Housing search proves trying for some

Sophomore Allie Bovis said she and her four friends have spent the past two months searching Web sites, sifting through classified pages in the newspaper and driving around Bloomington seeking "for rent" signs. \nDespite their efforts, Bovis said she and her future roommates are finding that there aren't many rental houses available for the next school year. \n"How late we started looking at different places has really put a damper on us," she said. \nBovis said one leasing company she and her friends contacted are leasing 20 properties for next fall but only have three or four left. \nFreshman Sara Whitmer has been looking for a place to live since October. \nA spokeswoman for Bloomington's Housing and Neighborhood Development said that there are more than 20,000 rental properties in town, but Whitmer said she's afraid she won't find somewhere to live in time for next year. \nWhitmer said she has looked through at least a dozen houses and apartments with no luck. \n"I feel that it's ridiculous that you have to start looking so early," Whitmer said. \nBloomington-based Omega Properties has only 10 of its more than 100 properties still available to rent for next fall, said a company spokeswoman who would not give her name. But that won't be the case for long, she said. \n"I'll say that in about a month to a month and a half we'll have the other 10 knocked out," she said. \nAnother spokeswoman for CRE Rentals who would not give her name said more than half of the company's apartments have been leased for next fall, typical for the company at this time of the year. The remaining apartments should be rented out fairly soon, she said.\nFor Bovis, the biggest challenge to her housing search has not been time but rather finding a rental home that suits both her needs and those of her three or four prospective roommates, she said. Bovis said she is unsure as to the final number of roommates she will have. \n"It's too hard to please all of us," she said.