Finding a room in Boston, wait until Sept 1st a bad idea? (apartments)

[j00]

Is it difficult to find a good room in Boston for a Sept 1 move in date? I'm wondering if it might be tough since a ton of college students will be converging in the area. I'm thinking of getting a temporary place for the month of August and spending that month looking for a longterm place.

I'm mostly looking for places in South/North end

[shiver]

I don't know the percentage, but a tremendous number of lease dates for Boston area apartments start 9/1. You'll have a bigger selection of apartments if you go for a 9/1 lease just because there's more inventory. But, you'll also have more competition since so many people are on a 9/1 apartment cycle even if they aren't students.

Because there is more competition, rents may be a little bit higher and you'll have less room to negotiate the fee (if there is one) than in other months. You also may have to make an on the spot decision instead of taking time to think it over.

If you rent for say Oct or Nov, you'll have less apartments to choose from (although that doesn't mean that there aren't any. But definitely fewer).

If you look aggressivley the first week of August, you can probably still find a good place for a 9/1 move date.

The South End (not to be confused with South Boston) and the North End aren't quite as student-centric as other areas, but I think that many of the leases still start in September.