I have 2 options for housing, and i dont know which one to choose.

A) A 4 bedroom house, which is approximately a 5 min walk from mac. it has street parking so no snow shoveling. the rent is $340 without utilities, and looking at the bills of the previous tenants it will be around 400 with utilities. the kitchen size is pretty big and and the living room size is ok not too small nor too big. The bedrooms are small (half the size of a hedden double room). the washroom is really small.

We have 3 people and we know the 4th person he says he would come with us, however we dont really know him that well.

B) this is a 3 bedroom basement and is also a 5 min walk from mac. It has a driveway so we will be snow shoveling. For us, the entrance will be from the back. there would be other students living above us. The bedroom sizes are really big but the kitchen and living room size is small compared to the previous house. it has 1 washroom which is bigger than the previous house. the rent is $370 with utilities including cable TV. The ceiling is low.

I am currently looking to rent the student house we are leaving. It is a 3 bedroom basement apartment in westdale. The bedrooms are large (enough), there is a bathroom and a shared kitchen upstairs with a sink and fridge downstairs. It has shared parking. The rent is ONLY $200 for the summer months and $300 for the school term. This does not include utilities, but the landlord is putting in a brand new furnace. Message me if you guys wanted to come have a look. There are also 2 bedrooms available on the ground floor at a slightly higher rent.

Originally Posted by ice8

I have 2 options for housing, and i dont know which one to choose.

A) A 4 bedroom house, which is approximately a 5 min walk from mac. it has street parking so no snow shoveling. the rent is $340 without utilities, and looking at the bills of the previous tenants it will be around 400 with utilities. the kitchen size is pretty big and and the living room size is ok not too small nor too big. The bedrooms are small (half the size of a hedden double room). the washroom is really small.

We have 3 people and we know the 4th person he says he would come with us, however we dont really know him that well.

B) this is a 3 bedroom basement and is also a 5 min walk from mac. It has a driveway so we will be snow shoveling. For us, the entrance will be from the back. there would be other students living above us. The bedroom sizes are really big but the kitchen and living room size is small compared to the previous house. it has 1 washroom which is bigger than the previous house. the rent is $370 with utilities including cable TV. The ceiling is low.

Honestly from my experiences take the house with the utilities. It will save you tons of money. Sure right now you are like I want a bigger house but for a financial point of view being a student isnt cheap. Another thing about a big house is that there might be some maintenance. In your basement house there are people living upstairs so chances are if there is a problem they will be concerned about it too. With the four bedroom house(big house) you said there will be another person. How well do you know that person?

thing about basement that bothers me is wat if the students upstair have parties all the time, and it cud get loud espeically if u have a midterm the nxt day or sumthing. also, heating will be bad in basement and so no natural light. when it snows. any more tips?

Originally Posted by ice8

thing about basement that bothers me is wat if the students upstair have parties all the time, and it cud get loud espeically if u have a midterm the nxt day or sumthing. also, heating will be bad in basement and so no natural light. when it snows. any more tips?

In my 3 years at mac I have lived on res, a house and now reside in a basement. About the parties I wouldnt worry about them too much. In my opinion residence was the worst in terms of noise and parties. When I lived in a house there was a house a few blocks down where tons of parties would be held. There was a bit of a noise and sometimes garbage issues. But note this was only on friday's. Now in the basement I actually have never heard a party. Since your sharing a house you can tell the landlord. Another thing is that my house last year and my current basement were all Mcmaster Aproved. So it gave me more assurance. Try to do this if its possible. If your checking on the McMaster offcampus housing site then there should be a check mark next to the house address. Also another thing about parties is that most people are too busy in their studies too have parties. As for the heating dont worry too much either, because heat in included in utilites so you can turn it up in the winter. Plus if its too cold tell your landlord because there are certain standards they have to follow. If it makes you feel better discuss this with your landlord. About natural light just go outside when you need light. Besides most houses are dark anyways. There is really nothing you can do about this just take tons of lamps with you I guess.

I would go with option A even though it doesn't include utilities because, as you said, the people above you could be loud. Besides, simply walking around can be disturbing. My parents house is like that, you can't walk anywhere without someone hearing you from below, even if you don't walk heavy.

