The University of Ottawa’s guide to … finding a house
Now is that magical time of the year when leases are ending and your time at one of the amazing university residents is quickly drawing to a close. Reading week is the perfect occasion to start looking into houses!
Of course before you start actively looking at apartments and houses; you need to decide with whom you will be living with and also how many people you will live with. When choosing roomates you need to think of people you know and are friends with, BUT, a person with who will still be your friend even if you two get into a fight about whose turn it is to do the dishes. Think about living with people who have similar down time like you, if you are an engineer you probably won’t want to be living with a student who may party more than you and be a distraction or even worse, who could hurt your grades. But when in doubt, choose people who are like minded to you: if you like the quiet and calm then you should probably live with people like that. Think about the number one thing that drives you insane, and then find someone who shares that. If a dish in the sink makes you want to scream, then find that person who is just like you. If you are a pretty laid back person, maybe think about living with guys. Why not a mix of boys and girls? When deciding the number of people to live with the golden number is typically three, but that depends entirely on your preferences and your budget. Remember it is always easier to ADD people to your home search, not take away. Trust your instincts when looking for a roommate, if that person doesn’t seem very dependable then they probably are not.
Then next step is of course if finding where to live, this can be a difficul tasl. The hour long bus ride will seem very tempting and save you money, until you have an early morning class, you forgot to pack a lunch or are involved on campus and have no time to waste on public transportation. Then you will be wishing you lived somewhere else closer to campus. The University of Ottawa has a helpful search platform that is easy to use (http://www.residence.uottawa.ca/en/och/index.html), and if you need to find a new roommate or find someone to take over a lease it allows for students to post ads for free. There are several other sites like Kijiji that can be used to find your new home, but of course be weary and watch for frauds. Some places also do not post any kind of ads and only have signs outside of the houses, so if there is an area you like go for an afternoon stroll on a weekend and take a look. Always see the listed apartment/house, and find a time when all of your roommates are available (if not take tons of pictures, which could help compare different places). When viewing the hopeful new home remember to ask a lot of questions such as: “is it the tenants’ responsibility to maintain the lawn/ are pets allowed?” A good idea is to sit down with all your roommates and draw up a list of all the questions you will want to ask, so you don’t forget anything. If you are worried that the house you like could possibly lead to you living in a dangerous area, if you call the local police station and ask they can tell you about how safe the area is or how many break ins have occurred in the last year. Now that you are living off campus, the bus is going to probably be your new best friend, look for a place near a bus stop. A good thing to look for too is does the university offer shuttles that stop near your potential house? These are great FREE service that can turn a forty-five minute bus ride into ten minutes; all you need is your student card (see http://www.protection.uottawa.ca/en/sustainabletransportation.html for more information).
One last thing, if you haven’t started your search for a home, get on it ASAP! Places are going to start going quick and you do not want to be writing finals and going to look at houses at the same time. Not only will you not have the time, but it will only stress you out more!