Around this time of the year, most of us who are moving off campus have already signed leases with landlords. For those who are not considering off campus housing yet and are suddenly noticing all the posts of desperation popping up on Clark Craigslist about finding new roommates or sublets, here is a guide to timely apartment hunting so that they can avoid last minute roommate searching next year.
Before the move
The best way to look for available apartments is through the website “Jump off Campus”, as Clark is one of the affiliated universities and the website has listings of all the houses that are up for rent near Clark. From there, you can contact the landlord through message, or get their phone numbers. There are also realtors who run their private websites, such as Maxmia properties or Hampton properties. I found my apartment by asking friends who already live off campus for contacts to their landlords.
If the apartment is available, the landlord usually sets up a showing. This is time to really check out the house to make sure it is somewhere you can envision yourself living for at least a year. At this time, ask the landlord if the people living there can show you the insides of rooms. I did not scrutinize the insides of my current room and it turned out that the closets are almost non-existent. Check to see if the bathroom is clean, whether the house includes a washer/dryer, and whether the laundry is coin operated. Some landlords will offer laundry for free while others will charge you.
One of the perks of living in Worcester is the cheap rent that allows many students to move off campus. Rent around Clark can range from $340-500 USD per person for shared apartments, and single apartments going up to $800-900 USD. Most of the times the rent is fixed, but some landlords are willing to negotiate, so it’s always worth a shot. When negotiating, keep in mind which utilities are included in the rent.
When signing the lease
Read the lease thoroughly before signing, to check if all conditions agree with your living preferences. Most landlords don’t allow pets, while some allow cats but not dogs. Also check if they allow subletting, if you would like to sublet the apartment over breaks. The landlord may have included clauses about throwing parties, having large crowds of people over, or broken fixtures, which you want to be aware of before signing. Be prepared with extra cash, as some landlords require a security deposit plus the last month’s rent when signing the lease.
The Big Move
Most leases start on the 1st of June, which is when all hell breaks loose. If you don’t want to find yourself sweating and struggling in the middle of Florence street with six friends that you have to bribe with food and drinks to carry your ‘vintage’ dresser, as I did one summer evening, consider renting a U-Haul. If you are storing your stuff somewhere else, you can ask the people currently living in your new apartment if you can get a head start on moving them in.
These being said, there are a thousand different issues that will prop up throughout the moving process. Dealing with those was a part of moving out, through which I got my first real taste of adulting. The feeling of freedom after moving in to your very first apartment justifies all the hard work that moving out entails.
