With the start of the new year, the search has begun for many students to nab a place to live for the upcoming school year. History has a way of repeating itself and 2001 is no exception as the rent for housing and apartments will see yet another increase.”Rent goes up a little every year to account for real estate tax, inflation, and cost-of-living increases,” said Jill Kaikis, leasing manager of Inn-Town Homes. “It is nothing dramatic – a 3 or 4 percent increase at the most – and it is out of our hands.”Kaikis said the average rate that students should expect to pay this year will fall within the $320-$350 per-person range. Kaikis, who has been in the realty business for 11 years, said she remembers when the average rent was $250 but also remembers when the students were not as high-maintenance.”I’ve noticed that students are more affluent than they used to be,” Kaikis said. “They come to our office in nicer cars than me and to account for students’ needs in the last two years we have put millions into our apartments. They are getting more for their money because we are renovating every year.” Vanessa Agnew, a junior in communications, is concerned that there is not substantial competition for low prices among landlords.”I want to be able to walk to class from my apartment and landlords know this,” said Agnew, who lives on East 13th Avenue. “That would explain why I pay an arm and leg for these dumps.”Scott Solomon, the leasing manager at Oxford Rentals blames the increase in rent on a term used by insurance companies called habitation, which denotes the cost that landlords must pay to insure their properties.”Insurance companies have gotten very strict,” Solomon said. “What cost $400 to insure two years ago now costs $1,200. The city of Columbus taxes went up substantially two years ago and I think some landlords may still be trying to recover from these things.”Solomon still feels as if time and location is working in the students’ favor.”Rent on campus has not escalated as much as it has off campus,” Solomon said. “In the ’80s and ’90s, living close to campus meant paying higher prices than living further away. Now it is vice-versa.”Donna Grove, the leasing manager at University Village apartments said the price increase could be affected by the rise in gas prices this year.”If landlords did not lock down a price with the gas company last spring during deregulation it is unfortunate,” Grove said. “Our gas at University Village is in a utility budget where tenants pay the same amount every month, a fraction of what people without a utility budget pay.”Kaikis said the price of rent does reflect, to an extent, what other realtors are doing; but Solomon said his pricing procedure is kept completely confidential.”We absolutely do not confer with other rental agencies,” Solomon said. “That is called a monopoly, but prices are based on the demand for our properties which is extremely high the closer you get to the university.”Agnew said that the demand is high for a place near campus but wishes landlords could take into account the student clientele’s budget.”Students have to live here and the rental companies feed upon us,” Agnew said. “Then they slack on maintenance because they figure that we are all slobs anyways. They definitely get the better end of the leasing agreement.”Kaikis argues that students may think they are being ripped-off for a lack of knowing what it really costs to live on your own.”This is a lot of students’ first time out on their own and they don’t know what to expect to pay or what a reasonable price in the market is,” Kaikis said. “They have to remember that living off campus is a dramatic decrease from the price of the dorms.”Solomon, who has been in the business for 40 years, admits that he has seen some suspicious property rentals.”There are a lot of different landlords who take advantage of a captive audience,” Solomon said. “If you want to live on campus there are only so many places you can go.”