Stress kicks in and panic arises as students begin their search for off-campus housing. Who to talk to, who to live with, and when to tour become the vital questions on students’ minds on top of a load of exams and projects. With 4,019 first-year residents in 2017 alone the competition amongst students for signing leases increases.

“I don’t feel prepared to sign a lease at all. I don’t even know where to start,” Miami freshman, Alexis Morris says.

As the months of December and January approach, so does the signing of leases for Miami University students. For many years a trend has appeared where individuals seal the deal for off-campus housing about a year and a half in advanced. The commitment, though offering a large number of living options, includes a series of unforeseen struggles tenants end up encountering.

One student who is dealing with the unpredicted consequences is Miami junior, Margaret Flessas. Like many, Flessas made the decision of choosing a house her freshman year. Within the past year and a half, the option to study abroad came to her attention. Now, just a semester away from leaving the country, Flessas struggles to find a subleaser.

“I had no idea I was going to be studying abroad and now I’m rushing to find someone to take my spot in the house for next semester,” says Flessas. “It’s extremely stressful.” Flessas’ dilemma is one of the most common ones amongst off-campus students. Many end up having to pay for their lease in Oxford in addition to the costs of studying abroad. Others end up having to decline their acceptance to learning in a semester out of the United States because of their commitment to an off-campus lease.

“I just remember it being so chaotic and wanting to have the best options for housing,” Flessas says. “Everyone else was signing a lease and all our older friends told us to do it too.”

An additional issue that arises is changing in friend groups. Morris, a current resident of Havighurst Hall, says she has some potential housemates in mind, however, is unsure what will happen within the next year in a half before living off campus.

“I get nervous because I don’t know if I’ll have the same friends in two years,” she says. “Like if I sign a lease with people that I’m friends with right now, we might all be in different sororities. It’s not that I need to live with someone from the same sorority, but if I find another group of friends it just could be a little weird living with people that I used to be friends with but am not really anymore.”

Flessas feels that same way. Though she and her housemates get along well and have continued to remain close, many of them were friends from high school. “ I already knew most of my housemates really well before I signed, I had known them for a couple of years and knew what kind of people they were.” Flessas says that she recommends that freshmen don’t make the commitment to sign a lease so early with students they’ve only known for a few months unless they are confident in the decision.

With constant issues arising, how did a trend like this start? The tradition of early leasing is rumored to have begun in several ways. Jen O’Brien, director of off-campus outreach, says it began before her position was created back in 2015. “It may have started around the second year residency requirement, where first and second year students need to live on campus. There was a perception maybe that there was a housing shortage.”

O’Brien says that an additional event that could have contributed would be the zoning requirements of Oxford, in which certain areas or zones are only allowed to house up to four people. “ Now that has been mediated after its initial passing. There are lots of people who live off campus and have eight or 10 people,” says O’Brien.

Despite the consistent urgency to find housing, the reality is Oxford has a surplus. “I want to make it clear that you absolutely do not need to sign a lease your freshman year," says O’Brien. “You will have options if you wait till sophomore year. We have a surplus of beds in Oxford.” She says that not only is there housing available for someone to sign today and move in tomorrow, but the city is building more. Apartments are being built uptown and rumored to be built past mile square by Sycamore.

O’Brien says, “Students create the problems themselves. They create the chaos.” Greek life and property managers are also is responsible for these early commitments. “There’s this instinct among seniors who are graduating to keep their legend alive to pass on the house to the younger people in their organization. That starts the problem,” says O’Brien. She further explains that property managers will email participants in organizations alerting them to sign for a certain house or apartment soon to keep it “in the family.”

O’Brien says, “In the end, I really wish that all the students would say, ‘Hey, we aren’t gonna do this. Enough is enough, nobody is going to sign a lease until September 1st of our sophomore year.’ And then would join forces and link arms.”