Four walls and a roof without adult supervision -that’s what most Eastern students are looking for when they move out of the dorms. Unfortunately, many don’t get much more than that and, if they do, they pay for it.

Finding a decent place to rent in Charleston is not unlike trying to find a decent dinner in Charleston -you get what you pay for. Primarily two choices exist: cough up the cash or lower your standards.

However, if you decide to pay $20 for a steak, or simply suck down 99-cent burgers, you don’t have to live with that decision for an entire year.

November will soon be here and many of Eastern’s more prudent students-renters will begin looking for a place to call home next year, before this semester ends. First-time shoppers and unsatisified off-campus dwellers alike, take heed there are guidelines to help you find a decent place.

First, remembers there are dumps, there are nice places and there are several varieties in between.

Eastern offers apartments, but if you’re currently a dorm dweller, take a look at your room before you decide that you want the university as your landlord for another year.

To be fair I haven’t spent much time in university owned apartments, but I hear they are fashionably decorated, especially if you enjoyed the 1970s.

Dumps are a different story. Having spent my sophomore year in one of the more rank filth holes in Charleston, the anatomy of a dump is a blueprint I know all too well. Living in a dump will drag you down. At first the money you saved on rent will pay for plenty of Keystone. But, as the empty cans pile up and fruit flies start to outnumber your house guests, you’ll probably wish you had spent the cash on a nicer crib. Perhaps, you’d rather rent out one of those town houses, the ones that come complete with dishwashers and garbage disposals. Just remember that your neighbors, who live in a rental that’s exactly like yours, except for the fact that they have 14 subwoofers, will undoubtedly throw one, if not several keggers the night before every single one of your exams. And you will hear the noise bump through your walls, which offer the sound-buffing potential of loose leaf.

Those same walls that offer a cozy barrier between units are surprisingly prone to punctures. So, if you intend to fork over the cash to live in a town home make sure to ask dear old dad for lesson in drywall patching, because, without question one of your drunken friends will put a fist, foot or other extremity through at least one of your thin walls.

Somewhere in between the dump and the overpriced mass-produced town home you may be able to find a decent place. Keen observation can lead you toward a worthy inhabitancy.

Your sense of smell may be the biggest asset in this quest. If a place smells when you view it, the smell will probably still be there when you move in. In fact, the smell will probably still be there long after you graduate.

In your search, keep in mind that your tour guide is the landlord; it’s much more productive to talk with the people who live in the place you are viewing. Ask them: Are they graduating, or is there another reason they no longer want to live there?

Use your eyes as well. Look for electrical outlets, a water heater and thermostat. You need those things.

Look at the bathroom. You will have to use it everyday for at least 10 months. If the powder room has more mold than a penicillin plant, consider scratching that place off your list of finalists.

Above all, before choosing, remember that what you saw during your tour you will see every day for an entire school year and on top of it all, you’ll be paying to live there.

Make sure you get what you’re paying for.

Pat Guinane is a senior journalism major and a monthly columnist for The Daily Eastern News. His e-mail address is [email protected]. Columns are the opinion of the author.