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The Daily Tar Heel

Select Few Opt for Full-Fledged Houses

Realtor Susan Goldstein says roughly two or three dozen students look for homes through her business.

Friedman, who lives on Hillsborough Street, chose to live in the house so he could live with friends.

"My friends chose to live in a house," he said. "So I followed suit."

Like Friedman, some UNC students forgo apartment living and settle into a house off campus for reasons varying from amount of space to type of surroundings.

These students are part of the 63 percent of students who live off campus and 27.2 percent to live in official UNC residence halls, with the remaining 9.8 percent including other housing options such as Greek and married student housing. "Houses are more spacious and more comfortable," Friedman said. "You don't have other people being annoying and living above you."

Also enjoying the extra space is Kristina Watson, a junior English major who lives in a two-story house on Greensboro Street in Carrboro. "Houses offer more space," Watson said. "I felt it was a better deal, a better option."

Watson said she opted to live in a house because she preferred the environment. "I feel houses have character," Watson said. "The neighborhood is geared toward families."

Local real estate companies say that although they deal with students who have interests in houses, students do not make up a large percentage of their business.

Susan Goldstein, owner and broker at The Home Team, estimates that two to three dozen student buy houses from The Home Team in a year.

"About 5 or 10 percent of our business comes from students," Goldstein said.

Goldstein said a reason for students to live in a home rather than an apartment is that they are easier to take care of. "We sell a lot of townhomes to graduate students," Goldstein said. "There is less maintenance (for the students) because the Home Owners Association takes care of exterior maintenance and exterior painting."

Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston Manager Robert Vermilya also said not many students buy houses. "We deal with students almost not at all," Vermilya said. "Maybe six or eight a year."

University Realty of Chapel Hill Manager Dale Mead noted that the neighborhood itself was one important factor for people deciding to live in houses. "Houses are safer," Mead said. "They usually have a quieter environment."

Mead also said the ability to have pets was another reason people choose to live in houses as opposed to apartments because the rules for keeping pets are often more specific in an apartment complex.

"One of the advantages is a house is somewhere they can have pets," she said.

Despite these advantages, Mead said students do not usually decide to purchase houses."We do not deal with students that often," Mead said. "Students generally don't buy."

Friedman said the main disadvantage to his house is its location. "My house is further away from campus," he said.

Although she has to commute to and from Carrboro, Watson enjoys the merits of her house.

"It's very aesthetically pleasing," she said.

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