Best housing options for incoming grad student from west coast

[MtnLion512]

Originally Posted by Vector Sum

well I'm a grad student now, so I have little time for making friends. If I live in the coops, I want to have enough privacy to focus on studying. Is this still a good option?



they're not within walking distance of the grad student apartments in Hyde Park, Far west, etc?



really? but thats a gamble as I dont know the area at all.




but how do you know which ones are good? Theres so many to choose from on Craigslist



BTW, does anyone know how the university apartments (brackenridge, colorado, etc) are for grad students like me who want to focus on studying and have privacy? according to Division of Housing and Food Service - FAQs

They said "You may contact the office regarding a request for a specific complex you may prefer, however there is no guarantee that you will get an apartment in that complex"
and
"Even though you are allowed to indicate your preferred move-in date, we do not guarantee an apartment for a particular move-in date"

how reliable is this? Since my guess is that if I submit an application now, I probably won't be able to move in until a few months, right? Is it possible to rent a place short-term and then find a spot in the university apartments ?
Also, I'm not even sure yet if I will stay there until May as there's a chance I will have to leave after May '12

Everyone in my graduate department at UT has friends, and make time for hanging out with them, meeting people, and having fun together. You'll need to do the same, otherwise you'll go insane and burn out- guaranteed.

The best way to find out about privacy/noise/etc. issues in the university apartments is to contact your Graduate Coordinator (every dept. should have one) and ask for contact info for fellow students who have lived there....then ask them directly about their experience. The GC is there to help you with your transition into the program and should be able to easily provide this info to you.

[Vector Sum]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

If you don't own a car and live central you can always use Car2Go. As long as you don't have more than one passenger or a dog they should work for you.

This sounds like it might be a good option given that I'll probably only need transportation for grocery shopping, and maybe going to CVS and Ikea.

[Vector Sum]

I got some listings from an agent today and checked out a few places. I have narrowed it down to about 4 places. The first one has the best reviews on apartmentratings.com, while the next 3 have about the same reviews, with some of the negative reviews coming from those complaining about stuff like molds, roaches, cars broken into, etc

1. Has the best reviews, but even the positive reviewers mentioned the rent is higher than it should be and they know of other similar places with cheaper rents. Also, only rents for long-term (12 months) leases are cheap enough for the price I'm trying to limit myself to. Seems to have the least negative reviews about problems like roaches.
2. Has short term leases available, but doesn't have as positive reviews as (1)
3. Has slightly more negative reviews than (2), but is cheaper for short-term leases
4. Similar to (2) and (3) but I'm not sure how much the price increases for short-term leases

Would you suggest I take a chance on (1) since I'm rather OCD and absolutely hate bugs and roaches? Or do you think its true that better deals with come up within the next 1-3 months, so I should just take a short-term lease, considering that I'm coming from out of state

[DORAEMON4ever]

Originally Posted by Vector Sum

but how do you know which ones are good? Theres so many to choose from on Craigslist

Just google their name. A good locators will have an informative website and great reviews to show on Yelp, citysearch, google etc.

Austin has a lot of apartment locators and that is true that many of those are new agents. Since it is not that kind of profession where money just appears every 1st or 15th of the month, many people will try out for a few months and leave.

If you want privacy to focus on studying, you probably should opt out from shared living.

I'm not sure what your budget is but to get a feel of the city without being committed for a couple of months until your school starts, you should also consider an extended stay. I believe the average rate will be around $750-$850 a month and of course, all bills are paid there and a lot of time they also offer free breakfast.

If an apartment requires for you to do a 12 month lease, you can always sublease it. More than likely there will be other students that are in the same situation as you are right now. Or ask to do a 9-10 month lease, there are apartments that can do that.

[DORAEMON4ever]

Originally Posted by Vector Sum

I got some listings from an agent today and checked out a few places. I have narrowed it down to about 4 places. The first one has the best reviews on apartmentratings.com, while the next 3 have about the same reviews, with some of the negative reviews coming from those complaining about stuff like molds, roaches, cars broken into, etc

1. Has the best reviews, but even the positive reviewers mentioned the rent is higher than it should be and they know of other similar places with cheaper rents. Also, only rents for long-term (12 months) leases are cheap enough for the price I'm trying to limit myself to. Seems to have the least negative reviews about problems like roaches.
2. Has short term leases available, but doesn't have as positive reviews as (1)
3. Has slightly more negative reviews than (2), but is cheaper for short-term leases
4. Similar to (2) and (3) but I'm not sure how much the price increases for short-term leases

Would you suggest I take a chance on (1) since I'm rather OCD and absolutely hate bugs and roaches? Or do you think its true that better deals with come up within the next 1-3 months, so I should just take a short-term lease, considering that I'm coming from out of state

What did your locator suggest? A good locator should know that a management company is everything especially when it comes to older communities. Ask your locator about those management companies.

I doubt there will be 'deals' popping up in the next month or 2. If you are looking for good deals, you may want to wait until after summer around late September or so. However, there are no guarantee that you would be able to find apartments around campus for that time frame since most students are there to stay.

From the way it looks, option 1 seems to be the best match for you. Are you still in town? If yes, you should stop by those places and 'interview' the residents in person. Get the permission from the community first, so they won't consider you as a 'tresspasser'. I find it to be more reliable than apartmentratings website since they are more current.

[Seoid]

Apartment ratings are always the extreme ends of the bell curve. Take everything with a grain of salt. The apartment we moved out of recently had TERRIBLE reviews but we signed a lease anyway because it was a perfect location and budget for us. We had no problems at all. We only moved out because we bought a house.

Like I said, if you go with a 6mo lease, doesn't matter where you live as that will fly by. I personally hate moving so I'd avoid having to move again especially while in classes but to each their own.

I don't know if it is in your budget but if you are so concerned about short term before signing a lease you could go with one of those Extended Stay places. There are a few in the area. Guadalupe and 6th is one that comes to mind.