The hunt is on!

With the school year almost at its close, many GW students are actively involved in the grueling apartment-hunting process, hoping to secure housing before leaving for the summer.

While some students said they are excited about the prospect of having an apartment, many said they are also concerned about getting one by the end of the year.

I’m really excited that we’ll be living in an apartment next year, freshman Laura Raskin said. But the idea that we have to find one so soon is a little scary.

Raskin and her roommate decided to move off campus after the housing lottery in early March. They said the idea of being put on a guaranteed waiting list for on-campus housing didn’t appeal, either.

The women have been looking for apartment information – online and around campus – for about three weeks.

The students said they began searching on foot about one week ago.

We spent the whole day just walking around and looking at the apartments from the list from the Internet, Raskin said. We saw at least 20 apartments in the Washington Circle and Dupont area.

The students said while they wait for responses from apartment owners, they are going to extend their search to other nearby areas. According to an article in The Washington Post, some realtors said the apartment rental market in the District has not been this tight in 30 years.

It was a little difficult because most of the apartments we saw had multiple owners, so we had to contact a lot of different people from one apartment building, Raskin said.

But students aren’t the only ones searching for apartments – some GW employees are hunting as well.

Carmen Phelps, a community facilitator in Lafayette Hall, said she has been searching for an apartment for this summer and next year since early March.

The whole process is kind of intimidating, Phelps said. It’s very difficult to find a good place without really searching unless you know someone who is moving out or selling their place.

Phelps and Raskin both agree that good location is a main thing they are looking for.

I really want an apartment that has a convenient location, Phelps said. I don’t really know the city too well, so I’d like to live an area that’s familiar to me.

Price is also a vital part of the search for both Phelps and Raskin.

I’m looking for an apartment that will essentially be at most $1,000 per month, said Raskin, who is splitting the rent with her roommate.