My current roommate decided that he wanted to leave the city next year. I will be graduating in the May of 2018, so I will need to find housing for 2017-2018.
It is getting very late to find another roommate as the date for apartment lease renewal has already expired, so I am forced to either go for a 1-bedroom (or studio) apartment, which is typically north of $800 per month.
Or, I could find a fall 2017 sublease and a spring 2018 sublease. It is twice the moving, but it’s far cheaper than getting a 1-bedroom apartment if I can’t find another roommate.
However, other than finding the subleases in time (to avoid being stuck on the streets or forced into an expensive apartment contract), I’m not sure of what risks are there.
I don’t know of any other risks, as long as they overlap. If you have to stay in a hotel and put your things in storage in between it’s going to cost too much.
Is there a year-long sublease available? Any sort of roommate-finding group at your school? Finding a roommate for a year lease will bring the cost down close to a sublet and will save you the headache of moving and changing roommates mid-year. If the year lease goes into the summer you’ll have to find a sublet or pay double rent once you move out.
How is it too late to find a roommate in November 2016 for August 2017? Even in the college town I was a postdoc in, where housing was taken up very quickly, the housing didn’t fully book up until January and even after that point you could still find a roommate probably until May or June. Your date for lease renewal may have expired, but that doesn’t mean you can’t sign a new lease with a different roommate - either for your current apartment or for a different one.
Why can’t you find a 2017-2018 sublease? Why would splitting it into two semesters be easier? I’m not understanding your reasoning around the logistics of this move.
Also, moving costs money too. So factor in the cost of moving twice into how much rent you would save.