Find More Freedom and Space with an Affordable House for Rent

Apartments aren’t for everyone. Most of them are on the smaller side, and you don’t exactly have a ton of privacy, especially if you’re living in a rental apartment building where your upstairs neighbor sounds like they’re dropping bowling balls on the floors and the neighbor you share a wall with just loves to vacuum at 1am. Unless you grew up in one, they may never quite feel like home. Houses offer a more homey feel, more space, and more of a canvas on which to express yourself. Yards and porches offer an expansion of space in the warmer seasons. You can always host friends over at your rental home with a lush backyard for parties in the spring and summer months and enjoy morning coffee or tea on a front porch. Those are just a few of the small differences that make a house feel like more of a home than an apartment. Begin and end your search for a house for rent in Athens with Krause Rental Properties.

We make it easy to browse our rental houses by number of bedrooms and/or location, so take a look at what we have to offer. Our site provides enough information on rentals in Athens or Columbus to enable you to quickly cancel out options that don’t make your cut. Call our office to schedule an appointment to view any that catch your fancy. (Krause also offers some great apartments in Columbus, located in sectioned houses or small buildings, within walking distance of the Ohio State campus and the nearby off-campus commercial district.)

A House That Feels Like Home

Apartment living can feel more like you’re spending time in a dorm than a home. Total strangers are living their lives just a few inches away on the other side of shared walls. You have to listen to all the noise they create too, and when it comes to feeling at peace in your home, those kinds of things can make living in a student rental apartment building difficult. While moving out from the dorms and into off-campus Ohio University rentals offers more freedom (and the responsibilities that come along with that independence), you also have to make a conscious decision of what kind of environment you’re wanting to live in. Sure, the social aspect of a luxury-style college student apartment building would be nice, but so would the privacy and quiet you get with a college rental home.

At Krause, we offer plenty of quality houses for rent in Athens that actually feel like home. You can have a beautiful yard, even a garden, or an expansive porch for outdoor gatherings with friends. For many OU alums, fond memories of that rental house in Athens they lived in junior or senior year persist for a lifetime. The same goes for Ohio State alums who recall their off-campus living days with fondness. There’s just something about a rental home close to campus that is more conducive to memory-making than a small, two-bedroom rental apartment. Maybe it’s having access to a yard for those outdoors gatherings, or maybe it’s because living in a house feels more “adult” than being in the confines of an apartment, and you have more physical space to host those gatherings and have friends over. Sure, you’ve probably been to some pretty great house parties, but how many amazing apartment parties have you been to? We didn’t think so.

Take a look at what Krause Rental Properties has to offer in Ohio University and Ohio State University off-campus housing. Our website is easily searchable, and every property can be explored in detail. Find a home that suits your sense of living, and don’t waste time looking at houses that aren’t going to work for you. After all, it’s your house. It should feel like home. We have a wide variety of Ohio University options. From three-bedroom student homes to large houses for rent with five bedrooms or more—and everything in between—we likely have what you’re looking for in Athens. For our apartments and houses near OSU, use the “Columbus Properties” tab on our website. While we don’t have the same variety for our Columbus listings, we do have plenty of one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes for rent close to Ohio State, and we have a couple of five-bedroom college rentals and one six-bedroom rental house for a tight-knit friend group.

Your Off-Campus Rental Will Feel Like a Home Away From Home

Whether you’re renting for the school year or for the long term, a house has a lot to offer that an apartment can’t compete with. A nice porch fronting a house in Athens or Columbus goes a long way in terms of enjoying the weather, the view, keeping track of the neighborhood, and meeting your immediate neighbors. Plus, if you manage to get one of our off-campus rentals with a great view of the Hocking River or some wooded greenery, your front porch is one of the best places to sit and admire that view while you’re having coffee or eating a meal outside. Having a yard means not having to search for a spot to enjoy the sun or study under the shade of a tree, not to mention the ability to host a gathering without having to let anybody in. Or, if you have a dog that you bring along with you to school, giving them a student rental with a big backyard to run around in will keep allow them to expend energy on their own terms rather than being cramped inside a small apartment. 

With concerns about COVID-19 persisting, a house for rent in Athens offers a better option for maintaining social distance than an apartment in a block with hundreds of other tenants. If you’re looking for a close-to-campus Athens or Columbus rental, consider our selection of fine rental homes available in a variety of sizes and locations.

Online Scams Target Renters’ Funds and Personal Info

Students who are desperate to rent a house or apartment often will turn to online advertising such as Craigslist. Unfortunately, many scammers operate out of these sites. They take advantage of students’ inexperience and naiveté, conning money out of them for fraudulent leases or even stealing a student’s identity. Some of these thieves are international, making them hard to stop and impossible to prosecute. It’s important to be vigilant when it comes to scammers surrounding any sort of college rental homes and apartments—if the listing sounds too good to be true, it usually is. While it’s good practice anyways, it’s always smart to view the property first before making any sort of decision. Or, in the age of zoom calls, it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to request a virtual tour of your potential future student rental home.

One of the most nefarious cons is to advertise a property for sale, then ask for security or rent upfront, claiming for one reason or another that the supposed landlord is unable to show the property. But the reason they can’t show a property is likely because it’s owned by someone else. Never pay money or provide billing information upfront without meeting the landlord and property manager first. If you have to arrange the rental from out of state, make sure you’re dealing with an authentic rental or property management company. You should be able to tell by their online presence. Google them or call the Better Business Bureau. Ask additional questions about the property itself, the leasing process, and other technicalities surrounding the rental apartment in question. If they can’t reliably answer your questions, or they seem to be stonewalling you and switching the topic back to something else, chances are they’re simply trying to scam you. Or they’re just not a very organized rental company—either way, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Warning Signs

Some of the most common warning signs of a scam:

• Ads or come-ons written in poor or awkward English.
• Rent so low it seems too good to be true.
• Scammer tries to rush the renter, urging you to hand over your money fast for fear the property will be rented out from under you. This kind of pressure often involves urgent emails. (This is just another version of what you see on travel sites – “only one seat left” on the flight you’re considering.)
• Unusual payment methods—scammers might request wire transfers, cryptocurrency, and other forms of payment that aren’t easily traceable in the event something goes wrong.

Also, be careful about filling out an application and giving up personal information. The scammers may use this to steal an applicant’s identity. Ultimately, trust your gut instincts. If something feels off when you’re trying to rent that newly-renovated, luxurious apartment for rent, it’s because there probably is something off. Do yourself and your bank account a favor, and pass on it and continue your search.

Krause Rental Properties is an established and trusted property management and rental company in Athens, Ohio. We can help you find the house or property that fits your needs, without exposing yourself to potential rip-off schemes. That’s the case whether you’re perusing our rentals in Athens or Columbus, where we have a modest selection of off-campus apartments to rent.