And you'll be helping shovel snow with or without a driveway, your sidwalks and front walk has to be cleared. And if you don't have a car, you shouldn't have to shovel the driveway anyway!

The people who live in my basement use space heaters for really cold nights but other than that they're pretty much okay.

As for the small room... if you've been living in Res then you're pretty much used to a small room already. Small washrooms aren't really a big deal, you're not going to be spending a whole lot of time in there are you?

And cable TV is a bad idea! Distractions!!! lol

As for your potential room mate that you don't know very well: if you decide to live with him, all 4 of you should sit down and make a written agreement to the rules you want to live by. Ie: chores, parties, noise, etc. And stick to it! Setting the ground rules might give all of you a better idea on whether you want to live together or not!

thx for the inputs. im still conflicting with my room mates. the 4th person we know him but he doesnt really hang out with us that much. like we dont know his friends and everything. we can make a written agreement but if he doesnt follow it then no one can reinforce it.

Originally Posted by ice8

thx for the inputs. im still conflicting with my room mates. the 4th person we know him but he doesnt really hang out with us that much. like we dont know his friends and everything. we can make a written agreement but if he doesnt follow it then no one can reinforce it.

Well why dont you get to know that person more. I mean go to the movies with him/her or just hang out. While your hanging out just talk a bit about living together and get their input, but do this in kind of a casual way. Then judge if you are willing to stay with this person.

Oh yeah one really important thing I forgot to mention is the size of the bedrooms. I mean your going to be sleeping there and chances are you will aso be studying there. So you want a place which is comfortable.

what a great way to make new friends! Just because you live with someone for one year doesn't mean you have to live with them forever

I've lived with people I didn't know 2 years in a row (I moved from a 7 person house to a 5 person house) and both were good experiences.

If you go with the place that has utilities included, make sure there's no clause saying that if the bills are more than x then you have to pay more.
the Off Campus Housing office is a GREAT resources to use (located in the MUSC basement) if you have any questions about leases etc and MacInsiders has published a bunch of really helpful articles about living off campus.

ya we are gonna get our contract looked over by the office

I have 1 room for rent on the lower level. Its a large spacious room with a fireplace. Its located on Thorndale which is seconds away from Mac, just come off the street and your there. $400/month. Available immediately however, can be made a September to May 1st lease. Lease is negotiable. House is shared with 7 others (co-ed). Newly renovated bathroom on the same level as this bedroom.

Personally, I would choose B.I think it's weird that your landlord isn't doing the shoveling mine definitely did all of the house maintenance stuff. Either way shoveling can be fun... sometimes!! Plus, if there are three of you plus people upstairs it's not like you'll always be doing it anyway. When I lived off campus I was in the attic so I was the person upstairs. I was never loud or anything but if I was I don't think my housemates would have a problem telling me and I don't think I would have a problem lowering the noise. As long as you have strong communication from the get-go you should be alright. My room was huge, I loved it. It was awesome! I personally love big rooms and that would be enough to catch my attention to choose B. You don't need a huge kitchen. As long as it has a sink, an oven, a microwave, a fridge and a toaster you're good. The living room doesn't need to be huge either. In fact, my landlord converted the living rooms into bedrooms. However, my housemates and i still hung out-- in each other's bedrooms! It was fun plus we got to know them better. Also, with utilities is better. I remember one month our utilities bill came up to 900 dollars and my landlord was like you need to pay this. And I was like nuh-uh I pay 50 bucks every month so it had to come out of his pocket. Although I'm pretty sure he made a lot of profit from our utilities bill on other months. Is the ceiling so low that you can't stand straight?

basements suck.

if your 4th room-mate doesn't work out then the 3 of you can kick him out.

Originally Posted by ferreinm

Personally, I would choose B.I think it's weird that your landlord isn't doing the shoveling mine definitely did all of the house maintenance stuff.

Shoveling is technically considered up-keep and not maintenance. I've actually never heard of a landlord shoveling for students; which is why the sidewalks are always so damn bad close to campus.