Next year will be my first year at university and me and 4 friends have decided to get a place off campus to save money. When should I start looking..im new to this process? What is a good price...so I dont get ripped off? Also do the owners of these places generally allow 2 people to stay in one room? because we dont really mind, we want to get a 2 bedroom place and share the rooms. Im most likely going to come there to sleep anyways. And one more thing... apartment or house? what are the pros/cons?

Stay on res first year, don't you want to meet new people? I'd die if I had to spend four more years with the same people!

Originally Posted by Chandlerowns

Stay on res first year, don't you want to meet new people? I'd die if I had to spend four more years with the same people!

I can save $5000 by staying off campus...its like 5mins away from the school.

You should start looking right now. In fact, you should have started several months ago if you're looking for a group.

There is a pretty big price range depending on how nice and big you want your house/room to be. Typically the cheaper places are $250/month for a room, and it goes up from there and tops out around $600/month. I doubt you'll find any landlord willing to let you go two per room.

Originally Posted by Chandlerowns

Stay on res first year, don't you want to meet new people? I'd die if I had to spend four more years with the same people!

Money seems to be an issue for them since they are considering sharing a BEDROOM with 2 people.

Originally Posted by lifesciman1

Next year will be my first year at university and me and 4 friends have decided to get a place off campus to save money. When should I start looking..im new to this process? What is a good price...so I dont get ripped off? Also do the owners of these places generally allow 2 people to stay in one room? because we dont really mind, we want to get a 2 bedroom place and share the rooms. Im most likely going to come there to sleep anyways. And one more thing... apartment or house? what are the pros/cons?

You should look for a place right now. Prices is subjective. I don't think there is such a thing as getting ripped off. Certain places have special features that warrant the price even if you don't agree on it.

Best advice is to look now using McMaster Off Campus Search and Hamilton Kijiji.

It really depends on the owner if he will let 5 people occupy 2 bedrooms. If the utilities are included, expect a NO. Best bet is to survey the place and gently inquire if the landlord live on premise. If he doesn't, you can do whatever you want after you get the lease. 5 people will be using a lot of utilities though so be careful on that.

Apartment VS House is hard to answer. It really depends on what you are looking for. You can search Google for other pros and cons on that I'm sure.

For your purpose, I would recommend an Apartment. Reason being that it will be more private and allows you to have more guests in the place without people noticing much and complaining.

Near Main and Whitney there are a tons of Apartments. Best bet is to take a drive down there, walk to each place and ask.

I did my search at all the Apartments there. The only one that is include all utilities while still being cheap is 2000 Main Street run by Homestead.

While the quote on the website is $825 for 2BR inclusive. The one I have seen being available cost nearly $860. The extra is probably due to the need for heavy renovation after the current tenant move out.

Expect a lot of hard work to get a spot there though (might even need a bribe). I have seen them post up a 2BR and having it taken within 20 minutes (people have money on hand and waiting for spot to open up) due to this place being very near McMaster and including all utilities while still being affordable.

Good luck!

Forgot to add. Another huge company running Apartments in Hamilton is Effort Trust.

http://www.efforttrust.ca/apt-listings.html

Take a look at what they have and the location you want. Then stalk them monthly for opening if they don't have one. That is how I got my place since they don't like to advertise on Kijiji and such as much.

Effort Trust though will require you to pay for Hydro.

Originally Posted by PHLN

Money seems to be an issue for them since they are considering sharing a BEDROOM with 2 people.




You should look for a place right now. Prices is subjective. I don't think there is such a thing as getting ripped off. Certain places have special features that warrant the price even if you don't agree on it.

Best advice is to look now using McMaster Off Campus Search and Hamilton Kijiji.

It really depends on the owner if he will let 5 people occupy 2 bedrooms. If the utilities are included, expect a NO. Best bet is to survey the place and gently inquire if the landlord live on premise. If he doesn't, you can do whatever you want after you get the lease. 5 people will be using a lot of utilities though so be careful on that.

Apartment VS House is hard to answer. It really depends on what you are looking for. You can search Google for other pros and cons on that I'm sure.

For your purpose, I would recommend an Apartment. Reason being that it will be more private and allows you to have more guests in the place without people noticing much and complaining.

Near Main and Whitney there are a tons of Apartments. Best bet is to take a drive down there, walk to each place and ask.

I did my search at all the Apartments there. The only one that is include all utilities while still being cheap is 2000 Main Street run by Homestead.

While the quote on the website is $825 for 2BR inclusive. The one I have seen being available cost nearly $860. The extra is probably due to the need for heavy renovation after the current tenant move out.

Expect a lot of hard work to get a spot there though (might even need a bribe). I have seen them post up a 2BR and having it taken within 20 minutes (people have money on hand and waiting for spot to open up) due to this place being very near McMaster and including all utilities while still being affordable.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the info. Sorry for the misunderstanding, but i meant 4 people including myself. So that would be 2 per room. My friends are telling me I am too worried and should wait until may time, but I am trying to look around NOW so we could have a place to stay next year. The problem is I am leaving on July 3rd for a flight to Europe and need to settle things before hand. Also I live in Toronto. Thank you for the info though, I will start searching now.

