The downward economy has taken its toll on the housing market. Many people are choosing or finding it necessary to live as renters rather than homeowners. Other renters are students, anxiously awaiting their first foray into residential independence. But these same people may be unaware of how to safeguard their belongings in a rental situation. Often renters mistakenly forego financial protection and are then left high and dry in the event of a burglary, flood or fire.

For some Athens area renters, especially Ohio University students, after the dust has cleared from moving in, they may find themselves short of some items they need to survive a year in Athens.

If you are planning to rent an apartment, you may be asked to sign a contract. Most of these contracts are standard agreements between you and the landlord. But in the world we live in today, you have to be really careful when you sign your name to something. You need to know exactly what you are signing. Here are a few things to be aware of before signing apartment rental contracts.

As a building manager, you might own a rental apartment, but once an occupant begins living there, you can’t enter the building any time you would like to. The fact of the matter is, occupant privacy rights are very speciically watched over, even though the legalities are diferent from state to state. This holds true even if you don’t have a written residential lease agreement.

It`s housing search season again! Come September, older Ohio University students are going to notice their younger counterparts doing a dance they know very well, as many juniors and sophomores scramble across the city searching for shelter.

Suppose you came home from work to find your apartment had been broken into and your TV stolen. Or suppose there was a fire in your kitchen. You can't assume your landlord will pay for the damage.

With renters insurance, you'll be able to replace what's damaged or stolen.

Most adolescents anxiously await their first year of college. In addition to the new people they're about to meet and the new friends they'll no doubt make, kids look forward to the first time they'll be away from home and free to do as they please without the supervision of Mom and Dad.

While freshman year of college is a time for many firsts, it's also the first time many kids are trusted to handle their own money. With that trust comes great responsibility, and oftentimes a few financial mishaps as well. Students about to enter their first year of college should consider the following financial tips in the hopes that some of the common pitfalls college freshmen face can be avoided.

As a student living with three girls "“ my twin sister and two friends "“ I know a thing or two about roommate conflicts. It's never of the hair-pulling or glass-smashing variety; rather, it mainly involves awkward passive-aggressive silence that looms over even those uninvolved in the dispute.

According to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 47.9 percent of college students said they had "œfrequent" or "œoccasional" difficulty getting along with their roommates/housemates. I'm willing to bet the other 52.1 percent stay at their significant other's place most of the time.

An ode to canine anarchy circa '70s Athens

 

You think Athens is a dog-friendly place now? Ask anyone who lived here 30 to 40 years ago, and they'll tell you that the city is now a veritable concentration camp for dogs compared to the old days.

It's autumn in Athens, and as Ohio University upperclassmen know, the race to sign a lease for the 2010-2011 school year began at the same time that classes did.

Because good housing tends to get snatched up quickly in Athens, students often find themselves signing away a year of their lives without fully considering the pros and cons of their living arrangements.