What do you look for when renting a room?

[Shaynelle]

I'm hoping I can get some constructive input into what students look for when considering renting a room (if you would considering renting a room in a family house vs a bunch of students getting together and renting a house together).

Would being walking distance to your school or campus be a huge plus? Or at least on a direct bus route to the school? What about internet/movie room/satellite tv/free long distance... which would you consider a necessity or a nice bonus or not necessary? How about parking? Proximity to shopping, library, gym, etc?

What else would you consider? Thanks for your help.

[mavericknm]

Surprisingly walking distance isn't high on my list provided I can get to a reasonable bus stop. Travel time over 45 minutes would be unreasonable.

Big things I look for are whats in the house, laundry, fridge, freezer, heating/ac, # of bathrooms, size of kitchen area, room size and windows.

Next is whats in the area. I absolutely love being next to a grocery store because I'm lazy. Consider bringing home groceries is more annoying than going to class. I also need at least one late night fast food place for exam time. The rest is all bonus.

[Shaynelle]

Thanks for the tips! Good to know about being close to a grocery store, it makes total sense and it's something I would never have thought of. Hopefully others will share what they look for in a room rental as well.

[zyphere]

There are two things you should be within easy access to: campus, and a grocery store. And by this I mean you should either be within walking distance or within a 10 minute walk to a direct bus route to campus. I personally think travel time over 30 minutes is too much. Depending on the school you go to, ideally you'll be able to get a bus that takes you to campus at least as often as every 15 minutes. Getting to campus should for the most part cover your other things like library, gym, etc. Ideally, you could also get to malls and restaurants fairly easily if you needed to.

Look at how *clean* the current tenants are. If you are a clean person and they are not, this may be troublesome. If you are renting a room with the landlord's family, it should be one with your own bathroom, or shared with other tenants (as long as it is not shared with the landlord). I believe this is the requirement for you to be considered a tenant by law and thus be protected by the Act. Internet is important, or else you could be paying $30/month for your own internet. Same with TV, assuming that you watch it. Of course with TV, there's always ways of catching your favourite programs provided that you have internet...

Long distance is not a big deal and you could just spend $5-$10 a month on long D calling cards or other similar services. Parking, if you don't drive, isn't really important.

As for your bedroom, look at its size and whether you get ample natural lighting. A lot of room-only rentals are basement rooms with small windows that barely get any sunlight. Laundry machines are a necessity; most houses will have them. Make sure that there is enough fridge/freezer room for all the tenants (e.g. house of six people with only one refrigerator... that's a definite problem right there). Heating, and to a lesser extent A/C (assuming you are only staying in this house for the eight months of the school year), are also important.

Inquire about other amenities like cleaning services (some landlords have their properties professionally cleaned at least once a year). Mowing (usually landlords take care of this) and snow plowing (some hire people to do this, some require the tenants to). This is if you are living in a house with other tenants, because dividing labour can be annoying at times.

[NDman]

After dealing with some roommates from hell in my first year way back then, the compatibility with the roommates became a crucial criteria for me (though it could still very much be a hit or miss)

[sPiKyAZN]

I know its kind of stupid but I've seen rooms that have windows that don't open...imo that's terrible because the room can get stuffy at times.

Personally I would not want to live with my landlords simply because it would feel like someone is looking over my shoulder all the time. I'd also just look at the overall cleanliness of the place - if it's dirty its hard to call it home. Make sure utilities and internet/cable are included too because that can add up.

What everyone else mentioned is also good too especially with having a grocery store/campus nearby. Walking distance to campus would be ideal so you can go back home between classes if you must.

I'd say its nice to find a place with a common room if you have friends over, but not necessary. I would also try to avoid sharing a washroom with more than 2 other people. It can get a bit annoying in the mornings if a bunch of people happen to have class at the same time. I'd also avoid getting a room right beside a common washroom because you'd hear the exhaust fan a lot.

Depending on your budget, try to get a place on the 2nd or 3rd floor. If you're on the first floor there's more traffic and you can hear stuff from the kithcen which can be annoying. Basement rooms are generally the cheapest but you also probably have to deal with hearing washing machine/dryer noises and the windows are usually tiny.

[tabiji]

lack of cockroaches

And bedbugs, spiders, ants, etc. :o