Tours and Leasing in Orlando during COVID-19

We recognize that this is a stressful time for UCF students. Learning to utilize the online platform for your UCF classes, cancelled graduation ceremonies, navigating social distancing in a community of thousands of students, cancelled plans, and constant calls/texts from Mom reminding you to wash your hands.

We're not medical experts, and we certainly can't offer you advice on how to avoid the Coronavirus. However, we are the UCF Apartment Experts, and we can offer some advice on how to navigate touring and securing your apartment during these uncertain times. We've rounded up our best tips for remote leasing and a few virtual tours all in one place, so that students at UCF can reserve their space remotely, with confidence!

You Can Still Apartment Hunt with Friends - Online!

We know you're still doing your part to social distance and that likely means meeting up with friends virtually. Don't let this impact your ability to do some apartment shopping together! You can easily get serious about your online search for an apartment near UCF. Hop on a group chat with your future roommates, send links to your favorites, and duke it out! Aren't we all looking for something new to talk about? Why not apartments!

Are leasing offices open?

While quite a few leasing offices have reopened with precautions, some around UCF may still be closed. If you want to visit a leasing office in person, your best bet is to call about an hour before your visit to make sure that the office is open and accepting tours. Check out our apartment listings to view office hours and easily click to call and schedule or confirm your visit.

Even if a leasing office is closed, the apartment management team will still be accepting calls and fielding emails! Many of the apartments near UCF have established remote-leasing environments so that they can support current and prospective residents.

When should I sign my lease?

March-April is historically a very popular time of the year for UCF students to sign a lease for the next school year. We highly recommend doing your research online and utilizing virtual tour tools (more on that later!) so that you can secure your housing for Fall semesters. If you're planning for a Spring move-in, you should plan to sign a lease between September and December. For summer, signing during the Spring is ideal!

Any tips for touring remotely?

The student housing communities around UCF have systems in place to help you tour the apartments and amenities remotely! Many of the apartments have created tour videos that they can share with you and are willing to offer one-on-one virtual tours through Facetime and similar products. We recommend contacting your top 3 apartment favorites individually to ask what options they are facilitating for remote tours.

When it's time for your virtual tour, come prepared with a list of questions for the leasing agent! Don't be afraid to ask them to interact with the apartment on video so that you can see how things work. Here are 4 examples of things you might ask:

Can you open the refrigerator? I'd like to see what the inside storage is like!
Where is the washer and dryer located? Can you show me what they look like?
Can you open the closet? I want to get an idea of what the shelving is like!
How many outlets are there in the bedroom?

Can I apply and sign my lease without visiting the office?

Good news here! It has become very popular over the last 5 years for apartments to offer online application and leasing options. In fact, most of the apartments in the UCF area no longer offer paper leases, everything has gone digital! If you're ready to sign a lease to secure your spot, you should have no issue doing so remotely. Just ask the leasing agent what your next step is, and they'll hook you up with the online links and information to complete the necessary documents.

Any other tips?!

The 407apartments team has produced a few Virtual Visits over the years that are an awesome alternative to in-person apartment tours. In each of the videos below, we meet up with the leasing team at apartments near UCF to learn more about the community and take a tour of their most popular floor plan.

We know it is always better to see an apartment in person. However, during this challenging time we hope that these videos can help you gain perspective on each apartment community's finishes and features, amenities, size, and more… so that you can reserve your new Orlando apartment with confidence!