Off-Campus Apartment Hunting

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
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<p>Today I just started the off-campus apartment hunting process. Kinda late in the game I guess.</p>

<p>We've got 6 people, looking for 4-6 bedrooms. We really like the places we've seen in the Mass Ave area. But we're being told that we can get a place twice as nice for half the price (yeah, slight exaggeration) in Mission Hill. I'm planning on going on co-op in the fall and study abroad in the spring, so being close to campus isn't as big a deal for me. This is the same case for half of our group (3 girls). The other half will be in classes in the fall and co-op in the spring (3 boys). </p>

<p>Is Mission Hill a pain to live in, especially if you need to commute to class every day? What about safety? Mass Ave is kinda sketchy and there are a lot of students living in Mission Hill. But Mass Ave is more convenient if you're coming home from the library at 3AM (a common occurrence amongst the people I'm gonna live with).</p>

<p>Any advice/opinions?</p>

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<p>Mission Hill is “safe” meaning there aren’t too many bad things happening, but I know I’m personally very uncomfortable walking around there alone at night- which I’d have to do at least once if I lived there. Mass Ave actually isn’t that sketchy. Its weird at first and you feel a bit like you’re too much in a city, but you get used to it really fast and the 1 bus is really convenient. Mass Ave up by school is pretty expensive, but a friend lives down on the corner of Shawmut (one before Washington) and it’s not a bad walk at all and its way cheaper. </p>

<p>I live up by the Berklee area (which is wonderful and clean and hipster and lots of students, but crazy expensive so don’t do it) and personally my reason for choosing this place over ones I saw in Mission Hill were three things. One, places in Mission Hill always felt more like houses cut in half and I really wanted the apartment-style I dreamed about my first two years in Boston. Two, like I said, I don’t feel very comfortable walking even with another person at 11pm so I’d be very sketched out by myself, and I knew if I was going to live someplace I need to be comfortable. Three, to go out to the green line, you walk down a hill. Which means to commute on the green line back home, you walk up the hill… in the snow… or rain… and it’s a pretty sizeable hill, depending on where you live.</p>

<p>But those are definitely just my concerns. Other people feel fine there, but coming from a place down south where no one goes more than down the block without bringing their car, walking all the way on the hill and in the dark wasn’t great for me.</p>

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<p>Also, you are aware of the law saying no more than 4 (I think its 4… might be 6?) undergraduate students can live together right? And in terms of finding a good selection, it might be helpful to divide up everyone into two groups of 3 or 2 singles and 4 people willing to bunk (so you could look at 2 bedrooms). </p>

<p>And I’m sure you’ve considered this, but living off campus means no RA or RD. Not that they really super help anyway, but 6 people is a lot in a tiny space. Are you sure you want to be fighting with five people over utilities, rent, food, space and furniture? I moved off campus to get away from having a lot of roommates. :/</p>

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<p>Thank you as always neuchimie :)</p>

<p>I don’t have much experience in Mission Hill, so I’m hoping to get a better feel for it when we go this evening. The Mass Ave area places are going to go fast if we don’t act on them now, so they may not end up even being an option :confused: (at least the size we’re looking for). My current roommate is the one most concerned about living in a “house” vs. apartment. She loves the idea of the Mass Ave brownstone… we just don’t love the price of it. And yeah, I’m going to evaluate this “hill” part of Mission Hill when we go tonight haha. Do you know how common it is for people to use the personal safety escort service? (Van brings you from Snell to off-campus residence 1-1.5 miles away.) We didn’t realize that was available when we first started considering Mission Hill, but now that we know about it, it has alleviated our concerns about coming home late at night from the library and whatnot. </p>

<p>And yikes, no… we have heard of no such law. (And of course our realtor hasn’t mentioned anything about it.) We were gonna try to have the 6 of stay together and then split up if we had to (very do-able). I didn’t mention this before, but the 3 of us are living together this year and the 3 of them are also living together this year. But then again, that is on-campus housing. These really are people that I trust being responsible about paying their fair share (and they’re all engineers, so they make good money on co-op… while I’m off working for my non-profits haha). We always spend all of our time at each others’ places already, so this makes sense to us. But I will definitely take into consideration the difference between this and actually living in and paying for the same space.</p>

<p>But yeah-- do you know what that law is called or anything? Do people follow it/get in trouble for breaking it?</p>

