Relocating

[chocoholic]

I will be relocating for graduate school in the Fall and I'm not sure how to best go about looking for apartments. My rent will be coming strictly from student loans, so I am assuming that any propsective landlord (the careful ones, anyway!) would ask to see my financial aid letter, which I won't be recieving until the end of May. That gives me two months to look at apartments and sign a lease before I would have to move in August. I'm one who is picky and likes to take my time and find the best deal, especially, as I said, I will be living off of loans and need a cheap place to live. I will be relocating to a large college town. I currently live in a college town, and I know how it goes around here...students have to start looking into housing as early as February because the good, affordable places go fast! Needless to say, I'm kind of stumped. I like to plan ahead of time, and it annoys me that my options might be severely limited by the time I can even really begin to start looking. Has anyone else been through this before? Thanks!

[Sparky]

The rules are different for graduate students (usually). My landlord for next year actually has a separate, much stricter lease that he gives to undergrads vis-a-vis grad students (and faculty/staff) tenants.

Since you won't actually be paying rent until August, is there any way you could put the deposit down now and reserve a place? I agree that you need to act *now* if you want decently close, quiet, and reasonably priced housing. Around here, I know undergrads start reserving housing for their senior year in the spring--of their sophomore year. As far as grad housing goes, many/most first-year students here end up either pretty far from campus in nice places, or close by in one of a couple of quiet dumps. :/

I am sure the landlords in the area have a good amount of experience with this. Start looking anyway. See what you can negotiate in terms of not having a financial aid letter yet. Especially if you have good references from previous tenancies, you can probably luck out.

[eco_env]

Depends on where you are moving... most places I called (in a not-really-college town) about an apartment told me to call later- about 1 month before moving in. They'll ask for your current pay info.

[Mal83]

I relocated across the country, it's definitely a challenge, but you'll manage. It's usually max two months before your planned move in date that you can actually secure an apartment. It depends on how much notice they require of their residents when they move out. For my place it was only a month. Which is something I found out by calling months prior to that point and was told that it's just too early. However, they usually have a list you can place yourself on and when the time comes if they have something available and you're next up then they will call you and offer it to you. For me too that was quite stressful because I like to have everything set into place as soon as possible, but just keep in mind that it might not all come together until the last minute. It did for me, but I got here and it worked out fine. I also pay rent with student loans and that's OK with my complex, all I had to do was get them a copy of my award letter. You have to "apply" to these places, they'll do a credit check and determine if you're eligible to rent with them and a lot of places require a certain income level. But mine doesn't and my student loan document was income enough for them...thank god. So you have to find places like this. I did it entirely through the internet and when I found places that had potential I called and talked to them about my situation. But yeah start searching now, especially if you're not going to visit the area before you move for school. Keep a list of the places that you consider a possibility, do a quick google search of the area and make sure it's not like the worst crime riddled area in the state or whatever. If you have questions call the leasing office, they'll be happy to help.

[WendyMoira]

Is anyone else thinking of buying a place when they get to graduate school? I know it seems kind of extreme, but I'll be there for 6-7 years (which is the average time people sell their homes) and I would rather be paying a cheap mortgage than rent. Is it crazy?

[TropicalCharlie]

Chocoholic, another option is to get a family member to co-sign for you ahead of time. This way you don't have to wait for your financial aid letter. It may not be ideal but could help you secure a place in the time frame that you are comfortable with. Also if you have a substantial savings account, a landlord may accept your bank statement as a source of income. This happened to me when I moved from the mainland to Hawaii several years ago. I did not have a job when I moved here, but the management company accepted my savings account balance as proof of income.

Edited February 26, 2012 by TropicalCharlie

[CarlieE]

Is anyone else thinking of buying a place when they get to graduate school? I know it seems kind of extreme, but I'll be there for 6-7 years (which is the average time people sell their homes) and I would rather be paying a cheap mortgage than rent. Is it crazy?

Yes... but not right away.. I think I'll want to rent for a year to figure out where the good locations are, pricing, better school districts, property taxes etc.

[kayaker247]

Yes... but not right away.. I think I'll want to rent for a year to figure out where the good locations are, pricing, better school districts, property taxes etc.

My girlfriend and I are planning to buy a house too after we live in Lafayette, IN for a year. The houses are so cheap there that it makes more sense to buy than to rent. We'll be there for at least 6 years, so putting that money toward a mortgage rather than rent will be beneficial in the long run. We are planning to use the house as rental property after we leave. The money we get from renting it will finish paying off that mortgage and then help pay off our next mortgage.