finding housing as an international student ( PhD)

[aakhere]

How does one go about finding housing as an International PhD student. The University is Notre Dame and I am presently not in the country. What are the pitfalls to avoid while online housing search?

[fuzzylogician]

There have been several discussions about this before. Here are some of them: 

 

 

[Rosiebe]

I've had some good and bad experiences looking for housing as an international student (though admittedly, only in Europe so I'm not sure how applicable it will be for you). Sometimes you get lucky and find exactly what you need through a facebook group, but this leaves you quite vulnerable to scammers, etc. I've also lived in student dorms - this is probably the easiest to organise but depending on availability/how you prefer to live, it's not always an ideal option. 

Try to really do your research before you go so you have a reasonable budget in mind and I would say as a rule never transfer money before you go, unless you do it through a secure service. The last time I moved, I used a website called HousingAnywhere (www.housinganywhere.com) - kind of like airbnb for people who want to rent to international students. That way, you can secure the room far in advance but the landlord doesn't get paid til you move in helping you get round the scammer issue. You do have to pay a service fee though which is something to take into account.

 

 

[EvelynD]

See if there are Facebook groups about local housing. I found my place (a private room in a shared house) through one of thise 'housing in XX' groups. I talked to my roommates on FB, then we skyped, and then we made the decision about when I could move in. I also contacted some local housing agencies that some of the other grad students in my department rent from, and the department also has a mailing list for rad student housing. 

[rising_star]

You may also want to check out sabbaticalhomes.com.