Experiences with getting housing as an international

[Christa]

Hey all!

I was wondering if those of you who have started attending programs in the US could share with us your housing experiences. How did you as an international find a house? and did you wait until after you got to the US to get one? did you have any unpleasant experiences? was it hard to rent because you're international and don't have a credit rating? any advice would be very welcome.

[Galahad]

Hi there!

I managed to live off campus in my sophomore-senior yr of my undergrad and I didn't have any credit rating at all.

What I suggest you do is first of all, mention that you're an international student. Then bring your I-20 (and passport as ID proof AND student ID) to the leasing office of your landlord to show them that by US law, you needed X amount of money to enter the country in the first place. Given the amount of money X is, a fraction of that is allocated to housing expenses (it will say on the I-20 how much it is). Within that budget you are allowed to have a house off-campus.

Now I'm talking about renting. As for buying, I'm not sure as I've never been there. But I got fed up of dorm life and one day walked around town and when I found something within budget that was decent I just went for it.

Hope I made sense, ask away if I don't!

[Christa]

Yeah that helps thanks

I'm hoping to also hear from people who had to rent before getting to the states because I keep hearing that if you wait until August all the good apartments will be gone

[Dea Januari Verina Ismail]

Housing is also my concern. So, I'm hoping more people would respond to this post.

[fillyglory]

I've talked to some of the grad students in my program and they all suggested that I look for housing ASAP, best to apply right NOW! I think the situation might be different in different cities, but I think connecting with the people there and asking for their advice can't be wrong.

[Christa]

Yeah I've heard that we should start looking for places in April but renting without seeing the place is really scary. You'd have no idea what you're agreeing to and most leases run for the academic year so you'd be stuck in that place.

[Galahad]

Oh, about the good places being gone in August. That's a risk but there's not toooo much that cna be done to have it averted.

Obviously NO place will let you rent in August if it's vacant in April. That means that the landlord is losing money as nobody is living there April - July and he'd rather rent it out to somebody now instead of later. Business is business.

HOWEVER, what you can do is browse agencies that have places you like (budget-wise and whatnot) thus far and email the landlord and/or agent and let them know that THIS is what you are after and for them to let you know what they will have vacant in August as soon as possible. That way if there is a waitlist or some other trick, you'll have first dibs. Most agents will contact you in the beginning of July in that case as only then they'll know what's free in August (in most cases). So yes, start looking but don't expect you'll get exactly apartment 2B on street 24 with the park view. Telll the agent that this size/price/neighboorhood/etc is what you want and in July you'll get a good pick of whatever may be available.

And let them know IN ADVANCE you are an international student. That way you aren't disappointed later on down the road.

Personally I found a few great buildings w/cheap studios in safe neighborhoods in Brookllyn that I like. I like one of them more than the other 3 but I contacted all 4 just to be on the safe side. Might not be enough and I'm still hunting but get in touch with the leasing folks as soon as you can so they can help you out. It's great when you'll know stuff in July before they'll put it on their websites. Sneak peek much?

[Christa]

Discovered something yesterday and thought I'd share with you guys. While I was looking for places on Craigslist I came across an ad from someone living in a 2-bedroom university apartment and so I searched for similar ads and I came across a dozen. It's great because sharing a university apartment (for grads only) is possibly the cheapest way to live in my future city and besides it includes all utilities and best of all, the landlord is the university itself so it's both safe and reliable.

I hope it works out for me I haven't heard back yet from the people who advertised.

[Yoshite]

I notice that most places are unfurnished. How do international students buy all the furniture? i.e. a moving out sale from another grad student & stuff, where can I find it?

[Galahad]

Yoshite, there are a few ways:

1) Befriend somebody (maybe online) who is just finishing their studies and buy their furniture at a fraction of the cost.

2) Buy the cheapest stuff and bare essentials at IKEA, Target, etc

3) Go to www.craigslist.com and look up your city. Go to the "For Sale" area and before you check the stuff actually for sale, look at the "free" section. Sometimes people give away vacuums, couches,beds, etc. If you spread it out over a month and aren't picky about things matching and/or clashing odds are you'll have most of your apartment furnished for free. Lots of my friends in college did this when they chose to live off campus and it worked out great!

[ANDS!]

As an International Student, the shared housing listings on Craigslist are your friends. Once you get settled in the states, you can start to look for other housing if its not working out for you living with other people. This will often be cheaper and less of a hassle then dealing with leasing offices across continents.

[plastic_enthusiast]

I was dead set on renting my own studio because it was easily within my TA stipend budget, but in the end I decided to live with an American student already at my university for a semester so that she could show me the ropes. No deposit or rental agreement needed, as I was a sub-let in her place (some landlords are ok with this, others are definitely not). I'd never been to the city before, had no idea how to pay a phone bill in the US or set up utilities etc, so she was a life saver. I'd planned to just live in a hotel for a week or two and walk around the student neighbourhood looking for available places when I got to the US, which in retrospect would have been a horrible choice. By the time the first semester was coming to an end, I knew exactly where to look for housing and how to set everything up by myself. My flatmate also donated random bits of furniture to me as she was moving out of state, so I amassed items that way. I only had to buy a dresser, everything else she gave to me.

For the record, when I moved into my own place I didn't need to do a credit check, just needed to pay one month's deposit. I suppose I got lucky because the property owner had relatives in the UK (my home country), so he was uncharacteristically friendly towards foreign tenants in his property and had a relaxed attitude towards renting.

Edited May 2, 2012 by plastic_enthusiast