The thread title makes it sound like I have the answer to this, but I don't.
I currently live in Japan, and have applied to six MArch programs back in the states. My problem is that I won' be returning to the states until August when my current work contract ends. This gives me about 3 weeks or so to visit family, move my cargo from Pittsburgh to wherever I go (CA, WA, TX, MA, CT, Philly) and find a place to live. Something tells me that I am not finding an apartment 4 days before school starts. So, what do I do. In a lapse of better judgement I checked off-campus housing for all of my schools. Why? I guess the idea of living on campus as a grad student freaked me out as I looked at the little radio button options.
So what are my options now? I conceivably have connections in Berkeley, maybe Seattle, Boston, and maybe Austin. But not really, and not at the other cities. Should I really have a place by May or so? Don't think I can afford the time off or the money to fly back to look for apartments.
You know...that's the very first time I have ever visited that site, and I've been hearing about it for years now. Thanks. For people who have used it, has anyone ever rented without having physically looked at the apartment previously? How'd it go? Do most landlords require an in person interview?
guiggster, sorry to be a bit pessimistic, but I have found the strangest creeps on craigslist. Some of my friends (ladies, mostly) have the worst horror stories from apartments found thru craigslist. You HAVE to check out the place yourself or have someone you know check out the place.
Its difficult getting a place in 4 days, but you can make appointements thru craigslist then go check out the places super quick the first day you arrive. But i certainly suggest you dont make any commitments before you actually see the place (and more important, the people living in/near you) before you make any deals.
yeah... definitely at least get pictures of any place from craigs list. I'm sitting in an apartment I found on craig's list right now, but it's about the 20th one I looked at from there. It's a real crapshoot.
Maybe try emailing or calling the school you end up with and asking if they have any resources, or if there's somewhere you can post an ad for a roomate? The logic behind finding a roomate idea is that the roomate will probably be in a better position to check places out than you will.
Sounds good. Once I figure out what city I'll be in...depending on whether I get in anywhere...I'll contact the school and go from there. Maybe I can just silently live in the studio for the first 6 months until I find a place. Or the basement.
hey whats wrong with dorms. fun cheap and they even make food for you.
and btw its on the campus so transportation is cheaper/faster
but i can see the need for privacy
they guiggster, would you mind telling me what"contract" you were in
im really interested in going to japan after college (BA)
what were the requirements/benifits/pay etc.
Requirements: English Speaking ability, flexible sense of self-worth.
Benefits: 75% Health costs covered, no taxes, schoolgirls in uniform.
Pay: 3,600,000 yen a year.
If you can completely shut down from 8 to 4 everyday and not let absolute boredom ruin your life, then I would suggest this job. Has absolutely nothing to do with anything in the real world, esp. architecture, but you get to travel. Or you DON'T get to travel as my contracting organisation is trying to prevent me from traveling to Vietnam right now. Will kill them all. You can read some of the inanities of Japanese life on my website http://thejinx.org/ It's in a bit of a transitional state right now as I just upgraded to wordpress. Here's the link to my past archives: http://thejinx.org/archive/archive_index.htm . I suggest reading "Lock your Doors Part 1 and 2," "The Joys of Teaching," and "A License to Fail" if you're interested.
Hi there.
with all these details u mentioned, I think u need to go thru a search specific site which takes care of all the features that you want. You can easily find them if you try out from a search engine relating to apartments or accomodation rentals and all.
Meanwhile you can try out Apartment Matching It does offers some good search options to choose from. Try that out, it might give you your required choice.
Good Luck with the search.
kevin walsh
i have found every place i lived in on craigslist from philly to nyc and yeah there were some stinkers but some were good value
I had a great spot in philly down by the airport and it was real quiet, sort of by a wildlife refuge/oil refinery area but it was great and we loved it it was almost like the last development before the point where the developer ran out of money and it turned into streets with no houses or driveways but just empty cul-de-sacs...eerie but cheap, two bedroom, 2nd floor walkup huge kitchen and dining, huge living room for 800 per month
i used to live in an entire three story house in jersey city and we literally had the whole house back yard front yard and we only payed 1200.00, the place was huge
current apt is real nice 1yr old house, 2nd floor walk up but real sweet with pitched ceiling up to the ridge beam for like 20 feet, central air, urethaned hard wood floors and crisp painted white walls with about four skylights throughout the apt
nice rental only paying 1700 with my wife and we love it
craigslist can be misleading at times but try to stick to the ones with pictures and call the people to see if they can send some pics if they havent posted them
dude, craigslist got me a great apartment and roommate in brooklyn. don't doubt the power for craigslist. however i don't think there is no substitute for actually visiting the space and meeting the subletter/renter/roomate in person. maybe finding rents/places available through university/school affiliation would be your second best bet.
