Housing Advice

[flowbe202]

Apartments for college students are universally horrible -- so, you're in the same boat as everyone else!! Boston housing is second only to NY in terms of old, decrepititude-ness. Accept it, while knowing you still have a right to a pest free, safe apartment. It's a fine line.

Rental realtors are a different breed in Boston. Some only handle the thousands of college apartments in Allston/Brighton. If you don't take a place, there are 20 others who will. It's not personal.

I think you're making a great choice - you should enjoy your time at school. Unlike some on C-D, I put a premium on my time lost to commuting. I have always paid (and gotten much less!) and have been ok with it. I hope it works for you. Here's the BC shuttle list: BC Shuttle Bus - Boston College
Download the app and see if any of the shuttles go by your place.

You should post to the BC rental site and other college sites. One term rentals are common for visiting fellows, grad students, etc. There's always Craigslist, too.

Welcome to Boston!

[AbrasaxEos]

Utilities depend on usage and a pretty large number of other factors. For example: Are the windows thirty years old, the heater twenty, and do you keep the thermostat at 72 in the winter? Or are the windows new, the heater old, and you are ok with keeping the place cool and putting a sweater and blanket on? So, there are a lot of permutations to this question that makes it a bit hard to say. It might be $75 per month during the winter, but it could also be $300. You can usually call the utility company and see what the previous tenant paid. So, I'd go about it that way. I have friends who manage to keep their utilities to about $100 a month averaged out, while others easily throw down close to $300. Some of it is personal habits (like the temperature you can tolerate), but a wheezing old heater and windows that result in your heating the neighborhood as much as your apartment are kind of set unless you can convince the LL to replace them.

Also, if you haven't already I would jump on the apartment if you are interested, as you've seen already, stuff moves ridiculously fast here and that place might even be gone already!

You might be able to rent the other room out just for the fall. There are occasionally people around visiting a school or doing a semester's worth of research. You'd have to post on craigslist or something and see what turns up.

[laurasaur25]

Well just as an update:

The one for $1,500- I emailed back asking for a showing and he replied saying all the units he had sent me were rented.

He sent me more units last week, one of which I was ready to jump on. It was small and a studio but I figured it was worth it at the rent he was offering. I scheduled a showing for the next day. He emailed back to confirm. Then emailed me again saying he rented it.

So overall, I've been having a pretty awful time. Either the realtors don't answer me at all or they rent the apartment before I can get my friend to look at it (which is typically the very next day).

Does anyone have any good realtors they can recommend? I really haven't found any that are remotely helpful and I'm starting to get nervous considering I move September 1.

[flowbe202]

You really need to be nervous.

Not to jump on you, but, it's all over the posts how Boston is a hot market.

You need checks in hand ready to sign... And rental agents in Brighton don't need to be helpful, the apartments will rent themselves. Sorry.

Anything through your college site??? At this time, it's your best bet especially as you're doing this through a friend.

Don't burn your bridges with the rental agents, either. Yes, they may be bottom feeders, but at least its a bottom feeder whose number you have.

[laurasaur25]

I'm in the process of applying for a studio right now. $1,250 with heat and hot water included. I'm definitely hoping this pulls through. I was hoping for a one bedroom but this one has an alcove that I could potentially separate into a bedroom. And I wasn't sure if having an actual bedroom was worth hundreds more a month. She's also renovating the bathroom and kitchen before move-in so that will be nice.

It's located on Commonwealth Ave (by Washington St.) so close for school. Fingers crossed that she likes the app and I have it set in stone very soon.

[flowbe202]

Hope it works out!!