With the return to school rapidly approaching, students old and new are anxious to get moved in as soon as possible, yet many who chose to live in Ames over the summer are finding that difficult, due to differences between move out and move in dates.

“It’s a struggle, no question,” said Gary Hunziker, owner of Hunziker Property Management.

With a difference of a few days from move out to move in, some end up scrambling for a place to stay in between.

“The place where I am staying has a few empty rooms and one roommate staying there through the next lease, so thankfully I can stay there until I can move in to my new place on the fifth,” said Heather Jensvold, of Ames. “Otherwise, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Hunziker estimated that 95 percent of apartments in Ames have leases that run out by the end of July, and that most property management organizations determine dates in house.

“The market really determines the end date,” he said.

Some property managers, though, are a bit more student friendly. Haverkamp, for example, gives students the option to move in on two separate days.

“Normally we have to give the cleaners time to go through our properties, so we would have students move in on the third,” said Megan Janssen, leasing agent with Haverkamp. “But for students that have to be in right away, we can let them move in on the 31st at 3 p.m. as-is, with no cleaning. Most times when that happens, the unit is perfectly fine for the next tenant.”

Haverkamp and University West Properties, who have buildings owned by Haverkamp, are the only organizations in Ames that offer that service, and say that the point is to make sure students don’t worry about where they can stay, which many still do.

Hunziker said that, while it is a stretch for some, people should be aware of when their leases end and compensate or plan ahead for that.

“I think a lot of people don’t even think about that until move-out time, and then they realize they won’t have a place to live in a few days,” he said. “People need to be planning ahead.”

Matt Oliver, a recent graduate who is staying in Ames, said he was fortunate to make enough connections in his time at Iowa State to have a support network.

“I know enough people here that I don’t have to worry about it too much,” he said. “Although even if I didn’t, I could rough it and sleep in my car for a few days.”

Another aspect students with no transitive homes have to think of is where to store all their stuff, although some agencies help with this as well.

“We have some storage units open, but not a lot,” Hunziker said. “We try to help where we can, but when 30 to 40 percent of the city is moving in one day, it’s a lot to deal with.”