Housing assist – The UCSD Guardian

“Hi Guardian! I’m currently a second year who has started to look into off campus housing with my 3 friends! Do you guys have any advice or tips on that process to make it less stressful? It’s expensive out here!”

    – Housing Hopeful

Finding an house as a UC San Diego pupil whose two-year housing assure simply ended feels a bit of like selecting between the lesser of two evils: “Condo for Rent! $3,500/month! On a really nice golf course, balls may fly through your window!” or “Apartment for Rent! Only $2,900/month! Includes an upstairs neighbor whose hobby includes late-night drumming and a five-flight stair walk to do your laundry!” As somebody who efficiently moved in together with her two greatest pals and scored a 15-minute commute to campus, I’m right here to provide you some suggestions that can make it easier to signal the house of your goals! 

Tip #1: Before beginning your search, discover any connections you’ll have. Between you and your housemates, there’s sure to be choices for potential housing and even future furnishings. From a senior classmate graduating or a coworker that’s transferring in with their associate and in search of somebody to take over their lease, don’t be afraid to ask round your group or publish an Instagram story to succeed in out to as many individuals as you’ll be able to. 

Tip #2: I discovered that the spring, when costs are the bottom and the variety of vacancies is excessive, is the prime time for home looking. Some websites we frequented have been Apartments.com and Zillow, the place we every made accounts, so we may every bookmark potential choices. We had our hearts set on a two-bedroom apartment: one main bedroom as a double for me and my roommate and a smaller room for my cousin. When we toured potential condos, one among us went and took movies and photos for the remainder of us. The visible helped us think about cooking our meals within the kitchen and spending nights in the lounge. 

Tip #3: Keeping Tip #2 in thoughts, I recommended to my two future housemates that now we have weekly conferences. We met to match our housing preferences — in-unit laundry was most popular, AC was negotiable, and wooden flooring was a should — and our price range. These weekly conferences incentivized us to discover a place ASAP by ensuring everybody introduced no less than two choices to the desk. It was additionally useful in figuring out who was accessible to tour locations to take photos and are available again with suggestions to share.

Tip #4: The course of was anxious at instances, and at one level, I assumed I used to be going to be caught subleasing a triple 20 minutes away from campus. But I had one factor motivating me to maintain going: all the lovable and enjoyable occasions my roomies and I might plan! I recommend making a roomies group chat to ship Instagram Reels and TikToks of inspiration for future roommate actions. One of our first occasions we deliberate was a “Felt Night” to DIY cute felt pennant flags, and the outcomes at the moment are on our doorways. It was one among our first few nights collectively, simply as college was beginning, and is one thing I can reminisce on as one among our first customized decorations in our apartment. 

Looking for housing could appear daunting at first, however everybody I do know who was pressured about it ended up transferring in by the point courses rolled round. Now, my greatest pals and I get to take pleasure in taking part in video video games at evening after a protracted, arduous day of courses. Stay motivated, and with the following tips, you, too, will get to make your personal recollections along with your new roomies!