Moving Out of Home Next Year for Uni? Read This!
So, it’s time to fly the proverbial coop. You may have been given marching orders by your parents, or you may have been accepted into a uni on the other side of the country. Shape up, ship out, the world of co-habitation awaits.
House(mates).
She’s your best friend. You’ve laughed together, you’ve cried together. You’re psychically in tune with her innermost thoughts and dreams. A housemate match made in heaven, no? Paradise – until it turns out she meows in her sleep, leaves her nail clippings on the kitchen bench, steals your boutique French blue vein cheese and is always late with rent (but you can spot her ‘til Tuesday, right?).
- Mull it over. Carefully. Living with friends is a real testament to the friendship – it’s the maker or breaker.
- Fret not, though. If the prospect of living with strangers makes you squirm in your cotton socks, then shacking up with friends does take the edge off the moving out process.
Would you want him as your housemate?
Realty Bites.
Housemates? Tick.
House? Non-tick.
This isn’t impossible, but do pay heed, my pretties; it’s a dog-eat-dog market out there. You’re competing against a whole world of other uni students, young professionals and even families. The rental market, especially in those hot spots of the inner city, is tighter than (insert your own uncouthness here).
So browse around, evaluate your options.
- Think about your budget.
- Think about transport (can you walk sprint to the train station in the morning?).
- Think about local amenities (service stations are smaller, more brightly lit supermarkets, open all night for your late night study snack needs).
- And think carefully about the house itself (the terms “fixer-upper”, “motivated seller” and “rustic” should be avoided like a plague of locusts with rabies).
Once you’ve found your dream home, it’s sadly more than a simple matter of filling out the application form (but make sure that you do this, and that you do it on time). A tight rental market means that people are willing to go to all kinds of unscrupulous lengths to secure themselves an abode. The best you can do is to look professional and organised –
- Write a cover letter.
- List references.
- Be early to inspections.
- Look presentable.
- Offer rent in advance, or if it comes to it (and you can afford it), extra rent. Just be warned, it can be a cut-throat world out there in real estate.
It's THAT competitive to find a good place to stay
Strangers with candy.
Flying solo? Fear not. Hunting for a room is actually exponentially easier than applying for a whole house.
- Rooms are advertised predominantly online, try gumtree.com.au or flatmatefinder.com.au, where you can filter results by price and location.
- Otherwise, there may be windows in bookshops or cafes that advertise rooms. In Melbourne, take a gander at Readings on Lygon Street in Carlton and Friends of the Earth on Smith Street, Collingwood.
- Also, universities generally have similar notice boards around campus or online.
Questions and Answers
Found that ad that may as well have your name scrawled all over it? Jolly good. Best compile a list of names and numbers, and start making calls. Make note of those you’ve left messages with, and be aware that people have lives/work/uni. Hopefully their people will get in touch with your people and an interview will be born!
Housemate interviews, like root canals, are uncomfortable but worth it in the end. Within twenty minutes, you’ll get to show off all your nifty qualities, suss out your potential housemates and your potential house.
- Relax, be friendly and smile. There’s no right way about it, and you’ll gauge early on if it’s meant to be or not.
- Word to the wise: be yourself. There’s no point in putting on a sham persona, and being accepted into the house. They will notice you don’t play in three bands, that you don’t write for Vice magazine and most certainly haven’t lived out of home before.
- Added bonus here, is not having to set up an entire house yourself. An established house already has all these wonderful established things, like a kitchen, a bathroom, appliances, the whole kit and caboodle. BYO bedroom (and anything else you might have/they might need).
Home Sweet Home
So, you’ve passed Go, collected your bond money and are rocking and ready to start sharehouse living. If this is your first time co-habiting, it can take some adjustment.
- Always handy to remember is the fine line between private and shared spaces – your room can be piled three feet high in your organised chaos – the kitchen can’t.
- One bathroom, many bodies – you do the math, and keep it clean
- Be responsible – your share of rent being paid on time is your problem
- Be considerate – everyone keeps different hours and has their own lives
source: http://uniaustralia.com.au/articles/university-life/moving-out-of-home-next-year-for-uni-read-this/
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