Housing

Your housing decision will be based on many factors, e.g., the kind of lifestyle you want to have, number of roommates you want to have or the size of the family, if any, that will be with you, availability and cost of parking, and how close you want to live to campus.

So perhaps your first decision is whether or not to use university-owned on-campus housing, or privately-owned off-campus housing.  Most universities have a housing office that can assist with locating housing and roommates.  And most universities will actually have a limited amount of graduate housing.  Some institutions offer separate graduate student dorms or townhouse-style living arrangements that resemble off campus alternatives.  The advantages of on-campus housing include proximity, a reputable landlord, convenience, and built-in, similarly situated neighbors.

Living off-campus perhaps allows you to experience a more cosmopolitan side of the city or town where you live.  You will have more choices in terms of types of accommodation (apartment or house), and size.

Off campus housing can be very tricky.  Renting anywhere demands a certain knowledge of landlord-tenant law.  If you know your rights and responsibilities, you may avoid unnecessary problems and expenses.  A lot of municipalities have “standard lease” requirements, but always be careful with dealing with a private owner.  Don’t ever sign a lease without touring the unit, and when you do tour it, check carefully for signs of damage or structural instability.

Units can have hidden problems that are easy to miss, especially when the weather is nice, that rudely raise their heads when the weather turns for the worse, e.g., heat, water, drafts, pests, etc.    A pre-existing problem may come to a head during your occupancy and affect your security deposit.

If you have a car you should keep in mind the availability and cost of parking.  If not, you should note the availability of public transportation.

Without a doubt you should note whether or not the property has high-speed internet available.

There are a multitude of resources for finding information about neighborhoods and housing.  Websites like Rent.com and Apartments.com can return results for any zip code.  Walkscore.com, Relocationessentials.com and even Google Maps provide much insight on at least a zip code basis, but in some cases can drill down to the exact address.

But there is no substitute to actually visiting a place in person.  In many cities there are services that will help you with your search and actually take you around to different properties for free.  They get paid a referral fee by the property owner.  As they get feedback from prior customers and know the area in detail, these services can give you valuable insights for your housing decision.