seems like much of the United States population has recently discovered this and decided to move here.
Knoxville is certainly more crowded and expensive than it used to be, but we can’t really complain about Volunteer Nation expanding and being so well-regarded.
We’re happy to have you here on Rocky Top and would love for you to stay. So don’t be slacking when it comes to securing an apartment for the next school year.
