1. Don’t sign for a house too early
When you’re a couple of months into uni, and friendships are starting to be formed, you’re naturally going to turn to the topic of who’s going to live with who in second year. As somebody on their fifth year of renting houses away from home I say this: DO NOT RUSH THIS DECISION.
I’m not sure why everyone gets it in their heads that you need to get houses early or estate agents will ‘start running out.’ Something tells me it could be a lie spread by estate agents in order to get students into their properties. I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but as you’ll learn, estate agents know students have never rented before. They’re not all immoral bastards, but some of them are and they’ll delight in parting you from your money whilst offering you a terrible deal. Now, I can’t speak for every city, but one year after a massive housing screw-up I managed to find a new place two weeks before the start of term. Based on my own experiences, I’m gonna go ahead and declare that myth a load of crap.
Another thing you need to think through is your housemates. Take some time to really figure out if these are the people you want to live with, because you’ll be living with them for a year. I’ve had nightmare housemate situations. People I know have had experiences bordering on dystopic.
Bide your time. Find the right housemates. Consult your parents, or another trusted adult before signing anything or handing over money. There’s not as much of a rush as you’ll be led to believe.
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