Appleseed: How did you come across my site before? It's been crap lately, mostly do to the fact that I've been stressed and emotionless. A shell of a man, I tell you.
Ditto what others have said... I've had some rotten experiences from craigslist, but I also now have a very cool roommate who I found via craigslist. It's all a matter of careful screening (and how desperate you are).
I guess I'll start checking it out once I decide where to go to school. Can I get a girlfriend on craigslist, because I'm pretty desperate on that end?
ok ok logically, it is your first best bet. but since i've gotten a better deal via craiglist than through a school affiliation, i had to put in in that order.
apt hunting is a pain in general. it's really pretty much a second job. goodluck anway!
lol. word on what sameolddoctor says about filtering...this applies to any transaction that occurs courtesy of craigslist.
okay i have no suggestion for housing, but i read your (damn funny) entry about locking your door and it's dead-on. i used to travel to tokyo a lot, and once made a joke about 'borrowing' one of many bicycles left unlocked (3 am walking from nakano to shinjuku - i was tired, altered and, remember, joking).
it was as if i had equated sumos to eunuchs, the idea was so alien.
I can't really remember, somone mighta sent me the link.
Actually this fall I was chilling in my room in Kyoto and two Jehova's Witnesses came up and started talking to me through my porch door. Keep your sliding doors locked AND shut, haha.
Since this is a general housing thread, I have a room available in my apartment in NYC, starting April 1 (May 1 or June 1 are also possible).
Lower East Side. $1200/month including utilities & cable modem. Elevator building. Hardwood floors. Contemporary fittings. No pets or smokers. [email protected]
if i were you guiggsta, i'd ask for the help of the fine folks of archinect. i'd gladly go look at some places for you, but my town, hell my region, aint on your list. so, that's what i'd do if i were you, oh and hit your folks up for money of course...
guigg...while i won't take the responsibility (read:liability) of looking at a place for you in Berkeley, I do live there (here, that is...) and would be happy to give you some insider's advice on a particular listing or neighborhood here in the bay area.
that sort of thing you know?
i noticed you're from b-ton. i lived in chittenden county for eight years or so , on and off, before moving to california.
I am in Guiggster's exact dilemma (job included) haha -- which is why I keep on reposting/bumping Guiggster-esque threads, but yeah - how do you find housing from abroad? And what's a good deal for the Berkeley area?
How much time do you actually spend at home as a 1st year M.Arch?
Guig, if you still peruse these threads -- did you bring back anything with you from Japan? (i.e. futon, snowboard, etc.) Any advice about shipping from Japan? So far, I've found Japanluggage.com... maybe I should be asking on BigDaikon for this haha
I'm kind of going through this right now, trying to find a place to live 1300 miles away (Austin to Cincinnati) without actually being able to visit beforehand. I ended up posting on Craigslist's 'seeking housing' section. Long story short, I'll be renting a room in a house owned by a woman with whom I seem to have a lot in common. And it's way cheaper than if I had gotten a studio apartment. I have pictures and Google map, and that's about it. All communication has been done over email so far.
Luckily the room is furnished because I'm only taking what I can fit into my car. Paying $600 for a Uhaul and driving for two days with all of my possessions does not a fun time make.
I'll let you know in a few months if it turns out the "room" is actually a shed behind a crack house owned by a satanic pedophile and her two rabid dogs.
HAha - outsidedream, I'm in the same boat -- so far have emailed, google-mapped, and it sounds great - furnished too. I'm not as scared that I'm renting from a weirdo as much as ... I'm never going to be in the place! If I basically live at the architecture building, I might as well get a very crap cheap hole in the wall... then again, I know paying a bit more for a nicer apt to come home to when one is dead-exhausted with no raucous parties going on all night... it's worth it.
Anyway - I guess I'm wondering if I should commit to this place now, or hold out till most of the Aug availabilities start popping up...
How to find a place to live from abroad.
The thread title makes it sound like I have the answer to this, but I don't.
