finding housing

1. Make a budget

• Based on what I've seen, you can get a double for around $400-600/month and a single for $500-1000/month.

• If you have a lower budget, live in an apartment where there are no single rooms. If you calculate rent by square footage, the rent is much higher for apartments where there are singles.

2. Make a list of priorities

Where do you want to live?

• I personally would recommend finding an apartment in either North Davis (near W Covell blvd) or South Davis (near Cowell). A lot of people I knew lived in these areas so it was nice to have friends around me! North Davis has a lot of great places like Safeway, Starbucks, Noah's Bagels, Jamba Juice, CVS, Mandro Teahouse, and hospitals/private practices (if you want to shadow a doctor). Safeway, Teabo, and Downtown Davis is located in/near South Davis! Target, TJMaxx, and McDonalds are also not too far away. Certain areas in Davis make you pay for water (I believe its South Davis) and sometimes other amenities like trash, parking, etc.

Do you have a car?

• If you don't have a car, you want to live in an apartment thats located near a bus stop, a grocery store, or biking distance from school!

What do you want your apartment to look like?

• Have large common areas or large rooms? Have a loft for everyone's desk?

• I don't know if this is a fact but 4 bedroom apartments seem to be the nicest because they have larger common areas/rooms.

Do you want a house or an apartment?

• I believe lease signing for houses occur at a different time than apartments, but be sure to look into it. Most people I know live in apartments!

3. Make a spreadsheet

• When I was looking for apartments, I made a spreadsheet that had apartment names, number or bedrooms, locations, website, square footage, rent prices, etc.

4. Start looking soon

• Find people you want to live with ASAP!

• You should start looking for apartments during Winter break of your freshman year. Leases usually get signed around January-February so be prepared if you want your first choice apartment.

A perfect apartment/apartment complex:

• Has a pool, gym, lounge, & study area

• Has a responsive/nice staff

• The apartment I lived at had amazing staff & maintenance! They responded extremely quickly to our concerns or repair requests. They also did lots of giveaways, fun holiday events, and gave us food as a thank you very often!

• Is not near a busy street (sometimes crime occurs near these areas)

• Is close to campus, a bus stop, grocery store, etc

• Has a large kitchen with lots of cupboards

• Each bedroom has its own bathroom

• Has bedrooms that can fit 2 beds & 2 desks (if there isn't a loft)

• Has it's own wifi that works well

• Free printing

• Free parking

• Cheap communal laundry machines (that are close to your apartment) or personal laundry machines (that you hopefully don't have to pay extra for)

• Does not make you pay for other amenities other than rent & pg&e (utilities)

• Is fully furnished

  • This one is difficult to find for a cheaper price but buying furniture can be a hassle. However, it's nice to be able to choose your own furniture

A perfect room:

• Has a bathroom

  • In my apartment, some of the bathrooms had separated sinks from the toilet/shower! This was really nice because some people could do their makeup/use the mirror when someone was showering, etc

• Has windows that are not facing a street

  • My room had a window that was facing a really busy street so sometimes at night I could hear sirens go off (it was super annoying). So if you can, try to get a room with a window that's facing the apartment's parking lot or sidewalk

  • Has 2 closets (if you're in a double)

The apartment I lived at had all of these things so don't think that its impossible to have everything for a good price! Start looking early and best of luck to everyone:)