By Reid Griffin, Contributing Writer
2020 marked the first year a majority of young adults are living with their parents since the Great Depression, according to the Pew Research Center.
Previous data collections conducted by Pew suggest that this number has been on the rise, but last spring’s sharp increase is one of the many indicators that young adults are the hardest hit by the ongoing global pandemic.
Specifically, the percentage of young adults ages 18-29 living with a parent grew from 47% in February of 2020 to 52% in July of 2020. While this statistic does include students living on college campuses, those students are unlikely to jump from dormitories to apartments.
With this is mind, it is more important than ever for college graduates who are planning to move out to do their research far ahead of their anticipated move-out dates.
The problem is that, for many college students, their only experiences in moving and budgeting are from campus living.
There are some skills that can be learned in dormitories. For example, many students are familiar with packing and moving on a tight schedule.
However, the last-minute finals week packing panic will not work when moving to a more permanent living situation—there are too many unfamiliar tasks associated with a true moving experience to procrastinate. If planning a move, be sure to sell, donate, or throw away unwanted items in advance, and plan both when and how to pack the remaining items.
Then, the true work begins. Research the housing market, tour homes, build credit, and learn to budget.
Bernard Ramos graduated Saint Leo University with the class of 2020. His program of study was English and he was the Vice President of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society. When Ramps graduated, he moved to the Tampa area where he found employment as a special education middle school English teacher.
After COVID-19 hit, Ramos had to find a higher-paying job to keep up. Now he works as a behavior specialist at a private school in Tarpon Springs.
“Rent is really high in Tampa,” Ramos warned.
To get an estimate of how high rent might be, use websites such as Zillow in the desired area to get a feel for the rental costs. If the prices are too high, try neighboring locations. This is a good benchmark but, bear in mind, there are many more expenses associated with moving out.
The most easily forgotten cost is transportation. Long-distance transportation can be expensive and researching the cheapest options can make a significant price difference.
Ramos saved throughout college in order to move out. Ideally, graduates looking for their own place should start saving in their freshman year or even sooner. There is no time like the present to start—every little bit counts.
“I wish I’d known how difficult and time consuming it can be to go through the application [process],” said Ramos. “A lot of apartments want 60 days of proof of employment at your job.”
This means that, in some cases, a prospective tenant needs to work for two months before applying for housing.
“Once I found an apartment to live at, I wrote down the cost for Wi-Fi, water, electric, food, gas, and even pet stuff,” Ramos continued. This is the simplest way to start a budget. Calculate living expenses for a month, starting with what services, utilities, and subscriptions will need to be paid for and what groceries will cost in the area.
The total cannot exceed or match the amount of money saved, because an emergency fund will also be necessary. Something will go wrong, guaranteed, and an emergency fund is a buffer against homelessness. Multiply monthly living three to six times to calculate a total for an emergency fund—money saved for half a year is ideal, but may not be possible for most graduates.
Realtors have mixed opinions on where the housing market is going in Florida. The economic recession triggered a boom in Florida’s housing market, says The Tampa Bay Times, and the amount of buyers in line for homes yet to be constructed may be a sign that the 2006 recession is due for a repeat.
Saint Leo students familiar with the Zephyrhills area can see proof of this in the new neighborhoods being constructed. “For Sale” signs vanish before houses and duplexes have windows installed and driveways completed. With over half of young adults at home and potentially looking to change their living situations, that demand could skyrocket even higher.
There are tax advantages to living in Florida that attracts out-of-state homebuyers, but those cuts are more meaningful to the upper-class, according to Forbes. The market is lucrative for realtors and billionaires, but detrimental for college students.
In the end, it may be better for college grads in stable homes to live there a little longer until the economy is more favorable.