I currently live in Japan, and have applied to six MArch programs back in the states. My problem is that I won' be returning to the states until August when my current work contract ends. This gives me about 3 weeks or so to visit family, move my cargo from Pittsburgh to wherever I go (CA, WA, TX, MA, CT, Philly) and find a place to live. Something tells me that I am not finding an apartment 4 days before school starts. So, what do I do. In a lapse of better judgement I checked off-campus housing for all of my schools. Why? I guess the idea of living on campus as a grad student freaked me out as I looked at the little radio button options.
So what are my options now? I conceivably have connections in Berkeley, maybe Seattle, Boston, and maybe Austin. But not really, and not at the other cities. Should I really have a place by May or so? Don't think I can afford the time off or the money to fly back to look for apartments.
craigslist.org
You know...that's the very first time I have ever visited that site, and I've been hearing about it for years now. Thanks. For people who have used it, has anyone ever rented without having physically looked at the apartment previously? How'd it go? Do most landlords require an in person interview?
guiggster, sorry to be a bit pessimistic, but I have found the strangest creeps on craigslist. Some of my friends (ladies, mostly) have the worst horror stories from apartments found thru craigslist. You HAVE to check out the place yourself or have someone you know check out the place.
Its difficult getting a place in 4 days, but you can make appointements thru craigslist then go check out the places super quick the first day you arrive. But i certainly suggest you dont make any commitments before you actually see the place (and more important, the people living in/near you) before you make any deals.
yeah... definitely at least get pictures of any place from craigs list. I'm sitting in an apartment I found on craig's list right now, but it's about the 20th one I looked at from there. It's a real crapshoot.
Maybe try emailing or calling the school you end up with and asking if they have any resources, or if there's somewhere you can post an ad for a roomate? The logic behind finding a roomate idea is that the roomate will probably be in a better position to check places out than you will.
Sounds good. Once I figure out what city I'll be in...depending on whether I get in anywhere...I'll contact the school and go from there. Maybe I can just silently live in the studio for the first 6 months until I find a place. Or the basement.
I'm going to start learning to play the organ.
hey whats wrong with dorms. fun cheap and they even make food for you.
and btw its on the campus so transportation is cheaper/faster
but i can see the need for privacy
they guiggster, would you mind telling me what"contract" you were in
im really interested in going to japan after college (BA)
what were the requirements/benifits/pay etc.
JET Programme.
Requirements: English Speaking ability, flexible sense of self-worth.
Benefits: 75% Health costs covered, no taxes, schoolgirls in uniform.
Pay: 3,600,000 yen a year.
If you can completely shut down from 8 to 4 everyday and not let absolute boredom ruin your life, then I would suggest this job. Has absolutely nothing to do with anything in the real world, esp. architecture, but you get to travel. Or you DON'T get to travel as my contracting organisation is trying to prevent me from traveling to Vietnam right now. Will kill them all. You can read some of the inanities of Japanese life on my website http://thejinx.org/ It's in a bit of a transitional state right now as I just upgraded to wordpress. Here's the link to my past archives: http://thejinx.org/archive/archive_index.htm . I suggest reading "Lock your Doors Part 1 and 2," "The Joys of Teaching," and "A License to Fail" if you're interested.
Hi there.
with all these details u mentioned, I think u need to go thru a search specific site which takes care of all the features that you want. You can easily find them if you try out from a search engine relating to apartments or accomodation rentals and all.
Meanwhile you can try out Apartment Matching It does offers some good search options to choose from. Try that out, it might give you your required choice.
Good Luck with the search.
kevin walsh
Kevin: You don't happen to live in NYC and run a very cool website about the city, do you? If so, we know each other.
i have found every place i lived in on craigslist from philly to nyc and yeah there were some stinkers but some were good value
I had a great spot in philly down by the airport and it was real quiet, sort of by a wildlife refuge/oil refinery area but it was great and we loved it it was almost like the last development before the point where the developer ran out of money and it turned into streets with no houses or driveways but just empty cul-de-sacs...eerie but cheap, two bedroom, 2nd floor walkup huge kitchen and dining, huge living room for 800 per month
i used to live in an entire three story house in jersey city and we literally had the whole house back yard front yard and we only payed 1200.00, the place was huge
current apt is real nice 1yr old house, 2nd floor walk up but real sweet with pitched ceiling up to the ridge beam for like 20 feet, central air, urethaned hard wood floors and crisp painted white walls with about four skylights throughout the apt
nice rental only paying 1700 with my wife and we love it
craigslist can be misleading at times but try to stick to the ones with pictures and call the people to see if they can send some pics if they havent posted them
its worth a shot
guig- I'd actually come across your site before, didn't know that was you. Some pretty funny shit in there.
dude, craigslist got me a great apartment and roommate in brooklyn. don't doubt the power for craigslist. however i don't think there is no substitute for actually visiting the space and meeting the subletter/renter/roomate in person. maybe finding rents/places available through university/school affiliation would be your second best bet.
lateral: Second best after craigslist?
