10 Ways You're Similar to Your Student Renters' Parents

By Victoria Robertson on September 18, 2017

Student renters are, first and foremost, students, which means they are young, inexperienced and likely to be bundles of questions coming your way. While they may have been coached on apartment living by their parents or friends, they are likely coming into this experience blind, looking to you for your guidance.

There are many ways in which you are similar to your student renters’ parents, and, for your entertainment, here are 10 of said ways that you are similar.

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1. They rely on you for guidance

You may not be their sole source of guidance when it comes to their future/finances/living situation, but you are going to play a big role given the absence of their parents in the immediate vicinity. The responsibility may fall to you by default, but that’s not to say you aren’t important to them when it comes to guidance.

2. You are more experienced/knowledgeable

Like their parents, you have far more experience and knowledge than they do, simply based on your experiences. Be sure to share those experiences and to help these students learn when it comes to a living situation. They’ll appreciate your insight.

3. You can relate to them

While there are bound to be many differences between you and your student renters, you are ultimately going to relate to one another on a few levels as well. They aren’t the only ones experiencing something new, and you can certainly relate to that, at the very least. Talk with them while they’re there — I’m sure there are more similarities where that came from.

4. They rely on you in general

You are going to play a big part in their college experience, and they are going to rely on you for multiple things during the year. You should certainly implement an open door policy and embrace the fact that they will be relying on you for a multitude of reasons.

5. You provide them a home

You are the person supplying them with a place to stay, a place where they can feel safe and they can make a home for the next several months. While you’re charging them for this luxury, you should do everything possible to ensure that the homey feeling is present for all of them.

6. They come to you with problems

While this isn’t necessarily a good thing, they will come to you with their problems and rely on you to fix them. You are the contact that they lean on when something goes wrong, and you need to be prepared for any potential problems that may arise, as there are bound to be a few in the course of an academic year.

7. They appreciate your compassion

Student renters deserve a little leeway when it comes to renting for the first time, as they truly are entering into a very new experience. The more compassion you’re able to show them, the closer to you they will feel, and the more likely they are to turn into repeat customers.

8. They need your discipline

They aren’t going to know everything about renting right off the bat. In fact, they’ll likely have very little knowledge to that end. However, they can learn some things about discipline and responsibility from you along the way, and hopefully, by the time they leave, they’ll have gained some experience from that connection.

9. They will learn a lot from you

It sounds cliché, but they are going to learn quite a bit from you. While they still won’t likely know everything there is to know about renting, they’re going to have some solid information to move forward with in their college experience. They’re going to draw on this experience in the years to come, and the fact that you offered this knowledge is beneficial for them.

10. You will learn a lot from them

For the second cliché, you are also going to learn quite a bit from them. Don’t take this experience as a one-sided situation, because it isn’t. Just as they are going to learn responsibility and renting ins and outs from you, you’ll learn how to be a better resource for students from them. There’s a lot to gain there, so be open to the mutual relationship.

Essentially, every student is coming into this situation without much experience to go on, and there’s going to be a lot that’s left up to you in terms of keeping them on track and keeping your apartment complex running smoothly.

The best advice I can offer is to be patient, understand the situation for what it is and enjoy the time that you have with this group before the next group comes along in the following academic year. You’ll learn just as much from them as they learn from you, so be open, be polite and have the patience to see that this is a mutually beneficial relationship that’ll do wonders for the both of you.

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