Originally Posted by lifesciman1

Thanks a lot for the info. Sorry for the misunderstanding, but i meant 4 people including myself. So that would be 2 per room. My friends are telling me I am too worried and should wait until may time, but I am trying to look around NOW so we could have a place to stay next year. The problem is I am leaving on July 3rd for a flight to Europe and need to settle things before hand. Also I live in Toronto. Thank you for the info though, I will start searching now.

My experience is that if the landlord pay for the utilities (even just water) they tend to get tight on allowing more than 1 person per room (since their price was budgeted for that).

Apartments would be your best choice. Just don't tell them about the extra 2 guests and be discrete about it. In a High Rise Apartments, there will be too many people for the Superintended to noticed.

Worst come to worst. Say you guys are couple (even if its two guys). Work quite well trust me.

Definitely look for a place now.

It takes a lot of time and sometime you have to wait till a vacancy is available. Remembering that current tenants need to give 60 days notice before they can move out.

If anything let your friends continue the search while you look it over through video and picture from email.

Be prepared to stalk listing very often throughout the day. Good places are taken up very quickly. I had to check every 30 minutes for nearly 2 months.

After enough research (seeing every single listing available and such) you will immediately know which one will suite you and can make a decision quite quickly anyway.

You can use this site to search for houses and apartments.
http://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/classifieds/index.php

The best time to start looking for a group house would have been January, because most of the good houses are usually taken up by then, IMO.
On the plus side, because you are searching relatively late you have a higher chance of getting an 8 month lease (if you so desire), seeing as how most leases are 12 month's in this area.
As for the 2/room situation, you may want to make it clear with the landlord before hand. I'm assuming some may not like it because they feel they could get more money, or something to that effect. Typically I've been finding that most rooms are around the $300-450 range/person.
Good luck with the search.

Also,
if you are looking for a place now, and end up finding a place. most leases are from may-may.. so you will have to start paying rent throughout the summer...
its also been my experience that you need to may first and last months rent up front... so be ready to pay about 750-800 dollars once you sign a lease...
if you are worried about having to pay over the summer, you can probably find a place in september, but by then it can be slim pickings and you might not get a good deal/ or get a crappy house etc.

Originally Posted by lifesciman1

I can save $5000 by staying off campus...its like 5mins away from the school.

It's relatively late, so unless you get lucky, I doubt you'll find a place that's 5 minutes from campus (There's probably a few houses that rent out to like, 8+ people or something, so if you don't mind living with a group of strangers you might have a better shot).

I've seen landlords that didn't mind 2 people living in a room. But like mentioned before, it'll probably depend on whether or not utilities are included.

Originally Posted by PHLN

I did my search at all the Apartments there. The only one that is include all utilities while still being cheap is 2000 Main Street run by Homestead.

While the quote on the website is $825 for 2BR inclusive. The one I have seen being available cost nearly $860. The extra is probably due to the need for heavy renovation after the current tenant move out.

Expect a lot of hard work to get a spot there though (might even need a bribe). I have seen them post up a 2BR and having it taken within 20 minutes (people have money on hand and waiting for spot to open up) due to this place being very near McMaster and including all utilities while still being affordable.

Good luck!

I actually live at 2000 Main, I can say that it is possible to have more than 2 people in a 2 br apartment (there are a lot of families living here, but it might be different in that situation). If you are interested here though, get on it fast, because as said: these apartments are really nice, and still affordable. The downside is that if there is a place available, they won't hold it until May, it will be available ASAP. You will need to give a certified cheque or money order for last months rent, so be prepared for that. You'll also need proof of income (I had my parents cosign the lease, so if you are not currently working you can do that). But if you want a two br apartment, I'd suggest anywhere in the Main and Whitney area

Hey, trust me ...live on res for the first year. I lived off campus to save money and I regret not living on res even now.Your university experience will be better living on res.

Originally Posted by jamescw1234

I actually live at 2000 Main, I can say that it is possible to have more than 2 people in a 2 br apartment (there are a lot of families living here, but it might be different in that situation). If you are interested here though, get on it fast, because as said: these apartments are really nice, and still affordable. The downside is that if there is a place available, they won't hold it until May, it will be available ASAP. You will need to give a certified cheque or money order for last months rent, so be prepared for that. You'll also need proof of income (I had my parents cosign the lease, so if you are not currently working you can do that). But if you want a two br apartment, I'd suggest anywhere in the Main and Whitney area

God I'm so jealous of you. I tried so hard to get that place.... Had to settle for something else... Le sigh...

Originally Posted by Ardougne

Hey, trust me ...live on res for the first year. I lived off campus to save money and I regret not living on res even now.Your university experience will be better living on res.

I cant pay $17,000 for res.. I dont mind living 5./10/.15 mins away. Whats the difference??