Appleseed: How did you come across my site before? It's been crap lately, mostly do to the fact that I've been stressed and emotionless. A shell of a man, I tell you.
Ditto what others have said... I've had some rotten experiences from craigslist, but I also now have a very cool roommate who I found via craigslist. It's all a matter of careful screening (and how desperate you are).
I guess I'll start checking it out once I decide where to go to school. Can I get a girlfriend on craigslist, because I'm pretty desperate on that end?
dont know about a girlfriend, but you can certainly use the 'casual encounters' section!
Anyways i know people (including myself) who have found pretty interesting dates thru craigslist, it boils down to one work : FILTERING
lateral: Second best after craigslist?
ok ok logically, it is your first best bet. but since i've gotten a better deal via craiglist than through a school affiliation, i had to put in in that order.
apt hunting is a pain in general. it's really pretty much a second job. goodluck anway!
lol. word on what sameolddoctor says about filtering...this applies to any transaction that occurs courtesy of craigslist.
okay i have no suggestion for housing, but i read your (damn funny) entry about locking your door and it's dead-on. i used to travel to tokyo a lot, and once made a joke about 'borrowing' one of many bicycles left unlocked (3 am walking from nakano to shinjuku - i was tired, altered and, remember, joking).
it was as if i had equated sumos to eunuchs, the idea was so alien.
could go for a calpis right about now...
I can't really remember, somone mighta sent me the link.
Actually this fall I was chilling in my room in Kyoto and two Jehova's Witnesses came up and started talking to me through my porch door. Keep your sliding doors locked AND shut, haha.
Since this is a general housing thread, I have a room available in my apartment in NYC, starting April 1 (May 1 or June 1 are also possible).
Lower East Side. $1200/month including utilities & cable modem. Elevator building. Hardwood floors. Contemporary fittings. No pets or smokers.
[email protected]
if i were you guiggsta, i'd ask for the help of the fine folks of archinect. i'd gladly go look at some places for you, but my town, hell my region, aint on your list. so, that's what i'd do if i were you, oh and hit your folks up for money of course...
guigg...while i won't take the responsibility (read:liability) of looking at a place for you in Berkeley, I do live there (here, that is...) and would be happy to give you some insider's advice on a particular listing or neighborhood here in the bay area.
that sort of thing you know?
i noticed you're from b-ton. i lived in chittenden county for eight years or so , on and off, before moving to california.
I am in Guiggster's exact dilemma (job included) haha -- which is why I keep on reposting/bumping Guiggster-esque threads, but yeah - how do you find housing from abroad? And what's a good deal for the Berkeley area?
How much time do you actually spend at home as a 1st year M.Arch?
Guig, if you still peruse these threads -- did you bring back anything with you from Japan? (i.e. futon, snowboard, etc.) Any advice about shipping from Japan? So far, I've found Japanluggage.com... maybe I should be asking on BigDaikon for this haha
I'm kind of going through this right now, trying to find a place to live 1300 miles away (Austin to Cincinnati) without actually being able to visit beforehand. I ended up posting on Craigslist's 'seeking housing' section. Long story short, I'll be renting a room in a house owned by a woman with whom I seem to have a lot in common. And it's way cheaper than if I had gotten a studio apartment. I have pictures and Google map, and that's about it. All communication has been done over email so far.
Luckily the room is furnished because I'm only taking what I can fit into my car. Paying $600 for a Uhaul and driving for two days with all of my possessions does not a fun time make.
I'll let you know in a few months if it turns out the "room" is actually a shed behind a crack house owned by a satanic pedophile and her two rabid dogs.
HAha - outsidedream, I'm in the same boat -- so far have emailed, google-mapped, and it sounds great - furnished too. I'm not as scared that I'm renting from a weirdo as much as ... I'm never going to be in the place! If I basically live at the architecture building, I might as well get a very crap cheap hole in the wall... then again, I know paying a bit more for a nicer apt to come home to when one is dead-exhausted with no raucous parties going on all night... it's worth it.
Anyway - I guess I'm wondering if I should commit to this place now, or hold out till most of the Aug availabilities start popping up...
hmm, I hadn't realized there was a 'seeking housing' section. Maybe I'll try that.
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