<p>Hey, I am a first-year currently living in Unit 1. I have a friend who is interested in rooming with me next year. We want an apartment, and were hoping to get some advice on the whole process of nailing the “perfect” place.</p>
<p>We broke down what we needed to do in several steps:</p>
<li>Establish what we want - an apartment/studio for two people, on the Southside of Berkeley, only a few blocks from campus, parking for a car.</li>
<li>Find what we want - Craigslist, housing.berkeley.edu (anywhere else?)</li>
<li>Establish a connection with the apartment’s manager</li>
<li>Tours, forms, financial info, references, deposits, contract</li>
<li>We made it!</li>
<li>(anything missing?)</li>
</ol>
<p>Although we think this 5-6 step process looks full-proof, my friend and I still are not sure about a few things:</p>
<li>Financial Aid: when exactly do we receive funds to pay for housing, beginning of the semester, or a monthly installment thing?</li>
<li>When is the ideal time to move in? We have been running into apts that ask us to move in as soon as May, ah!</li>
<li>Anything else we need to look out for?</li>
</ol>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you check craigslist right now, most of the listings go as late as June. I, myself, am waiting for the August availabilities. You have to wait until June/July to find August housing. That's what I had to do last year, since I didn't want to pay for months I wouldn't be here.</p>
<p>honestly, it's never too late to look for housing...
1. starting early doesn't mean you'll find an apt right away. by starting early, you and your future roommates will find what they like about different apt and what they don't like.
2. b/c a lot of openings are due to seniors, a lot will want you to move in during summer, if you won't be taking summer school or etc, keep looking. There are many decent apt but crappy ones as well. craiglist as well as just going on different property management websites are nice.
3. a lot of nice apts have waitlists - for these you have to get on the list fast, so looking early would help</p>
<p>from my experience, it's never too late to ask around your friends who already live in apt and looking around yourself to get better deal for a nice place.</p>
<p>I still need to find a roommate... most of my closest friends are mentors at Bowles and plan on staying their. If I don't find a roommate, I will be returning their.</p>