It’s finally time. You’ve settled in Eugene, your closest friends are by your side and you’re ready to pick out your first place in the big, scary off-campus world. You’re not afraid. The only thing going through your mind is the salvation of finally living in a completely parent and RA-free zone.

That’s likely what we all thought when we started looking for our own place. The taste of freedom and the thrill of having a home where we can do whatever we want often blinds us from the less desirable aspects of the daunting housing search.

Diving headfirst into the conquest for my first apartment opened my eyes to everything that goes overlooked. We begin with the obvious questions: How many bedrooms? Apartment or house? Seems simple enough, right?

Wrong. Little did I know that I had to factor in things like utilities, internet and pretty much anything else necessary to survive as a college student. I had minimal knowledge of everything it actually takes to live on my own and even less of how I was supposed to make it all work.

It took me months to find somewhere that met (nearly) all of the required criteria set by my roommate and me, and even longer to actually get the ball rolling on securing that place for ourselves in the fall. Finding a place of our own was matter of jumping through a surfeit of hoops set forth by leasing companies, landlords and more often than not, parents.

By the time the lease finally got signed (the last day of spring quarter), I would be putting it lightly if I said was fed up with all of the people and paperwork involved. Nailing down the logistics of leasing is a headache and a half, and it can be the first step in testing the relationship of our closest friends, aka our new roommates.

Fortunately, I was still lucky enough to have the opportunity and desire to live with one of my closest friends. For many, the search for housing entails finding roommates to begin the search with, a huge risk and responsibility to take on.

With the rise of all the new student-oriented apartment complexes opening up around campus, the process of getting roommates is easier than ever before.

Enter roommate matching: Something we all saw when signing up for the dorms. The idea is the same, but much more thorough, and aims to match students with roommates who are alike, making for an enjoyable and friction-free environment.

A primary student community that utilizes this system well is 13th and Olive, aiming to put those together who have the potential to live with up to three other strangers seamlessly.

“In terms of compatibility, the use of roommate matching is most effective in providing the best experience for renting with other people,” Pat Walsh, a representative for Eugene public relations company Vox, said.

However, the battle of finding roommates still only represents one of the hurdles. Perhaps the toughest of the criteria to meet is finding somewhere that has what you want with a price that you can afford. Elliott Fromm shared his experience with finding somewhere that met his requirements:

“The most important aspect to me was finding something affordable that had enough room for everything my roommates and I do,” Fromm said. “We love listening to music, so a basement was necessary,” he responded.

That is the issue faced by all of us in the search. Finding somewhere affordable, close to campus and sufficient for everyone’s needs is one thing, but at the end of the day, we still want to live somewhere that we actually like.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the logistics of the entire process that you forget the most important piece, which is finding something that’s right for you. Some factors look great on paper, but if it’s not what you want, then your entire living situation will never work out.

“My biggest challenge was finding somewhere that wasn’t overpriced and wasn’t built in five minutes,” said Kelsey Spellman. “I knew that I wanted a house and not an apartment.”

Before you go jumping for joy with the excitement of finding a place of your own, just keep in mind that there’s a degree of rationality that has to go along with it. Your first apartment or house is liberating, but the responsibility is no joke. Your best bet is to go into the search with an open mind and flexibility like no other.