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<p>My first off-campus apartment was in Fenway. It’s a great location, but we had an amazing deal. (It was a 2-bedroom that went for $2250, but we had a living room with a door that we used as a third bedroom and a foyer that could fit a couch and TV to be a living room…I was paying $650 because my room was the smallest) I know people that have lived on the hill and been fine with it. You’ll definitely get more space for your money that way. I’d also maybe look at JP. It’s way cheaper, great neighborhood, and, although not so walkable, short ride on the orange line, 39 bus, or possibly green line, and a short bike ride.</p>

<p>My second off-campus apartment was way further, in Porter Square, but that was because I was living with friends from other schools, and we were able to get a far better price and tons of space than anywhere in Boston. I moved when I was on co-op in Somerville and thus nonchalant about living near campus. I think with the co-op thing though, it does make being by campus less relevant, since we get used to commuting to work.</p>

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<p>there are a decent amount of very spacious and newly renovated houses on mission hill… most that I can think of off the top of my head are 4 or 5 bedrooms. Pretty standard for these to have 2 bathrooms and a good sized kitchen (although you’ll need mini-fridges!)</p>

<p>yeah. the walk is a *****. No real way around that, you just have to commit do doing a lot of walking or T riding. Most people I know don’t go home to the hill during the day–they bring everything they need for the whole day and spend free time in the library or curry/shillman/panera(woo)/places with tables and outlets until the end of their classes. Sucks because a lot of times I carry everything with me–notebooks, laptop+charger, lunch/snacks, gym clothes, but there are free lockers available on campus (sign up first few days of semester at info desk in curry), so you can store stuff there.</p>

<p>Personally, I feel safe walking around mission hill, even alone at night. Really late, past bar close, I usually try to walk with people (but have done it alone plenty of times), and I stick to well light main streets like huntington/tremont/st alphonsus. But, I’ve always lived in big cities and have spent a lot of time in way sketchier areas than mission hill, so I’m just used to it. I definitely understand why some people feel less comfortable walking around alone, something for everyone to consider–it would suck to move to the hill and feel unsafe walking home after dark. Also, I actually feel like mission hill is less sketchy than columbus/mass ave area. And definitely a good idea to try out mission hill late at night–just walk around midnightish and see how it feels, but I think you’ll be surprised by how college-kid it feels.</p>

<p>You’re in a good spot to start looking… good places aren’t going to be rented yet, but don’t put it off too long because the good ones go fast, and there aren’t that many big 4/5/6 bedroom places. I definitely recommend looking at places asap (I found mine on craigslist, but you can also just check random boston realty websites). Can understand the appeal of brownstones, but there are some VERY cute houses around the hill.</p>

<p>Also, you can minimize the walk and the sketchy by just choosing the right part of the hill. I would not live on parker, personally, or past brigham on the south huntington side of the hill. The best spots are probably right above stop and shop around calumet and right around st alphonsus. Worthington/wigglesworth is an awesome location and beautiful apartments (brownstones), but not as cheap as the rest of the hill.</p>

<p>And to end my essay, I llllove mission hill. Love penguin, the mission, squealing pig, love sitting in my cozy living room on a quiet (well, relatively!) street and the sounds of kids playing in the yard across the street in the summer, having stop and shop right down the street. Don’t love the walk (especially because I am WAY up there, on upper calumet st, which I ice skated down this morning).</p>

<p>ps. that 4 person law is not that strictly enforced it seems like. I’d check with realtors anyway and see what they say. I know several people doing 5+, so I think you’ll be able to get away with it.</p>

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<p>haha I love the “I would not live on parker”, because that’s where I’ve always gone (and therefore been sketched out). </p>

<p>From what I’ve seen, the 4 person law is enforced by realtors. So like, my realtor worked with a management company where they do a LOT of business (and where I now live) so he was very strict about saying he’d only allow 4 people on the lease and adding in other people not on the lease is against the law.</p>

<p>To do things off of your lease (extra people, illegal subletting, ditching the apartment for a few months- also called abandonment, etc) I’ve found to be entirely dependent on your landlord. I have a massive management company and I can pay my rent online and I’ve only seen a super once when he put in a new oven, so I’m certain people can do whatever they want in my building and get away with it. But I have a few friends that live down the hall from their landlords, so they’d notice if the same person kept leaving/entering the apartment ALL the time. Like officially, even if its just your boyfriend sleeping over most nights, they are supposed to be on the lease- more people on the lease, typically higher total rent is charged. But the whole “landlord down the hall” is rare, ask your realtor when you visit someplace.</p>

<p>Same thing goes with illegal pets haha</p>