Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 23, 1994 TAG: 9408250013
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: 26 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRISTIAN TOTO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Bailey, property manager of Hunters Ridge apartments in Radford, places tenants together when they cannot fill a four- or five-person apartment.
"Ninety-five percent of the time, it works really good," she said.
Just how does she place her tenants? "The profiles have a lot to do with it," she said. Every tenant fills out a personality profile to help Bailey make suitable combinations. Included are questions concerning the amount of time the tenant expects to spend studying and drinking, and if and how much they smoke.
"But when someone comes to me, I form an image in my mind of other people who've already signed leases," she said. "Then I'll pull the file of that person" to see if, on paper, they match up as she suspects.
The first year Bailey was at Hunters Ridge, she placed a young man with four women.
"He was nice looking, personable. They all loved him," she said. Despite the harmony, a curious problem developed.
"He came to me and said, 'If I have a girl friend over, they get upset with me.' They liked having him to themselves," she said.
The Realtor's policy of separate leases allows Hunters Ridge to employ Bailey's match-making abilities.
Bailey makes sure to introduce the new roommates before they move in. "I like to place people where they're satisfied at the start," she said.
Other Realtors in the New River Valley opt for roommate referrals, in which they put tenants together only if both parties agree to the match.
Don Barker, property manager of BCR, decided against a policy like Bailey's. "We have considered experimenting with that, but it gets too complicated," he said.
Kelly Hahn, a Hunters Ridge resident, is familiar with the placing process. The business education major experienced some tension when a fourth roommate was added a few weeks into the semester. By spending time together - cooking, shopping at the mall - the tension faded.
Hahn says the key is communication. "Don't wait till the day you move in to get to know each other," she warned, advising a few phone conversations before moving in with a stranger.
Sometimes Bailey's handiwork has educational benefits. Jimmy Widener, a recent graduate of Radford University's psychology program, learned about a foreign country from his former roommate, Nachi Sharma. Sharma, now in California, moved to America from India in 1988, and Widener said the two spent hours talking about Sharma's native land.
Widener, Sharma and their two other roommates remain friends, even though they no longer live in the same apartment. "Hunters Ridge did a great job putting us together," he said.
For those considering Hunters Ridge, Widener suggests being honest with your personality profile.
Elementary education major Carla Fix had a fourth roommate placed with her, a girl only one of her roommates knew from class. "At first we didn't fit in," she said.
But when two of their birthdays fell near each other's, they began to jell.
At one point the apartment divided. "But once we realized it, we corrected it," Fix said.
She recommends going to the person you're having difficulties with, and echoes a need for strong communication - before a conflict gathers too much momentum.
The first few weeks can be the most difficult for a student placed with an established set of friends. David Castell, a biology major at Radford University, remembers the initial feeling after being placed with strangers. "I was nervous at first," he said, "but the first few weeks were very promising."
Natalie Graybill was placed by Bailey with two others, but not before she had examined the tenants' profiles herself. When she met future roommate Allyson Freber, "we clicked," she said. That transition went smoothly, but there was the rest of the apartment to fill up.
"Vicky's tried to place lots of people with us," Graybill said. But she and her roommates resisted some of Bailey's efforts. "We should have some control over it," she said.
She wouldn't go through the process again.
Hunters Ridge does experience the occasional unhappy resident. "Usually, it's not the people I've placed," but those who did the matchmaking themselves, Bailey said.
by CNB