Paying several hundred dollars a month for a place to live isn’t an easy thing to do — especially for a college student.

Many things need to happen before a student decides to lease an apartment or a home, and several area apartment managers as well as home lessors said students ranked affordability and cleanliness as apartment and home priorities.

However, students should consider several other factors.

“Students are looking for a high-quality product at a good price,” said Ben Craft, The Reserve at Saluki Pointe community manager.

Amenities, location and overall value are also important, he said.

Keith Jackson, The Pointe manager, said students look for a place they can call their own. Students also tend to desire their own bathroom, sufficient Internet and all their bills included in one rent check, he said.

Cheryl Bryant, owner and manager of Bryant Rentals, said cleanliness is an issue which can either make or break a deal. One deal in particular happened quickly because of one residence’s cleanliness, she said.

“I had a young man who I was showing an apartment to, he walked into the living room and he said, ‘I’ll take it,’” she said.

Bryant said she had not yet shown the man the rest of the apartment, but he decided to rent Bryant’s available apartment after he compared its cleanliness to others he saw. Bryant said she has had many occupants continue their lease with her because her buildings are maintained well.

However, Jackson said other issues may be more immediate than cleanliness. He said students should survey the potential living area’s neighborhood and determine how safe it might be.

“Students really need to take a hard look at police reports,” he said. “They can call the police station themselves and ask what kind of incidents have been reported throughout an apartment complex.”

Students should also consider their potential home’s proximity to school and how much extra it might cost to have a car, he said.

Bryant said students should look out for parking and maintenance, as well as where the place is located and good landlord service. Being a family-owned business, Bryant said she gets to know her tenants very well.

“There’s more to this than just renting and getting the money,” she said.

Bryant said she still maintains a good relationship with many of her past tenants, and she will sometimes receive calls from them as they are passing through town.

Despite all the options students want in their apartment, they still need to have good time management. Spring semester is the busiest leasing time because people are looking for a place to live for the next school year, Craft said.

According to Jackson, Craft and Bryant, with the exception of a few leases, apartments are usually filled before summer starts. Apartments will be gone within the next couple of months, so if students haven’t chosen their space yet, there’s no time like the present.