<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm moving down to Boston and my prospective move-in date is September 1st.
WHEN should I be going down to look at apartments? Will they take my deposit then?</p>
<p>I just need some help and nobody in my real life is giving me any real answers. Thanks, guys :)</p>
<p>I can’t speak specifically about Boston but generally speaking, you should look for apts now for the fall 2009 semester. Son is moving off campus in the Fall and he and his friends found their apartment and put down their deposit way back in February or March. They move in at the end of August.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for an apartment because you’re going to be a college student, see if your college housing department has listings of off campus apartments. Call them ASAP if you’re looking to move in for the fall semester.</p>
<p>Agree with NYSmile for LA as well, at least the area around USC. Most of the kids have found their places for fall already from January through April was the time most were looking and securing their leases. I’m sure there are still options available, but you should start (or have someone start looking for you) ASAP. Your U may have some suggestions & options as well.</p>
<p>you should be looking for apartments are early as a couple months ago… aka, you should probably get on that.</p>
<p>You should research as much as you can online and have a list of places to go look at before you go.</p>
<p>I saw on another thread that you originally planned on living on campus. You may want to keep that plan. Have you researched the cost of apartments in Boston?</p>
<p>Pretty much every lease in Boston is a 9/1 lease. Start looking in July, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see anything for a few weeks. Lease signing is a surpisingly fast event in boston.</p>
<p>Nooo, I’m living off-campus, it’s been decided for awhile, I just picked on-campus for back-up reasons before. Yes, we’ve researched - three of us in a 2-bed. </p>
<p>Thanks for the replies - I’ve already been looking for them online, but when should I visit and make arrangements for 9/1? ASAP?</p>
<p>ASAP. Where exactly are you planning on living? Inside the city, near Northeastern/BU, most 9/1 apartments are gone already (they start listing them in like March), but in areas just outside the city like Cambridge, a lot of those listings are just coming up.</p>
<p>Start Now… (or 3 months ago)</p>
<p>Make sure of your transportation (public transportation) plans. No parking space at apartments and schools is common in Boston.</p>
<p>Walk the neighborhood at day and again at night to make sure you feel comfortable calling it your home for the next year. Some Boston neighborhood change block by block. </p>
<p>Have your deposit ready to hand in when you sign the lease (as soon as you decide that you want the place and the landlord says yes to you), normally you give a few hundred (or up to a months rent and a months security deposit if needed) at the time they accept your application (refundable till the landlord says yes). You DO NOT have the apartment until you sign the LEASE.</p>
<p>I recommend a broker because they can be helpful if anything goes wrong. Brokers can not and should not help you with choosing a neighborhood, because everyone will want different things from the place they call home.</p>
<p>Plan your move carefully and talk to the existing tenants well before moving date (and again closer to the date). It’s not uncommon for one tenant to be moving out while the next tenant is moving in… Plan to clean if you need to… If you need a uhaul or van get your reservation now because they are impossible to get close to move in dates. Boston is one big parking lot of vans on move in days, so take an extra person to stay with the van if you need to double park.</p>
<p>Some areas are 9/1, and some are 8/1, and some are even 7/1.</p>
<p>All that said - Have Fun in Boston and don’t let the logistics get to you, thousands and thousands of students do it every year.</p>
<p>PS: I would not have advised that a student who is unfimilar with a new city live off campus the first year. Freshmen have enough to figure out in college. When you add in managing mega-finances, housing, transportation, roommates who can’t pay their rent that month, roommates who are socially active, who ate my food, and who is going clean when it…
can get overwhelming quickly.</p>
<p>haven’t read the whole topic, but try craigslist</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone.</p>
<p>I’m going Brookline/Allston/Brighton area, so it shouldn’t be too sketchy, I’ve visited and it seems very burbs-y.</p>
<p>Will they take my deposit NOW for 9/1, and hold the apartment til 9/1?</p>
<p>They will take your deposit now. You fill out a lease application, and they check your credit and stuff and assuming that’s all okay, you are given the lease to sign. How much money you give them when depends on realtor/owner. It may be first and last month’s rent, those plus a deposit, those plus a realtor’s fee. In my apartment now, we just had to pay last month’s rent. </p>
<p>In that area, I would advise trying to sign a lease ASAP. Most people I know who live there have already signed leases, at least a month ago. I don’t mean to make you freak out – there are a lot of apartments so you should be able to find something but I’d advise looking soon, because it will be less available every day.</p>
<p>My advice is to use craig’s list, and not go through one realtor. If a realtor lists an apartment, then of course, contact them, but don’t use anyone exclusively. I’ve had bad luck with several realtor’s; one kept assuring us that she would find us something where we wanted, and by the time we gave up on her, we had lost some time in looking. There’s a lot on craig’s list, so I think the best option is just to search that.</p>
<p>Students put deposits down months in advance for the upcoming academic year’s apartments. So, yes–if you can find an apartment, they will take your deposit now.</p>
<p>yes, they will take your money now to reserve a spot! all the returning college kids in Boston who are living off campus will have put down their money during the spring semester!</p>