There’s a lot of uncertainty in the lives of college students. Students don’t know if they will want to live with the same people — friendships can burn out in a year’s time. They don’t know if they will have the same income a year from now, especially with the current state of the economy.

Having the off-campus housing search start in late September and early October presses students to make decisions they might regret later.

To make the experience less stressful for students, East Lansing officials should follow Ann Arbor’s example and legislate a later date for property owners to begin leasing their property.

A later date obviously gives students more time to make what is a very important decision. With an ordinance in place, freshmen who want to live off-campus during their sophomore year won’t be forced to step on campus, meet two or three other people they are willing to live with, and arrange housing within a month or two.

With leases ready to be signed Oct. 9, students also have little time to comparison-shop and find a location and a price that works for them. Later dates would compel property management companies to offer students better deals because students would be more likely to find better deals with more time to shop around.

Yes, the housing arrangements are market driven, or driven by students. There are students who have roommates in mind and expenses set in stone who want to sign a lease as soon as possible. But the East Lansing market has been driving most students in a vicious cycle of early lease after early lease.

Property management companies have little reason to disapprove of a later date. They can’t say moving back the dates they are allowed to begin leasing property will affect them negatively.
Because of the large amount of students looking for off-campus housing, they have a built-in customer base no matter what. It’s not as if moving back the dates means fewer students will be looking to live off campus.

Also, giving their customers more time to make an informed decision seems like something property management companies should be interested in.

Informed students are better tenants because they have had time to ensure the decision they are making is the right one. The whole point of living off campus is for students to experience college life with roommates they know and enjoy.

Legislating a later date for students to sign leases offers students more certainty that they will enjoy their college experience.