What to Look for in an Apartment as a Student Renter

As a student renter, you have a unique set of rental needs compared to other renters. Knowing what to look for in an apartment as a student renter ensures you find a good place to call home. Your home should fit all your needs and wants so you can focus on your life and college.

Don’t worry if you don’t know where to start; we’re here to help you out! Apartments.com surveyed 1,100 student renters in January 2025 to find out what student renters are looking for. These were the top features wanted in a student apartment:

• Affordability
• Location
• High-quality online advertising
• Flexible leases and lease terms
• Safety
• Stable and fast Wi-Fi
• Quick maintenance
• Amenities

Affordability

Most students have a limited housing budget, meaning price can be a deal-breaker when it comes to an apartment. This crunch is felt by students across the country as 86 percent of respondents agreed that price is one of the top considerations. However, you can find a place that fits your financial situation by creating a budget and sticking to it.

The first step to finding an apartment within your budget is knowing how much you want to spend on rent. The most common guideline is that you should spend about 30 percent of your income on rent. Make sure you add utilities, fees, and other costs into your budget. To save time and make calculations quickly, use the Rent Calculator on Apartments.com.

Once you have your budget, it’s time to find an apartment that falls within that price range. Apartments.com makes this easy with a price filter where you can set the minimum and maximum rent. Only apartments within your budget range will be shown so you don’t have to sift through thousands of listings.

Location

After a long day of classes and studying, the last thing you want to do is have a long commute home. 52 percent of student renters felt the same way as they said they’d only consider places that are close to school. To narrow down your search to apartments close to your university, use the commute tool on Apartments.com.

Simply enter your destination (your school) and then select your transportation method whether that be driving, walking, or taking public transportation. After that, choose your desired commute length and the map boundary will be automatically drawn for you to show communities within your commute distance. Now, you can search without having to figure out how far the commute is to your school every time.

Proximity to important locations

Just as being close to school is a must-have, having other important locations (like the grocery store or work) nearby means you don’t have to waste time in the car. The student renters in the survey agree, as 58 percent said they wouldn’t choose a place without a grocery store nearby and 55 percent said that being close to work is a requirement.

When you’re on the property description page, scroll down to “Location.”  Choose from the tabs to see nearby schools, groceries, shops, and more. This way you can pick a place that is close to everything you need.

Nearby public transportation

To save money and time, students rely on public transportation. If this is a must-have for you, make sure you see how close the rental is to public transit. 35 percent of student renters said that living near public transit is a requirement.

You can check how close an apartment is to public transport on the listing page on Apartments.com. Scroll down to “Transportation” and see how close the nearest public transit station is. You can also turn on the transit map layer to look for apartments near the stations or use the commute tool.

High-Quality Online Advertising

Whether you’re coming from out of town or out of state, you don’t always have the chance to tour an apartment. However, you still have to find an apartment even if you are going to rent unseen. Don’t worry; you’re not the only one, as 42 percent of students described themselves as likely to rent a place without visiting in person.

Look for apartment communities that are focusing on digital advertising for those far away. The rental should offer high-quality photos/videos, guided virtual tours, and 3D tours. Make sure you are only looking at communities with remote-friendly advertising by using the sort function on Apartments.com.

When you click the sort menu you can select “Video” or “3D Tour” to put the communities offering these features at the top. Videos and 3D tours offer a way to explore the community and rental remotely and still get a comprehensive view of it all.

Flexible leases and lease terms

School doesn’t last year-round so you need to find something to do with your apartment during the break. You could always sublease, but that is an entire process and not all landlords allow it. An attractive alternative is to find an apartment that offers flexible lease terms, like ones that align with the academic schedule.

In addition to flexible lease terms, looking for student housing that leases per person per bedroom is a great way to keep housing affordable while still protecting yourself. You are signing your own lease for your individual bedroom, meaning you are not affected by anything your roommates do.

Finding student housing is easy on Apartments.com due to the dedicated filter. Simply click on the filter button to pull-up the menu. Under “Specialty Housing,” choose the dropdown menu under “Housing Type” to pick “Student.” Simply picking that option will narrow down your search to just student housing.

You can refine your hunt even further with the new options that appear once you pick “Student” under “Housing Type.” A new menu will appear underneath where you can select your university to only look at apartments nearby. To find rentals that offer an individual lease, select “Pricing Per-Person.” There are also a variety of student specific amenities you can choose from, such as individual locking bedrooms, private bathroom, shuttle to campus, or walk to campus.

Safety

Since this might be your first time moving away from home, you want to make sure your new residence is safe, somewhere you can feel comfortable and secure in. Many other students share this same desire as 54 percent of student renters said that safety and security were one of their top considerations when looking for an apartment.

Here are some security features to look for and ask about:

• Rekeying before you move in
• Smart locks on doors
• Security cameras around the property
• Alarm systems for each apartment
• Gated/controlled access to the community
• Onsite security

Stable and Fast Wi-Fi

It is a digital world, especially for students. You need the internet whether it’s for coursework or entertainment. 80 percent of students said they only watched TV through streaming video platforms. During your tour, whether virtual or in-person, ask about the internet situation in the community and what providers are available.

Quick Maintenance

The last thing you want to deal with is a flooded apartment or broken appliance. Finding a community with quick and responsive maintenance gives you peace of mind that no matter what happens, you are taken care of. Asking about maintenance response times during tours or reading reviews on Apartments.com is a great way to get an idea of how fast maintenance is.

Amenities

As a student, you don’t know how long you’ll be in your apartment. It might be just the school year and then you’ll rent another place when you come back. Moving furniture and appliances every eight to nine months is a huge hassle, which is why you should look for apartments that include these amenities.

Partially or fully furnished apartments means you don’t have to source and move your own furniture. This can get expensive quickly as well as being difficult. Only worry about moving your own belongings by finding a furnished apartment.

Appliances, like laundry machines, are just as unwieldy as furniture when it comes to moving. However, they are important to student renters, so look for apartments that include them. 78 percent of students considered in-unit laundry essential, and a dishwasher was sought out by 54 percent of students. These features make living easier, so check out apartments that include these amenities.

Find Your Next Student Apartment on Apartments.com

Take the stress out of finding student housing by using Apartments.com. Enter your university into the search bar and hit enter to see all the options around campus. If you’re trying to find dedicated student housing, then go to “Specialty Housing” filter and pick “Student.” From there, you can utilize filters specific to students such as pricing type and student amenities.

To learn a bit more about the area around your university read the campus guides. They’ll tell you a bit about the university, nearby neighborhoods, transportation options, average rent prices, and other important information. Apartments.com makes the student housing journey a fun adventure!