Suggestion.
Don’t just jump in to the area and buy. Rent first. Grad students are the preferred over undergraduates… use that to ask for a little price break. Ask your advisor’s present students if they know of any good places that might be opening up (aka grad students graduating).
Once you have rented, Walk around the complexes and find a few that you like. Complexes have different characters Wander around complexes on weekdays and weekend night and days (and during commute hours). Find out when the board meetings are, and attend them. See how the uscd/public transit system to the complex works. This can save you about $70/month.
While the area around campus is not as distressed as other areas, there are still distressed properties, and those affect some complexes more than others. Prices have not fallen in line with rents… but they have dropped a good deal. Odds are they will continue to drop… and if they don’t then they should stay flat.
